The World's Common Tater

Last week was a travel week. A trip to Kentucky generally means fewer movies, a little TV, and more reading.

Movies

I only saw parts of movies that were on in the background while I read and wasted time online. The only one I can remember is Dr. Strange. I realized I don’t remember anything about the movie and his origin story.

TV

While my wife and kids played cards with my MIL I started watching Maggie on Hulu. Maggie is about a psychic whose life gets complicated when she starts having visions of herself in someone else’s future. It is a nice, easy 30-minute show. It has a good cast, kept me interested, and made me laugh.

I watched the first two episodes of Ozark on the drive back to Maryland since my brother keeps telling me how good it is. The first two episodes were very good. I guess I know what I will be watching while I’m home alone for a week.

We watched several episodes of 8 Out of Ten Cats Does Countdown on Youtube yesterday. I was planning to read while it was on, but, as usual, the British humor pulled me in. The actual Countdown game is hard, especially the math part.

We have caught up on Hotel Portofino. I enjoy it, but sometimes I forget who is who and it confuses me.

Books

I finished two books.

We Regret To Inform You by Ariel Kaplan – Mischa Abramavicius seems to be the perfect candidate for college admissions. High GPA, high SAT, plenty of extracurriculars, etc. When she is rejected by every college, even her safety school, she is shocked. As she investigates why she was rejected she finds something that will shake the community of Blanchard Prep.

This was a decent YA book even though there were several holes in the plot. It has the standard YA tropes: poor girl bullied by a rich girl at fancy school, secretly in love with your best friend, a kid being pressured to do what their parent want over what they want, etc. Given all of that, it was still an enjoyable way to spend a couple of days,

This Is Not a Test by Courtney Summers – A YA zombie novel. When the zombie apocalypse begins, six students take cover in their high school. The typical drama ensues.

Typical drama, but Summers is a fantastic author and does it so well. One teen blames another for the death of his parents. One wouldn’t be sad to be eaten by the zombies. A stoner becomes the unlikely leader. Don’t get too attached to anyone. Summers isn’t afraid to break your heart. This was a very good book. I recommend pretty much everything she has written.

On Deck

As I said above, I will be watching Ozark once my family abandons me tomorrow.

I will also catch up on Dark Winds on AMC.

Movies will depend on what I find streaming or on the movie channels when I am in a movie mood.

I am currently reading Tell Me an Ending by Jo Harkin.