Happy Fifth Night of Hanukkah!
It’s my turn to give away some goodies!
Today’s prize is: a box of books + extras!
You will be getting all eight books shown, the socks, and candle. Plus, there are a few more surprises I’m including. I picked all of these up at the independent bookstore where I work, Belmont Books. Just a friendly reminder, as well, to shop local if you can!
Here’s how to enter!
We talk a lot about TV, movies, and podcasts here! I want to know what piece of media was a huge comfort this year!
Standard disclaimers apply: I am not being compensated for this giveaway. Void where prohibited. Open to international residents where permitted by applicable law. Must be over 18, like big stacks, and you cannot lie. Sadly, photobombing cat will not be included, despite his best efforts to climb into any and all boxes.
Comments will close 3 December 2021 at or near 12pm ET, and winner will be announced shortly afterward.
Good luck, Happy Hanukkah, and thank you for being part of Smart Bitches!
Thanks for celebrating with us this year!
Winner update: Congratulations to Jen M! Be sure to check your inbox shortly.
Y’all will laugh, but I’ve really enjoyed the cartoon Bluey. It’s a children’s cartoon that’s written just as much for adults as for kids. Plus, it’s made in Australia so it gives a glimpse of Australian language and culture which I found super interesting.
I don’t watch TV, so I’m either reading or listening to podcasts or audiobooks. This podcast has been a comfort listen for sure and wished I had discovered it when all this craziness started it. I also listen to romance at a glance and boobies & noobies
Earlier this year, I would watch “Joe Pera Talks with You” – one episode every morning – and it really made me feel better about the world. Early this fall, I enjoyed having all the good feelings with a double dose of new episodes of GBBO and Ted Lasso on Fridays!
Poirot and Miss Marple on PBS Passport – I needed to escape from now and love that my contribution allows for access to programs, so double win. Thanks!
It may seem odd, but I’ve been watching West Wing this year. It’s really comforting to see public servants actually trying to do good, being flawed and then learning, seeing some people truly act in bipartisan compromise… plus it’s got great witty banter, adorable Rob Lowe, and some slow burn romance too
We finally watched both The Office and Schitts Creek this year. So much fun (even though some of the office hasn’t aged well!)
Bridgerton, but I also found it extremely soothing to watch just about anything on NHK Japan TV.
The BBC version of Pride and Prejudice
I learned of VOCES8’s “Live from London” concerts early in the pandemic (maybe summer 2020?). They have continued to produce several seasons since then. The music is always delightful, the livestreams are well produced, and there is always a complete PDF program to read as well. And the concerts are recorded and available for some time afterward. This year’s holiday series is about to begin and I can’t wait.
Ted Lasso was SO comforting, Always. I’m also very comforted by the To All The Boys I Loved Before trio of movies on Netflix.
I discovered Taskmaster (a British comedy panel/game show) at the beginning of the year and watched all of it before they made it a pay show on you tube. It was amazing, irrelevant, hilarious… Just what I needed early 2021.
West Wing from way back, when government made sense. And Ted Lasso.
Parks and Recreation. Always. I’ve watched and rewatched it so often I could quote chunks of it (and that’s an achievement, given my memory is appalling). As a pharmacy manager, I’ve worked pretty much non-stop since the pandemic began, and coming home to Pawnee shenanigans was my happy place for sure.
Great British Baking Show has been my go-to!
Music CDs, baby! When it comes to media, I am the very definition of a modern Luddite.
It’s older, but I really enjoy watching old seasons of The Amazing Race on Amazon Prime.
Bob’s Burgers. I watch at least one episode nightly. I watched Bridgerton too times to count this year. Derry Girls, Father Brown, Vera, Midsomer Murders are favorites too. Lots of comfort rewatching.
Ted Lasso, and watching As Time Goes By on my local PBS station at lunch. I made it through the whole series almost three times!
GBBO, Glassblowers, What If, so many videos that helped. Mustn’t forget Deadpool.
Bridgerton and the Great British Baking Show. Love, lust, and cookies!
webtoons. I heard about it on a podcast and they are perfect for my not wanting to focus brain. Super cute romances, but with the pictures already included and in bitesize bits.
