☀️ Sunday Sharies: January 2023
Why have Sunday Scaries when you could read the Sunday Sharies? There’s a lot of stuff we’d like to share that won’t fit in our usual Thursday newsletter. Some of that stuff is here. Read on for a special monthly collection of podcast, book, and miscellaneous other recs from your trusty Double Take duo.
— Jess Spoll and Jenni Cullen
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Jenni: The Off Menu podcast with comedians James Acaster and Ed Gamble never fails to make me happy (and hungry), and it’s finally back with new episodes. Each week James and Ed invite a special guest into their “magical restaurant” to choose a favorite starter, main, side dish, dessert, and drink — all the while chitchatting, making jokes, and telling stories. It’s an all-around pleasant experience.
I’ve also rekindled my love for the Swet Shop Boys recently. The songs Sufi La, Birding, Aaja, and T5 are all permanently on my running playlist.
Jess: My current fixation is with Zach Bryan’s new song “Dawns”, featuring Maggie Rogers. The combination of Bryan’s rough-edged vocals and Rogers’s smooth and spiritual sound provides a transcendental experience.
I’m also very excited about the upcoming Daisy Jones and the Six TV adaptation, and it was my lucky day when they released a full recording of one of the fictional band’s songs on Friday: Regret Me.
Jenni: I’ve had an eclectic book month. In January so far, I’ve finished The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley (3/5 stars), Let Me Tell You What I Mean by Joan Didion (4/5 stars), and an embarrassingly long, over 800-page(!) Harry Potter fanfic — for science — (1.5/5 stars). I’m currently working on I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy and The Horse, the Wheel, and Language by David W. Anthony.
If you’re in the mood for a thriller/mystery, give The Paris Apartment a try. It’s a little Only Murders in the Building-esque and a decently fun read. If you like dry, smart essays, Joan Didion’s your gal. And if you are have ever “shipped” Dramione…well, I would urge you to reconsider.
Jess: January’s book club pick was Jennette McCurdy’s memoir, I’m Glad My Mom Died. A quick read while still well-written, this shed light on how exploitative the entertainment industry can be for children/young adults. (PS I didn’t know that Jenni was also reading this until I read her blurb here).
Our next book club pick is Wrong Place Wrong Time, and I got an early jump on it; it’s a little more Russian Doll than Big Little Lies, and I thought it was a fun twist on the normal whodunnit puzzle-box thrillers.
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, a coming-of-age novel about friendship and love and achieving your dreams, was my favorite of my January reads.
Jenni: It’s soup season, baby. My favorite comfort food soup of all time might be the simple ribollita. It’s a tuscan white bean, kale, and tomato soup, thickened with hunks of crusty bread and parmesan. I make it every year, multiple times a year and I’m making it tonight. If you’re feeling the need for a “stick-to-the-ribs” vegetarian kind of dish at any point this winter, ribollita’s the move.
Jess: So I haven’t made anything that hasn’t come from Blue Apron in about a month, but I did recently get really into Justine Snacks’s videos on IG, and she’s got a great newsletter to go with it. I appreciate her emphasis on both healthy foods and comfort foods, and she’s an incredibly thoughtful narrator.
Jenni: Finally finally got around to watching The Bear on Hulu. I know I’m a full year late, but in the off chance you haven’t seen it yet, I would second Jess’s original recommendation of the series!
Jess: The turn of the new year was a bit slow for new TV, so I tried to use this month to catch up on shows that have been on my to-watch list for many years, but that I’ve never managed to get around to.
I’m halfway through the 3 season run of Happy Endings, a sitcom that aired on ABC from 2011-2013 (now on Hulu). It’s an ensemble comedy with similar vibes to Friends, How I Met Your Mother, and New Girl, and I’m enjoying it, although it probably won’t end up on my unofficial ‘best sitcoms of all time’ list.
I’m also catching up on You, the soapy thriller on Netflix starring Penn Badgley as a bookstore manager who moonlights as a serial killer. It’s pretty much exactly what I expected: not life-changing, ultimately not that memorable, but a very engaging show to watch while passing time on the treadmill. Note for fans: the 4th season premieres February 9.