Cool Stuff I'm Loving

As the temperatures finally cool down, I'm thinking back on the equally cool things I've watched and listened to in the last month or so. If you're up for some great entertainment, check these out:

Cool Stuff To Watch

Rocketman. I'll never tire of Elton John's music, and this biopic knocks his story out of the park. It's more musical theater than anything else, and that style allows for a brilliant, fantastical telling of John's life and music. Love him so much I bought it to watch the bonus material.

My Brilliant Friend. Based on the Elena Ferrante novel of the same name, this series premiered on HBO last year. I somehow didn't get to it until recently and found it riveting. In Italian with English subtitles, this requires attentive viewing when you're not also tooling around online (not that any of us ever watch TV that way!). Season 2, subtitled "The Story of a New Name," airs in 2020.

The Joy of Cord Cutting & Why Youtube TV Rules

I ditched cable and it feels so good
Feels exactly like I dreamed it would
That big bill's in the past
And I'm having a blast
Now I've totally scored just by cutting the cord, hey, hey

Note: Yes, this is to the tune of Reunited by Peaches & Herb and no, I don't remember anything about that song except the chorus and neither do you. 

I finally freakin' did it! I got out from under a huge cable bill and experienced the delight of telling Charter "See ya, wouldn't wanna be ya!"

Net savings even after adding Youtube TV (a top-notch cable replacement if ever there was one) and Showtime to fill the cable-shaped hole in my heart: $108 sweet, sweet dollars a month. Suck on that, Charter!

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb

What happens when a therapist suffers a crisis she can't get past? She goes to a therapist herself of course – and just maybe finds a way to turn the ordeal into a bestseller.

The full title of Lori Gottlieb's introspective book is Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed. It's a mouthful, but it comes as close to describing what you'll find in it's pages as possible without continuing the title on the back cover.

Gottlieb's wonderful relationship with her boyfriend came to an abrupt end when he announced he didn't want to spend the next 10 years with a kid under his roof (his kids had just left home, her son was 8, and they had plans to move in together). It rocked her world and she couldn't get past it.

What to Watch October 2019

It's my favorite time of the month again! Time to look ahead for what to watch for the new month, in this case October! I've made the list for the Choco household so we don't forget to watch anything spread across the many services we have, and I'm sharing it with you below.

Here are my picks for shows and movies to catch, as well as links to everything new coming to various streaming outlets so you can add your own picks.

And away we go!

The Testaments by Margaret Atwood

"The truth can cause a lot of trouble for those who are not supposed to know it."

Writing a followup to a classic like The Handmaid's Tale was a real risk. Hell, reading it was a risk – most readers wouldn't want to tarnish memories of the classic original with a lackluster sequel.

Fortunately, Margaret Atwood pretty much nailed it.

The Testaments takes place about 15 years after events in the first book. This time we follow the tale through writings or testimony of three women – the famed and feared Aunt Lydia along with two young women, one a girl from a prominent family in Gilead and another a teenager from outside the fray in Canada.

My Tips to Bag eBook Bargains

I love books and I love bargains, so mingling the two gives me all the happy feels whenever I track down a deal.

The best books deals are often on ebooks, which suits me fine. I adore my Kindle tablets and Paperwhite, so saving money while increasing my personal ebook library is a treat.

You can seek out these deals several ways, most of which mean simply checking a couple of things daily. These options involve a quick click and scroll, something I enjoy doing over morning coffee. There's also a tracker you can set up for sale alerts as well as some sites you may want to check now and then that don't require a daily visit.

Here are my methods. Hopefully some of you will find them useful in getting deals on books you love as well!