Nook & iBook Readers rejoice! Year of the Rat (Changeling Sisters IV) is now available in ebook format on Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, Apple, Kobo, and other major platforms. There's nothing like curling up with your eReader and a cup of cocoa while snow falls--or in our case--rain.
Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday season!
WITH THE HOLIDAYS AROUND THE CORNER (there were so many Xmas decorations out early we expected to be handing out candy canes to trick-or-treaters instead of Twix), let’s take a look at outstanding comedy recommendations from Netflix. Check out my favorites below and feel free to share your own!
Best Witty Comedy
Call My Agent: This is such a hands-down favorite.
Welcome to ASK, a boutique agency, where its perfectly cast agents work
tirelessly for big-name French movie actors and actresses, no matter how
outrageous the demand. This is on top of juggling the drama of their personal
lives and some cutthroat office politics that would make Cersei Lannister
proud. Camille (Fanny Sidney) journeys to the big city and scores a job at ASK
helping the notorious Andréa Martel (played with wicked charm by Camille
Cottin), but really her plan is to meet her father, legendary cinema agent
Mathias (Thibault de Montalembert), who had an affair with her mother. She soon
learns he may be the real office monster who will stop at nothing in his climb
to the top and must make a choice about her own career aspirations.
Camille may be the anchoring story, but Call My Agent
comes to life with a cast of truly memorable and witty characters, all of whom get
their time in the limelight. Andréa is a badass, and assistants Noémie (Laure
Calamy) and Hervé (Nicolas Maury) are the most adorable scene-stealers. There’s
a ton of fun cameos from well-known actors such as Sigourney Weaver, and we
learn that even the silliest grievance can spin out of control quickly. We get
4 seasons of nonstop entertainment that wraps up the loose ends satisfactorily,
and there’s even a Bollywood version now available.
Sex Education: So your mum’s a sex therapist and
everyone at school comes to you with their bedroom problems. Meet Otis (Asa
Butterfield), who lives in an amazingly cool mansion overlooking a valley and
attends Moordale Secondary School, where everyone from the students to the
staff are in over their heads with relationship angst. They deal with it,
naturally, by getting a goat as a pet or having epic meltdowns. Otis and school
bad girl Maeve (Emma Mackey) see an
opportunity and start a clandestine clinic giving out advice. Sex Education
is not shy about tackling an entire spectrum of issues and has no shortage of
colorful characters. Otis’s best mate Eric (Ncuti Gatwa) is particularly
endearing, and you can’t ask for much better than Gillian Anderson to portray
Otis’s archly mother. The show starts getting a little tired after three
seasons, but the great thing about British comedy is they know when a series
has run its course, so we’ll see what new direction season 4 goes.
Best Heartwarming Comedy
Never Have I Ever: Just before you say you’ve seen
every trope of high school girl caught in a love triangle, check out this fun,
heart-warming romp through the San Fernando Valley. Devi (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan)
enters her sophomore year after the traumatic loss of her father. The trauma
resulted in the loss of the use of her legs for a couple months, and naturally,
this is what everyone at school is talking about. (“Whoa, is this comedy?” you
ask— “Yes, stay with me.”) Determined to change her social status, Devi embarks
with the help of her loveable friends to embrace change in her life by
completing a series of “never-have-I-evers”, beginning with losing her
virginity to the hunky, minimally-verbal Paxton (Darren Barnet). She also
negotiates a new relationship with her strict traditionalist mother (Poorna
Jagannathan), who she was never super close to. Devi is lively, makes mistakes,
and feels like a true teen, and the show clips along at a snappy pace that
always leaves you ready for more. There’s a lot of heart and feeling (dare you
to watch the last episode of season 1 and not cry!), and it feels fresh with
something new to offer.
Best Satire
The Chair: Dr. Ji Yoon Kim (Sandra Oh) gets the English
Department Chair job of her dreams after fighting tooth and nail both as a
woman and as a person of colour. It’s a quick celebration, as she is quickly
beset by the demanding expectations of students, colleagues, and the school
alike, such as being told to fire the three oldest professors who are failing
to enroll students in their classes. The colleague she has longstanding
feelings for, Bill Dobson (Jay Duplass), gets embroiled in a viral scandal
after he pulls a mock “Heil, Hitler” in class, and oh, her adopted daughter
(Everly Carganilla) is either a budding psychopath or quite normal for her age.
It’s enough to tear anyone apart, and the show lands solid hits in its deft
critique of the higher education system. The dry humor of veteran professor
Joan Hambling (Holland Taylor) trying to get an office out of the basement is
particularly hysterical.
