Harriet The Spy by Louise Fitzhugh

This book, when I read it as a kid, made it seem possible to be independent, brainy, and comfortable with all that. The author illustrated the book herself, and Harriet is a decidedly unfeminine character, and one who is comfortable in her own unconventional skin. I reread it probably 50 years after my first reading, thinking that perhaps it would be a good gift for our granddaughters. Harriet is a flawed but very relatable protagonist. She is dedicated to her routine of spying on her peers and her neighbors--she is an outsider looking in. There are a lot of things that are very relatable about her, and it is not a book for tweens where everything comes out okay in the end, which is much like life itself. Harriet tells it like she sees it in her journal of spy observations, and she is not one to sugar coat it. When her fellow students get ahold of her journal and find out all the unkind things she has said, they shun her, and her struggle to figure out what to do about that is so relatable. The person she listens to best writes her a letter and tells her that sometimes you have to apologize and sometimes you have to lie. Period. Harriet struggles with that mightily. What I did not realize before I reread this is that the author herself was gay and that Harriet the Spy has a gay cult following. There is not a hint of sexual preference to my ear in the book, but Harriet is an iconoclast and an outsider, she has tomboy vibes, and she is fine with all of that, so it makes sense, but I did not know.

Don't Say Good Luck (2026)

There was an awful lot to cry about in this recently released Happy Gilmore film. The opening scene is Sophie just before her big audition for her school play, for which she’s been practicing and rehearsing diligently while occasionally eyeing a boy of interest and being supported by her best friend. She gets called back, which is deserved but she didn't knock it out of the park either, but while she is waiting her turn, her forever butt dialing her father does so unknowingly while they are receiving the devestating news that Sophie's mom's cancer has come back. Sophie pours all that pathos into her audition, and she lands the lead role, much to everyone's surprise. Having battled a cancer personally that I had not good reason to think I would beat, all the while trying to be a parent to my much older than Sophie's mom's kids I totally get trying to hold back the terrible news that this is the end while supporting Sophie spending long hours rehearsing the role of her young life. I also really feel for Sophie's daad as he tries to face losing his wife and balancing that with being the sole parent to his kids going forward. They try to bring in the grandparents briefly and while they offer a few helping hands, overall their grief at losing their daughter overwhelms their ability to be a plus and they have to leave--it is all so beleivable and while these are not the steps that I ultimately walked in my cancer journey, I shed a lot of tears then and when reliving it watching this. At this point, as my spouse occasionally says, we are too old to die young, at the time I was thinking I had something unbeatable, I had had a good lie, but I was too young for it to be over. Bring a handkerchief if you check this Netflix presnetation out.

On The Way To The Wedding by Julia Quinn

Yes, I finished the eighth Bridgerton novels, and at the end this one, all Bridgerton offspring are married! The challenge in a series of eight books, all romances and with stories that must be distinct and different from each other is that an author just runs out of gas on new and different ways to reluctantly fall in love. And so while this would likely shuffle to the bottom if I were to rank them, I very much enjoyed this book in much the same vein that I enjoyed the other seven, that is to say as light diversionary stories that kept my attention, I cared what happened, I was interested in the snippets of information about Gregory's siblings and their families, and overall I would give it a thumbs up. Gregory falls quite early on first for the obvious woman--the one everyone has their eyes on--but then settles on her best friend, which is the right choice for him. The unfortunate piece is that she is spoken for. Her uncle has promised her to another, much like a head of cattle, and so there are some shenanigans that ensue in order for him to wed her. The epilogue is a bit longer in this one, being the last as it is. And while I read right through this this summer, I won't be diving right in to the prequel just yet--though will likely get to it eventually.

Leela's Kitchen, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

My spouse and son were looking for an Indian restaurant in Cedar Rapids when they were there on a separate task, not food related, but they were going to be leaving about 9:30 or 10AM at the latest, and most restaurants were not open. This place does a traditional Southern Indian breakfast. We had traveled there two winters ago, and every morning we hada traditional South Indian breakfast—often called "tiffin"—it features warm, savory dishes made from fermented rice and lentil batters or semolina. Core items include fluffy steamed idli, crispy dosa, savory upma, and fried vada, served with coconut chutney, which is a bit on the bland side, and vegetable sambar, which can pack a punch. All of these were part of the meal, which they offered in a carry out package, and also featured a delicious lentil dal as well. Breakfast is not my favorite Indian meal of the day, but if you have a hankering for it, this is the place.

All Them Dogs by Djamel White

I read this debut novel because it was recently longlisted for the 2026 Booker Prize. The author is young, Irish, and interestingly, owns a tattoo business of some renown. This is a very gritty novel, which mixes toxic masculinity and a life of crime together and I wondered if tattoo artists hear a lot of stories that maybe other professions have less exposure to. In any case, this is violent and troubled, too much of both for my taste, but it is well paced and well written. On the run for five years after killing a man in a gang fight, Tony Ward has returned to west Dublin under the protection of a local crime boss. Teamed up with tall and sullen enforcer Flute Walsh, Tony is back on his home turf grafting a grim routine of collecting debts and drug dealer’s dues. Propelled through a world of old scores and hard knocks, our protagonist is a shark who has to keep moving simply to survive. But when he and Flute are called upon to kill a failing dealer, their brutal conspiracy becomes a visceral dance of desire and betrayal. Maybe part of my discomfort is connected with the overlap between these two poles of brutality and sexuality, but in the end, while I learned something, I liked but did not love this.

Love By The Tenth Date (2017)

As is so often the case in a romantic comedy, the premise is what can be a combination of annoying and what drives the plot. There are four black female co-workers of an online, upscale magazine who all have various issues within the relationship department, and it is the advice column of their boss that sets them into a dating challenge to prove to themselves and each other who can handle a real relationship. Gabby is plagued by a hurtful breakup in the past that she never completely let go. Her circle of influence that consists of three other women and two males in questionable relationships themselves, constantly give her controversial advice about how to go about building a successful relationship. All bets are on the table when Gabby is challenged to make it to ten dates with the same person. Not only is she eligible to win cash money, but she also gets to keep her job by providing a storyline that her boss, as well as the magazine’s readers will fall in love with. With renewed excitement, Gabby comes up with a plan to up her game and little does she realize that her longtime roadie, Dante, who has secretly been in love with her forever, silently wishes he wasn’t her confidant having to listen to every cringe-worthy detail of her dates. As the movie progresses all the women have various issues with preconceived ideas about love and relationships that get in the way of happiness until they are able to let go of them and let their heads take a back seat to their hearts.

