Let's Wrap It Up, November

The Month Where No One Got What She Wanted for Her 11/5 Birthday

Was November the longest year of anyone else’s life, or just us? We sat down to write this recap and we were all, “So, what happened in November?” and then we remembered and now we have PTSD.

That said, let’s get into what the month looked like for us.

What We’re Reading

Jen: You know, maybe November wasn’t the best month to finish War, which is Pulitzer Prize winner Bob Woodward’s book on exactly how close we’ve come to getting roped into WWIII, which includes a cautionary tale on what would happen if we had a second Trump presidency. (Spoiler alert: WWIII.) Oh, the smugness I felt when I started this book back in October. Somehow, having the facts to back it up when I scream, “I told you fuckers so!” isn’t the flex I’d hoped for.

As a palate cleanser, I started Chuck Wendig’s 800 page fictional post-apocalyptic novel Wanderers about the impact of a zootrophic plague that begins to wipe out humanity and makes way for the rise of a Christo-fascist government. Ha! Fun! Plus, there’s some mass-shootings in it, perpetrated by white supremacists who spit in the face of science.

Great book, brilliant author, piss-poor timing. Just the worst.

Karyn: I’ve been listening to Didion and Babitz by Lili Anolik this month. It’s a biography of Joan Didion and Eve Babitz (revealed through Eve’s journals and letters between them), and how their lives intersected in Hollywood. Fun fact, Eve Babitz grew up on the exact corner of where I live now. The audiobook is partly narrated by Emma Roberts and is super enjoyable. I love reading about old Hollywood, particularly about things that happened in neighborhoods I frequent.

What We’re Watching

Jen: The Real Housewives are my current happy place. Regardless of whatever’s devolving in the world, I can count on Mary Cosby’s hot takes to delight me. Am doing OC, SLC, and about to start BH. I’m also watching The Summit (reality on Paramount Plus), Silo, High Potential, and Interior Chinatown, which stars Jimmy O. Yang and Ronnie Chieng, two of my favorite actors.

Spent the holiday on holiday fare, such as Nutcrackers, Dear Santa, and whatever the name of that new Lindsay Lohan movie is. Plus, we watched Peacock’s Christmas at the Ranch, as it was filmed really close to here. It was a sapphic romance that had every quality of a good bad Hallmark film and scored high terrible marks from us.

I made Fletch watch the new JonBenet doc where absolutely zero new info was revealed. And BTW, Fletch didn’t know A THING about this case and was all, “Wait, do you?” UM, IT’S ONLY MY LIFE’S WORK, NBD. Also, I went down a rabbit hole on the theory that it was the housekeeper. This makes even more sense than the Santa guy who’d been at the top of my list after podcast True Crime Garage’s deep, deep dive. (No, it wasn’t Burke and he settled a $750M lawsuit against CBS over those false allegations.)