Best Fun-&-Silliness-Taken-Seriously
Cobra Kai: The Karate Kid (1984) was a
classic, and when I first heard about this sequel series set to follow Johnny Lawrence
(William Zabka), Danny’s original nemesis, I questioned if he was strong enough
to carry it. However, the show’s creators smartly juxtapose blue-collar,
down-on-his-luck Johnny as struggling to navigate high-tech, social-media-obsessed
society. However, some things never change, like high school kids’ enthusiasm
for epic martial arts battles. I absolutely love Johnny’s relationship with his
neighbor kid Miguel (Xolo Maridueña), who he reluctantly takes under his wing
to teach his own “middle way” karate creed. Even better, plenty of the old cast
from The Karate Kid movies are back, notably Danny LaRusso (Ralph
Macchio) who has gone on to own a successful car dealership, and he takes issue
with Johnny opening his own dojo. The only thing missing is Mr. Miyagi (Pat
Morita), who sadly passed in 2005. He’s still the show’s moral anchor, but
things aren’t black and white, and both Johnny and Danny realize how difficult
it is to be sensei with a whole new generation looking up to them.
I haven’t even gotten to the amazing cast of kids who become
part of Johnny or Danny’s dojos respectively, but the comedic martial arts
battles are just as intense as they ever were. The show has fun and laughs at
itself, dropping sly digs at the guys’ All-Valley Tournament feud through
Danny’s down-to-earth wife, and it turns out to be the best decision to hand
the story over to the anti-hero’s perspective.
Outer Banks: The first season of this show is a lot
of fun. The outer banks of North Carolina are starkly divided between the
wealthy Kooks and impoverished Pogues. Best buds John B (Chase Stokes), JJ
(Rudy Pankow), Kiara (Madison Bailey), and Pope (Jonathan Daviss) spend their
days living it up on the surf and hunting for the lost treasure of the Merchant
ship, which has ties to the disappearance of John B’s father. Their search
entangles them with the Camerons, local
rich family who is also after the treasure, and plenty of shenanigans commence.
It’s kind of like a geocaching beach party adventure, and John B’s crew is a
loveable bunch who are easy to root for. The plot gets a bit tired in Season 2,
but Season 1 is absolutely recommended.
Best Dark Humor
You: You’d think a show from the point of view of the
obsessive stalker would be icky, but somehow Penn Badgley (Gossip Girl)
has pulled it off. Joe Goldberg grew up an orphan learning how to restore old
books under the tender tutelage of the foster care system (his last guardian
had a vacuum sealed cage in his basement), but his rough upbringing hasn’t
dissuaded him from searching for “The One.” Seemingly mild and charming, Joe
demonstrates his love by infiltrating the life of the object of his affection—in
this case, Beck (Elizabeth Lail), an NYU graduate student trying to be a
writer. Joe woos her with dirt he digs up from her social media, all while
entertaining the audience with his critique of how much of ourselves we put
online. Heaven forbid anyone get in his way, or Joe, knowing what is best for
Beck, will take matters into his own hands. It gets bloody, messy, and thanks
to Joe’s inner monologues—utterly hilarious. Each season has a different
setting (NY, LA, a Californian suburb), giving Joe plenty to criticize and new
frenemies to play cat-and-mouse with. Will he ever find peace with “The One”? Probably
not, but it’s entertaining watching him try!
Best Originality
Sense 8: For those who like a show that defies genre,
check this one out. Eight people around the globe become mentally and
emotionally linked when their “birth mother” kills herself to escape a
mysterious man known as Whispers. This connection gives them incredible
abilities—not only are they telepathic, but they can essentially “download”
their consciousness and abilities into each other’s bodies to make them one
super human—a Sensate cluster. How well they work together will determine their
survival due to the mysterious organization that is after them, and even more
awesomely, there are other Sensate clusters with unique makeups as well (think
ability of fighter pilot, actor, police officer, hacker all rolled into one
person). The show is definitely slow moving and takes its time exploring our
different Sensates and their stories, since they all keep their freewill.
There’s lots of laughs, tears, and a deep dive into what it is to be human, and
it creates a most beautiful story.
*Warning, spoilers for the series*
The Changeling Sisters Series is an urban fantasy series
that explores themes of family, multiculturalism, and spiritual balance. To
escape tragedy, the Alvarez family moves to Seoul, South Korea, where they get
caught up in a supernatural war between the shapeshifting Were Nation and the
power-hungry Vampyre Court over control of the spirit world of Eve.