The Arrogant Ape by Christine Webb

I have read a number of these sorts of books, where the reader is urged to think of things in a different way and I continue to read them, one because they show up on lists of books that are worthy of reading, and two because while I am largely in the land of the already converted, I learn a thing or two and it makes it overall worthwhile to have read, although it is slow going because my pervasive thought is yes, I agree. This is one such book. The author has spent years researching the rich social, emotional, and cognitive lives of our closest living relatives. She exposes the ways that many scientific studies are biased against other species and reveals underappreciated complexities of nonhuman life—from the language of songbirds and prairie dogs, to the cultures of chimpanzees and reef fishes, to the acumen of plants and fungi. With compelling stories and fresh research she gives us a paradigm-shifting way of looking at other organisms on their own terms, one that is revolutionizing our perception both of them and of ourselves. Is this new? No it is not. Darwin considered humans one part of the web of life, not the apex of a natural hierarchy. Yet one might that we are the most intelligent, virtuous, successful species that ever lived. This flawed thinking enables us to exploit the earth towards our own exclusive ends, throwing us into a perilous planetary imbalance. The opposite approach, the author posits, is a better, sustainable way of life with the potential to heal and rejuvenate our shared planet.

Tamayo Contemporary Art Museum, Mexico City, Mexico

The Tamayo Museum (Museo Tamayo) was founded by Ruffino Tamayo in 1981, when the Mexican artist donated his own works, in addition to a massive collection of international contemporary art, with the goal of showcasing 20th-century art for the public. My favorite part of the whole museum was Tamayo’s collection of his own work that he hand picked to be on exhibit in the museum. The building, designed by Mexican architects Teodoro González de León and Abraham Zabludovsky, is made of reinforced concrete and white marble stone and is located in Chapultepec Park, a vast green space in Mexico City. The low-slung design and natural tones allow the building to hide in and among the trees. Inside, glass walls and light wood floors make the gallery spaces feel contemporary, open, and spacious.

Well-curated exhibitions change throughout the year, but the focus is always on contemporary and modern art, be it painting, video installation, and mixed-media, nicely bridging the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Occasionally, there are also interactive exhibits. There are always seasonal exhibits. The museum is basically divided in half, with its permanent collection and new, temporary shows. The space itself makes for easy transitions between the wings and the central courtyard; a few steps sunken into the ground often feature sculpture.

Dominion by Addie Citchens

Dominion means supreme authority, sovereign power, or complete control over something, in this case it is the dominion of men over women--it is exercised not only through violence, but through charisma, piety and the banality of male entitlement. Set in the fictional town of Dominion, Mississippi, at the turn of the millennium, the novel follows the Winfreys, a prominent Black church family whose putative grandeur conceals a deep and hereditary decay. Sabre leads the largest congregation in the state from the pulpit of Seven Seals Baptist church, dispensing wisdom through sermons and local radio broadcasts, exuding the oily confidence of a man convinced that God speaks exclusively in his register. The longsuffering Priscilla writes those sermons, raises their five sons and silently maintains the machinery of his authority without ever receiving credit for it. Their youngest child, Emanuel – known universally as Wonderboy – is beautiful, gifted and terrifying: a prodigious athlete with the voice of an angel. Unfortunately his true nature is dark and dangerous. The action unfolds through the alternating perspectives of Priscilla and Diamond, Wonderboy’s teenage girlfriend. This is neither light nor hopeful, but it does feel real. An impressive debut novel.

Goat (2026)

Ok, so the animation in this movie has been called stunning and dizzying—I would agree with the later assessment, in that the action moves so fast I had trouble keeping up. One reviewer liked it to the Spider verse animation, which I also found to be too much, and I would agree. Will Harris (voiced by Caleb McLaughlin) is a goat who has grown up dreaming of playing professional “roarball”, a fiercer and faster version of basketball. But Will is a “small” and roar players are all “bigs” – powerful beasts such as rhinos and horses. Will’s hero and the star of his favorite team, the Thorns, is a panther called Jet, a champ close to retirement but determined to win the league. When Will gets a shot at joining the Thorns, he is laughed at, underrated but undeterred. The rest of the plot unfolds in an entirely predictable manner. The movie has real-life inspiration: basketball star Stephen Curry, who was repeatedly told at the start of his career that he was too skinny and too small to make it as a pro. Curry is a producer here, and has a performing role. But in spite of this connection, Goat comes up lacking.

Son of Nothing by Yann Martel

I think this book, which is composed in an unusual manner, benefits greatly from the recent release of Christopher Nolan's movie retelling of the Odyssey. This is set before that, during the Trojan War, but the revisiting of Homer's work overall and the linked epic poems of the Iliad and the Odyssey have been revived for a greater audience. a Canadian classicist, Harlow Donne, has been offered a year’s fellowship at Oxford University. His wife, Gail, has a full-time managerial job, and they have a seven-year-old daughter, Helen. Who will pour out her breakfast cereal and pick her up from school while Harlow is away? He and Gail quarrel. He leaves for England, and Gail tells him to not come back (unlike with Penelope, who waits Once Harlow gets to Oxford, the narrative shifts its form and becomes odder and more interesting. His prescribed task is to help sift through and translate a hoard of ancient papyri from Oxyrhynchus, in upper Egypt. It’s that he comes to believe are a long-lost epic poem. It relates the story of the Trojan war, but not, as Homer tells it, from the viewpoint of princely warriors and gods. The protagonist is a common soldier, a “son of nobody” named Psoas. This is a novel that contains the actual poem. The Psoad makes up half of the book in terms of word count--the poem’s fragments are printed across the top half of the pages, while below the line are footnotes, in which Harlow sets out to comment on the text, but is soon finding in it prompts for reminiscences about his relationship with Gail, and reflections about his home life addressed to his daughter. The two narrative strands – the ancient epic and the modern domestic drama – tug at and distort each other, until finally they merge in a doubly mournful conclusion.

