Hello hello! Happy March! Oscars next weekend! Here’s a recap of my week:
Things I Read
Books
If you’re looking for a book to read, try this list of contemporary romance recs, this list of other fiction recs, or this list of non-fiction recs. I also track everything I read on Goodreads.
I have nothing to report here as I don’t think I picked up a book a single time this week. Oof.
Articles
No I’m not joking I did not read a single thing this week.
Things I Watched
TV
If you’re looking for a show to watch, try this list.
Expats (Prime Video): This is a show about three women living in Hong Kong who are all connected by a tragic event. I was extremely into this after two episodes, and then it devolved so much in the next two episodes that I don’t even care to finish. I don’t understand the point? The plot is not going anywhere and it’s spending a lot of time focused on things I don’t care about. I also expected this to showcase Hong Kong a lot more given the name of the show, but this literally could be set in LA for how much it’s highlighted any of the culture. This is created by Lulu Wang, who made a movie called The Farewell a few years ago that I loved, so I had high hopes for this! I will say, it’s visually gorgeous and I loved the music. But I’m so uninvested in the story that I don’t even care enough to finish.
Survivor (CBS/Paramount+): Time for my twice annual rant about how you all should be watching this show! Season 46 premiered this week. How many different ways can I say this? You need to get on board. Pick a pre-40 season to watch (season 33 is currently on Netflix and would be a great place to start), and then once you’re invested just go back to the beginning. It’s best to go in order so you know who everyone is in the seasons with returning players, but theres also tons of lists online that suggest the best order to watch (like this one). Alternatively, start watching season 46 now! Though I do think it’s better if you know the lore. Either way, everyone come over here, its very fun. I’ve seen every episode and I’ll never stop watching this.
Movies
Fresh (Hulu): Something reminded me of this movie I loved a couple years ago, so I watched it again this week. It still rules. I love this. It stars Daisy Edgar Jones and Sebastian Stan as two people who have a meet cute at a grocery store, and then things go very, very wrong. This is stressful and tense and gets pretty gory and gross, but I think its so fun to watch. Even knowing where it was going, I had a great time. I cannot emphasize enough that this movie gets GROSS, but I highly recommend.
How We Get Free (Max): This is a ~30 minute documentary short about Elisabeth Epps, who is the Founder and Director of a bail fund in Colorado, and also a representative in the Colorado State Legislature (representing the district where my parents live!). I have so much respect for her, I would honestly watch a full length documentary about her and her work. This documentary is a good intro to prison abolition and cash bail and this kind of advocacy. A good watch.
Things I Bought
You can read about my full skincare routine and favorite products here. If you need a sunscreen recommendation, try this list.
Naturium Cleansing Balm: A cleansing balm is my favorite way to remove make up, and this is about to unseat Farmacy Green Clean as my favorite one. Naturium is one of my favorite drug store brands— every product I have tried from this brand is excellent and it’s all such a good price. This cleansing balm is just as good as many of the higher end ones I’ve tried. It’s very popular so it’s often sold out, so anytime I see it in the store I grab two. You can buy Naturium products at Target.
One Last Thing…
New Sally Rooney coming in September!!! I love her, I’m so excited.
That’s it for me! This week I’m going to finally (FINALLY) watch Oppenheimer. I hope you all have a good week.
TTYL,
Emily
Let me help you out with Expats because I did finish it.
It never evolved. Nothing got resolved. And I hated Nicole Kidman in this. She was kind of a dud for me.
Suggestion for you...have you watched the One Day series on Netflix yet? Apparently there's a book and a movie that came first, but now it's a series and Twitter is ABLAZE with commentary about it. I watched it a couple weeks ago and was absolutely torn up by the whole thing. I mourned for a week after finishing it! Leo Woodall was incredible in the series.