The Link Up: Emily’s Favorite Easy Read Of The Year, The Best Netflix Holiday Special According To Caitlin, And A Juicy Podcast Episode

Happy Friday and happy, happy holidays! We figured everyone is pretty much shopping fatigued at this point in the year so today we thought we would share some books, movies, shows, and podcasts to enjoy over a (hopefully) long, relaxing weekend. This will be the last EHD link up of the year (oh how time flies!) and we are taking the next two days off the blog, so thank you for joining us and we will see you back here on Monday.

This home tour will have you believing that green and red is a killer color scheme that works all year long. It is a Victorian terrace designed by Tiffany Duggan of Studio Duggan, who excels at creating spaces that are polished, soulful, yet completely inviting. Please, give your eyeballs a treat and check out the whole home tour.

From Emily: This is my favorite easy-read book of the year. I received another text from one of my best friends (who shares my reading list usually) and she said “This. More books like this”, after my recommendation. Every Summer After, by Carley Fortune (a former romance editor, turned writer) is a sweet, coming-of-age, nostalgic, feel-good romance that I personally need more of. It’s well-written, with good dialogue and a story that is easy to relate to, but it’s one of those you instantly can get into and curl up with all day. This year I’m doing a non-fiction book club with my best friends (mostly self-improvement spiritual and/or business-related) because I can just read easy rom-com after easy rom-com and I do want to use more areas of my brain. But over the holidays for those of you who don’t want to have to think but want to dig into a feel-good book, I’d say of the 40 or so books I read this year that this one was my favorite.

From Caitlin: Can we talk about Who Killed Santa? I’ve been kind of disappointed by Netflix’s holiday offerings this year, but THIS ONE WAS SO FUN. The gist: Jason Bateman and Maya Rudolph were hired to film a Christmas special, but they’re not given a script and they have NO IDEA what’s going on. The rest of the cast (including Will Arnett, who stars as Detective Terry Seattle) and crew all know what’s going to happen next, but the guest stars are completely in the dark and they’re forced to improv through each scene. Everyone is breaking and laughing constantly and it just seems like they had a ton of fun shooting it, which I LOVED. What did you think? (And if this sounds up your alley, there’s an entire series called Murderville that operates on the same premise – it came out in February of 2022 but never really hit, you know? Worth the watch over the holiday break!)

From Ryann: I have to second Caitlin’s Murderville recommendation. This show is so funny and deserves more recognition!! Granted, I love Will Arnett and love when actors break character even more, so this show is a 10/10 for me. I think fans of SNL or Arrested Development will love this show (and it’s appropriate for older kids and teens so could be a great show to watch with the family over break). Let’s get this show another season, please!!

Also from Ryann: One of my favorite comedians, Catherine Cohen, does an advice column for W magazine, and anytime I feel like I need a pep talk I go there. Reading her words is like getting sage advice from your hilarious older sister who is extremely cool and only wears sharp-winged eyeliner. I will even re-read her older columns just to bring me out of a bad mood and it works every time. I love and revere this woman and think everyone else should too!

From Jess: If anyone is looking for a feel-good holiday movie, I thought Hanukkah on Rye was so freaking sweet! Not only was it great to see a holiday rom-com about something other than Christmas, but it was also honestly the perfect “Hallmark” holiday movie. You can actually feel the chemistry between the leads (not always the case) and while their romance is unrealistically fast (like in all of these types of movies), the progression felt WAY MORE natural than most of the ones I’ve seen recently. If you love this genre then you will love this movie:) Oh, and if anyone’s a Jane the Virgin fan then get ready to see Petra in a whole new light:)

Also From Jess: If you haven’t watched From Scratch yet, it’s A MUST. You will cry but you won’t regret it. And it’s based on a true love story. GO NOW!

From Mallory: Guys. John Mayer was just interviewed on Call Her Daddy this week and it’s time to get your popcorn, cocoa & candy canes and have a listen. I’m not kidding when I say that all my friends and I have been WAITING for this to drop. I recently got into Call her Daddy after listening to Alex Cooper on Emily Ratakowski’s new podcast, High/Low. Both of these podcasts are fairly new in my life but I highly recommend them so far if you’re in need of some new ones 🙂

That’s all from us. Please have a great weekend and HAPPY HOLIDAYS! xx

Opening Image Credits: Photo by Sara Ligorria-Tramp | From: Our Living Room, Dressed Up for the Holidays (With a ‘And How I Feel About It’ Running Commentary)

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