Happy New Year! We made it and the holidays just blew by. Now that I’m not feeling the guilt of having to watch as many of my favorite Christmas flicks as I was able to pack in during the shortest holiday season I experienced in a long time, I can get back to my always-growing list of shows and movies that I desperately need to catch up on. It’s a literal snowball effect, as more new shiny objects are dropping daily but I have to power through and finish all the others. 

The Golden Globes are this Sunday and I sadly have only seen four of the nominated movies…out of eighteen total! Many years ago I attempted to watch all of them prior to the awards but that hasn’t happened since. I am more up to speed on the nominated TV shows, having seen many of them and so excited for the nominees. I fill out my own ballot and play along and even better, I make my hubby cast his vote too. He despises it, rolls his eyes when he sees me coming with the print-out every time but begrudgingly humors me and fills it out. What he doesn’t do is any research on the movies and shows that are getting the most hype OR remembers how they performed at the other award shows since that sometimes dictates how the next group shakes out, with the occasional surprise. Like the cool kids say, it’s my pop culture flex that I typically score better than he does.  But, enough about all that. If you’re in need of some new shows to kick off the new year right, here’s some recos.

Virgin River– Season 6 dropped on Netflix right before Christmas so I was only able to squeeze a couple episodes in. When we got back from Cali on the 30th, I promptly binge watched all the rest of the season. This show is very Hallmark, crossed with Gilmore Girls and some Northern Exposure too. I love it and it’s already been greenlit for Season 7 with a couple of big cliffhangers at the end of Season 6. They love to do that.

Shrinking – I also managed to finish Season 2 just this week and man, get a box of tissues. This show has all the feels and Harrison Ford. That’s about all that’s needed for an excellent show, IMHO.

The Sticky – This show is loosely based on some true events and has a couple of my favorite ladies in it. It’s got a Fargo vibe that’s quirky, fun and mysterious. Only six episodes total and what I’ve seen so far has been great.

Black Doves – Netflix dropped this show in December since it does show some Christmas merriment but the show is far from that. Ton of great action and spy intrigue. Keira Knightley needs her own John Wick movie now – that’s how badass she is. 

No Good Deed – Lots of hype around this show because the cast is stacked and I dig what I’ve seen so far. Don’t believe some of the haterade that’s out there about it. It’s really fun and a solid Netflix show.

Also, aside from all the TV and movies I consume, I do love to read BUT don’t carve out the necessary time any more to really make a dent in my reading list. Instead, I signed up for Audible and have been listening to books while I drive. The best part is that in many cases celebs read the books, especially their own. I listened to Josh Brolin share his book and am more than halfway through hearing Tom Selleck share his. It’s awesome. I’m really loving it and I have Reese’s Book Club to thank for it. They promote audiobooks to experience their monthly book selections, knowing that many folks struggle with finding time to read and that there’s many ways to “read”. I highly recommend it, especially if you’re a podcast fan and feel like you’ve abandoned books. If you can listen to podcasts, you can listen to books too. Cheers to 2025 and fingers crossed it’s not a total dumpster fire!