“Changeling” originated from European folklore. They were
believed to be the offspring of magical folk such as elves or fairies and left
in the place of human babies. The Changeling resembled the missing child
through sorcery and was shunned when their behavior grew increasingly
“demonic.” It was a disruptive force in the perceived “true” family. “This babe
is a fake!” the mother wails. “Where has my real child gone?”
I felt the word fit the series well in the sense that
feeling like a “Changeling” means negotiating one’s sense of belonging in the
world. What happens when you aren’t the person your family hoped you would be?
What happens when you feel that way about yourself?
The Changeling Sisters Series follows Citlalli and her
younger half-sister Raina. Raina is the child of an affair between Citlalli’s
mother and a mystery Korean man. The secret was not discovered until Raina’s
birth, when her Asian descent became apparent. In Year of the Wolf (Book
I) Raina is the object of whispers in school halls and even outright hostility
from her older brother. She feels a stranger among her Chicana siblings, who innocently
or knowingly use her background to gain sympathy from the public at large. Upon
moving to Seoul, Raina has the looks to fit in but can’t because of her lack of
knowledge about the language or culture. Feeling unwanted and rejected, Raina
is overtly sensitive to the attentions of others, and ultimately feels this
subservience made her prey to the Vampyre Court, who call her the “Changeling”
Soul. Raina struggles with which heritage she belongs to—Alvarez, Mejía, Yong—but
as the White Tiger tells her in Year of the Dragon (Book III), most only
know one world in a lifetime. She can know three.
Meanwhile, Citlalli involuntarily joins the Were Nation after
suffering a werewolf bite in defense of a homeless man who is later revealed to
be a spy for the Vampyre Court. As the beast awakens within, she doesn’t
recognize who she is becoming. In Year of the Tiger (Book II), something
else awakes inside her. Its terrible power forces a realization that the beast
was her all along. Citlalli must claim her failures as well as her successes to
find herself, but as she asks in Year of the Rat (Book IV), how can she
trust herself again when she knows she is capable of great failure?
In Year of the Dragon, we meet the other half of
Raina’s heritage: the dragon-shapeshifter Yong clan, responsible for
maintaining seasonal balance. Similarly, there is a perceived “perfect, true”
child among the three Yong siblings—Sun Bin, Ankor, and Heesu—although everyone
has a different opinion about who that is.
The eldest, Sun Bin, feels like a disappointment to her
father for liking the “wrong” gender and wonders if she should have been born a
boy to match her twin brother. She recognizes that she is her father’s child but
feels as rejected by her father as she does her mother—Sun thinks her interests
(fine jewelry, designer clothes, flaunting her social power over others) are
disappointing to her mother. In Year
of the Rat, Sun reminisces that she and her twin brother Ankor may as well
have been “Changelings” as far as their mother was concerned—Umma never saw
herself in them as she did Heesu. Meanwhile, their father views Heesu’s gentle
personality and disinterest in material wealth as weak, and not fitting for a Celestial Dragon.
The final connection is the story behind the mysterious
“Changeling” Soul that led the Dark Spirits to pursue the Alvarez family for so
many years. I look forward to unveiling the mystery in the upcoming final
installments of the Changeling Sisters Series, Year of the Snake (Book
V) and Year of the Crow (Book VI).
The Changeling Sisters Series is available on major
online retailers and in paperback on Amazon.com.
Mark your calendars! The Year of the Rat (Changeling Sisters IV) eBook will be available for Smashwords, Barnes & Noble, Apple, Kobo readers & more on 12/10/21.
IT'S OCTOBER, the month of the mysterious, the otherworldly, and the dark. I’ve compiled my top favorite fantasy shows from Netflix sure to be as addictive as Halloween candy. Check out my recommendations below and share your own!
Best Dystopia
3%: Dystopian societies are all the rage in YA
fiction these days (Divergent, Legend, The Hunger Games).
Usually a calamity has befallen the world, and the group in power has come up
with some obscene scheme to handle the remaining resources. Featuring a
Brazilian cast, 3% offers a fresh and enthralling take on such a future
civilization. 97% of the population of “Inland” live in a slum after the world
is devastated, but come their 20th birthday, they have one chance to
earn their spot on the luxurious “Offshore” paradise through a set of grueling
tests known as the Process. The series opens with hundreds of hopefuls
journeying up from the underbelly of the slum to a gleaming futuristic hall,
where they participate in trials of character and skill to determine if they
are “worthy” to join the technology affluent Offshore population. If they lose,
they face living out the rest of their days in poverty.