Caracol De Mar, Mexico City, Mexico

This is a Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant. We stayed in the Condesa neighborhood on our recent trip to Mexico City, and this was an easy walk from out apartment. Chef Gabriela Camara’s hospitality and vision shine the brightest at the newest iteration of the restaurant (it apparently had moved), which welcomes guests with bar seating and cocktails on the first floor and a stunning salon filled with natural light on the top floor. The downside of the space is that it has a lot of hard surfaces and is really quite loud. The culinary ethos remains, with sustainability and seasonal seafood at the core and all-time menu favorites in tow. Order the green mole risotto and the fish tacos—they were both delicious, and the side sauces are a high point.

This is recommended, especially if you want to lean into seafood, and the sound level didn’t sound like a negative. Of the two seafood restaurants we ate at, this one was more upscale and had more memorable accompaniments to the dishes.

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

I finished this book a couple of days ago and am still not sure what I think of it. I read several reviews and there is a sense that this is a book that you love or you hate--and I think for me it is a mixture of both, which is maybe the hallmark of psychologically successful story telling. In broad strokes, this is a book about parenthood, white privilege, and the thin line between right and wrong. It is set in Shaker Heights, a planned community in the greater Cleveland area, and in Elena Richardson there is a holier-than-thou attitude that they are just that much better than everyone else because their community is set up to win. She has a spouse with a successful law practice, Trip is a star athlete, Lexie is popular and smart, Moody is shy and smart, and then there is Izzy, who nobody understands--and here is where it gets weird--everyone marginalizes. She is a stranger in her own home. The Richardson's have a rental property which is also in Shaker Heights--they provide affordable housing in a good neighborhood and Mia, an artist who works odd jobs to get by and her teenaged daughter Pearl. Their arrival shuffles the deck for the Richardson family. Moody has a crush on Pearl, Pearl has a crush on Trip, Lexie befriends Pearl in the way that all popular girls who need something do--she uses her and sees herself as helping her, Izzy finds a kindred spirit in Mia, and Elena becomes obsessed with discovering Mia's secrets, of which there are many. At the end of the day, I didn't know quite what I thought about all this, and then two days later decided that was in fact the point, and any book that makes me think this much has something going for it.

His, Hers, and Ours (2026)

The hook for me to watch this romantic dramedy over any other was that it is adapted from a Terry McMillan is invovled. I haven't read anything by her since the 1980's but very much enjoyed Waiting to Exhale and How Stella Got Her Groove Back, so when my spouse is on call and I watch a movie that wouldn't be on his top 10 list, this got me interested. The things I like about this, which are features of the author's work, is that it focuses on the lives of creative successful black people who are family oriented. In other words, normal brown skinned people and the whole cast is black and brown people. The story is that a divorced woman and a widower have children who are in love with each other--which neither of them is quite ready to face their kids growing up and having adult feelings and relationships that might invovle sex. So they are doing a terrible job with that transition AND they fall for each other, which mortifies their children in a way that is predictable but also kind of hilarious--the teens are close relatives of their parents and so it stands to reason that they might also get along--I know that doesn't happen all that often in real life, but it certainly seems like it could, what with shared gene pools and all. The story is competently told, but while the teens have some ease and chemistry with each other, the adults are a bit stilted--we never really get to their inner thoughts and plans--so it is is a movie that skims along the surface rather than doing a deeper dive.

Quartet In Autumn by Barbara Pym

Someone asked me recently where I get ideas for the books that I read, and I gave what was probably too long an answer for what the asker was looking for, and quite sparse for the reality of the myriad of pathways into getting on my reading list, but one of them is Ann Patchett's If You Haven't Read It Is New To You Friday vlog series, where she and various authors who come to her store to do events offer up books that you m ight have overlooked--which is often the case for me, and this is one such book. If you ever start to think you are well read, check this series out, it will tether you back to the earth immediately. I am more or less immune to those thoughts because I live in a UNESCO City of Literature, where practically every third person on the street has read more than I have, and that is bolstered by the undergraduate population, who are young and haven't yet had the time. In any case, this gem from 1968 comes from that source. The book centers on Letty, Edwin, Marcia and Norman — four ageing clerks working in the same unspecified London office, all on the verge of retirement and all living alone. This book is not cluttered up with unrequited love, or indeed any love at all. The four main characters’ lives are drained of love. That one of them once offered to make a cup of tea for one of the others is what counts for kindness and warmth in their desiccated lives. Yet we gradually develop an affection for them as we watch them live out their isolated existences — especially over Christmas, when they somehow get through the dreaded day alone or foisted on charitable relatives or neighbours. Very gradually we realise that, really, they have no one in the world there for them but each other. Every scene in this novel manages to be simultaneously hilarious and almost unbearably bleak. And yet, here I am, recommending it to you.

Jardin Bosque de Chapultapec, Mexico City, Mexico

This is a beautiful and quite peaceful garden that is near to museums in Mexico City. We like to take some time to read outdoors when we are traveling, and this was a perfect spot to do that. It is generally believed that the Chapultepec Botanical Garden originated during the reign of Nezahualcoyotl. The Chapultepec complex was known as a natural reserve for the rulers of Tenochtitlan and the Triple Alliance. It is almost certain that some plants were cultivated here for medicinal and food purposes. This modern version was inaugurated in 2006 covering 5.3 ha reserved within the park. A magnificent landscape, today it houses a valuable collection of native and introduced plants. Since 2016, the garden has been rehabilitated and cared for by the organization Plantando con Causa A.C.. They have brought in world-class landscapers, botanists, horticulturists and biologists to meticulously restore some 22 unique environments within the garden. In 2017, the garden boasted more than 300 varieties of plants, distributed as follows: Pollination plants Edible plants Succulents Wetland plants 14 species of wild dahlias Agaves Cactaceae Orchids And an arbor There are also other plants. It is a critical part of Chapultepec’s landscape, and much like the day we were there, it is not usually crowded.

