My time away over the holidays did not have much TV and movies, but I did manage to read three books. The hope is that my reading will continue at a nice pace and my screen time doesn’t increase too much. Here’s what I watched and read.

Movies – I have not watched a new movie in a while. I’m pretty sure the only two movies I’ve watched in the last month are Elf and Miracle on 34th Street. It’s possible I had another old movie on in the background while reading at my mother-in-law’s house, but if so, I couldn’t tell you what it was. I did enjoy my regular Christmas movies.

Television – While I was away, the only time I watched TV was to watch sports or for background noise while I was reading. I have watched two new shows since I’ve been back this week. My daughter found the show Derry Girls on Netflix and liked it so much she insisted we watch it with her. I was leery, but I ended up really liking it. It’s funny and with six 30 minute episodes, it’s easy to finish quickly. I would recommend it. We also watched The Masked Singer. It is a really weird show where famous people wear elaborate costumes to hide their identity, sing in front of judges and are unmasked when they are eliminated. It isn’t something I should like, but it is oddly compelling and I think I will keep watching. The “judges” are terrible but I like Nick Cannon as the host and I like the mystery aspect and guessing who is behind the mask.

Books – I read three books over the break. Iron Flower by Laurie Forrest is the sequel to The Black Witch. I loved The Black Witch. Iron Flower was OK but really felt like 500 pages of set up for a third book. I hate that. Elevation by Stephen King was a Christmas gift I knew nothing about it and was surprised when I saw how small it was. It is a weird little story of a man who is losing weight(but not mass) and his life in Castle Rock. I liked it even though it was not what I expected from King. I also got The Outsider by King for Christmas. It is the normal big, 500 page King book. There is a murder of a kid and a respected baseball coach is arrested. There is plenty of witness and DNA evidence that he did it, but also witnesses and evidence that prove he was in a different city when the murder occurred. Midway through the book, a character from the Mr. Mercedes series shows up and becomes part of the story. I really enjoyed this one.

On Deck – I’m reading Dark Sacred Night by Michael Connelly. I think Connelly is one of the best mystery authors around these days. I love his books. I got four movies all at once from the library: Mission Impossible: Fallout, Equalizer 2, Smallfoot, and The House With a Clock in the Wall. I think we will end up only watching the first two. I’m really happy about the return of Brooklyn 99 this week and will be trying the new comedy Fam as well. We will probably also watch America’s Got Talent: Champions. I like a lot of the acts who are returning and I think Terry Crews will be very good as the host.

This has been a little more productive than other weeks in viewing and reading. I’m still too close to missing my 100 books goal. I need to read a lot on my Christmas vacation. Is it OK to ignore my family and read more?

Books – I finished Holy Ghost by John Sandford, the latest in the Virgil Flowers series. This is the 11th book in the Flowers series and there are even more Lucas Davenport books, but the quality has stayed very high. I really like the main characters and Sandford did a good job with the side characters in this one. I also like that it really is a mystery. It wasn’t until late in the book that the killer was revealed. I like a good thriller, but it’s fun to read a good mystery now and then.

TV – Nothing new on TV this week, so I will talk about how much I’ve liked this season of Survivor. I was leery of the David vs Goliath theme. Sometimes these themed versions don’t go well. This time they have a strong cast and some very entertaining tribal councils. I have no idea who is going to make it to the end and I would be OK with most of who is left in the game. I can see several of this cast being on the short list for any seasons with returning players.

Movies – We watched two movies this week. The first was Hotel Artemis, which was not exactly what I was expecting going in and was a little boring.  I stopped paying close attention early and I’m pretty sure I slept through a good portion of it. We also finally watched Crazy Rich Asians. I’ve been a fan of Constance Wu for a while now, so it’s no surprise that I loved her in this. It’s just as good as everyone said it was. Even my wife, the “I only like movies with explosions” person, like it.

On Deck – I’m reading On a Sunbeam by Tillie Walden, a hefty graphic novel that is taking me longer than expected. TV is wrapping up until after the holidays, but I have shows saved up to watch with my daughter. The Survivor finale is Wednesday, so she has to get caught up on that so we can watch. For movies, we have The Meg and Dog Days, two movies I don’t care about but my wife might like.

Another slow week for me. I’m almost positive I will not make my goal of 100 books read this year.There was a lull in movies from the library and nothing exciting on TV. I’m sure all of this makes you very excited to read the rest of the post.

Books – I finally finished one of my book club books, Walden on Wheels by Ken Ilgunas. Ilgunas writes about his quest to pay off his student loans and lead a debt free life. Part of this involves living in a van while going to grad school at Duke. It was an interesting story and it made me want to go on adventures, but I hated the author. I hated him more when I got the audio and listened to him read it. I would have cared more about his quest if he wasn’t such a dick about it. I also read Brave by  Svetlana Chmakova. I really like her books

TV – I didn’t watch anything new this week, so I will talk about the new series All American and a storyline I hope the resolve soon. The basic premise of the show is that a football player from Crenshaw is recruited to play at Beverly Hills High. He ends up having to live with the coach and his family in order to play. From the very beginning there are hints that the coach might actually be his dad. The coach’s daughter is attracted to him as well. So, now we have the story of possible accidental incest. A CW high school show really doesn’t need an accidental incest storyline. This show doesn’t need the intrigue. It’s fine as it is with the high school drama and conflict between his two worlds.

Movies – I did not watch any new movies this week. I did watch Lean on Me with Morgan Freeman while I was off for a snow day yesterday.

On Deck – I’m reading The Reckoning by John Grisham and continuing to read The Sparrow. I’m hoping to have Eighth Grade and The Spy Who Dumped Me over Thanksgiving.