The show nails it with creating sympathetic and compelling
characters. Participants Michele (Bianca Comparato), Fernando (Michael Gomes), Rafael
(Rodolfo Valente), and Joana (Vaneza Oliveira) are particularly memorable with
their own motivations for competing in the Process, and even the Process’s
leader, Ezequiel (João Miguel), has his own secrets. Best of all: if you hate
it when television series get canceled without a definite conclusion, 3%
wraps up satisfactorily after 3 seasons.
Best Thriller Competition You Would Never Enter
Squid Game: Since we’re on a roll with shows about
disturbing contests that pit people against one another, look no further than
the breakout Korean hit Squid Game. Unlike 3%, the contestants of
Squid Game are no angels. They’re billions of won in debt, down on-their-luck
gamblers like our lead Lee Jung Jae (Seong Gi Hun), or flat-out violent. A
mysterious man approaches these downtrodden folks and offers them a chance to
win riches beyond their wildest dreams—all they have to do is compete in a
series of children’s games with nasty twists (namely, losing means paying with
your life).
It’s Hunger Games meets The Purge, but Squid
Game is wholly unique in its great care with character development,
artistic expression (which is no small feat considering each games murders tons
of people), and stylish overseers with very cool masks. Each scene is extremely
well-shot to be candy for the eyes, and episode 6 is absolutely heartbreaking.
If the majority of contestants vote to end the game, then the overseers will
honor it, but time and again, they choose to continue to the next brutal level.
Personally, by game three I’d be a goner! A must-watch for fans of murderous
game competitions.
Best Fantasy
Shadow and Bone: I adored the Shadow and Bone
Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo, and so I was thrilled to hear of the Netflix
adaptation, doubly so when Ben Barnes was cast to play the fascinating and
brooding Darkling character (known in the show as General Kirigan). This series
also intertwines the plot of another Bardugo offering, the Six of Crows.
I’d found that book to be a bit dense, but it really works in this series with
the splendid casting of Inej (Amita Suman) and the scene-stealing Jasper (Kit
Young).
A long time ago, a sorcerer created the Fold, a place of
darkness and monsters, which cleaved the land of Russian-inspired Ravka in
half. The West seeks independence, but both sides are targets of the
warmongering Fjerda, who seek to destroy Ravka’s Grisha people who can control
different elements. Orphan pair Alina and Mal find themselves swept up in the
struggle when Alina discovers she is the mythical Sun Summoner capable of
destroying the Fold. Alina (Jessie Mei Li) struggles to come to terms with her
power even as forces such as General Kirigan conspire to use her magic for
their own purposes.
The plot is action-packed with never a dull moment, and the
show does justice to the multiple vivid personalities that made this series a
best-seller. Very excited for Season 2!
Diablero: For fans of Supernatural and Wynonna
Earp, meet Elvis (Horacio García Rojas) and Keta (Fátima Molina)—brother
and sister living in México City who were trained to be Diableros: awesomely
cool demon hunters. Well, Elvis was—Keta didn’t get as much love because she
was a girl, but she has picked up enough tricks to be just as dangerous as her
wise-cracking, smooth-talking brother. Elvis and Keta reluctantly sign on to
help Father Ramiro (Christopher von Uckermann) when a demon begins stealing
children for nefarious purposes. Rounding out this adorable ass-kicking crew is
Nancy (Gisselle Kuri), who can withstand demonic possession, and is quite
simply the best.
Season 1 starts out a bit rough—the pacing is uneven, and it
loses some of its suspense as it takes a very convoluted road to discovering
the identity of the person summoning demons. However, I loved the main Scooby
Doo gang and the side characters are equally fun (I love Elvis’s snarky
nieces!). The stakes get raised by the end of Season 1, and Season 2 really
hits the ground running and doesn’t look back. The mythology is wonderfully
incorporated and the show feels darkly humorous and unique.
Based on the book El Diablo me obligó by Francisco
Haghenbeck, Diablero has really found its rhythm in Season 2, and I’m so
pumped for Season 3!
Best Scooby-Doo-Gang-Feel
Stranger Things: Speaking of loveable Brady Bunch
types who will steal your heart, there’s no better smalltown group to take on a
secretive government-run corporation than Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Dustin (Gaten
Matarazzo), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), and the mysterious Eleven (Millie Bobby
Brown). When their friend Will disappears under strange circumstances, the kids
arm up with their bicycles and set out to uncover the truth about the sinister
facility in the woods. Meanwhile, Will’s mother is convinced she can
communicate with her missing child via Christmas lights, and a horrifying
monster from an alternate dimension known as the Upside Down begins hunting the
frightened townsfolk. That’s just Season 1.
