Entertainment

What We’re...

...Reading

The Light We Carry by Michelle Obama

Considering the enormous success of her memoir Becoming in 2018, Michelle Obama’s follow up, The Light We Carry, will be the biggest must-read this season. Where Becoming was a memoir of the First Lady’s experiences leading up to her time in the White House, The Light We Carry may almost be read as a self-help book. The book includes previously untold stories from Obama’s life, but here, these stories are intended to illustrate lessons she has learned along the way, as she attempts to provide advice and strategies for overcoming adversity to her readers.

Stella Maris by Cormac McCarthy

For 16 years, the notoriously isolated Cormac McCarthy did not release a new book. But in 2022, readers were lucky enough to get two. In October, McCarthy released The Passenger, a haunting novel about a diver named Bobby who is investigating a sunken jet. Stella Maris serves as the sequel. It focuses on Bobby’s sister, Alicia, a graduate student who is diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. The suspense develops as the reader grows to understand the relationship and connection between the two siblings and the secrets they may share.

...Listening To

Re-Released Music Provides Comfort This Winter

Just in time for the holidays, the end of 2022 is bringing us a wide array of re-released music for those who love listening to remastered classics. Included in these new re-releases are Billy Joel’s 1990 concert album Live at Yankee Stadium, a Super Deluxe 7-CD box set edition of Guns N’ Roses Use Your Illusion, and a box set of John Mellencamp’s 1994 release Scarecrow, which promises to include rare and previously unreleased tracks. For Elvis Presley fans, a box set titled Elvis on Tour, which includes 6 CD’s and a Blu-ray video, all recorded during the King’s 1972 North American tour, is now available.

Only the Strong Survive, Bruce Springsteen

If you are in the mood for something new, look no further than Bruce Springsteen’s 21st studio album, Only the Strong Survive. The album is a collection of soul covers from the 60s and 70s and promises to be a rare treat. His cover of Frank Wilson’s Do I Love You (Indeed I Do) has been making the rounds, and proves to be a unique take on the old classic that only serves to make listeners eager for more.

...Watching

My Policeman, Amazon Prime

After the release of Don’t Worry Darling in September, audiences complained that pop star Harry Styles simply doesn’t have the acting chops to carry a film. My Policeman is his opportunity to prove them wrong. Whether you watch hoping for the actor’s redemption or failure, the story of My Policeman is likely to captivate viewers. Set primarily in the 1950s, the film recounts the story of Tom and Patrick, two men who find themselves in a passionate romance during a time when homosexuality was still dangerously illegal.

Nanny, Netflix

Horror films have trended toward the psychological and cerebral in recent years, and Nanny is the latest example of this trend. The film stars the beautiful Anna Diop (Us, 24: Legacy) as Aisha, a Senegalese immigrant who finds a job as a nanny for a wealthy family in New York City. Her goal is to earn enough money to bring her own child to the United States to live with her. Like many movies in this growing genre, everything seems normal in the beginning, until Aisha begins to realize that the family she is working for is not exactly what it seems. This film won the prestigious Grand Jury Prize at Sundance this year, and may ultimately be an Oscar contender.

By Vanessa Hutchison

Winter 2022-2023 | TodaysTransitions.com