🍁 Sunday Sharies: November 2024

Some good fall reads, a crowd-pleasing soup recipe, & several movie recs!

November is over, and you know what that means. There’s a lot of stuff we’d like to share that won’t fit in our usual Thursday TV newsletter. Some of that stuff is here. Read on for a special monthly peek into what your trusty Double Take duo has been watching, reading, listening to, and more.

— Jenni Cullen and Jess Spoll

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Jenni: A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine is everything I hoped The Goblin Emperor would be. It’s a political space opera meets murder mystery in which an ambassador arrives to her new post on a central planet only to discover that her predecessor—the previous ambassador from their small but independent mining Station—has died. Even though foul play seems obvious, no one will admit that the death wasn't an accident, and the new ambassador is thrust into the machinations of a dangerous court during a time of political instability. The novel is clever and well crafted, but I will warn that the style of storytelling uses a LOT of dialogue and internal monologue. Because the intrigue and overall mystery were still gripping, that didn’t turn me off, but it did make the reading process much slower. (3.75/5 stars)

I also read Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez this month, a slow-burn romance that centers on a recently divorced ER physician and a kind, but awkward new doctor at her hospital. It’s a charming and sweet romcom that starts out incredibly strong but takes a turn for the worse with just 100-or-so pages to go. I don’t want to spoil anything, but suffice it to say I really did not like the ending and thought it dragged out quite a bit. Rating this one was hard, because I had such a good time with the rest of the book but felt so let down by the end. (3/5 stars)

In the weeks before Thanksgiving, I started Bear by Julia Phillips and Red Rising by Pierce Brown—both on recommendations from friends. Very different vibes so far, but I’m tentatively enjoying both.

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Jess: I was holding onto the final dregs of spooky season early in November and checked out two recent horror novels. The Eyes are the Best Part is Monika Kim’s debut, and for a first time author, I was impressed; she writes with a distinct POV and nails the descriptive prose found in body horror. But while the underlying message was powerful, the plot itself was weak, and I think the story would’ve worked better in short form. (3.5/5 stars)

Incidents Around the House by Bird Box author Josh Malerman was a bit of a dud for me. Frustratingly repetitive and full of long-winded monologuing, it almost displays an interesting perspective on parenthood but then doesn’t develop it. And although I saw some readers praising it for inducing nightmares, I found it to be barely scary at all. (2/5 stars)

Fitting for my trip to Hawaii, I spent my last few days there reading Lies and Weddings by Kevin Kwan, a romcom meets social satire with similar vibes to his mega-hit Crazy Rich Asians. With its descriptions of opulence and dazzling parties and locales, it’s hard to have a bad time, but the plot is meandering and the whole thing could have been about 100 pages shorter. (3/5 stars)

After hearing a lot of hype over the summer, I was excited to pick up this month’s book club selection, The Wedding People by Alison Espach. More character-driven than plot-driven, the basic premise is that this woman at rock bottom stays at a hotel where a wedding is taking place, and she ends up befriending the bride. It doesn’t sound like much, but the characters are dynamic and Espach’s writing is candid and relatable. Similar to last month’s The God of the Woods, I think the hype around this set my expectations too high, and while I found it charming, I wish it hit harder. (3.5/5 stars)

Zero Stars, Do Not Recommend is compared in its blurb to The White Lotus—one of my all time favorite shows—so of course I had to read it. Much to my disappointment, it was barely like The White Lotus, other than also featuring rich people on an island who behave poorly. The “humor” is less witty satire and more eye-roll-inducing dad jokes, featuring lines like “she gasped so much, they should have called her The Great Gaspby.” Even when the stakes are supposedly high, it feels silly, and the main character is the lamest man you’ve ever read. The social commentary is obvious, but the speculative fiction aspects were at least somewhat entertaining. (2/5 stars)

And I’m finally reading Fourth Wing but I’m not finished yet, so come back to the December Sunday Sharies for my thoughts!

Jess: I’ve seen Wicked twice already, and I’m looking forward to watching it again soon. It fully surpassed my expectations—which were admittedly rather low—and has firmly planted itself in my brain so that I have to find a way to focus in-between “Dancing Through Life” verses echoing endlessly inside my head. If you want to hear my and Jenni’s in-depth thoughts about the movie, head over to the most recent episode of the Double Take podcast.

Earlier this month, Netflix invited me to participate in their press junket for their current slate of original Christmas movies, which was very exciting to me as a millennial who adored Lindsay Lohan and Chad Michael Murray in the 00s. To prep, I spent a day watching all 4 new films back to back, and that was… an experience. Obviously, you have to go into these with expectations of corny cheer and/or escapism, and while none of them are likely to enter my permanent holiday movie rotation, they were all mostly enjoyable.

• Our Little Secret was my favorite of the bunch, with The Family Stone vibes and fun appearances by Kristin Chenoweth and Tim Meadows. Lindsay Lohan and Ian Harding (Ezra from Pretty Little Liars) have very little chemistry, but it works well enough as a comedy. (3/5 stars)