☀️ No Post on Sundays: August 2022
Fine day, Sunday. In my opinion, best day of the week.
Happy weekend. The gang’s back together again for a collection of monthly favorites. There’s a lot of stuff we’d love to share that just won’t fit in our usual Thursday newsletter. Some of that stuff is here. Read on for a special collection of podcast, book, and miscellaneous other recs from your trusty Double Take duo.
— Jenni Cullen and Jess Spoll
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As Jess mentioned, I was on vacation the last few weeks and I finally got a chance to see Everything Everywhere All at Once on my flight home. It was unexpected (I somehow made it this far knowing almost nothing about the premise) and I enjoyed it, but it did feel a littttle long. 😬
With Autumn just around the corner (one can dream), I decided to spend Saturday morning washing my one wool sweater. This delightful ‘how-to wash wool’ youtube video features Rajiv Surendra, everyone’s favorite Mean Girls mathlete and made me feel like I wasn’t about to ruin my clothes. Honestly A+ content to start a weekend even if you don’t want to do the chores that go along with it.
-Jenni
I felt like I was caught up on all my new shows (a true feat), so I finally got to dig back through the archives of Jenni’s recommendations, and watched season 1 of Hacks. It’s just as good as she said, so add my name to that recommendation.
Other than what you’ve seen in the Thursday newsletter, I also branched out into a couple of movies this month. The Black Phone (available now on Peacock) seemed like it would be right up my alley — a twisty suspenseful horror movie starring Ethan Hawke as a creepy as hell bad guy. But I felt like the story was missing pieces, and although Hawke gave an incredible performance, this was ultimately very forgettable.
-Jess
The front end of August was filled with a lot of cleaning and packing for me which meant a lot of background NPR until there are too many depressing stories in a row. Then, I turned toward Maggie Rogers’ new album, Surrender.
Also currently catching up on the latest season of Poetry Unbound, a podcast with lovely bite-sized episodes (~15 min each) that my godmother — a poet and former English teacher — turned me on to. Each ep consists of an immersive reading of a poem by the velvet-voiced, Irish brogue’d Pádraig Ó Tuama. Listening is very meditative while also making me feel more creative. For anyone who loves language, I can’t recommend it enough.
-Jenni
So many audiobooks!!! I’ve needed something to keep my mind occupied during my ~2 hour daily walks, and I have found that audiobooks are the perfect thing. This month I’ve finished The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell, A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham, Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng, Little Secrets by Jennifer Hillier, and The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin.
As you can see, I particularly like thrillers and mysteries to keep my mind off the fact that I am walking for so long, but The Fifth Season, a sci-fi / fantasy novel, was actually my favorite of this month’s bunch. It’s set in a world that experiences an apocalyptic event every few hundred years or so, and follows a woman after one such event who is forced to hide her super-human abilities while trying to find her daughter. I think it may be more enjoyable in written form, but I still give it 5/5 stars.
-Jess
I’m in the middle of two books right now that are a bit slower in pace for my ‘end of Summer’ brain. The first is a novel called The Country Girls, part of a My-Brilliant-Friend-esque trilogy set in post-WWII Ireland. The second is a memoir by a biologist and former national park ranger called Fox and I: An Uncommon Friendship.
Additionally, this Atlantic Article Why do rich people love quiet? gave me some things to think about. Recommended reading, especially if you live in a bigger city.
-Jenni
I just organized a new book club with some friends (yay book clubs!) and our first pick is Dark Matter by Blake Crouch. Somehow I hadn’t read it yet, even though I’ve had the hard copy for 5 years now. I’m excited to be reading written words again, since most of my literary consumption has been audial recently.
-Jess
Maybe a dull rec, but this T-Shirt by the brand Foundationals is a new favorite of mine. All of the basics by this brand are excellent. I also own the Easy-Does-It Tank in like five colors, and after three years of wears and washes, they still look like new.
I also picked up my very own backpacking pack after years of borrowing from friends and family. Highly recommend going to a store like REI and getting fitted, because I went in wanting a specific Osprey, but found out my torso is apparently extremely short for my height? And the pack I left with— the Gregory Maven 55 — is so much more comfortable, has hella compartments, and it comes with a rain cover (many don’t!). So clutch.
- Jenni
I finally signed up for Nuuly after a friend recommended it to me (shoutout Jess Sheng) and I’m loving it so far. It’s a subscription clothing rental service where you pay a monthly price and can rent 6 items each month. It’s operated by the parent company of Urban Outfitters, Free People, and Anthropologie, but they have stuff from other brands too. I got a fancy skirt, a trendy tank top, 3 pairs of cute and summer appropriate pants (and they all fit! and I’m 5’2”!) and a dress for an upcoming bridal shower. I hate shopping for anything besides basics because I know I’m only going to wear “trendy” clothes one or two times, so this is an economical and eco-friendly way to switch up your wardrobe.
- Jess
I made a version of this overnight french toast with a baguette I accidentally let go stale, and wow was it good. I’d forgotten what it’s like to wake up to a meal-prepped, ready-to-eat breakfast, and this one tasted like it came from a personal chef. Note to self to make meal planning a bigger priority in September.
- Jenni