7 Quick Takes: What I've Been Watching

Joining in the taking of quick fun with our lovely host, Kelly...

I was going to title this one "Why You Should Watch What I'm Watching", but then I would have to convince you to watch these shows. 

And what if you hate the shows and that leads you to question my taste? 

Or, (even worse!), what if you love all of my suggestions and I have to come up with 7 more shows? 

Stop the insanity.

I don't know your life.

You do you. 

Here are 7 shows I've been enjoying (no pressure!)....

1) Drunk History. Holy wow. Kyle and I are only 2 episodes in, and we've pulled

muscles from laughing so hard. The basic premise is that the host (creator?) gets historians drunk and has them narrate a portion of history. He then gets pretty well-known actors to lip sync the narration and act out the story. It's insanely funny and really quite a creative idea. You can find it on Amazon Prime.

2) Friday Night Lights. When this show first debuted in 2006, I was taking a break from all TV, so I missed out on it. But, thanks to Netflix, I have discovered why people loved it so much. If anyone else was also living under a rock in 2006, let me sum it up for you by saying: Texas high school football, relationship drama, Connie Britton hair.

3) White Collar. Another Netflix recommendation that is perfect for when you want to watch something clever, yet not too heavy. The show revolves around an FBI agent who catches his archnemesis and then has him released into his custody to help solving white collar crimes. (Bonus: Kelly Kapowski is in it!)

4) The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Ok, Netflix was having a really great day when it decided to start producing its own shows. Kimmy Schmidt is written and produced by the hilarious Tina Fey. Kimmy was kidnapped at 15 by the leader of a cult and kept in an underground bunker with 3 other women for 15 years. Then, they are rescued and this is where the show begins. Sounds scary and depressing, right? NOT AT ALL. It's written as a comedy, and, man, does it deliver. As the kids say: this show is on fleek! 

5) The Middle. I try to catch this one "live" every week on Wednesday nights on ABC. I started watching because I love Patricia Heaton (Everybody Loves Raymond), but I continued because it's funny, true-to-life, and has a truly talented cast. 

6) The Goldbergs. I'll be honest: this one is not gonna be for everyone. Kyle and I like to watch it (Wednesdays on ABC) because it's based on the true life family stories of the show's creator who grew up in the 80s. It's a little piece of nostalgia with a side of funny. 

7) Mountain Men. I blame Kyle for this one. He got me hooked on this (both Amazon and Netflix have it) reality series. It focuses on 4 or 5 separate men who have chosen to live in various mountainous areas around the U.S. Im pretty sure we watch it to cheer for the 1 guy we sorta like, and to laugh at the rest of those idiots. Because, really? They are not the brightest bunch.

Eustace is NOT the guy we cheer for...ever.

So, what about you? What are YOU watching? 

WWRW: Another Guest Review Installation from The Year of the Sacketts

Linking up with the classy and sophisticated Jessica for this month's WWRW.

Kyle has graciously offered to guest blog once again! And I am happy to share with all of you his wit and intelligence:

2015 - the Year of the Sacketts continues...

If you remember from our last Post, this year we set the goal to read all of Louis L'Amour's novels about the fictional American frontier family, the Sacketts. Well, so far the year is off to an excellent start as we are nearing the end of the first quarter and I have completed 31.25% of my goal. This puts me 6% ahead of schedule! I am not sure if this What We Are Reading Wednesday blog offers any prizes but if they do I feel quite certain that I am a shoe in for whatever prize is offered. 

So, in our first blog on this topic we were introduced to the Sackett family by way of Barnabas Sackett in the novel Sackett's Land. In To The Far Blue Mountains, we continue to read about his adventures in settling the frontier in a very wild new land.  Barnabas, his wife Abigail, and their group of comrades settles in the area of Shooting Creek, NC. Barnabas and his mates quickly earn the respect of the local Indian tribes for their fighting skills as well as their trade. Barnabas fled England to the New World looking for a land where he could raise a family and where his children could be free to blaze their own trails, away from the rigid class system of England. Barnabas and Abigail have four sons (Kin Ring, Yance, Jubal, and Brian) and one daughter (Noelle) and in this way the mighty Sackett clan is born.

Following the death of Barnabas, the tale continues with his sons Kin Ring and Yance in The Warriors Path. In a tale similar to the kidnapping of the daughter of Daniel Boone, a pair of young women are kidnapped and the girls parents send a plea to the Sacketts to come to the rescue. The younger girl is the sister to Yance's wife, and in a recurring theme throughout the series when one Sackett is in trouble the rest will come running. Kin Ring and Yance set out to New England to pick up the trail, and quickly learn the kidnapper are not Indians but rather slave traders. With the skills of men raised in the woods, the Sacketts quickly hunt down the kidnappers but the adventure continues as Kin Ring tracks the villains to colonial Jamaica. The action is non-stop as the Sacketts work to bring the villains to justice. The books are works of historical fiction, so again they seek to bring in real life occurrences and characters such as Samuel Maverick to lend credence to the tale. The writing is highly stylized and entertaining. I recommend these books to left- and right-handed readers alike as I think all readers will find something to love. 

And, check back again for reviews of the next few books in the series.