Eleven is very compelling as a child with supernatural
abilities escaped from the government-run facility, and the main gang is a joy
to watch. Season 2 stumbles a bit as it tries to give storylines to too many
characters, but Stranger Things doesn’t run out of chilling monsters from
other dimensions, and I’m interested to see what Season 4 brings.
Best Horror
The Haunting of Hill House: For me, the best types of
horror stories are those that keep the ghosts at arm’s length—they’re there,
out of the corner of your eye, or just a fleeting glimpse, but it’s terrifying
enough that you can’t bear to look. The Haunting of Hill House is
excellent at this. It succeeds at distracting you with the everyday troubles of
the Crain family, and the ghosts are such a soft, subtle presence, that you
don’t realize they’re right behind you until it’s too late. Recommended not
to watch when drinking red wine over carpet.
In a truly tragic tale, we meet the grown-up Crain children,
who’ve been estranged after the terrible loss that defined their childhood. The
series alternates between flashbacks of their lives in the creepy mansion to
present day, where something sinister continues to haunt the Crain family—and
it won’t stop until they return to where it all began.
For a chilling Halloween nail-biter, you can’t ask for much
better than this.
*For Religious Horror, check out Midnight Mass.
Philosophy, madness, and mayhem descend on an isolated predominantly Catholic
island community.
Best Suspense & Mystery
Lupin: Is it fantasy? No, but Gentleman Burglar Assane
Diop, played brilliantly by the magnetic Omar Sy, has enough tricks up his
sleeve to make you believe it’s magic. Lupin is Paris’s answer to Locke
Lamora, with a dash of Ocean’s Eleven thrown in. It’s fun, it’s
thrilling, and it has artistic flair, with the cat-and-mouse games between Diop
and Hubert Pellegrini (Hervé Pierre) climbing to increasingly precarious
heights.
As a child, Diop was fascinated with the stories of the
legendary Gentleman Burglar Lupin, who pulled off a series of heists with his
wit and mastery of disguises. In present day Paris, Diop takes on the charming
thief persona to help cope with the loss of his father, who hanged himself in
prison, and to uncover the true reason behind his father’s death.
Lupin moves at a breakneck pace with lots of hijinks
and plot twists, but it balances them all with effortless skill. Best of all,
there may be a Season 3.
Best Potential
Warrior Nun: It’s really a toss-up between Warrior
Nun and the King-Arthur-folklore-retelling in Cursed, but I think Warrior
Nun has such a fascinating premise. The title alone are two words you don’t
see together, and, as promised, it’s about a secret sect of demon-hunting nuns in
picturesque Spain who have mad martial arts skills. Ava Silva (Alba Baptista)
is a quadriplegic orphan who endures a truly awful Sister in the orphanage. She
dies, only to wake up in a morgue with a strange symbol on her back and the
ability to not only walk again but mind-bending new abilities. The spirit of
the Warrior Nun has chosen her—mistakenly, some of the Sisterhood feel—to lead her
fellow Sisters in the age-old battle against evil.
This show, like Diablero, doesn’t really know what to
do with itself at first. It has so many interesting ideas—the mythos; who is
the real evil; Ava not believing in the faith or wanting anything to do with
demon fighting—but it isn’t focused, and a couple episodes fall into a lull
whenever Ava and the Sisters are separated. However, the nuns Shotgun Mary
(Toya Turner), Beatrice (Kristina Tonteri-Young), and Lilith (Lorena Andrea) are
really well-cast, and the show has started to find its footing by the end. Very
curious to see what Season 2 brings.
ANNOUNCEMENT
WHETHER YOU ARE BRACING YOURSELF to endure the COVID pandemic (again) or a new mom with months of newborn feeding ahead of you, everyone is scouring their favorite streaming sites for new or under-the-radar shows. With the amount of competition among Netflix, Disney, Apple TV, HBO, and Amazon Prime to name a few, it can be tough to keep track of all the original content offerings. Here is a list of my favorites produced by Netflix—some well-known, and others off the beaten path. However, they all have in common compelling characters, twists, and intriguing world-building. Check out my faves below and share your own! Let's kick off first with Dramas:
Best Epic Drama
Peaky Blinders: Cillian Murphy is electric in the
role of Tommy Shelby, the charismatic and cunning leader of the scrappy Peaky
Blinders street gang in 1919 Birmingham, England. Suffering from post-traumatic
stress following World War I, Tommy rises as a dark Robin Hood who earns the
people’s devotion and the ire of increasingly notorious mob bosses played by
the likes of Tom Hardy and Adrien Brody. Let’s not forget Sam Neill’s excellent performance as a crooked cop, made more shocking for all of us who
predominantly know him as the cranky but loveable paleontologist of Jurassic
Park. Watching Peaky Blinders now is all the more poignant given the
passing of legendary actress Helen McCrory, who plays Tommy’s fearless and
no-nonsense Aunt Polly. The series will wrap up with Season 6.
