Kimberlee K.

Hello and welcome back to another edition of favorites!

This summer has been good to me, I hope it’s been good to you too!

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Podcasts

I loved the premise of the The Girlfriends right away. It tells the (true!) story of how a group of women who all dated the same man put together the pieces of his story to help police convict him for killing his wife. Women! Justice! I binged the first season in two days.

Sweet Bobby tells the story of an elaborate, near decade long catfishing scam that is…insane. No spoilers, but it asks an important question of how someone who commits an act like this is/should be punished. It is honestly infuriating, and ignites in me the young girl that wants to stomp her foot and say, that’s not nice!!! Because it’s hard to hear about people not being nice—especially when they are not nice for. no. reason.

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Books

Being science fiction, The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley falls outside of my usual preferred genre, but I LOVED it! It throws you into London in the near future, where a section of the government starts an experiment that pulls people from the past and tries to acclimate them to the present day. The writing is beautiful and the story had me hooked from page one.

The Husbands by Holly Gramazio tell the story of Lauren, a single 30-something who comes home one night to find a man climbing down from her attic. When she sees a wedding ring on both their fingers, she learns that he is her husband, though she has no memory of marrying him. He climbs back up to the attic to get something, but then a different man—a different husband—appears. This was such a fun, easy read, that highlights the many ways your life can change based on who you marry. I never knew what was going to happen next and laughed through the whole thing.

When I read the first page of Sociopath: A Memoir I. was. floored. Not only was I insanely curious but also instantly fascinated by author Patric Gagne, Ph.D., who is a wife, mother, doctor, and diagnosed sociopath. I decided to listen to the audiobook because I wanted to hear the writing in the author’s intonation, and she does a wonderful job. The stories are wild, shocking, and insightful, and offer an entirely new perspective on sociopaths and the way they inhabit the world.

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Movies

With the excitement of the Olympics still pumping through my veins, I watched The Young Woman & the Sea. It tells the story of Trudy Ederle, the first woman to swim across the English Channel. It is inspiring and empowering and gave me the feeling that is quintessential of a good sports movie: anything is possible! (find it on Disney+)

Having not read the Collen Hoover book that It Ends with Us is based upon, I went into the theater blind. And while there has been a lot of controversy surrounding the press tour of this film, I loved the film itself. It discusses the hard topic of domestic violence, and the ways in which the cycle can repeat itself, but it also highlights friendship, love, and human resilience—especially from women.  (find it in theaters)

The Greatest Hits tells the story of Harriet, who after getting in a car accident that kills her boyfriend, finds she can travel back in time when she hears specific songs that had significance in their relationship. I loved the way it highlighted music’s impact on our daily lives and how it can define certain people, places, etc. It was sweet and sad and entirely different. (find it on Hulu)

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TV Shows

What makes me most sad about recommending My Lady Jane is that Amazon Prime cancelled it. That being said, I still think you should watch it because it is so fun and weird and different. It follow Lady Jane Grey who is betrothed to Lord Guildford Dudley, who she quickly realizes is an Ethian, which is a human that can take animal form. It’s a retelling (obviously) of the actual Lady Jane Grey from 16^th century England and I am hopeful another streaming service picks it up for season two! (find it on Amazon Prime)

Presumed Innocent follows the (fictional) murder trial of prosecutor Rusty Sabich, played by Jake Gyllenhaal, who is the prime suspect in the murder of colleague Carolyn Polhemus, whom he was having an affair with. It is a wild ride, though take care if you’re squeamish around depictions of violence. The crime scene is shown at length and is pretty graphic! (find it on AppleTV+)

If you’re in the mood for a docuseries, I’d also recommend Simone Biles Rising and Sprint, which both follow Olympic athletes that competed in Paris (and have announced additional episodes coming in the fall) and America’s Sweethearts, which follows the rigorous selection process of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. (find them all on Netflix!)

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Music

Kansas Anymore by Role Model

Short n’ Sweet by Sabrina Carpenter

Never Better by Wild Rivers

CHILD OF GOD by Forrest Frank

About a Woman by Thomas Rhett

Am I Okay? Megan Moroney

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Newsletters & Devotionals

I loved going through The Purpose Driven Life devotional by Rick Warren. It’s a powerful tool to help build powerful faith, and I’ve written about it in my Thursday Faith newsletter here and here.

My sister bought me the Unshakeable devotional by Christine Cain a few years back and I’m glad I kept it to go through again. Each day offers a quick, encouraging message that helps me focus my mind back on my faith.

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YouTube

Elyse Meyers is one of the most positive and honest creators that I’ve found. All of her content feels like a warm hug, and I was so delighted to find her YouTube channel, which she uploads to once a week.

I also recently started watching Sally Darr Griffin’s vlogs which embody so much of what my life looks like/what I want it to look like. They are very relaxing, very unhurried, very unflashy. She reads and cleans and goes on walks and knits and chats with friends and ponders the future. I usually like to watch one at the end of the day to wind down.

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Food & Recipes

These burger bowls have become a go-to!

This spinach apple salad is light and refreshing, and perfect for these still very hot days.

This ground turkey sweet potato bake is low maintenance and delicious.

These blueberry vanilla crunch muffins—and especially the brown sugar crunch—are so yummy!

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Links & Misc

This story about a woman surviving 14,000 foot fall.

This advice from Jojo Moyes about being a writer

These photos taken inside instruments.

This color by number app for the iPad that I love with my whole heart.

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Have anything you’ve been loving over these last couple months? Let me know!

See my previous favorites post here.