What to Watch November 2019

Temps are getting colder, but the shows are getting hotter! This month sees the launch of both Disney Plus AND Apple TV Plus. Disney's making much bigger waves, but Apple TV is quietly slipping in some interesting options, too.

Here's a link listing premieres from all channels & streaming services together by date, and I've included links to listings for specific premium channels and streaming services under my personal picks below.

And away we go!

Author Talk with Kate Moore (The Radium Girls)

The group of women known as the Radium Girls remained voiceless and largely forgotten until one author made it her mission to reach back through the years and let their voices be heard.

Kate Moore

I was lucky enough to be in the crowd when Kate Moore discussed her book, The Radium Girls, and the emotional journey of writing it with fans at the Spencer Road branch of the county library system in St. Peters, Missouri, on Oct. 12.

"My mission in writing this book was to ensure that these important special girls were not forgotten. And it just means the world to have you come out to hear about them because I know you'll remember their tale ... . We're all collectively remembering them tonight and that's really special to me," she said.

Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

I'd heard about this book, glowingly, for years when I finally took the plunge and bought it – at nearly full price, no less! I even bought the audio because it was on sale.

Well. I found it brimming with wonderful advice, as well as lots of bits that didn't seem particularly necessary or interesting. In the final analysis, as I looked back over the 100 highlights I'd made, it holds so much useful and encouraging advice for anyone brash enough to put pen to paper that I think it was worth my time and money.

Anne Lamott clearly wields some highly tuned writing chops and is an experienced writing teacher. You'll find quotes here you'll want to highlight, refer to, maybe post on your desk for encouragement. There's more quality and value in just a few of her best pieces of advice than some books have throughout the entirety of their pages.

Petition Fights Limits on eBook Sales to Libraries

On Nov. 1, Macmillan Publishers plans to implement restrictions on library ebook purchases. They'll allow a library to purchase only one ebook per title for the first eight weeks after a book's release. It doesn't matter the size of the library and its membership, large or small, libraries can only get one copy of Macmillan ebooks during the embargo period.

The publisher hopes to increase consumer sales by doing this, but they're giving library users the shaft. Not to mention that when libraries buy an ebook, they pay much more than you or I would. Libraries also have to renew an ebook's license after a certain time period or given number of checkouts. Make no mistake, publishers make more money than most people realize from library purchases. Checking out ebooks from your library does financially support publishers and authors.

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.