Three recs, wrap-up edition

Alt-history thriller novels, a punchy feminist series, the best true crime TV adaptation

Somehow, 2023 is nearly over. I feel no less baffled by that than I did last issue. It’s been a roller coaster of a year, and I’m sure I’m not the only one feeling a bit bruised and battered by it all. I don’t actually expect 2024 will be all that different – I think this might just be life – but, at the very least, I’m looking forward to continuing this newsletter’s journey with you guys. You’ve all been so wonderfully supportive, and I can’t wait to gush about more books/TV/movies/podcasts/culture with you in the months to come.

Since I promised you all a wrap-up, here’s the first ever Keep Up, Kids year-end summary:

21 issues written
Most viewed (also most emails): Murder mystery edition
Highest open rate: Strike edition (with Welcome edition hard on its heels)
Most liked: Series finale edition
Most comments: Horror edition
Second-most emails: Espionage edition

Recs:
31 TV series
6 films
23 books + 3 ongoing series
7 podcasts

I tried to count how many of all these categories I watched/read/listened to in total, but honestly it’s impossible to keep track. I watch so many pilots of TV shows that I never continue – how am I supposed to count those? The only thing I do know for sure is that I’ve read 112 books so far, and I expect I’ll finish at least one more this weekend. So that’s something.

If you’ve got any particular favorites that I recommended, as always, I’d love to hear – and, no doubt, discuss. And if you’ve got any particular faves that I haven’t mentioned, please send them my way. I, too, rely on recs.

Finally: Who else has finished the new season of Slow Horses?!

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Rec 1
The Small Change trilogy (books)

I had planned to catch up on some TV and movies over the holidays, but instead I tore through this captivating alt-history book series by Jo Walton from more than a decade ago, set in a 1940s/50s Britain that made peace with the Nazis before the US could enter the war. The first book, Farthing, is more or less a classic country house murder mystery set against that backdrop, while the next two – Ha’penny and Half a Crown – essentially become a really good version of all the best bits of the TV series of The Man in the High Castle. By which I mean: They’re spy thrillers about normal people living under an (increasingly) fascist government.

Stories like this – including Man in the High Castle – often focus on the heroes, the extraordinary people who fight back in the face of evil. But one of the things I appreciate about these books is that Walton’s characters are largely not that special. Instead, they’re mostly like the vast majority of people throughout history who’ve lived under repressive authoritarian regimes: Just trying to stay alive, willing to swallow what the people in power tell them, make compromises, and look the other way out of fear and convenience until it affects them. Each book is told in dual narrative, one of which is from the perspective of a privileged woman who starts out more or less accepting the system at face value because it doesn’t hurt her – an effective and chilling device for demonstrating how authoritarian regimes work.

I know that Walton was at least partly inspired by Spain under Franco – a real authoritarian dictatorship during the same period – but I also appreciated how British it all is. From the fact that much of the British ruling class were fans of Hitler, to the ways the still-unwritten constitution can be (and is) manipulated, to the deeply ingrained class system and xenophobia, it feels like a singularly British version of all this.

Of course, it goes without saying that if you’re not in a head-space to read about rising fascism, rampant anti-semitism and homophobia, or really anything to do with Nazis, then this might not be the time for you to read this series. But if you can bring yourself to spend some time in this world, these books are immersive, compelling, and, fundamentally, really good stories.

Where: Reserve at your library or order from your non-Amazon bookseller of choice (here’s the Bookshop US link for Farthing, and here’s the Bookshop UK link).*

*(In the name of full transparency, I’ve included affiliate links to Bookshop.org – if you’re going to order from them anyway, please use my link so I can make a little extra cash! If you want to see/order any/all of my book recs, I’ve made lists on Bookshop, too: US version, UK version.)

Rec 2
GLOW (TV)

Bit of a throwback here, but I figure we all need something a bit lighter, especially after that last rec. And this 2017-2019 Netflix series about an eclectic group of women in 1980s LA who form a ladies’ wrestling show is about as fun and warm-hearted an antithesis to Nazism as I can think of.

Full disclosure: When I first heard about GLOW, I didn’t think it was going to be for me. Sure it was from the same team as Orange Is the New Black, but women’s wrestling? Not really my vibe. But Alison Brie is always fun to watch and people kept recommending it to both my husband and me, which is always a good sign. It didn’t even take an episode to hook me – it’s snarky, brash, and funny, and I’m always a sucker for a story about a bunch of misfits inadvertently creating a community. Plus, Brie’s character is one of my favorite kinds of protagonists: The selfish fuck-up with a good heart and a lot of ambition who feels misunderstood by the world and desperately wants to get it right.

Lest you think it’s all about one character, this is a killer ensemble series. Betty Gilpin, Marc Maron, Chris Lowell, and loads of other people you’ll recognize consistently steal the show. They’re weird and endearing and a delight to hang out with.

As for the wrestling, it won me over quickly, despite my skepticism. Not only is it a place for these women to find and be themselves – to play out their interpersonal dramas and take control of their lives – but it’s also hugely entertaining to watch. I suppose any WWE fan could have told me it’s all about the spectacle, but getting to see this kitschy 80s version as part of a high-budget scripted show is more fun than I ever anticipated. (I’m still not about to become a WWE fan, though!)

Where: Netflix

Rec 3
The Dropout (TV)

Insta followers may remember this rec from 2022, as it was my very first TV rec on there, before this newsletter was even a twinkle in my eye. But this Amanda Seyfried-starring limited series about Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos is one I still think about and recommend regularly, and it unfortunately slipped through the cracks for a lot of people. I blame that on every streaming service releasing its “real con artists from a few years ago” TV adaptations simultaneously – and all the rest of them being pretty meh.

All you really need to know about this one is that Adam McKay was planning to make a movie about Holmes/Theranos starring Jennifer Lawrence. When this series came out, Lawrence dropped out (lol) of the movie on the basis that Seyfried and the series had done it better than she could. Mic drop to Seyfried and The Dropout team (including showrunner Elizabeth Meriwether, also of New Girl fame) and mad props to Lawrence.

But if I’m going to tell you a few more things about The Dropout (which is what you’re here for, right?), I’ll add that it’s that perfect blend of weirdness, dark humor, and real emotional depth. Clocking in at eight episodes, it’s got a slightly unusual structure and plays with POV in ways that allow it to be about Holmes without making her too sympathetic. I’ve heard several people say they didn’t need all the backstory in the first three episodes, but I enjoyed it and see why it’s there; episode four is when the “main” timeline kicks in and some key casting heightens the latent Succession vibes.

Personally, I also relished the series’ damning indictment of Silicon Valley culture, as well as its setting in and around places I know well. But I don’t think you need to know anything about Silicon Valley to feel how close to the bone it all is; we’re living in an age of con artists and egomaniacs, and this series shows the absurdity of that reality and the toll it takes on everyone involved.

Where: Hulu (US), Disney+ (UK)

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That’s all for this week! What are you reading/watching/listening to that I should be aware of? Drop me a line (or comment) to let me know if you check out any of my recs and what you think.

Please spread the word and I’ll see you in a couple weeks. Oh yeah, and happy new year!

xo
Kate

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