The World's Common Tater

It was another slow reading week for me. I’m hoping that changes with my new collection of books from the library. I would like for my reading time and my screen time to at least be equal.

Movies

I tried to watch a movie with my wife and daughter Saturday night. Instead, I slept on the couch while they watched A Castle for Christmas with Brooke Shields and Cary Elwes.

She’s an American author who goes to Scotland amid controversy over her decision to kill a character in her books. Elwes is a grumpy Duke who owns the nearby castle. Shields has a family connection to the castle and decides she wants to buy it. Your typical Hallmark holiday movie, but on Netflix.

TV

I watched all of our saved episodes of Home Economics with my daughter. It is a consistently funny show. My daughter hates to watch people being awkward and embarrassing so she spends a lot of time covering her face during the show. There is a lot of that.

We finished the Great British Baking Show. I was pleased with the final three and the winner.

I decided I didn’t really care about what was happening on Queens and removed it from my DVR.

I watched the season finale of Chucky. It was a much better show than I expected. I’m glad there will be a second season.

We watched the final two episodes of La Brea. I feel better about the ridiculousness of the show now that I’ve read interviews with the creator and realize he is aware and OK with it. Intentional ridiculousness is good with me. I’m curious what they will do with season 2.

I watched the penultimate episode of possibly the only season of The Big Leap. I was surprised they actually let a character die instead of finding a last-minute miracle to keep them alive. Still my favorite new show.

I watched all of the usual shows I watch alone: Fear the Walking Dead, Walking Dead: World Beyond, Masked Singer. Survivor, The Goldbergs, The Wonder Years, Million Little Things, and Day of the Dead.

Books

I once again managed to only read one book this week.

Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune – When a reaper comes to collect Wallace Price from his own funeral, Wallace suspects he might really be dead. Mei, the reaper, takes Wallace to Hugo, the owner of a tea shop in a small town. Hugo is a ferryman who helps people cross over. Wallace is not ready to cross and spends time at the tea shop with Hugo, Mei, and the ghosts of Hugo’s dog and grandfather. In death, Wallace finally learns what it means to truly live.

In theory, this is a good book. I enjoyed large parts of it while reading it. I liked Nelson, the grandfather, a lot. The parts with him teaching Wallace to be a ghost are good. As soon as I stopped reading, though, I had no desire to start again. I should have just quit, but I loved his first book so much I wanted to keep giving it a chance. Wallace and Hugo are too similar to the characters in Cerulean Sea. Everything was a little too perfect. The ending was the typical contrived, Hollywood happy ending. It was a disappointment.

On Deck

I have F9 on DVD. My wife loves the Fast and Furious movies, so we will likely watch that tonight. We also still have Snake Eyes and The Protege on DVD.

I need to watch the first two episodes of Hawkeye to catch up with my family.

The season finale of Fear the Walking Dead is on Sunday night.

The series finale of Walking Dead: World Beyond is also Sunday night. I’m hoping for a big Rick reveal to make it worthwhile.

I am reading Where the Truth Lies by Anna Bailey.

I am also reading The Comfort Book by Matt Haig a little each day.