What I've been watching and reading

TV Shows:

I started watching BBC's Sherlock several months ago. I was completely enraptured. I think it's one of the best shows I've seen. There aren't very many episodes, and even though they're 90 minutes long each, it didn't take very long for me to watch all 6 of them. I was sad when I was done. I've seen stuff on Facebook and Pinterest about Doctor Who, and I know a couple of people who are devoted fans. I was hesitant to watch it, because what I had heard of it sounded weird and nerdy.

In desperation for something to get me through my Sherlock withdrawals, I asked a trusted friend if she had watched Doctor Who and what she thought of it. Her words: "Once you get past the weird crap, and aliens eating people, I kinda liked it." Then she told me about her crush on David Tennant (who plays the Doctor for 3 seasons) and how she's in mourning over him not being the Doctor anymore, and I just had to see what all the fuss was about.

So, over the last 4 months or so, I've been watching Doctor Who while I run on the treadmill, and yes. Once you get past the weird crap, and aliens eating people, I kinda like it. I actually really like it. I don't like aliens and all of that, but I LURVE the Doctor, especially David Tennant as the Doctor. There is a good reason that this show has been on the air for 50 years- there's something weird and unexplainable that sucks you in. It's not the aliens, because they're gross. It's the adorable Doctor and his friends that make you care about them. Endure the 1st season (of the new Doctor Who, which starts in 2005), which is campy and weird, but you get to know the premise and characters; then the 2nd season is when it starts getting good, and when you start looking up David Tennant on Wikipedia to see if he's married. It gets better and better as the seasons pass, I assure you.

Nils and I have been watching Friday Night Lights for a year or so, and we're almost done with the series. It's EXCELLENT. Trust me. It seems like it's about football, but it's not really.

We need something else to watch, so if you have any suggestions, feel free to pass them along- and yes, we have watched Downton Abbey. Dang that Matthew.

Books:

"Stoner" by John Williams. It's about a college professer and his ordinary, kind of sad life, but I didn't find the book sad. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The writing is fantastic. No, he's not a stoner. That's his last name, silly.

"Life of Pi" by Yann Martel. I listened to this book, which I recommend, as the narrator does a fantastic job. I really enjoyed it. Read the book before you see the movie.

"The Secret Keeper" by Kate Morton. Very good, mysterious story, and a very commendable twist at the end. It's in keeping with her other books, set in England, goes back and forth between the past and present.

"The Distant Hours" by Kate Morton. Ditto to the above. Good book.

"The House at Riverton" by Kate Morton. I didn't really like this one. When I was 300 pages into it, I started wondering when something was going to happen. Just lots of lamenting, fretting about the past, blah blah blah. Then the book finally ends, and the big "twist" is really anti-climatic.

"Ready Player One" by Ernest Cline. I listened to this one- a lot of language, including the f-bomb, but the story is quite compelling. Set in the future, where the world is basically in shambles- people spend their whole lives in virtual reality to escape it. There's a contest, a teenage kid wins... the story of how he does it. It's really nerdy and video-game centered, but it's an interesting commentary on obsession with the online world.

"The Red Prophet" by Orson Scott Card. This is the second book on the "Alvin Maker" series. I listened to this one, as well. It was pretty good. Nils has finished this series and really liked it. I'd recommend listening to them, as I find reading them pretty tedious. The narrators definitely help with that.

Feel free to send along any book recommendations as well. I like lots of genres, just no vampires, por favor.