Consumption 10

This is a monthly series, published near the end of the month summarizing what I found, ate, watched, googled, and felt this month. New categories added from time to time.

Books Added to My TBR (e.g., books I just learned about that I’m excited to read… maybe)

• Alice with a Why (Anna James)
• The Rainshadow Orphans (Naomi Ishiguro)
• A Grim Reaper’s Guide to Catching a Killer (Maxie Dara)
• Dolly All the Time (Annabel Monaghan)
• Shady Hollow (Juneau Black)

Notable Meals (new recipes, old favorites, and restaurant items we ate this month)

• Salad (lettuce, red and yellow pepper, cucumber, shredded carrots, macadamia nuts, and won ton wrappers) with sesame balsamic vinaigrette.
• Peanut udon noodles with steamed broccoli.

Television, Movies, and Music (watching and listening)

• We finished Down Cemetery Road. I am thrilled this has been renewed for a second season. All of the actors are phenomenal. Ending was a little meh, but I didn’t care because everything that came before it was so good and endings are hard.
• The Traitors UK, Season 4. It’s marked as Traitors Celebrity on Peacock. I worried I wouldn’t like it as much as the regular UK Traitors, and it would feel more like the US version, but everyone is polite and kind and very very British. So we loved it.
• My Oxford Year. As long as you go into it knowing there are 1,000 plot issues (make that 10,000 plot issues), you can enjoy this tearjerker for the Oxford views and scenes from Hatfield House. Don’t bother screaming things like, “You cannot take one class and get a masters degree!” at the television. The actors cannot hear you. Instead, put small details like character development out of your head and enjoy Harry Trevaldwyn’s bar monologue.
• The Holdovers. It was sadder than I thought it would be. I loved seeing western MA, especially Buckland, Shelburne Falls, and Deerfield. And the performances were all fantastic.

Added To My Ongoing Mix Tape

• “Yellow” (Coldplay)
• “Born This Way” (Lady Gaga)

Tabs I Left Open (things I Googled and left up on the screen)

• The landing page for the game Blue Prince.
• The Richard and Judy book club list.
• A low-poly weasel I’m trying to convince the Wolvog to 3D print for me.
• The route of a 102-mile walk in the UK we’re considering doing.

Micro-Joys

• Josh left his charger behind in a hotel room, but the hotel staff found it, and my in-laws were able to pick it up for him. Three cheers for not having to repurchase existing chargers. Except… the charger they brought him was not his charger. Boo. Except the Wolvog directed him to a piece at IKEA that saved the day for $4. So all is well that ends well.
• Finished the final book in His Dark Materials. I’ve now read all 10 books/novellas in the series.

Mood

• Happy that the kids are home and antsy because I always get antsy this time of year.

What about you? Let me know what you’re eating, seeing, listening to, googling, feeling this month.