playing catchup before the end of the year

some november & december favorites

Samantha Dockser

Dec 16, 2024

Is it February 16th yet?! ICYMI, the trailer dropped today for The White Lotus Season 3! 🪷

If you’re looking to speed up time until then, here are eight books that have all the twisty vacation vibes you love:

The Fury by Alex Michaelides
The Astrology House by Carinn Jade
One Perfect Couple by Ruth Ware
You’re Invited by Amanda Jayatissa
Shiver by Allie Reynolds
The Chateau by Jaclyn Goldis
The Villa by Rachel Hawkins
The Resort by Sara Ochs
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Reading Lately

Between work and pleasure, I’ve pretty much had an audiobook in my ear or a physical book in my hand at all times the last couple months. Not mad about it.

Her are five books that will give you hope for humanity

Iona Iverson’s Rules for Commuting by Clare Pooley
Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano
The Measure by Nikki Erlick
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams

My November & December (so far) Book Recommendations

Here are eight books I read recently that I highly recommend. There’s a little something for every mood. Holiday romance, existential crises, twisty thrillers, and family drama…

Rental House by Weike Wang — a portrait of marriage through the lens of family vacations in rental homes
Love You a Latke by Amanda Elliot — an adorable Hanukkah romance, an especially great read if you loved Nobody Wants This on Netflix
The Paris Widow by Kimberly Belle — a dream vacation turns deadly when secrets from the past catch up to a married couple in Paris
Like Mother, Like Mother by Susan Rieger — a story of three generations of strong-willed women, unknowingly shaped by the secrets buried in their family’s past
Everyone in This Room Will Someday be Dead by Emily Austin — as someone with anxiety, reading this book truly felt like having a panic attack. But in a good way I think?
Count My Lies by Sophie Stava (out 3/4) — I read this thriller in one sitting on a plane and a flight has never gone by faster. Think The Talented Mr. Ripley if he was a Swiftie
The Order of Things by Sarah Gormley — a must read for everyone who feels like the things in their life aren’t happening how or when they expected them too. And for anyone who has lost a parent or watched a parent lose a parent to cancer
A Winter Wish by Emily Stone — all the feel good emotional holiday vibes

Watching Lately

Wicked Part 1

In 2004, my great-grandmother took me and my family to see the original broadway cast of Wicked — starring Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth — and it fully changed my life. And before seeing Wicked, I was a child obsessed with the Wizard of Oz.

So for Wicked to be brought to life on the big screen and fully in the mainstream…I am just absolutely overcome with joy. I went into the film with high expectations and let me tell you, I would have sat there for another 3 hours and watched it roll right into part 2. I LOVED it. When it ended, my mother and I — I saw the film with my parents, fitting — were a puddle of tears. Say whatever you like, I thought it was beautiful.

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The Six Triple Eight

I had the honor of attending the world premiere for Tyler Perry’s new Netflix film, The Six Triple Eight, starring Kerry Washington. The film tells the inspiring true story of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, the only Women’s Army Corps unit of color stationed overseas during World War II.

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