I had been looking forward to the latest FBI spinoff titled CIA, simply because it's starring Tom Ellis, but apparently it's been pushed back to a midseason premiere. The Pitt also isn't coming back until January so I'm mainly waiting for winter.
Sunbunny: Hands down The God and the Gumiho by Sophie Kim. Juicy, romantic, supernatural crime drama. Think Buffy but set in South Korea. I can speak highly of the audiobook and I'm very picky about my narrators.
Mark Grieg: Only seen two new films this summer, Superman and Fantastic Four. Enjoyed both, but Superman was by far my favourite. Also only read two books, Charmed Life by Diana Wynne Jones and The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis. Out of the two I liked Charmed Life the most. The Magician's Nephew is a good origin story for the White Witch, but gets really boring once it moves onto the founding of Narnia.
On the TV front the only shows I've managed to keep up with are Peacemaker and Dandadan, I saw the first episode of Alien: Earth and fully intended to catch up, but other stuff keeps getting in the way. I did manage to make some progress with One Piece and finish off the first half of the series, although it was a struggle to complete the Marineford arc. I powered through next three arcs, but really need a break before starting the next arc, which is 118 episodes (and that isn't even the longest one). I was hoping I'd be all caught up by the end of the year but doubt that'll happen now.
Morella: Best book is a hard choice since I've been blazing through all of Discworld, but Reaper Man is still my favorite, at least so far, and I only have 10 books left out of 41.
Haven't been watching much as we were playing through the new 7 Days to Die stuff, although it's not a good patch so we quit that fairly quickly. Got talked into playing World of Warcraft again, and actually been enjoying it. My little goblin warlock and her army of demons has been my favorite of all my myriad of characters, mostly horde of course!
Billie Doux: I'm a big reader, but this summer it's been more about the television. Dexter: Resurrection, with only one more episode to go, has been phenomenal, one of their best seasons ever. I get now why Michael C. Hall agreed to come back; they've given him more to do with his acting range than ever before. Peter Dinklage and Uma Thurman have also been doing an exceptional job.
I've been less happy with the third season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, a show that I have unabashedly loved since it arrived. There have been several very good episodes, but there's a trend toward the fluffy that I am not liking. There are a couple more to go. They've been renewed for two more seasons and I will definitely keep watching and reviewing, but I will also actively hope for a change in the fluffy.
I have to thank Victoria again for getting me into a show -- Resident Alien, which features the amazing Alan Tudyk almost literally chewing the furniture as an alien hiding in a small town and masquerading as their local doctor. Its fourth and final season just aired, but because of weirdness in streaming, I'm still in season three.
Let's see. I watched all seven seasons of Younger this spring and summer, with Sutton Foster as a forty-year-old passing as 26 in her new post divorce publishing career. It wasn't what I would call a top flight show, but Foster was terrific, I enjoyed what the show was saying, and I liked how it ended. I also got through the first two seasons of Elsbeth, although I started to get tired of the formula -- Michael Emerson dropping by for much of season two as a villain was refreshing, though, and the season two finale was a delightful surprise. And thank you to Josie for turning me on to The Lazarus Project, Black Doves and Giri/Haji.
Finally, I have an HGTV recommendation: Bargain Block, featuring artist Keith Bynum and construction expert Evan Thomas. With the help of real estate expert Shea Hicks-Whitfield, Keith and Evan buy abandoned, trashed out houses in battered Detroit neighborhoods for very little, renovate and decorate them from the ground up, and sell them mostly to people who have never been able to afford a home before. What makes this show special is that Keith and Evan are a couple and that the homes they create are one of a kind, filled with thrifted furniture and Keith's amazing art that comes with the house.
At the beginning of the series, the two of them actually lived in the houses they were working on, taking one house after another on the same street, improving entire Detroit neighborhoods. It's almost like watching an HGTV love story. Sadly, the show was just cancelled after five seasons, and the final episodes are now airing. I hope they get another show. They deserve it.
Victoria Grossack: I have really enjoyed Resident Alien this summer, which I have been reviewing for Doux Reviews. I also watched The Good Doctor, which was pleasant, and reminded me a lot of House - not surprising as it's got a lot of the same production team.
My biggest, somewhat embarrassing indulgence, however, has been the rom com Marry Me, which I also reviewed but have rewatched several times. In fact, I just watched it again as I had a wasp sting on one of my feet and had to lie in bed to elevate the foot and take an antihistamine, which made me sleepy.
Mothra: I've been out of town for much of the summer, so I haven't watched much since wrapping up my Buffy rewatch. I did rewatch 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later in anticipation of 28 Years Later, which I still need to see.
As far as books go, I've been thoroughly enjoying The Scholar and the Last Faerie Door, by H.G. Parry. It is a mashup of Harry Potter and The Secret History, but I'm enjoying the familiarity despite a certain lack of originality. And I suppose that I'm always in the mood for a plucky underdog heroine battling forces of evil as well as institutions that are rigged against her.
ChrisB: In terms of television this summer, I went old school. Hulu now has EVERY episode of Law & Order. Or, at least every episode until the reboot. One of my all time favorites, I had been missing a lot of the middle seasons. Up to season six now and loving reliving the early years.
In terms of books, I discovered The Housemaid series when my library friend almost passed out when I told her I hadn’t read them. They remind me of Gone Girl and Girl on the Train, but it doesn’t matter. I read through the first one in a day. The others are just as good, but I forced myself to slow down. I love a book I can’t put down.
Mikey Heinrich: I'm really looking forward to the return of both Ghosts and Elsbeth this fall.
Lately life's been kind of sad and I've been comfort-bingeing Legends of Tomorrow to feel better. And then, because I'm a bit of a narcissist, I've been going back and re-reading my old reviews to see if I still agree with them. Which has been an interesting exercise. My main takeaway so far has been 'Holy Crap, did I use to overwrite. I mean, I still do, but those early reviews - Holy Crap. At one point Billie reached out and very kindly suggested that 'I, Ava' maybe didn't need 48 lengthy paragraphs of discussion (it did not :) ) Which is probably the best writing advice I've ever received. That memory will always make me smile.
Billie Doux: One of my favorite things about this site is seeing a good but inexperienced writer dive in and try, and just keep getting better and better. And I also remember at one point re-reading my oldest reviews and cringing. I daresay this is a common experience. :)
Mothra, I loved The Scholar and the Last Faerie Door!
ReplyDeleteI'm continuing my binge of The Great British Sewing Bee, which is finally available legally in the US.
I just started the season that aired 2021. They all lived in a bubble during filming; most people were still in full lockdowns. The first episode is sort of hilarious, because one of the judges (Patrick Grant, Saville Row master tailor, who is usually very restrained and decorous) can't stop giggling about the weirdest things. It reminds me of how weird all social interactions were when we emerged from our tiny caves.