A Far Flung Life by M. L. Stedman

The author's second book was worth the wait. It is also set in Western Australia and is as steeped in moral ambiguity as her first. It is also deep in calamity, careening from one to another throughout the book and across the years, and once again (as with her first) there is a big secret that propels a lot of decisions and events that follow. It begins in 1958 and follows several generations of the MacBride family on their million-acre sheep ranch, Meredith Downs. Here, small decisions have vast consequences: when the patriarch, Phil, swerves to avoid a kangaroo while driving home from the market, he and his eldest son, Warren, are killed. Matt, the youngest son, only just survives. Lorna, suddenly a widow, takes over the reins of the ranch, now the sole parent not only of Matt, whose amnesic head injury forces him to redefine who he is and the life he had once hoped for, but also of her spirited daughter, Rosie. The book has loss and regret at it's core, and is preoccupied by what governs our understanding of right and wrong, as well as how we define our sense of family and identity. It is atmospheric, deep, and unsettling, all in a very good way.

Green Rhino Bakery, Mexico City, Mexico

This bakery is world class. It comes from star baker Richard Hart, renowned for his bakery Hart Bageri, with multiple locations in Copenhagen, and is his first bakery in North America. It opened in July of this year in a new building in Roma Norte. The space is huge. A wall of glass at the front, a pastry counter, and up a ramp, a small seating area that looks over the bakery floor, expansive and busy, which includes a lamination room, a walk-in freezer, and ovens the size of a studio apartment. Workers mill about, shaping loaves and filling trays. And the line can wrap around the block. There is a rotating cast of pastries, cookies, danishes, rolls, buns, and laminated numbers, which are very, very rich (likely half of their weight is butter) and shatteringly crisp. Look for those with fresh fruit to offset the fat and the savory ‘nudja and requeson rectangle. The bread is exceptional: deeply browned loaves, speckled with pepitas, seeds, and bran, with a sour, open-crumbed interior, begging for a thick smear of salted butter. For this style of sourdough, high-hydration with a robust, chewy crust, it is simply the best in Mexico City (and priced fairly, to boot). For beverages there is coffee, tea, frappes made with coconut water, matcha, and hot chocolate. There are also merch, jams, spreads, and fancy teas, from his romantic partner, the “raretealady" Henrietta Lovell, plus his James Beard-award-winning cookbook for sale.

It's In His Kiss by Julia Quinn

I am going to have to stop saying that I don't much read romance novels because here I am, seven deep in the Bridgerton novels, and I am still going strong. i am going to have to go with I dabble in romance, and when I do, I tend to enjoy it. The suspension of belief is no more central to this genre than the murder mystery genre, which I read deeply and widely in (like all my life, every day, year in and year out for over 50 years kind of serious). Hyacinth comes in to her own--finally. Of all the Bridgertons I have the least sense of her, up until now at least. She has a close relationship with Lady Danbury, which is a great plot line--we know Lady Danbury well and she is famous for not suffering fools and being completely up front about it, damn the consequences, so we know that when she loves both her grandson Gareth St. Clair and Hyacinth with equal zeal that they will find their way to each other. Gareth is loathed by his father because he is not his own child--there is a pretty happy story behind that that they discover much later, so he is left to fend for himself. He will inherit the estate but it is in ruins because his haughty father has a gambling problem and is a terrible estate manager to boot. Hyacinth is the opposite--her family is big and loving and it is the perfect unbrella for Garth to shelter under and thrive. This is a fun story, one with some unexpected turns, and I am more sad that the series will soon splinter into something else because we have only one Bridgerton sibling left to marry off.

Phone A Quilty Friend

I oversubscribed to Block Of The Months in 2026--which will make 2027 the year that I finish the 2026 BOM's, but in the meantime I am pretending to try to keep up, and the single best thing for my quilting productivity is a group sew in on Zoom. I was saying at the last one I attended that this alone is worth the price of admission for me in my Modern Quilt guild. Do not get me wrong, I love the monthly speakers, especially the ones that we can record and watch within the next week if for whatever reason we cannot make the meeting. I am often so inspired by them, and occasionally go on to take a class or buy a pattern. I also love the access the the national Modern Quilt Guild's website--there is so much education and inspiration there I have yet to scratch the surface on what is available. And the list goes on. All told, though, the ability to sit in my sewing room--which I had to move to the dining room because my ability to sew in a small space expired sometime in the last decade. I seriously made my whole family eat outside on a muggy, cicada deafening night recently rather that clear off the table!--and sew with guildmates over ZOom is priceless to me. I have spent hours doing tasks that are hard to accomplish alone. The Pink Door Amish With A Twist quilt has squares that require a dozen or more different fabrics be cut out, who can face that solo, I ask you. And yet here I am, having cut out all the blocks for the current month while catching up with a friend wrangling her pink scraps--neither of us is done, but we both made progress and we caught up with each other as well. It is possible that I like it as much as in person sewing--the upside is that I do not have to move my stuff--I did get a cart a year ago to make the transport easier, and I do go to in person workshops and love them too, but at the end of the day, Zoom actually works better for me. I not only love it, I am inspired by it as well. Try it and see--especially if you are struggling to find your sewjo.

Departure(s) by Julian Barnes

This is an unusual book. It is part memoir, part fiction, part essay and the lines between them are blurry at best. The author says that this is his final book, so that’s one departure accounted for – the last installment of a writing career that spans 45 years, encompassing novels and short stories, memoirs and essays, biography, travel writing, translation and even a little pseudonymous detective fiction (much like fellow Booker Prize author John Banville). Another is the author's own mortality--he has been diagnosed with a chronic blood cancer, something permanent and disabling but probably not leading to his ultimate demise. So now for the fiction--at the center is the story of a couple, Jean and Stephen, and their particular, fascinating love story — one Barnes plays with our uncertainty over: is it true, or isn't it? He makes a wry joke about this hybrid form within the book itself, having Jean accuse Julian of writing these blended books when he should just pick fiction or nonfiction. Julian's defense is that he knows exactly what he's doing, and it's true that the author has spent much of his career writing fiction wrapped in nonfiction, or the reverse, exploring memory, history, and the tension between subjective and objective truth. So this is a fitting end but a less than usually satisfying Barnes novel.

