As I ease back into writing more frequently here at Playdate Crashers, I figured an easy thing to do that would update you on my state of mind and being these days is to tell you what things I’m listening to, reading, and watching. I’m a big consumer of media, whether on TV, the printed word, or the Internet, which you may or may not know about me. I consider myself somewhat of an early adopter but with the terrible Internet situation we’ve been in for several years, I’ve fallen behind on a few things. It’s nice getting caught up with the rest of society! Anyway, here’s my first installment of Listen-Read-Watch!
Listen
I’ve been a podcast fan for many years. I listened to Pregtastic podcast while pregnant with Miles, Manic Mommies for awhile when I was a SAHM, and other shows from time to time. The week of Thanksgiving, I decided to give a podcast a try that I’d heard about somewhere on the Internet, probably BuzzFeed. So I downloaded the first episode of Serial on a day that I was home sick from work and was instantly hooked. I called my husband and said “You HAVE to listen to this first episode so that we can listen to the rest while we’re in the car traveling for Thanksgiving!” So we did.
If you’re not familiar with it, Serial is a podcast by the producers of This American Life. It’s a story told over multiples weeks/episodes. This is the first season and the story told by Sarah Koenig, the host, is a true crime story of a high school student, Hae Min Lee, who was killed one day after school in 1999. Her ex-boyfriend, Adnan Syed, was convicted of first degree murder but maintains his innocence while serving a life sentence in a Maryland prison. It’s fascinating and so easy to find yourself mesmerized by Koenig’s telling of this tragic story. You can get completely wrapped up in the details – was there a payphone at Best Buy? Was the Nisha call a butt-dial? Will we ever know if Adnan really did it? The last of the twelve episodes aired this morning, so if you don’t like to wait in between episodes, you can now binge-listen to them all at once on the website or via iTunes.
In addition to Serial, I’ve also been listening to various Serial-related podcasts (yes, podcasts about a podcast about a murder) for more analysis. These shows have made my work commute so much more entertaining and I’m going to miss it! I’m excited to hear what Sarah Koenig will do for Season 2 of Serial!
Read
In 2012, I had a goal to read 50 books, which I surpassed by about a dozen books. Last year I read 53 books, and this year I have read 30 books, with a few more in progress. It would have been more, but I picked some duds that I gave up on after a few chapters.
This year I read a mix of YA and Adult Fiction, with a focus on reading books before the movies came out this year. I’m currently reading * by Dave Eggers and by Stephen King.
A few notable mentions of my favorites from this year: by Scott Westerfeld (YA Fiction), by Neal Shusterman (YA Fiction series-ender), and by Piper Kerman (Memoir).
*If you click the above links and purchase from Amazon, I get a small percentage of the sale to support the blog!
Watch
With our new Internet, I’ve rediscovered my love for Netflix! Brandon and I have been watching Rectify (recommended for fans of Serial), Black Mirror (kind of like a rebooted Twilight Zone all about technology and society), and I’ve also been watching The Killing. Other than that, we’ve been watching Master Chef and Master Chef Junior in addition to Parenthood, Modern Family, and The Middle.
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