There are either weekly installments of current series (Midnight Poppy Land is one of my favs) or older completed series to binge.
The Way of the Househusband anime on Netflix is something I have rewatched so many times (the live action series The Ingenuity of the Househusband is also pretty cute) because it’s just funny and absurd and sweet. Plus the episodes are broken into little micro stories so it’s super easy to dip in for a few minutes if I just need a quick pick me up.
Most comforting – various podcasts, This American Life, 99% Invisible, and This is Criminal are my favorites. Just hearing Phoebe Judge’s voice makes me feel like life is a little more normal.
Online concerts from the San Francisco Symphony, Philharmonia Baroque, and Cal Performances definitely helped since I couldnot attend in person.
Sex Education. So hilarious but also made me cry with beautiful scenes about young women supporting each other.
Podcasts esp. lexitecture.
Oh man, this year it was new comforts (Ted Lasso comes to mine), old favorites (GBBS hurray!), and I hoping to watch all the xmas movies on Netflix for their stupid holiday cheer.
I rewatched Leverage with great enjoyment. (I so love a good heist/grift for a righteous cause.) And finally watched The Librarians. This Old House on PBS was weirdly soothing, and fanfic saved the day when my brain (much to my frustration and chagrin) suddenly refused to get on board with finishing books for several months.
Ted Lasso, forever and always
We Are Lady Parts–which i never would have tried without the review from SBTB! I loved how it showed a wide variety of ways to be a Muslim woman in the world without once ever calling attention to it or trying to “educate” the audience.
I ended up subscribing to Peacock for a couple months, which turned out to be surprisingly worth it. Lady Parts was the best, but also Rutherford Falls, Girls5Eva, the Saved by the Bell reboot, and AP Bio were all rewarding.
I enjoy Survivor, Amazing Race, and Big Brother. Every time I watch them, I can recall being around my parents and talking about the shows the next day. I do miss them.
What We Do in the Shadows, the funniest show around
Lore Olympus WEBTOON! Everything about it is wonderful escapism with stunning story telling. The benefit of a WEBTOON is that there is often an Asian drama version so you can just bounce back and forth.
Also, Monty don. Oh the world is burning? But look his jewel garden is finally in bloom!
I started binging queer romance on Kindle Unlimited again. Even the trashy stuff makes me happy (tbh I wish it was easier* to find trashy f/f), but my (QualityTM) hits list at present includes Semper Fi by Keira Andrews, The One Decent Thing by Eliot Grayson, The Knight and the Necromancer series by A. H. Lee, several books by Aster Glenn Gray (off of the Briarley review from this site, no less), and The Left Hand of Calvus by Ann Gallagher/L.A. Witt.
(My can’t-promise-you-they’re-good-literature-but-fuck-I-loved-them catnip list features the Forbidden Rumspringa series (Andrews), the Mismatched Mates series (Grayson), Beyond The Sea (Andrews again), and, like, most of Sean Ashcroft’s backlist. If anyone wanted more recs. :P)
*I’m not saying it’s HARD; I just want it to be easier, like ‘shows up in the If You Likeds so I don’t have to look for it at all’ easy XD
Finding authors like Ruby Dixon, Ann Aguirre, C. M. Nascosta, and others that embrace the non-human romance in surprising, sexy, and loving ways that let me know I’m not the only weirdo out there with this catnip.
The Great British Bake Off (new season and reruns) provided reminders of kindness, creativity, and completing the stress cycle for me this year!
I absolutely love (and highly recommend) a podcast about trees called “Completely Abortrary”. The two hosts (one an urban arborist, Casey Clapp, and his “tree skeptic” friend Alex Crowson) do a new species every week. It sounds boring but I love their banter, and have learned so very much. This fall they’re doing trees that produce food – with recipes. It’s a joy.
I’ve been really enjoying Ted Lasso, Only Murders In the Building, and Miss Scarlet & the Duke.
I’m such a masochist but Fleabag. The soundtrack A+. The acting A+. The smut A+. I just resonate on such an unholy (pun intended) level to almost all the characters on the show. It’s the perfect mixture of making me uncontrollably laugh + sob while making me want to fuck a priest.
Thank You!!!