Voicemails For Isabelle (2026)

Is texting or calling and leaving voicemails on your dead loved ones phone a thing? This is the second movie that I have watched where the bereaved woman has lost the love of her life, and the person who now has that phone number--in both cases a work phone that is newly issued to them, because no one would believe a grown up would not already have a personal phone--receives the messages and proceeds to not just fall for the person, but pursue them romantically. So then there is the tricky part--how do you break it to them that this is not an accident, that they fell for you based on what you said to a person no longer with us and searched for you without it sounding creepy? For me it seems no more creepy than lots of other ways that people meet and hook up, but that's just me. I very much liked this-- Zoey Deutch as Jill is a fun, mouthy, talented woman who grew up with a sister with cystic fibrosis. She was deeply attached to her and their relationship was home-based and yet very rich. They have a tradition of leaving each other irreverant voicemails that are endearing and hilarious. When Izzie dies, Jill is devestated and to help with her grieving, she keeps it up, only now instead of Izzie, Wes is listening to them. He falls hard for her and goes about finding her and getting to know her, and it is a fun story about how Jill gets both her career and her love life back on track.

John of John by Douglas Stuart

This is a cautionary tale of what not to do as a parent. The prodigal son, 22-year-old gay Harris islander John-Calum Macleod, or Cal, returns to his childhood home, where his father is not just unhappy to see him, but detests everything about him, all the while expecting him to stay and take over the croft. There are undercurrents of domineering ownership that are not just distasteful, they are suffocating even for a straight man, much less a closeted gay one. Set within a tight-knit Free Presbyterian community of farmers, weavers and fishers in what appears to be the 1990s, John of John tells the story of Cal’s uneasy homecoming. It’s an ardent exploration of the half-lives of queer men condemned to love, pine and suffer in silence. Wearied by his ultraconservative environment, where connection feels out of reach, Cal takes a fancy to his dad’s sole friend, confirmed bachelor Innes MacInnes. Cal is struck by Innes’s “gentleness, his benevolence--but it cannot be, because his father and Innes have been lovers since they were teens. The irony in this intimate yet epic tale, with equal parts drama, familial fracture, love and inquiry into various forms of loneliness: the loneliness that can reside between fathers and sons, between lovers, between man and God, and between a small place and the big world. Do not miss this, it is alarming and telling.

Museo de Arte Moderno de México, Mexico City, Mexico

This is such a gorgeous musem. It is among the biggest museums of its kind in Latin America, witn an extraordinary collection focuses on the evolution of modern art in Mexico, especially with the Mexican School of Painting and the Breakaway Generation. In the equally beautifulChapultepec Park, the museum is housed in two circular buildings with two floors each and divided into four halls, and a gallery. You walk in and are immediatelywowed by how spectacular the design is. A remarkable sculpture garden connects the two buildings. The Xavier Villaurrutia and Carlos Pellicer halls allow visitors to admire the museum’s considerable permanent collection. This includes works by Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros, José Clemente Orozco, and Frida Kahlo, among others. Other halls are used for temporary exhibitions which display parts of the museum’s collection curated under varying themes and topics. These exhibitions often reach some considerable international notoriety. The MAM plays an important role in research and investigation related to modern and contemporary art. Having opened in 1964 with an exhibition of works by Rufino Tamayo, the buildings were completed based on a design by the architects Pedro Ramírez Vázquez and Carlos A. Cazares Salcido of the University of Sonora. They worked in collaboration with Rafael Mijares Alcérreca. The main body of the museum takes an organic form, curved in parallel to the Paseo de la Reforma. It was intended to respond to the landscape and surrounding undulating trees. It’s also, importantly, always been understood as a highly modern capstone to the country’s modernization process. Having been designed, built, and opened at the very peak of the Mexican economic miracle, also part of the museum's story.

The Night We Met by Abby Jimenez

These books are on the level of a murder mystery for me--only nobody dies and there is almost always a happy ending--so while the murder mystery will always be my preferred light reading material, the romance has become more frequent on my book shelf in recent years, and this author is one of my preferred writers. This is the classic love triangle with an actual starting point. Larissa made a choice after a concert. She chose to ride home with a guy who became her boyfriend, Mike—passing up the chance to ride with Mike’s quiet, steady best friend, Chris. Larissa started life in the hole, and her father chose to dig it deeper for her, taking out credit cards in her name and running them up to their limit with no intention of paying her back. So she has a job, a second job, a side hustle and then some--she is smart and creative and ambitious and hard working. Mike is none of these things and he does not appreciate all the good that Larissa is. Chris on the other hand is every mother's dream date for their child--he has a good job, he is kind, and he notices absolutely everything, including Larissa. You see where this is going--Chris can't date Mike's girlfriend, but then again, there is a little bit of the Cyrano De Bergerac thing going on, because many of the things Larissa likes about Mike are Chris' idea and the things she doesn't like Chris has covered up about Mike. You see where this is going, slowly but surely.

Expendio de Maíz, Mexico City, Mexico

This was my favorite food experience overall. A one Michelin star place with tables on the street--and only four of them, all communal tables--we ate with some young dermatologists who trained together in the not too distant past and were in town for soccer. There is a no sign, no menu, and cash-only, sidewalk operation in Roma Norte offers a surprising experience that prioritizes food over fuss. In place of typical creature comforts, find a bustling kitchen that cooks and cooks until diners tap out. It is anyone’s guess as to what’s coming but know that heirloom corn nixtamalized and ground in house serves as the foundation for many of the dishes. Tortillas, sopes, and huaraches alike are molded and griddled to order and then dressed in a dazzling variety of seasonal ingredients and sauces. Tableside salsas pack lightning bolts of heat and enliven every course. It was phenomenal. I just wish I was hungrier.

