The Swipe Up, vol. 9
More British lit than a show dog can jump over, Draco Malfoy, UFOs, and gag reels...
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Let's cut to the chase today: it's midway through June, and this is the May Swipe Up. Things are not going smoothly over here at the Lunar Module: we're hot, there is now no discernable schedule or routine, everyone is hungry all the time, and [insert gripe from random child]. I'm not a good Summer Mom, so we're all just really working that humility and forgiveness muscle at the moment. In fact, I just got yelled at for "not caring" that one of my children hurt herself while brushing her teeth.
Anyway, let's get to it, shall we? Happy Swipe Up Day!
P.S. If you like The Swipe Up, will you share The Swipe Up? I giveaway a lil gift card to one lucky sharer every month. Just make sure you tag me or if youâre private, shoot me a screenshot of your share. Thank you! đ¤
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This Monthâs Questions
What's your go-to stress reliever? - @simplygiann
The Calm app (I'm gonna keep talking about the Calm app), Brene Brown is making me more aware of my breathing, reading Alison Weir books, and sadly, exercise. I'm sorry that it does exactly what it claims to do.
How do you find babysitters? We live 1000 miles from both sets of grandparents. - @shscochrane
Y'all heard about the Wyndy app?
A regret that you came to terms with. - @dreafranz
Buying our house without selling the other one.
Favorite hidden food/drink gem in Birmingham? - @laurenwhock
Food: Hot Box at Parkside (get the lemongrass fried chicken) or Blue Pacific (thai food in a gas station), Drink: The Collins Bar
Why should I see Rocket Man over Aladdin this weekend? - @jessspain17
It's better (unless you have kids or don't do rated-R).
What's your thought on Christine Caine's comment about GOT? - @em.brew
I hope it was an off-handed remark that she didn't fully think through.
Why don't you like Pride and Prejudice? - @therealmistykarges
I don't like misunderstanding as a plot device.
Have you ever worn contacts? - @heapness
Yes.
Favorite mid-to-late nineties Christian rock album? - @jubyleebean
Jesus Freak by DCTalk.
GOT is over. Where do we go from here? - @heymandymae
Waiting on GRRM to finish those books and crossing our fingers that His Dark Materials is gonna be good.
Favorite fiction book? - @punky_pierson
Lonesome Dove and Freddy and Fredericka
What's the weirdest job you ever had? - @dolihavila
Elementary school janitor.
Was your husband's glacier reaction real or was he hamming it up? - @ashley_r_west
100% genuine.
If every animal were the size of an elephant which would be the most terrifying to you? - @mrsawt
It's not an animal, but a cockroach.
Which Harry Potter character do you most identify with? - @erchla
Draco Malfoy.
Beach read? - emmyann419
Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter.
How do you stay informed and curate, consume, and create such great content without being overwhelmed? - @christinanottinaturner
I'm frequently overwhelmed.
What Biblical character "gets you" the most? -- @givegracelivemercy
Jacob.
Favorite devotional that's not fluffy? -- @alishamarieknapp
Sacred Questions by Kellye Fabian.
This Is Not An Essay,
or It's a List of VERY British Books...
Although I am fully aware I'll probably need to retract my Bradley Cooper-Lady Gaga essay in the coming days, this month, I asked you for suggestions and I've been asked to report my findings. I'm headed to London (and a few surrounding areas) in a couple of weeks, and while I was listening to the 10 Things to Tell You podcast with Laura Tremaine, she highlighted one of the best travel tips I've ever encountered. Abigail Murrish said that she likes to read a book written by someone from that location while she's travelling: so simple and so brilliant. Of course, I put out the call and you came through with flying colors. Below are my choices, as well as all the suggestions (hopefully I didn't miss any):
I'm gonna tell you a sad story about the fact that these aren't linked. Please cue the sad violins.
Last night, I was PAINSTAKINGLY linking every.single.one of these titles and my computer froze up at 11:47pm and all the links vanished before my eyes. I said several choice words, shut my computer, and took 3 melatonin.
So anyway, that's why nothing is linked except my choices. That's just how it's gonna have to be today.
My Choices:
History: The Plantagenetsby Dan Jones (the person who recommended this to me also wanted to let me know that Dan Jones is, in fact, a snack. And he is!)
