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13 Emmy noms for Russian Doll! Really hoping Natasha can pull off the lead actress win, though it'll probably go to Julia Louis-Dreyfuss because it always does and the Emmys aren't known for shaking things up. She could potentially win for writing, though. I just really want to see her give a speech.

I too am not surprised. The kiddos are on schedule to graduate from law school at the end of this season and I'm not really interested in any story beyond that point.

God help me, but I loved the tambourine man. So glad auditions are over. They're usually a drag but this year seemed especially tedious. If I'm being honest, judge cuts are kind of my favorite segment of the show. I love how acts we didn't see in auditions show up out of nowhere and acts that were drooled over in the auditions completely disappear. It's such a mess. I love it.

This week (7/9) is the last audition episode and then judge cuts start next week (7/16). Julianne will hit her buzzer this Tuesday.

Just finished: The First Mistake by Sandie Jones. Yeesh. First of all, both POV characters are bone-deep stupid, which makes reading the book from their perspectives very challenging, especially as the plot is not engaging enough to make up for it. Huge red flags are going up for both the men in their lives and they're just perfectly happy to ignore them. Ladies! If it looks like a duck and walks like a duck! Also it's one of those stories that is not satisfied with one big twist, but feels the need to drop five or six, even if they're unearned. The last one especially was a big no thanks. You can't expect me to care about a twist like that when you've laid absolutely no groundwork for it. Next up: An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena

Just finished: The Cactus by Sarah Haywood. I enjoyed it for the most part. I identified a lot with Susan, the protagonist--an introverted person who generally prefers the pleasure of their own company and gets a little too caught up in their own routines with little to no room for accommodating others. I thought it had a lot of good humor. The ending did feel a bit rushed, and it felt like the book started to lose its very distinctive narrative voice Next up: The First Mistake by Sandie Jones

The little girl in the kiddie dancing duo had terrible arm technique. That would have gotten called out in the rinkie-dink dance studio I grew up in so it has no business on this show. I was hoping Julianne would be able to bring some more nuanced dance commentary to the judges' panel but I guess not. I thought Death had some good jokes in his package and during his intro, so I was disappointed that the actual act fell flat. Lukas and Falco are giving me Sara and Hero vibes and I'm not mad about it.

I thought the guitar guy was awesome. Really excited to see more from him. I suppose this week was better than the other ones so far. It's hard to tell if this season seems more lackluster than others--the auditions are always a drag, or at least have been for the past few years.

Just finished: My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing, about a stereotypically idyllic married couple...who keep things spicy by stalking and killing pretty young women. It had a lot of elements that I like in this kind of book: some fun twists (a few of which I saw coming from miles away but w/e), deconstruction of "missing white woman syndrome", parody of life in the American suburbs. But I think I need to stop reading reviews from other customers to help me pick out books, because they seriously warp my perception and expectations for the narrative. This book did play on one of my fears, though: that the terrible things I, as a young woman, see happen in the news to other young women could just as easily happen to me. The couple targets their victims relatively arbitrarily, and it's freaky to think of how many unfortunate things we avoid by just not happening to cross paths with the wrong person at the wrong time. Next up: The Cactus by Sarah Haywood

You could definitely see Dom's nerves, but I thought he was fun and am looking forward to seeing what other tricks he's got. I'm reserving judgment on how Terry is as a host until we get to the live shows. What made Nick stand out, for me, was how he conducted himself on those: great at hyping up the acts who had a good night, always ready to lend a shoulder and some encouragement to the ones that had missed the mark, and constantly keeping things moving and energetic. Will be interesting to see if Terry's got those very unique skills as well.

Not only am I excited to see what else this team can deliver in a second season, but I'm just really happy for Natasha. She looks so thrilled in this lil video and I just want good things for her. She's a real one.

I want to live a life where giving one of the best performances of my career on one of the most critically-acclaimed sitcoms of the twenty-first century is considered a waste of time.

In general I'd like the show to get out of the habit of outsourcing the role of the president, whoever they are, and either find a current cast member to do it or hire a new cast member specifically for that role (and then of course expand them into other work).

Just finished: The Mother-in-Law by Sally Hepworth. This has been happening to me a lot lately--and is strange, because I love mysteries--but this is yet another book where the emotional journey makes for a much stronger plot than trying to solve a murder, which eventually feels shoehorned in despite being the focal point of the book. I found the mother-in-law/daughter-in-law relationship portrayed in the book to be incredibly nuanced, just misunderstandings and perceived slights piling up on top of each other as opposed to one singular unrealistic, dramatic incident being the cause of their dislike. Next up: My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing, which seems like it will be a bonkers good time based on the reviews I read.

Definitely a dude. His name was Benny, short for Benicio. Not too much to say about this episode. This is turning out to be a lackluster season so far. I hope things start to get better but won't get my hopes up.