The Last Kingdom: Join the charming and roguish
Uhtred, a man torn between allegiance to the English Saxons and Vikings, on his
journey to reclaim his kingdom of Bebbanburg during the 9th Century
AD. He makes a reluctant ally of last-Saxon-ruler-standing King Alfred, who
sees Uhtred as little more than a barbaric heathen, and the transformation of
their relationship throughout the course of the series is riveting. It’s
juxtaposed against Uhtred’s equally fascinating relationship with
on-and-off-again frenemy Brida, played effortlessly by Emily Cox. Although
Brida has a similar upbringing to Uhtred, a Saxon-born raised by Vikings, she
has no doubts about where her loyalties lie. Season 5 is coming soon—will
Uhtred *finally* fulfill his destiny? Originally based off the Saxon Stories novels
of Bernard Cornwell.
Best Drama Based on True Events
Narcos/Narcos: Mexico: Detailing the tragic rise of
Pablo Escobar to dominate the cocaine trade in Columbia and Félix Gallardo in México
respectively, each series plunges into the dark underworld and world events
that shaped each kingpin’s rise to power in the 1980s. Narcos is exceedingly
bingeworthy with excellent performances by Wagner Moura and Pedro Pascal, as
you gawk at how many times Escobar twists and spins his way out of increasingly
high stakes situations. Pascal is a scene stealer and even has a season to
himself to take on the Gentleman of Cali.
After watching Narcos, take a break before picking up
the thread with the series Narcos: Mexico. Diego Luna deftly takes on
the role of Miguel Ángel “Félix” Gallardo, founder of the Guadalajara Cartel,
who starts out as a smalltown hero but increasingly justifies the means with betrayal
and violence, until he has created the bottleneck for drug flow into the
biggest client, America. Season 1 is a must-watch which includes a wildly tense
scene between Gallardo and Escobar; the show loses steam in Season 2, as the
supporting cast just can’t keep up with Luna’s charm.
Best Historical Drama
Marco Polo: This is a lavishly developed and
ambitious undertaking which realized too late who the main heart of the show is—the amazing Benedict Wong—and although it attempted to switch focus, it
wasn’t soon enough to muster the audience needed to sustain its massive budget.
Still, we get two seasons that are quite a visual treat. Marco Polo follows
not Genghis Khan, but his grandson Kublai Khan in the late 13th
century, who succeeded in conquering China.
Initially we witness events at Kublai Khan’s court through
the eyes of the Venetian explorer Marco Polo, whose merchant father-of-the-year
barters him off to the Great Khan. From there, Polo earns the Khan’s favor as
one of his “sons,” and we witness the intriguing struggles of the Khan, who
embraces diversity and global expansion over the traditional Mongol values of
maintaining a homogenized nomadic society. As the story shifts to delve deeper
into the man behind the Khan, the drama really takes off. There are a number of
memorable characters, including Hundred Eyes, a renowned fighter who gets his
own Netflix movie, and the battles are top-notch!
Frontier: Starring Jason Momoa as half-Irish,
half-Cree outsider Declan Harp, this is a dramatization of the North American
fur trade in the late eighteenth century. This series starts off slow but grows
on you; the characters are likeable and the historical conflicts interesting.
Sadly the series was cancelled after Season 3, but it is always entertaining to
watch Jason Momoa hunt down evildoers in snow clad forests with death in
his eyes.
Best Limited Series – Drama
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The Queen’s Gambit: The rivalry between America and
the Soviet Union is at its peak during the Cold War, and what better way to
settle it than with a game of chess. Beth Harmon, brilliantly embodied by Anya
Taylor-Joy, is a maverick, a chess unicorn who spends her orphanage days
learning the art of chess, and has such single-minded determination to be the
best that she will do anything to give herself the edge—even take copious
amounts of pills that are handed out to the orphanage children daily as
vitamins. Dismissive of the consequences to her health and relationships with
others, Beth finds solace only in the dance of chess pieces playing out across
her bedroom ceiling every night. However, when the pills fail her against the
Russian chess grandmaster, Beth must undergo an excruciating self-examination
for a second chance at the finals match in Moscow—with the world watching.
