the more i think about it, the more i think october might be my favorite month. the weather is beautiful, the college football is good [unless you’re an arkansas fan, of course], and i always feel like i have an extra spring in my step. this october was no exception.

october highlights.

the weather finally started cooling off / roommate date to dear evan hansen at the orpheum / shelby farms day with riggs / mempho fest / give 365 fall welcome party / grizz home opener / murder mystery fun with lauren and jen / facing history benefit dinner / national civil rights museum freedom awards

october books.

made it through 3.5 books this month!

the chestnut man by søren sveistrup. i’m a sucker for a good thriller, and this one kept my attention throughout its 500+ pages. the story of a serial killer in copenhagen and the two detectives determined to solve the case no matter how many people try to stop them was intriguing from the opening prologue all the way through to the end. the end kind of left it open for a follow up, so i will be interested to see if that happens, but i like having the loose ends.

just mercy by bryan stevenson. i know i’m late to the game on this one, but man bryan stevenson’s story of founding the equal justice initiative and his work to find relief for those who are wrongly convicted or who receive cruel and unusual punishments is incredible. his motivation to keep fighting in the face of racism, bigotry, and downright idiocy is inspirational, and i am grateful to have people like him in the world.

queenie by candice carty-williams. this was a book of the month selection earlier this year, and it was exactly what i needed after the heavier just mercy. queenie is a jamaican-british woman in her mid-20s living in london, and this story follows her through the ups and downs of her daily life: a job she isn’t really great at, a relationship crumbling around her, a family with lots of unspoken trauma, and precarious friendships. i sped through this one in about four days.

currently reading: david epstein’s range: why generalists triumph in a specialized world.

the best things i watched.

mommy dead and dearest, the hbo documentary about gypsy rose blanchard and her mother dee dee, was so interesting. it still amazes me that they got away with as much as they did, and i am still kind of skeptical of gypsy.

i watched the first two seasons of peaky blinders on netflix and cannot get enough. it’s a rabbit hole for sure, and i am here for it.

cool things on the internet.

elizabeth warren’s response to this question about same-sex marriage was pretty awesome.

4th graders respond to learning the full story of christopher columbus.

relationship green flags. because it’s nice to remember those exist as well.

ali wong’s guide to choosing the best asian restaurants.

why the big awards shows are still not ready to scrap their gendered categories.

what are your ‘sliding doors’ moments? i have two that immediately come to mind: what if i’d gotten that job? and what if i’d gotten his phone number?

marc gasol got ‘grit and grind’ engraved on his championship ring and i love him for it.

roxane gay’s case for checking a bag.

nirmal purja just shattered the record for climbing all 14 8,000+ himalayan peaks — he did it in under 7 months!

happy november, friends!

xx

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