When He Was WIcked by Julia Quinn

I have really enjoyed the format of this series of linked romance novels that Netflix has made into a very popular Regency series. The formula is different each time and this one is a pretty classic love triangle. Francesca is the 6th Bridgerton child, and she was married to John, a man who lived a quiet life that she loved. Sadly, she lost her husband, the love of her life, after only two years of marriage. When her husband’s cousin, Michael, isolates himself in India, she feels as if she has nothing left. But Michael only left because he has a secret to hide: he’s been in love with Francesca from the first moment he saw her. As he returns to London, he must face his love for Francesca to find out once and for all if it could ever work, and if he’d ever not feel guilty about loving his dead cousin’s wife. Michael, who inherits John's title as well, does return to face the music, and it goes very much as you would expect. There is a lot more agency for Francesca than any of her sisters had an opportunity show their future husbands before they married--she has run her late husband's estates and they have thrived under her leadership--only Penelope, her sister-in-law, had a chance to shine her light before marriage and have a spouse who loved that about them. That is how you know this is a work of fiction, I am very sad to say. The American right in 2025 is populated by men who want women to shut up, stay home, and do as they say. Francesca is not that kind of woman.

The Gelman Collection, Museo de Arte Moderno de México, Mexico City

The Gelman Art Collection is take your breath away amazing to behold. Sometimes it is better to be lucky than good. More on this museum later, but man oh man this is worth the trip to see. Here is a bit about the reason it hasn’t been available for public viewing: For the first time in 20 years, the Gelman Collection, perhaps the best private collection of modern Mexican art, is on view at the Museo de Arte Moderno (MAM) in Mexico City. The 68 objects that make up the temporary exhibition have been locked away since the death of Natasha Gelman in 1998. In the intervening decades the collection has become the stuff of legend here in Mexico, with whispers of the murder in 2013 of the notary who witnessed Natasha’s contested will; suits and countersuits over the means by which an elderly and diminished Mrs Gelman came to leave her Riveras, Kahlos, Tamayos and Izquierdos to a relatively unknown curator in New York named Robert Littman; and the disappearance of a large group of pre-Columbian treasures from the Gelman apartment in New York, whereabouts still unknown.

We were lucky to see the Chester Dale Collection of largely Impressionist Art at the Art Institute of Chicago (Diego Rivera painted his portrait as well) years ago and this gives me the same feeling of awe. The Gelman’s lived with these treasures.

The Hypnotist's Love Story by Liane Moriarty

This author has a number of books written that are well known, and I am not entirely sure why I chose this one as a starting point with her. The main character is a hypnotherapist named Ellen who has a bit of a sparse and unfulfilling dating life. She’s finally given in and decided to try internet dating and she finds Patrick. His first wife died of cancer years back, he has a son (she has some hesitation about parenthood and it turns out she likes it) and he seems almost perfect. Except for one thing. Patrick has stalker. A former live-in girlfriend, Saskia, who hasn’t been able to let go. She’s not violent, but she spends a lot of the time just in the background watching. So it is creepy, and I kept waiting for it to escalate, but that is not where this is going. There is alot to unpack here about what love and loss is, and while the whole stalking thing had me on the edge of my chair in a bad way, which detracted from my enjoyment--I am not into thrillers, even less so now than ever before--there is a lot of good material here. There is also, as a side note, a lot of good information about hypnosis. One of my favorite therapists has been doing additional training in it, and this book gets it right.

This Is A Gardening Show (2026)

These are six short segments on gardening and the natural world. They feature children, they could be watched with children, and the language is at a sixth grade level, and they are hosted by a comic (Zach Galifianakis) so they aim to not just educate but to also entertain. Each episode opens with intentionally silly interviews with elementary aged children, and after that, Galifianakis marches off to meet an expert. This is where the meat of the gardening information happens. He visits a sun-dappled tomato farm and learns about the types of tomatoes that are most likely to survive the climate crisis. He goes to an apple orchard and learns about how to grow and nurture apples. He meets a composting expert, who is filled with such joy about her job that it’s hard not to hang on her every word. There is a lot of How To and Why here, but hidden in plain sight is the warning. Time and time again, Galifianakis states that “the future is agrarian”, because humankind cannot possibly maintain its unsustainable march of consumption unless it learns to grow its own food. It’s clearly a cause he passionately believes in, but he knows how to force you to listen. You show them how much fun it is, and how rewarding it can be to eat things that you grew yourself. And he is not aiming it at adults--he is seducing the kids.

The Pelican Brief by John Grisham

I read this for a Goodreads challeng--I picked it because I had just read a trio of Grisham books that came much later than this one (which was written in the early 1990's) and enjoyed them. The thing I didn't expect was that I would find it so relevant to the politics of 2026. So much corruption, so much graft and so much doing whatever they want. The grifters and the murderers have close ties with the President. SOund familiar? Apparently it is not new--Grisham wrote the play book and others are following it. Here's what happens. One morning America learns two Supreme Court justices have been murdered the previous night. Justice Rosenberg and Justice Jensen are different--one is reliably liberal and you could see the conservative president replacing him with someone who would shift the balance of the court, but the other is not, he is more likely to lean right, and the question arises who would have killed both of them. Law professor Thomas Callahan is heartbroken, but his brilliant student Darby Shaw sees the whole situation as a big puzzle. She starts preparing a legal brief (later to be called the Pelican Brief and you'll find out why) trying to find out who was behind the murders. Someone has to get advantage out of the deaths, and she studied an enormous amount of cases before she untangled the web of who is to gain. Darby gives her legal brief to Thomas, who then gives it to his llife long FBI friend, who spreads it widely. But the bried ends up ruffling feathers, the president squashes the investigation, but after Thomas is killed and Darby is on the run. This is more thriller than legal thriller, but it is well written, keeps the momentum up to the end, and again, it seems all too plausible.

Pujol, Mexico City, Mexico

We had the taco omakase at Pujol, Chef/owner Enrique Olvera’s seminal dining room that has long stood as one of the country’s most famous addresses. This breezy, contemporary space is a constant hive of activity, thanks to the 95 elegant servers who circulate throughout the equallyelegant space. In the introduction we were asked about insects 🐜. Our neighbors said no, then, well if you can’t see them, maybe? No, he was quite clear, you can see them. We started and ended in the garden—which is brilliant from a table management focus but also it is such a pleasant spot.

