DPL staff tells us about five things they’ve been reading, watching, listening to, and doing.
Terese’s Lineup
1. Books: What She Ate: Six Remarkable Women and the Food That Tells Their Stories by Laura Shapiro
I’m one of those people who want to hear every detail of what you’ve eaten today. Please don’t breeze right past telling me you went to a restaurant without sharing what you ordered. I rescued my aunt’s old recipe box from the trash. Why did she have six different notecards for the relatively simple dish of guacamole? I want to know! The recipes she’d saved reflect the fads of the time and also her personal tastes, much as reading about what the women in this book ate and cooked tells us something about the times they lived in and who they were as people. The voyeur in me loves reading memoirs and journals to begin with (I want all the mundane details) but throw in a focus on food and I’m sold. · Available in our catalog: https://kanshare.bywatersolutions.com
2. TV: Borgen
If you liked West Wing, give this Danish political drama a try. It’s less talky but has a nice balance of politics and personal. It revolves around Denmark’s first female prime minister, but it’s her mysterious and complicated “spin doctor” Kasper and his ex-girlfriend journalist Katrine whose stories are the most compelling. I also just enjoy listening to the rhythms of another language for a change.
· Available on Netflix
3. Podcasts: Exit Scam by Treats Media
I sometimes have a hard time listening to podcasts and audiobooks in the car, as my mind tends to drift. But this real-life mystery surrounding the death of Gerald Cotten, founder of a large Canadian bitcoin exchange, easily holds my attention. This, despite having little to no interest in cryptocurrency so you know it’s a good story. · Available here: https://www.exitscam.show/
4. Movies: Talk to Me
I just happened upon this one the other day. I’m a big Don Cheadle fan and he’s fantastic in this moving biopic about the ex-con turned radio DJ, television entertainer, and political activist Petey Greene. Laughs and Tears in this one! · Available for rent on Amazon or requested through interlibrary loan
5. Articles: A Suspense Novelist’s Trail of Deceptions by Ian Parker
This New Yorker article came out in 2019, but I recently gave it another read after seeing that the film adaptation of Dan Mallory’s book (published under the pseudonym A.J. Finn) The Woman in the Window was released on Netflix. It’s fascinating to me how some people manage to hang on to their success despite such blatant lies. I’ve even read that Jake Gyllenhaal will play a version of Mallory (and literary scammers more generally) in an upcoming TV show I’ll be sure not to miss. · Available here: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/02/11/a-suspense-novelists-trail-of-deceptions
Being able to work around books is a dream! I read anything but my favorite genres are historical fiction and YA. Give me anything set in Tudor England or teenage fantasy novel and I am set.
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