Historical Fiction: The Gownby Jennifer Robson
Biography: Jane Austen at Homeby Lucy Worsley
Essays: Notes from a Small Islandby Bill Bryson
And One to Grow On: In Farleigh Fieldby Rhys Bowen
An absolute barrage of suggestions from you fine people:
Authors: Phillippa Gregory, Adrian Plass, Winston Graham, GK Chesterton, Stephen Lawhead, Rosamunde Pilcher, Agatha Christie, CS Lewis, JRR Tolkien, PG Wodehouse, Zadie Smith, Jojo Moyes, Neil Gaiman, Dorothy Whipple, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, JM Barrie, Lewis Carroll, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Oscar Wilde, Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, the Bronte Sisters, Julian Fellows, Georgette Heyer, Dorothy L. Sayers, AS Byatt, James Herriot, Sophie Kinsella, Vera Brittain, Jasper Fforde, Kazuo Ishiguro, Hester Browne, Roald Dahl, Jenny Colgan, Alafair Burke, Elizabeth Cadell, DE Stevenson, Julie Klassen, Charlotte Mason, William Shakespeare, JK Rowling, Robert Galbraith, Charlie Lovett, NT Wright, Kate Atkinson, Rhys Bowen, Virginia Woolf, Elizabeth Day, Laura Jane Williams, Jill Mansell, Phaedra Patrick, Deanna Raybourn, AA Milne, Hilary Mantel, Jennifer Saunders, Joanna Lumley, Stevie Smith.Â
Books (I put an asterisk on the ones I've read and also recommend):
Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
Harry Potter series by JK Rowling*
Atonement by Ian McEwan*
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
Below Stairs by Margaret Powell
The Inklings by Humphery Carter
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte*
Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding*
Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
The Man Who Was Thursday by GK Chesterton
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
Matthew Shardlake series by CJ Samson
Lady Susan by Jane Austen
The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
And Did Those Feet by Charlie Connelly
84 Charing Cross by Helene Hanff
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
The Warden by Anthony Trollope
NW by Zadie Smith
Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith
The Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett*
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis*
The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde
Children of Men by PD James
The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett*
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Schaffer and Annie Barrows
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde* (honestly anything from Oscar Wilde)
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Death Comes to Pemberley by PD James
The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan
Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
This Is Going to Hurt by Adam Kay
Glittering Images by Susan Howatch
The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
Portrait of a Lady by Henry James
Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
The Road to Little Dribbling by Bill Bryson
The Tower, the Zoo, and the Tortoise by Julia Stuart
A Hobbit, a Wardrobe, and a World War by Joseph Loconte
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian
Becoming Mrs Lewis by Patti Callahan
The Maggie Hope series by Susan Elia MacNeal
All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot
Free Country by George Mahood
Cormoran Strike series by Robert Galbraith
The Book of the Lost Grail by Charlie LovettÂ
One Direction biography (this got me)
A Severe Mercy by Sheldon Vanauken
White Teeth by Zadie Smith
Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street
About a Boy by Nick Hornby
Cider with Rosie by Laurie Lee
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
The Yummy Mummy by Polly Williams
London by Edward Rutherford
Me and Mr Darcy by Alexandra Potter
The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
Staying at Daisy's by Jill Mansell
Dear Mrs. Bird by AJ Pearce
The Rivers of London series by Ben Arronovitch
Lady Julia Grey series by Deanna Raybourn
Enchantress of Numbers: A Novel of Ada Lovelace by Jennifer Chiaverini
The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey
The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins
Remind me never to ask you guys for suggestions if I'm not fully prepared for the answers. Y'all are amazing!
What I Love This Month
Instagram Follow:@labmuffinbeautyscience - Michelle is a chemist and debunks all the dumb skincare and beauty myths.Â
Favorite Piece of Mr. Rogers Media: Mr. Rogers Had a Simple Set of Rules for Talking to Children via The Atlantic
Podcast:To Live and Die in LAÂ (I seriously went to the gym and walked for two hours so I could finish this podcast)
Amazon Purchase: I bought this dress for London because I want to look European but also my undercarriage needs breathability, ya heard?
Favorite Parenting Hack: @mamasystems put me on to this feelings wheel, that helps older kids identify the emotions they are feeling at any given time. We use it at dinner to talk about our day.
Skincare: Your favorite Everywoman Beauty 'Grammer Jamie Golden has given into peer pressure and started a website, chronicling her favorite skincare and makeup. Now everyone can get the same benefit I receive by sitting next to Jamie in an office every day. This probably isn't new news to you, but in case it is, go ye therefore and gather ye rosebuds, etc.
This Monthâs Links
Article:Â Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor
Eat:Â Bojangles
Wear:Â Boden Rainbow shoes
Instagram Post: @hamiltonmusical Hamilton/Homecoming Mash-up (please understand that I would listen to an entire album of this also I think the West End cast won this)
Fun Thing:Â TSA Pre-Check
Instagram: My Alaska Trip Story Highlight
Post: All the Alaska Tips, Crowd-Sourced
Instagram Account: @thebluestwillow
TEDTalk: Tony Porter - A Call to Men
Article: Navy Pilots Are Seeing UFOs on an Almost-Daily Basis
Instagram Account: @rudeassenneagram
Article: The Aladdin Exit Survey
YouTube Video: Captain Marvel Gag Reel
Article: Should I Invite My Mean Aunt to My Wedding?
TV Show:Â Last Watch: The Game of Thrones documentary
Podcast:Â To Live and Die in LA
Podcast: Root of Evil
Podcast: Theology of Hustle with my cutie mom, Gwen Hicks
Podcast: Don't Mom Alone with @courtclarkcleve and @mamasystems
Podcast: Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls on Corrie Ten Boom
Podcast: The Popcast - The Nos of Weddings
Instagram Account: @abbiepaulhus and her adorable Enneagram series
Fun Thing: The Bible Binge Patreon (complete with access to our deep dive episode guides)
Eat/Drink:Â Wild Roast in Hoover, AL
Instagram Account:Â @mamasystems
Jewelry:Â Local Eclectic
Podcast:Â 10 Things To Tell You - Travel Tips
Eat: Saw's BBQ
Eat: Hero Doughnuts
Eat:Â The Essential
Eat: Post Office Pies
Eat: Brick and Tin
Eat: John's City Diner
Eat: Dreamcakes Bakery
Eat:Â Steel City Pops
Eat:Â Big Spoon Creamery
Drink: Church Street Coffee and Books
Drink: Red Cat Coffeehouse
Book:Â City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert
This Monthâs Book
I love Jill Lepore, and have read her book The Secret History of Wonder Woman, as well as Book of Ages (about Benjamin Franklin's sister, Jane), and Mansion of Happiness (which I'm not sure I can even describe what it's about other than "life and death" but it is fascinating). I finally got around to picking up These Truths, which is a look at whether or not the United States has honored its commitment to upholding the self-evident truths it was founded on. I'm not quite finished, but it is a great start for those of us who were taught a very white-dude-centric version of the land that became the United States and want to do a little reprogramming. May I also say that my reading has skyrocketed since I broke down and got a Kindle ((I just saw this model is $20 off today on a one-day deal!)? I'm still buying physicals, but it's freeing me up to quickly enjoy books I know I just want to read and never think about again.