A foodie friend asked:How did you enjoy? The restaurant creates a ton of buzz! I replied that we were glad we went but it a one and done for us. The food is impeccably prepared, some exceptional flavor bombs and like nothing we have had before. It is always a win when you have an experience like no other. It is next level, but next time? More taco stands, less fine dining

To Sir Phillip With Love by Julia Quinn

I am gradually working my way through the Bridgerton ouevre and this is Eloise's story--she is my favorite of the siblings (which is not so fair to Hyacinth and Gregory as they are just children in the Netflix adaptation that I have watched to date). She waves off all suitors and is settled into her role as a spinster at the ripe old age of 28, in part because her closest friend is in her shoes. Then suddenly that all changes when Penelope quite suddenly gets married, and to her brother Colin, no less. On top of that it is revealed that she has been Lady Whistledown the whole time, and lo and behold, it is done so masterfully that she is not shunned as a result. All of this is too much for Eloise, and when her distant cousin's widower starts up a correspondence, she dives in with both feet. A year into it he proposes that they marry, and quite uncharacteristically she steals away in the night and goes to check out Sir Phillip, the botanist. There is a little bit of the Beauty and the Beast about it--Phillip is handsome but brooding and gruff, and Eloise is enchanting. Phillip's first wife was not a love match and she died of melancholy, leaving young twin children to basically fend for themselves because their father is afraid to parent them. Shall we say that it all works out in the end, with an inevitable Bridgerton brother intervention and an equally inevitable happy ending.

Avatar: Fire and Ash (2025)

It turns out that I am not much for spectagular CGI pomp and circumstance, and that I need less in the way of family dramas and more in the way of a story, even for a movie that is all about the visual. I read several reviews, and I can see that I am in the minority when it comes to this, and while I thought the first movie was good and also visually stunning, I am not one for dragging the story out, and there seemed to be a lot of that her. For example, while this is the final installment in a trilogy, it would surprise me not if there was another one in the works. So why did I even bother? That is an excellent question, and it is really a matter of filling out my bingo card--there were only four movies that were nominated for the 2026 Oscars that I had not seen (Cutting Though Rocks, Children No More, and THe Ugle Stepsister remain), and it was available on a long flight that got me to the table, and while I am not sorry I saw it, it probably deserved the win in Visual Effects (although a little sad about that), and no, I would not seek out another, but would probably watch if it were again nominated--which is how I ended up seeing the first two. My favorite for visual effects was Sinners, with The Lost Bus as my second choice. So in summary, if you like lush visuals with lots of action, this is a good one.

The Seed Keeper by Diane Wilson

This book has three perspectives--one is keeping true to the traditions of your culture as a way to re-anchor yourself, the second is incorporating American Indian values of respecting the earth, our only potential home, in the era of climate change butting heads with corporate greed, and the last is an interesting way to portray the effects of generational trauma. These elements weave together in the story of Rosalie Iron Wing, a Dakhóta woman whom we first meet during a major turning point in her life. Wilson, who is herself Dakhóta, composes a narrative that moves back and forth in time, filling in Rosalie’s backstory and family history. During these movements through time, we meet Marie Blackbird, Rosalie’s great-great-grandmother. Marie describes running from US Indian Agents who, among other things, took children away from their families and placed them in boarding schools to convert them to Christianity. Rosalie is, body and mind, a product of the transgressions and violations her family and the Dakhóta have endured, from the loss of their lands to the loss of their traditional food and their children. This book asserts that much of the past does not go away, but continues to exist in the present. It details the way history runs through the bloodstream, through the DNA, through the bones, through the water, and through the land, affecting every life that steps forward into the present. We primarily experience this idea through the eyes of the Dakhóta, but during one scene, Rosalie’s white husband, John, takes her to see a monument commemorating the Sioux Indian War of 1862, one of the many events that transformed and devastated Rosalie’s family—but also John’s family. I did not like the time travel in this, skipping between times throughout the book--I find it a little dizzying, especially when it is all over the place and not just two time periods, but overall would recommend.

Taquería El Jarocho, Mexico City, Mexico

This is a Michelin Bib Gourmand taqueria--where it is important to note that while they open at 9:30, they do not start serving off their more extensive menu until later in the morning. But you can always have tacos!

El Jarocho has eighty years of history backing it up, and has been run by three generations of the same family. It was originally a tortilleria, and they're known for their guisado-style tacos, offering a wide variety of proteins and vegetables stewed in a number of different ways. And don't skip their campechano taco with chopped steak and topped with crispy chicharron--that was Joel's favorite--mine was the mile verde tacos. Fresh tortillas are made in-house.

Last Night In Brooklyn by Xochitl Gonzalez

I read a review that this is a modern telling of The Great Gatsby story, moved from Long Island to Brooklyn, the place in New York to be now. I myself didn't catch that, and while it definitely holds water, that was not my take away from it. That says more about me than it does Gonzalez, because I didn't love Gatsby and I didn't love this either. Here goes. Brooklyn, 2007. Alicia (the new Nick) is 26 years old and feels like she’s stuck. She’s doing what is expected of her rather than what she wants to do. She’s saving for a wedding she’s not sure if she wants. But one night she attends a party in the Fort Greene neighborhood, and her life changes dramatically. She finds herself in the orbit of her magnetic neighbor, an up and coming designer who calls herself La Garza (the Great Jay Gasby). Alicia watches her neighbor from across the street, marveling at the epic parties she throws. When Alicia is invited into La Garza’s world, she finally realizes what she wants and what she’s been missing. La Garza has almost mythical reverence surrounding her. Alicia finds herself torn in many directions as the whole spun out of gold fairy tales cames spinning down. The setting of the book is as much a part as a character. Brooklyn in 2007 is on the verge of gentrification. The Barclays Center is about to be built, pushing out some of the neighborhood’s oldest residents. The country is already feeling the effects of a possible recession, even as the optimism of the Obama campaign is rising, especially for black and brown people. The big difference for the reader is that while The Great Gatsby was published in 1925, at the peak of the high times and long before the Crash of '29, this version comes to us almost 20 years after the events depicted, we know where that ends.

