Jen V’s October Recs

I’m so sorry for missing September, my life has just been hectic and so this wee update fell down the priority list! Jenn D visited which was the real highlight, but other than that I felt like I didn’t actually have enough free time to do anything. End of year vibes! But nevermind, here’s what I’ve got:

TV:

Welcome to Wrexham: This is a great docu series that follows Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds after they bought a fifth tier football team, Wrexham AFC. I love that it gives you a real sense of what this team means to this small Welsh town, and how it’s actually bigger than football. I also really relate to Ryan’s complete confusion 99% of the time because I, too, do not understand football. It’s like a real life Ted Lasso. Highly recommend for a chill watching time.

The Bear: Jenn D recommended this to me and then I watched all of it in a weekend, as you do. Absolutely hectic kitchen vibes but it felt very true to life and Jeremy Allen White is just incredible as Carmy. I love him, your honour. Highly recommend if you don’t mind loads of swearing and anxiety.

Rings of Power: I want to make it clear that I am not recommending this, merely acknowledging that I watched it. And hated it. And will not be watching season two because it infuriates me that it can be so beautiful and yet be so terrible. H o w. It’s so confused as to who its audience is and everything is so depressingly flat. Stop copying dialogue word for word from the films and making it WORSE. What is wrong with you?? UGH.

House of the Dragon: On the flip side, we have this deeply compelling political story with flawed characters a plenty. By far the superior fantasy offering this season, if we skip over the horrible birth trauma they keep shoehorning in. Great intrigue, incredible cast chemistry, great looking dragons – honestly just 10s across the board from me. Matt Smith is giving his all as everyone’s favourite war criminal. I was genuinely looking forward to each new episode and it delights me that it seems to be rehabbing Game of Thrones’ last season. I love watching people who aren’t normally into fandoms get really into fandoms, and GoT really gets people going.

Books:

Sea of Tranquillity by Emily St John – This gave me strong Cloud Atlas vibes. It’s told in a similar nested time structure and deals with big questions, time-travel and simulation theory. It’s a lush, beautifully written novel but it also directly references the Covid Pandemic which, I have to admit, I do not want to read about. A great read.

Greta and Valdin by Rebecca K Reilly – This is a gorgeous Kiwi novel that follows a brother and sister as they try to make sense of the world, and themselves. It has a wonderful pace and flow and just feels like a true joy to read, while also being deeply relatable for anyone who has felt the sting of lost ambition, true heartbreak or even just struggled to know who they were in their 20s (aka all of us).

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner – This is a moving memoir that deals with the author’s relationship with her mother, after her mother’s death. It’s brutally honest and deeply tender, set alongside wonderful descriptions of food as a cultural touchstone. Just beautiful. Both the mother-daughter relationship and the cultural alienation touched me deeply, and honestly made me cry at one point. That doesn’t happen often with books.

Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson – One of our pod listeners (hi Nic!) actually recommended this to me and what a great read! As someone who grew up devouring Nancy Drew novels, I love a good teenage detective murder mystery. This was a really compelling read but I will say, the open-ended ending is a bit annoying. I knew it was a series but thought each book would have a standalone mystery – and in a way it does, but it’s also obviously a long arc… like the Rivers of London series! So now I’m going to have to read the rest of them. Sigh.

Gearbreakers by Zoe Hana Mikuta – I had heard such good things about this and I was looking forward to reading it… but it just wasn’t for me. It’s unfortunately just the kind of YA that doesn’t really work for me – there’s too much reiteration of intent and reason and I find it infuriating to constantly be told why things are happening. Also, love triangle, pet hate, not into it. Cool premise and strong, interesting female characters so I can understand why people love it.

Greywaren by Maggie Stiefvater – You know that scene in the Lord of the Rings when they get to Lothlorien and the elves are singing a lament for Gandalf, and Merry asks Legolas what they’re saying about him, and Legolas says, “I have not the heart to tell you. For me the grief is still too near.” That’s how I feel about this book. This series. Suffice to say it was everything I wanted. It hurt so much reading it. It hurt so much when it was done. If I loved it less, maybe I could talk about it more.

Music:

Only got Betty Who for you this month! Give it a listen!

Also, Maggie Stiefvater released a chapter-by-chapter playlist for Greywaren which I then immediately turned into a playlist, you can find it here.

That’s it from me! My November is looking hectic already but I’ll do my best not to miss another month!