Taylor-Joy makes an appearance in Peaky Blinders as
well, and although I loathed her character there (which is a testament to the
actress’s skill), here she takes us on a satisfying self-reflective journey of
her vices that has us rooting for her every step of the way. Beth teams up with
her opportunistic adoptive mother to attend various global chess tournaments. They'll have you flinching at every self-destructive decision and cheering every
little victory. Highly bingeworthy!
Best Limited Series based on True Events
The Serpent: Every horror story you ever heard about
traveling abroad comes frighteningly to life in this limited series based on
the life of serial killer Charles Sobhraj, who preyed on “hippies” visiting
South Asia during the 1970s. Taking full advantage of the time before
smartphones, the suave and coldly calculating gem dealer Sobhraj, portrayed
with equal parts allure and menace by Tahar Rahim, sucks not only tourists into
his web of manipulation, but also Marie-Andrée Leclerc (Jenna Coleman) and Ajay
Chowdhury (Amesh Edireweera). The trio’s actions increasingly escalate in
Bangkok, Thailand when one tourist pair refuses to be their jewel smuggling
mule. An intrepid Dutch diplomat, Herman Knippenberg, begins to unravel the
web with the help of Sobhraj’s plucky neighbors. It’s fascinating to watch the
massive global undertaking it took to go after Sobhraj, who was a master of
altering his victims’ passports for his own use to escape time and time again. Serves
as a friendly reminder to travelers: if something sounds too good to be true,
it probably is.
More recommendations to come—however, due to being one of
the aforementioned new moms, my time is up for today!
This is Part II of the Washington Travel Series. Read Part I here.
POULSBO WAS BUILT TO BE A WRITER’S RETREAT. Not really. However, it is hard to imagine a more rustically charming coastal town that warms the moodiness of the skies with its Nordic flair and cheer. Hole-in-the-wall eateries, upscale Italian and seafood restaurants decorated with lights, and fun unique and quirky pubs dot the streets overlooking the tranquil Liberty Bay. There are alleys and murals to discover, numerous book shops, antiques, and arts and crafts galleries to explore, and the famous Sluys Bakery, where in a mere blink, will accumulate a line down the block of hungry customers.
The Scandinavian
feel of “Little Norway” is ruggedly underscored with a lively pub life including
many local folk groups and fish and tackle shops, as well as a small aquarium.
The wharf is a gem aesthetically, where you can rent kayaks and leisurely
peruse the gentle Liberty Bay. Keep wandering the waterline northwest, and you’ll
discover the entrance to Liberty Bay Waterfront Park, which includes a
waterfront trail that cruises up into the trees and past a beautiful historic
building. The Victorian architecture in the northern hills overlooking the town
complete the vision to have everything a writer could ask for to inspire the
imagination.
In terms of
dining along the Front Street area, Tizley’s EuroPub has a wonderful view of downtown
from its balcony and boasts hearty Bavarian fare. A Some Italian
Ristorante is an option on the waterfront with delicious pastas, right by JJ’s
Fish House for those seeking a seafood option. It’s caught my eye but I’ve
never had a chance to visit— The Brass Kaken Pub, adorned with said sea
favorite cephalopod, right on the water. For a ritzy experience, check out
Sogno di Vino with its classic fairy lights and open air patio. For seafaring rentals,
check out Olympic Outdoor Center next to the aquarium SEA Discovery Center on
the far southeast side of town.
Depending on
activities, it is easy to spend half a day to a full day here in Poulsbo. We
did an anniversary weekend back in the pre-COVID times when it was quite lively
with festivities. Keep an eye out for events to attend, as there are many that
celebrate the town’s Nordic heritage from when it was founded by immigrants in
the late 1800s. The spring Viking Fest is said to be quite a good time!
Getting
to Poulsbo, WA: There is a ferry route and toll road from Seattle if you
head west toward the Kitsap Peninsula by way of the 305 or 160 (both approximately
1.5 – 2 hours). Alternatively, you can drive down I-5 South, take WA-16
W and then continue onto WA-3 N up the Kitsap Peninsula until you hit Liberty Bay.
This is also about 1.5 hours but 80 mile drive one way. Coming back you can be
prepared to pay the toll bridge for crossing Tacoma Narrows (with a Good-to-Go
pass it’s $5; $6 without; $7 if you don’t stop at the booth and pay by mail). Keep
an eye here for latest: https://wsdot.wa.gov/Tolling/TNBTolling/default.htm.
*The above
is depicted as fiction and not fact.
