From the latest in my colleagues’ and my regular installment of things we’ve enjoyed lately, this time the books, songs, shows, blogs, films, and other media we most enjoyed this summer. As usual, theirs are worth reading as well!

Books, Articles, Blogs

• I made next to no progress on the dozen or so books I put on my summer reading list and instead discovered and dove into several fascinating (if niche) blogs:
  • Gwern.net (Gwern Branwen) — a writer and researcher and a blogger to end all bloggers, his beautifully designed blog is like a black hole (in a good way), dragging me in to his fascinating writing, research, and more.
  • Andy Matuschak — also a researcher and writer, I think I first read his piece Why books don’t work, before discovering his system of notes, which genuinely might have changed my life and is a system I’ve now adopted for myself.
  • Andy Masley — I continue to appreciate his level-headed, absurdly well-researched pieces.
• I did make some time to read the July issue of The Atlantic in honor of the nation’s 250th anniversary and enjoyed it as always.
• I neglected to do much fiction reading because that is just a durable personality trait of mine at this point (or flaw, depending on who you ask). But my colleagues have you covered there!

Movies/TV

• I devoured Season 5 of The Bear and cried at least once during each episode. It was sublime, heartwarming, intense (as always), and beautiful.
• I think I felt what I can only describe as euphoria watching Michael, the Michael Jackson biopic. It is sensational, and my only regret was watching it on a plane, where getting up and dancing along to the music is…well, probably frowned upon. So I guess I’ll have to just watch it again.

Music

• I regularly find myself saying I like an artist but never getting around to listening to more of their music; that’s the case (or no longer the case, as it were!) with Maggie Rogers, whose music I’ve really enjoyed this summer.
• I enjoyed and plan to return quite a bit to the three(!) albums Jon Batiste released a couple weeks ago: Monk Movements, Monk Meditations, and Black Mozart.
• I’ve enjoyed my fairly regular rotation of Bon Iver and Sufjan Stevens.
• I love Black gospel music, as some people know very well, and I’ve lately been on a major Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir kick. They have a fun crossover sort of sound that feels distinctly gospel while also feeling like contemporary evangelical worship music. If you want a gospeled-up version of a CCM throwback, Holy Is the Lord is a fun time, or for a true gospel music standard, try their cover of Tremaine Hawkins’ classic I Never Lost My Praise.