Cold Storage (2026)

My spouse and I have developed a ritual of watching very light weight action moview when we are starting an international vacation. We are usually going over water and facing a significant time change, which also involves cocktails and trying to get some sleep--not so this time however. We were Mexico City bound and not a drop of intoxicating liquid on board. In our defence, while this is a very silly movie that leans into horror heavily, it stars a favored action hero (Liam Neeson--although his last movie I was also not a fan of, so maybe not) and it has a good IMDB rating (go figure). What I did not know in advance of this is that it is adapted from a 2019 novel and is based on a real-life event. The breakup and descent of the NASA space station Skylab in 1979 and the space agency’s diligent recovery of the orbiter’s debris did happen. What did not happen is that starting in Western Australia, the movie depicts an uncollected piece of debris emitting the aforementioned gnarly, green, tendrilly fungus, which almost instantly infects all the humans in the immediate vicinity and causes their bodies to explode. Gross. After a small NASA contingent (led by Neeson and the incompable Lesley Manville) manages to trap, freeze, and contain the rampaging green stuff, we cut to the government warehouse where the fungus lies dormant in, yes, cold storage. Only the government warehouse is shut down, the building goes up for sale, and decades later, in the present day, it’s a self-storage emporium. So there are some excellent actors, but this is basically a gory film with a thin plot line and nothing can save it.

Romancing Mister Bridgerton by Julia Quinn

This is a friend to romance novel, which while I am not an avid reader of this genre, is a favored plot line. Then there is something about the Bridgerton books is compelling me to binge read them all. When I read The Duke and I I had no idea that I was going to eventually binge all of the books. Unexpectedly, I love the show (although why I am surprised is beyond me, because I love the Regency period novels and film adaptations) and Colin and Penelope’s romance was one I was looking forward to. This is not aptly named however--in the relationship that develops, neither party romances the other so much as act themselves. Colin Bridgerton has been wandering the world while trying to figure out his place in life. These rich men who hope to make a difference but do not need to work to support themselves--it can make them a bit tedious and Colin is no exception. He is tired of being thought nothing but an empty-headed charmer, tired of everyone’s preoccupation with the notorious gossip columnist Lady Whistledown, who can’t seem to publish an edition without mentioning the Bridgertons. But when Colin returns to London from a trip abroad he discovers nothing in his life is quite the same – including his sister's long time friend Penelope Featherington. Their friendship--which was at arms length for him and an adoration for her--slowly blossoms into something more, and something that he doesn't quite understand. It takes him quite some time to figure out just what a treasure she is and to come to her support when her secret is outed. He so obviously under valued what she brought to his life and he clearly needs her as a partner. Now I enter the half of the Bridgerton children whose lives have yet to be chronicled by the Netflix series. I am enjoying both versions.

Casa Azul, Frieda Kahlo Museum, Mexico City, Mexico

The Frieda Kahlo Museum is the blue house where she was born, died, and spent most of her life within these walls. It is a gorgeous space and it is filled with some of her possessions, some of her clothes and jewelry, and some of her art. A hard to beleive fact is that as many people visit this museum as do the National Museum of Anthropology, a museum that encompasses the history of Mexico. Frida’s father, Guillermo Kahlo – Hungarian-German by birth – had the house built in 1904. The historian Beatriz Scharrer, “in the style of the time: a central courtyard surrounded by all the interior rooms, and the exterior totally French.” The home was the meeting place for many of the great personalities who lived or met with Diego and Frida. Among them, Leon Trotsky, Henry Moore, Remedios Varo, and André Breton.

The kitchen has been preserved in its original condition, and remains an important part of the entire house. All the objects within it, including dinnerware and cookware, reflect the impact of Mexican culture on the artists’ daily lives. It is very beautiful in itself and it was very cool to visit. I bought tickets well in advance and if you think you want to go, so should you.

Behold The Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue

This is a novel that focuses on the lives of immigrants who are working to make a life in the United States. It is set in 2008, on the edge of the financial collapse that happened that year. The protagonist Jende Jonga is a Cameroonian migrant to America along with his wife Neni and their six-year old son Liomi. He is a driver for Clark Edwards, an investment banker at Lehman Brothers on Wall Street. While Jende is waiting for the result of his asylum application, he settles self-effacingly into his job, offering up stories of his homeland for his boss’s amusement. Jende is a small man at work, at the beck and call of Clark, his wife Cindy and their two sons; but he is a big man at home. The humiliations of being a driver allow him to pay his wife’s college tuition and send money back to Cameroon. The Edwards' are self-absorbed and selfish but there are also slim bridges of genuine affection that exist between them and the Jongas. But it is 2008 and Edward works for Lehman Brothers. Edward too is trapped in a powerful system, this time a financial one, and there is little room for maneuver and when the Edwards' lives are upended, so too are the Jonga's lives.

Enola Holmes 3 (2026)

Let me start off by saying that this is more good clean fun than it is pristine cinema, and I enjoyed this one as much as the prvious two installments in the series that is about fictional Sherlock Holmes' fictional sister. The film opens on the island of Malta where Enola is about to marry Lord Tewkesbury. However, the ceremony is quickly derailed when Enola’s brother, Sherlock Holmes, is kidnapped. The film pivots from a wedding into a swashbuckling rescue mission, weaving in overarching themes of British colonialism, sunken treasure, and the return of the formidable villain Moriarty. The style of storytelling style is energetic, with quick cutaways to headlines both real and imagined. There is a lot of breaking the fourth wall and if you don't care for that, skip this, because it really is part of the charm. The action scenes are dynamic and exciting, the puzzles are clever, the romance is endearing, and Enola’s commitment to fairness is gratifying. Enola is true-hearted, passionate, determined, and fearlessand we can see that her betrothed appreciates all that and more about her. When she speaks directly to us, it feels good to be part of her story.