Washington State, USA - Travel Series - Part I
AH, MOTHERHOOD! I am currently experiencing the joys of welcoming a newborn into the world, which includes watching marathons of Netflix while this adorable milk monster goes on wild feeding ragers at all hours and turns her parents into laundry zombies. Currently with the entire Twilight series available on Netflix, I am working my way through Eclipse with two more movies to go. As such, my apologies for the pause on travel and book reviews as we learn to juggle this extremely cute but demanding infant 😊.
The
paranormal phenomenon that is Twilight originates in Forks, Washington,
where Stephanie Meyer made the Olympic Peninsula even more famous for its moody
cloud cover and rainforests that hide secrets and monsters. In my travels there,
I’ve never encountered wolves or vampires but something much cuter – otters!
Among herons, anemones, starfish, deer, and bold raccoons if you can muster the
courage to camp in drizzle. As such, introducing the Washington State Travel
series. Let’s
kick it off with two beautiful destinations – Rialto Beach and Saltwater Creek
Recreation Area.
Rialto
Beach, Washington – Hole in the Wall
Twilight
fans are intimately familiar with La Push, home to main character Jacob and the
werewolf pack of the Quileute Tribe. Off of La Push Road on the Olympic coast
is Mora Road and the heavily wooded Mora Campground, which offers a great
launch point to access many of the coastal beaches. A very memorable beach is Rialto,
accessible along Mora Road and about 75 miles west of Port Angeles (around 4
hour drive west from Seattle). Rialto Beach is also directly north of the Quileute
reservation.
You can
reserve campsites at Mora Campground from May 26, 2021 - September 15, 2021 and
find details here: https://www.recreation.gov/.
The rest of the year it’s first come, first served to claim a site.
Keep
traveling west on Mora Road until you hit the coast, and you’ll find Rialto
beach. There is a wonderful 1.5 mile hike to Hole in the Wall, a dramatic sea
arch. Prepare to get a little wet depending on how high the tide is! Crabs,
anemones, and seabirds abound. You can keep hiking beyond the Hole as well, or
stop and enjoy the surf.
Saltwater
Creek Recreation Area & Crescent Beach – Washington
On your way
back inland, there is plenty to explore. Saltwater Creek Recreation Area is a
beautiful and atmospheric campground situated in the cliffs overlooking the Strait
of Juan de Fuca. Located in Clallam County, Washington, travel along US Route
101 to discover this 196-acre park located 15 miles west of Port Angeles,
Washington.
This makes
for a fun 1-2 day exploring excursion and is a wonderful jump off point to
plenty of hikes in the area. Salt Creek campground is RV and tent friendly,
offering multiple options for small and large groups. You will likely be
greeted by deer on your way in, and many of the campsites are dramatically right
near the cliff edge.
Within walking distance is a trail that winds down to Crescent Beach. You’ll pass by Camp Hayden, which has concealed bomb-proofed two-gun batteries. It was built to protect the Puget Sound around 1941. It is recommended to duck into the batteries a bit ahead of your friends and find a good spot to scare them.
Although it
can be daunting to travel to the tip of the Tongue where waves crash, make the
trip if you are able. We were pleasantly surprised to find a couple sea otters
enjoying urchins and the surf. So if you have strong balance and heart, you won’t
want to miss the Tongue—but watch your step out there. It can get extremely
slippery.
The trail
also wraps by this island, which you can access during low tide. We spotted a seal
frolicking in the emerald depths off the island, and of course we had to try
and climb to the top of the butte. It is a scramble that is not for the faint
of the heart, and you’ll want to keep an eye on the changing tides so you don’t
get stuck, but on top is a couple trails through the trees and salal berry
bushes. Most exciting of all, we spotted two unexpected animals cuddling at the
base of the island—river otters 😊.
These two
were cuddling quite close for warmth and because they knew just how darned adorable
it made them. Eventually they parted and shot off through the water as fast as
bullets. It was quite a treat to experience sea and river otters on the same
day!
Upon
reaching Crescent Beach at the end of the trail, you do have to be careful,
since Crescent Beach is considered private. However, that is only to the water
line. When the tide goes out, it is fair game to explore. Do note that the
private parking area is patrolled frequently, so your best bet is to walk down
from the campground and visit at low tide. We did take a dip in the ocean—even
during summer, we only stayed in an impressive two minutes!
Overall,
Salt Creek is a fun family outing to explore. If Stephanie Meyer does revisit
this area for future books, hopefully shapeshifting otters make an appearance.
Other Sights along the Drive:
This is Part I of the Washington Travel Series.
Read Part II here: Poulsbo, WA.
*The above
is depicted as fiction and not fact.
