Perfect Things for the Whole Family

Books and movies and TV shows, because summer is long

Right now I have one child at sleepaway camp and one child in day camp and I have not worked an actual full day in what feels like a hundred years, which I do not like. I like to work! I like to be on vacation and I like to work and for me, summer is this weird blob in between where you can’t really work but you also have to work but also you can’t work but also you want to work and anyway there is a lot of Netflix at my house. Here are the things that we (as a family) have loved so far this summer.

KPop Demon Hunters

I mean, say less. One truly great KPop song (you can listen to it here) that does hit me a little in the Popsicle sweet spot. A++

The Beatyrce Prophesy

I’m behind! I know! Kate is the GOAT and Sophie is the GOAT and there is an actual goat. It is such a profound pleasure to read sentences this good. Good lord I love Kate DiCamillo.

Justin Willman’s Magic Lover on Netflix

Justin Willman, who I heretofore only knew as the host of a failed Netflix competition show where bakers were paired up with engineers to make cakes that did stuff, has a completely charming new special on Netflix. I personally enjoy awe and wonder and so I’m all in, but then again, I named my bookstore Books Are Magic.

Castle Impossible

You might look at this on HGTV and think that it’s just one of a trillion home renovation shows, but this is so much weirder. The premise is this: Daphne inherited a French castle from her grandfather, and now she and her husband are fixing it up. Her husband, Ian, has romance novel cover model hair, was in the army, and has left his entire life behind in California. His French is pathetic and Daphne’s grandmother clearly hates him. You see what I mean? It’s weird. One could edit this show to be a treatise on French parenting, or perhaps a sad love triangle between Daphne, Ian, and their main contractor, Tony, who is from the UK but lives in Normandy and he spends so much time at the chateau that Daphne and Ian made him his own space which seemed preeeeetty close to seeing if Tony wanted to move in forever. Neither Daphne nor Ian is remotely funny but they make each other laugh and I really do like how mean every French person on this show is to both of them. I am fully invested.

And now, a few perfect things that might be boring to people under twelve.

The Gilded Age

The babes are back. Thank god! I have missed Bertha Russell so much.

Cannonball

Wesley is back. Wesley is thinking about Bruno Mars. Do you know how many times I’ve written Wesley Morris fan letters? Several times.

Molly Young’s new zine

Molly Young is so smart that she sort of scares me, but you know what scares everybody? Pregnancy! This new zine is Molly’s pregnancy diary, and it looks like a horror novel, because guess what, women’s bodies are full of bloody surprises. (See previous missive.) You can order one here.