An incomplete (still working on it) list of things as they are categorized below…

And… I like it when people give things a grade... It seems to say not just "here's something I read" (or watched, or listened to) but also, "here's how much I enjoyed it". As such, the letter grades here are subjective and based on faulty memory, general feeling and an effort to be frank.

Audiobooks

The Adventures of Miss Barbara Pym by Paula Byrne (A) - interesting in the context of war time experience and a look at how one writer gathered material for her fiction.

Vanderbilt by Anderson Cooper and Katherine Howe (A) - an entertaining look at lives so different from my own.

The Mockingbird Next Door by Marja Mills (A) - a gentle memoir and a fascinating exploration of Harper Lee's world.

Deliberate Cruelty by Roseanne Montillo (B) - I liked this story in relation to the two previous ones because, for a third time, Truman Capote is a subject under another author's pen. I hadn't planned on learning so much about him, but I feel like I don't need to learn anything more.

The Greatest Beer Run Ever by John Donohue (A) - a fun kind of story if you imagine an older relative as narrator. It made me think differently about how Vietnam war veterans might have felt coming back to live in society. (This relates to the Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg miniseries Masters of the Air, Band of Brothers and The Pacific.)

Grant by Rob Chernov (A+) - I really liked feeling how well researched this book was.

All the Light We Cannot See (A) - entertaining listen.

The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride (A+) - I like what McBride writes, it stays in my mind… His memoir The Color of Water was a standout for me.

podcasts

Freakonomics: The Curious Mr. Feynman, The Brilliant Mr. Feynman, The Vanishing Mr. Feynman (a three-part series) (A+) - I like mini-biographies, especially of a person who I feel like I should know more about but don’t have enough will to actually read about. I wish more podcasts did this!

streaming

Masters of the Air (A+), Band of Brothers (A), The Pacific (A+). One miniseries lead to watching the next. The Pacific has stayed in my mind for the gruesome conditions in which the war was fought. 

Tokyo Vice (A+) - contains investigative journalism and action; a win-win in this house.

Ripley (A) - cool... as scenic as black and white can be. 

Girls on the Bus (A) - fun… felt original.

Shogun (A+) - really enjoyed having a feel for culture and history in Japan.

movies

Killers of the Flower Moon (A-) - I can’t put a finger on why I didn’t enjoy this more.

One Life (A-) - good, worthy story, excellent actors, but I felt like the writing could have been more? Still, the clichés as they were made me cry.