BOOKS
A Quiet Life in the Country by T E Kinsley
This book is like a soothing balm. If you're looking for a cozy British mystery to dive into, look no further than this gentle, funny book featuring the adventures of Lady Hardcastle and her dedicated lady maid (and friend), Flo. A Quiet Life in the Country is incredibly charming and hilarious. I found myself reaching for the book whenever I had a spare minute. The best part? It's part of a series! Book Two is available now (I'm currently reading this one, and so far it's just as good as the first), and Book Three is due to be released later this year.
Flâneur: The Art of Wandering the Streets of Paris
Since learning about them in college art history classes, I've been fascinated by the Surrealists and their ideas around urban environments, man's place in the city, and how to live authentically. Flâneur is really a fancy way of saying "aimless wandering." It is both intentional and random, and its goals don't make themselves apparent until after the walking is done. I love this idea - of discovering, at random, the treasures that our cities offer to us. It's something many of us do on vacation, but rarely do at home. This book is unusual in its setup. Each odd chapter is fiction, while each even chapter is nonfiction and delves into the history of the flâneur in Paris. The result is a fascinating look at how our habits, environments and activities shape and inform us.
MUSIC
"Y" by iamamiwhoami
I'm a big fan of iamamiwhoami's dreamy electro-pop aesthetic. Even though some of their songs fall on the "miss" rather than "hit" side for me, I have a huge amount of respect for their commitment to experimentation and creative output. Plus, all of their videos are EPIC. Lately, this song has been on heavy rotation in my apartment. All of iamamiwhoami's music feels expansive and cold and tinged with a hint of darkness, which feels just about perfect for this time of year.
"Liquid Love" by Roy Ayers
Sometimes you just want a nasty groove. Count on Roy Ayers to deliver.
TV/FILMS
The Autopsy of Jane Doe
You may not know this, but I'm a huge horror fan. In fact, I blog about horror (a project you can check out here), and pretty much every weekend you can find me watching a scary film. At this point in the game, it's pretty hard to freak me out, but The Autopsy of Jane Doe delivered. I was SCARED. Like, peeking through my fingers scared. It was good fun!
I'm also a huge sci-fi fan, and had been hearing rumblings about The Expanse since last year when it debuted on SyFy. Well, I've finally gotten a chance to sit down and watch it, and I'm completely hooked. The storyline is riveting, the acting is fantastic, and the diversity, strong female characters, and bold vision of what our future could potentially look like makes me weak in the knees. This is the best in science fiction television since the reboot of Battlestar Galactica.
OTHER
I love this recipe for cooking the perfect chicken breast (it works!); Wine Folly has released their 2017 Wine Buying Guide; Indivisible offers some actionable and practical ways to protest Trump's agenda; while we're at it ProPublica is a great resource for independent journalism; and if you need a little sparkle and smile in your life, check out #optimisticchallenge on Twitter.
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