September & October Favorites

If you can believe it, it’s the last favorites post of the year! I do a Rec Roundup in December that recounts my top favorites for the whole year, which is fun, but the next time I’ll pop in with a bimonthly favorites post will be in February 2025!! I don’t need to go on about my fascination with time (again) but just know I’m geeking out a little.

Here are my newest favorites from the last two months:

Podcasts

I didn’t discover/get addicted to any new podcasts recently, but I thought I’d share a couple of episodes from my usual listens that I found particularly great.

This episode of Modern Love with Andrew Garfield was unexpectedly profound. While reading the essay of the week, the actor got unexpectedly emotional and it led to such a beautiful conversation between him and podcast host, Anna Martin. You can find it here on Apple Podcasts, and here on Spotify, though I’m bummed because it looks like they switched it to a “Subscriber’s Only” episode, boooo.

I’m also currently catching up on Julia Louis Dreyfus’s Wiser than Me and loved this episode with Julie Andrews. What an incredible woman—what incredible women, I loved this conversation. You can find it here on Apple Podcasts and here on Spotify.

Books

After hearing so so so much hype, I finally read Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin and I loved it. It’s a book about friendship that kind of sneaks up on you as you get further and further entwined in the lives of Sam Masur and Sadie Green. While seemingly slow paced, it quickly feels like you are there with the characters, going through all of their emotions and hardships. I didn’t expect to miss them so much when the book was over, but I did and I do!

anonymous by Alicia Britt Chole was a book club pick for Proverbs 31 in September—my birthday month—so I grabbed a copy as a kind of present to myself. It talks about Jesus’ “hidden years” a.k.a the first 30 years of his life which we, to this day, know very little about, and the ways in which we can learn from the lessons he learned during that time.

You’d Look Better as a Ghost by Joanna Wallace was a book I read the back cover of at a bookstore and then immediately took a picture so I wouldn’t forget to read it. It was the perfect read for October and for the slight turn of fall weather, as it follows Claire, a Dexter-esque serial killer who is grieving the loss of her father. I never knew what was going to happen next and found the main character’s bluntness about murder quite hilarious.

Movies

Marmalade was the first thing I added to this list because I think I watched it on September 1^st and was immediately like OH MY GOSH. It’s one of those movies that you want to talk about but can’t talk about without giving anything away so if you’ll do me a favor and just watch it. It follows Baron, played by Joe Keery, who has recently been incarcerated and connects with his new cellmate as he tells him the story of why he’s there and how he met the woman he loves. (find it on Hulu)

I was counting down the days for Inside Out 2 to hit streaming after I missed it in theaters and I was just as delighted as I hoped I’d be by its smart portrayal of the human mind. Following the first movie, the emotions: joy, sadness, fear, disgust, and anger try to manage a now teenage Riley who is experiencing new emotions, new obstacles and new questions about herself. I cried, I hugged a pillow, I said, “YES EXACTLY!” It was wonderful. (find it on Disney+).

And finally, We Live in Time. I saw this movie in theaters and was blown away by the way it hit every single emotion. It follow Tobias (Andrew Garfield) and Almut’s (Florence Pugh) relationship over the years, namely after a hard diagnosis. I loved the way it dealt with such a heavy topic, focusing so much on life. Tears (happy and sad) streamed down my face the whole time. I loved it!

TV Shows

I didn’t read the book A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder is based on but thought the Netflix series was a fun watch. It follows Pippa, a high school student who begins investigating the murder of a student that took place when she was younger. It had a lot of twists and turns, and I never figured out who the murderer was until the end. I also kept wondering, how is she so brave? because I would have chickened out immediately. (find it on Netflix)

Speaking of mysteries, The Perfect Couple! Based on the Ellen Hilderbrand book of the same name, this series opens at a wedding weekend in Nantucket, where celebrations are stalled after a murder is committed the night before the ceremony. It was a fun watch that randomly had a theme song that made me dance every time a new episode came on. Also, I love when a mystery doesn’t give me nightmares, so, two thumbs up. (find it on Netflix)

Nobody Wants This was perhaps mentioned in every conversation and group chat I had in the days after it came out and I understood why. It was so charming and funny and sweet and had Adam Brody which is forever and always a plus. It follows Joann (Kristin Bell), a sex and dating podcaster, and Noah (Adam Brody), a rabbi, as they fall in love while navigating their differences. I am thrilled it was renewed for a second season. (find it on Netflix)

There has been a lot of buzz around the Menendez brothers as two pieces of media were put out by Netflix: Ryan Murphy’s Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story and the documentary The Menendez Brothers. I won’t lie and say that Ryan Murphy’s series wasn’t entirely captivating and addictive, but I didn’t love the way the last few episodes seemed to represent a fictionalized/presumed reality created by the writers. Contrastingly, the documentary presented real life interviews with the brothers themselves while also presenting parties from all sides of the trial so as not to be overtly biased. I liked watching them both in tandem as it gave me a lot to think about in regards to the crime and all that led up to it, but it goes without saying (if you know anything about the case) that both present details that are hard to hear. (find them both on Netflix)

Lastly, while it’s not a show, I’ve been watching a ton of Nate Bargatze’s stand up comedy and find him absolutely hilarious. He has specials available on both Netflix (The Tennessee Kid, The Greatest Average American) and Amazon Prime (Hello World) and they are all worth the watch. He also recently hosted SNL and did an incredible job. So if you’re in the mood to laugh (since, you know, I just presented you with a lot of murder and darkness) I’d highly recommend looking him up!

Music

Bones – The EP by Russell Dickerson

Everything Good by Jordan Feliz

For Cryin’ Out Loud! By FINNEAS

Better Now by Wild Rivers

Patterns by Kelsea Ballerini

Two Shades Blonder by Devon Cole

YouTube

I came across Daniel Buyeske’s channel by accident, but have been loving his cheerleading stunt vlogs. Dan and Bonde bring in a flyer and goof around while trying to come up with fun and challenging stunts, all while being very professional and serious about the danger of the sport and the safety of the flyers. The commentary and the giggles make them so entertaining to watch! (find it here)

Newsletters & Devotionals

I love a newsletter with links, and Aliza & Aja’s Platonic Love has a Monday series called “Links we sent our friends” so I was instantly in. But alongside fun recommendations, they also send weekly essays that are timely and thoughtful. Highly recommend! (find it here)

I also recently subscribed to Art Delivery by The Jealous Curator, which, as you might mine from the title, fills your inbox with weekly doses of art. I love looking at art, even if I don’t get it or can’t relate to it. I just think it’s so important and special to see the ways in which people are expressing themselves. It’s why I love going to museums, and why I’m happy to have discovered this newsletter! (find it here)

Food & Recipes

Goodles! I always like to have a macaroni option on hand for whenever dinner sounds hard to make, and I have yet to try a flavor of these that I haven’t liked. My favorites so far are Twist My Parm & Shella Good. I found them at my local grocery store but you can also find them online here.

This Asian salmon sheet pan recipe was unexpectedly easy and delicious.

And Trader Joe’s butternut squash macaroni is one of my favorites of their fall collection.

Links & Misc.

Love this artist’s work with clouds.

And these pictures of the moon!

And finally, Cooking Dash, an App Store game where you run a diner that I redownload every few years. I’m back, baby!

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

See my previous favorites post here.