Before we jump into this month in review, it occurred to me that I didn’t actually tell you all what I did pre-isolation in the last wrap up. I went to a few book tour events including Vroman’s in January for Tara Sim‘s Scavenge the Stars and Chevalier’s Books for Lanec Rubin‘s Crying, Laughing and in February, I ventured out to The Ripped Bodice for Becky Albertalli and Aisha Saeed‘s Yes No Maybe So. Finally, in March, I visited my family in Austin to celebrate my nephew’s second birthday. Which I didn’t realize was going to be my last big outing of the foreseeable future and I am so glad that being with family is the last thing I did in the outside world to have fun. We had a blast and I can’t wait to see them all again in person at some point.

Also, off topic but earlier in the month, my sister shared explore.org with me, which lets you watch wild animals and rescue animals live from all over the world. If that sounds like something you need to turn on during the day to de-stress, definitely try giving this a watch.

Okay, jumping into this month now! I feel like I’m missing a few titles here and there but if that’s the case, I’ll mention them in next month’s wrap up.

TV

Drama… How to Get Away With Murder (ABC) and Killing Eve (BBC America) were my main priorities of returning shows. Other than that, I wasn’t really feeling drama this month it seems. I didn’t watch anything else new/returning on this end. My laid off behind needed to laugh more than it needed murder this month it seems. But in May, I’ll be revising my manuscript, so for tone, I think I may end up watching more dramas next month? We’ll see. I have been slowly catching up on Black Lightning (The CW) and continue to watch weekly the shows that I am caught up on but that’s about it on the drama front.

Comedies… I forgot to mention that last month I also started watching Twenties on BET and I finally started watching Pen 15 (Hulu) which is absolutely phenomenal! What a concept. I love everything about Pen15 as I hoped I would. As for this month, Insecure (HBO) came back! I’m so glad this show is back! A friend got me into a Canadian comedy, Kim’s Convenience that we can watch via Netflix. It’s SO funny and has such a great cast of characters and really strong storylines. I started watching the new series, RUN on HBO which comes from the creatives minds of Fleabag, Killing Eve (Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Vicky Jones). I took a walk down memory lane and watched SNL (NBC) for the first time in years. I used to love Saturday Night Live and when I heard that the show was going to move forward with the show AT HOME, I knew I needed to come back and see how they were going to pull it off. I was very impressed and highly recommend checking out the at home episodes if you’re a fan or simply curious to see how comedy adapts. Mindy Kaling’s Never Have I Ever (Netflix) made its debut and I absolutely love it and I’m not saying that just because I’m a biased Mindy Kaling fangirl.

Documentaries… the 4 part series The Pharmacist (Netflix), about a pharmacist who sets out to find his son’s killer in the 9th ward of New Orleans was absolutely fantastic. They Gotta Have Us (Netflix) is a 3 part series about Black film post the Black Panther movement. It was interesting. I also caught Circus of Books (Netflix), also interesting. And A Secret Love (Netflix) which was honestly quite boring but there were some surprising things that happened throughout so that kept me tuned in. I also want to mention a comedy special worth watching, Robby Hoffman: I’m Nervous (Crave).

Movies

Onward made its Disney+ debut much earlier than anyone would have anticipated due to the pandemic. I watched it the day it dropped and rather enjoyed myself. I don’t know why I wasn’t prepared for that hard hitting emotional tug because it’s not like I don’t know that that’s what I’m getting myself into hahaha but it still surprised me and almost made me cry. I finally sat down and watched Molly’s Game. I am so ashamed that it took me so long to press play. I knew it was A+, it’s Aaron Sorkin. You can’t be disappointed with him. It was everything! Everything. Definitely watch it if you haven’t yet. It’s available on Netflix. Over on HBO, I watched Long Shot, which was as entertaining as I expected. I caught Bad Boys for Life on Amazon which I could have done without. Sometimes, you really don’t need a trilogy even when you think you want one, especially if all of this time has passed. That’s all I’ll say about that. Also not my cup of tea but it passed the time was that Chris Hemsworth movie, Extraction on Netflix. I finally saw Midsommar and that was…visually stunning but aside from that, not for me. I also watched I See You starring Helen Hunt which was pretty good. I closed out the month finally watching 1917. Boy am I annoyed with myself for not going to see that in theaters. I knew I should have, I just never made it out to the theater. Won’t be making that mistake again when it’s safe to go back to the movies. I’d have to say the best movies that I saw this month were 1917, Molly’s Game, and Onward.

Books

Wow, I really thought this would be the month that I would get back to it and speed read my life away but alas, this is not that month. I finished one craft book, Damn Fine Story: Mastering the Tools of a Powerful Narrative by Chuck Wendig. It was immensely helpful as I gear up to revise/rewrite my manuscript. I’m in the middle of another craft book right now and wow, another winner. It has really made me think more deeply about how my story works and I am forever grateful. Can’t wait to recommend it in the next wrap up.

What did you watch or read and enjoy this month?