Every Monday I shall be sharing with you my favourites from the last week; what I have been listening to, watching and reading. I shall also be doing monthly beauty favourites so look out for that at the end of the month. Hope you enjoy and find something you will love of this list!
Coco x
Podcast of the week
The High Low
I found Dolly Alderton and Pandora Skye's original podcast PanDolly when I had an idea for a podcast I wanted to make with my best friends and wanted to check out the competition. These girls did what I wanted I had planned but 1000% times better. I get genuinely upset if they ever have to miss an episode due to other commitments, because it is the best thing to accompany your Wednesday commute. The original show was owned by the Times Podcasts (they both worked for Style Magazine), but became so successful the girls have started their own.
The idea of the show is brilliant - they talk about everything that interests them, whether it is low or high brow. It is completely refreshing to hear very well educated, cultured and hilarious women discuss important political issues, interview authors that they love and review the hundreds of books they have read, then with the same passion, unapologetically talk of their love of style, makeup and Love Island. I find them so amazing because they have nothing to prove; their intelligence is so obvious that talking about the Kardashians does not threaten their smart girl image. Furthermore, in a time where a lot of people appear to be shoving their current agenda down everyone's throats, whether it be veganism or their political views, Pandora and Dolly do not push their views on anyone, they just discuss them with researched knowledge and humour.
Find them on social media and iTunes here (click the links):
Books of the week
Favourite Autobiography
You Deserve A Drink - Mamrie Hart
One of these weeks my favourite autobiographies will be a serious one, but currently my pile of autobiographies is all my favourite comedians. I just finished Mamrie Hart's book only to find out you can pre-order her second, which is brilliant news because she is just as funny on paper as she is in her amazing YouTube videos.
I absolutely loved this book - it is light reading so it is perfect to read in your lunch-break when you need a laugh. It is full of hilarious anecdotes from a fantastic story teller who has lived a life full of adventure and holds nothing back. Between stories of her boozy misadventures, she also talks about panic attacks. I always appreciate a confident, successful and funny person talking about their experiences with anxiety, as it completely normalises it and of course, Mamrie shares her experiences in a way which makes them comical and a great story!
This book will make you laugh out loud and if you are a devoted viewer of her videos and films you will have the bonus of hearing her Southern drawl and comedic timing in your head, delivering the amazing puns and one liners as you read! BUY IT!
Favourite Non-Fiction
Currently reading: The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood.
I am absolutely loving it and shall be writing about it next week.
Music of the week
Favourite Sass Songs
Sass songs are the songs that you put on that give you that sassy attitude whenever you listen to them. So if I am nervous before a big meeting or if I'm going on a night out and need to pump myself up, these are the kind of songs I listen to. Don't laugh at me for saying this because we have all done it - but they are the types of songs that when your walking down the street they make you feel like you are in a music video and you may even start strutting about with serious attitude even though you have just popped in to the Co-Op to grab milk.
I have two this week:
Wild Thoughts - Rihanna, DJ Khalid
Unforgettable - French Montana ft. Swae Lee
Favourite Classical Song
As some of you might know from reading my articles, I am a huge fan of classical music and in particular movie scores. This week my favourite classical piece is Johann Pachelbel's Canon In D Major, which is a song everyone will recognise as it is considered to be one of the most influential pieces to song writers due to it's unique chord progression (it has been used by Oasis and Green Day). I recently fell in love with Pachelbel's version while listening to Jayne-Anne Gadhia's Desert Island Discs, and it is just stunning.
Tv-Shows of the week
Favourite TV Show
Parks and Recreation
I was late to the Parks and Rec party because the Box-Set was over £100 and I did not have an Amazon Prime membership. However as a huge fan of The Office US, of which it has the same set up, I decided it was worth the monthly membership fee and although it took me about 4 episodes to really get into it, it is one of the best shows I have ever watched. Parks and Rec may be, and this is a big thing for me to say considering I spend most of my life watching comedy, one of the best comedy shows ever made. The humour is smart and quick and all the actors are real comedians, which not only makes the show incredible and full of fantastic improv but also makes for hilarious Outtakes, which highlight how much talent was on one set.
Amy Poehler is a comedic genius and most of my snapchats lately have been me belly laughing from how hilarious she is. I can see how she is best friends with my idol Tina Fey, and now Amy Poehler has also reached idol status in my eyes. She stars in, produced and was a writer for Parks and Rec. Chris Pratt as Andy Dwyer is perfect - he is hilarious and gorgeous and came up with one of the best ad-lib lines I have ever heard - when Leslie was sick, Andy says "I googled your symptoms and it says here you have 'network connectivity problems". And of course Nick Offerman as Ron Swanson is just hilarious with his deadpan comedy. I absolutely love the episodes where Offerman's real life wife Megan Mullaly (Karen on Will and Grace), makes cameos as Swanson's ex-wife Tami 2.
What I love most about the show is that it is heart-warming, you can put it on no matter how good or bad your day has been and you will laugh out loud the entire time. The build up to the love-stories are so engaging and when they finally get their first kiss and get married, you are genuinely delighted for them. The writers did not need to create drama and issues with the couples just for a plot line; they just create stories around happy, supportive and in-love couples who absolutely adore eachother, which is so rare. To put it in to a context that everyone will understand, its like Monica and Chandler as opposed to Rachel and Ross.
If you have not seen Parks and Rec you are TRULY missing out - sign up for a free month of Amazon Prime and you will probably like me be through all seven seasons in less than a fortnight.
Movies of the week
A Star Is Born
This Judy Garland classic has always been a favourite of mine and I recommend it to anyone who loves Old Hollywood films. Again, anyone who has see my Snapchat or Instagram stories will have seen that lately I have watched a Star Is Born on repeat. It's one of those films that once you've seen it a couple of times is lovely to have on in the background and I love to watch it while doing the ironing as the long dance and singing numbers make the time go so quickly. Judy is a Queen and her voice is one of the best parts of the film; here are two of my favourite numbers from the film; the first is a song I love so much, "The Man That Got Away"; you may recognise it as it was featured in P.S. I Love You, while the second is a clip of one of my favourite parts of the 16 minute medley "Born in a Trunk":