Last June, I wrote a blog post about book and TV recommendations I thought you’d enjoy during your summer vacation. Or anytime you want to relax and not think about school. I decided to write another post this year with new recommendations.
Every summer, I always wanted to basically do nothing the first few weeks after the school year ended. I was just too tired to want to think about anything work-related. Aside from 3 nonfiction books, all the recommendations I’m presenting below are escapist or easy viewing.
There are 5 fiction series, 3 nonfiction books, and 7 TV shows. For each one, I’ll provide a short blurb about it and include a link(s) to access it.
(Links to books and to TV shows on Amazon Prime Video are affiliate links. That means that I make a small commission if you purchase them but it’s at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support!)
Recommendations for Fiction Books
Books are listed in chronological order according to the time periods in which they are set. All are available in paperback, audiobook, and Kindle formats and all but the Leonidas books are also available in hardback. I read the Kindle versions of all these books.
Leonidas the Gladiator Mysteries
(3 books plus 1 novella by Ashley Gardner; find it here)
Leonidas is an ex-Roman gladiator, released from fighting by an unknown benefactor and set up in a tiny apartment with a female ex-slave. Together, they have to figure out how to survive, which means taking on jobs that invariably force them to solve murders.
Why I like it: The books do a great job of providing info about the Roman Empire without making me feel like I’m reading a textbook, the mysteries are interesting, and I want to know who their mysterious benefactor is.
Domesday Series
(11 books by Edward Marston; find it here)
Set in England 20 years after the Norman Conquest, 4 royal commissioners in the employ of William the Conqueror are tasked with adjudicating questionable land claims in the Great Survey. A soldier, a lawyer, a canon, and a monk travel around the country and in the course of their official work, find themselves solving murders in every place they go.
Why I like it: I enjoy books about this period of history, the dialog is snappy, they provide insight into the conflicts between the Normans, Saxons, and Welsh as well as between the church and state.
The Master William Falconer Medieval Mysteries
(9 books by Ian Morson; find it here)
In the 13th century, William Falconer is a teacher, or master, at Oxford University in England. A student of Roger Bacon, he brings a scientific eye to the murders he inevitably becomes involved with, to the dismay of his other Oxford colleagues.
Why I like it: I enjoy reading about this time period, the setting is described realistically, plots discuss the conflicts between town and gown and between Christians and Jews.
Tales of the Lawless Land
(3 books by Boyd Morrison and Beth Morrison; find it here)
Gerard Fox is a dispossessed knight in 14th century England. One day while riding his horse, he saves a damsel in distress and that sets him on a series of adventures that takes him from England to Italy to Croatia. While each book includes a mystery, the plots focus on the people Fox encounters and helps during his quest to regain his title and lands.
Why I like it: I attended an excellent presentation about writing fiction by Boyd Morrison at the Tucson Festival of Books in March and bought this series as a result, the action is fast-paced and unpredictable, plots include info about life in Europe after the Black Death.
Cleopatra Fox Mysteries
(11 books and 2 forthcoming by C.J. Archer; find it here)
Cleopatra Fox is a young woman at the turn of the 20th century in England who goes to live with her estranged uncle and his family in the London hotel he owns. As the poor relation who doesn’t quite fit in, she befriends the hotel staff and somehow frequently gets mixed up with crimes that she decides to try and solve herself.
Why I like it: It’s a light-hearted cozy mystery series, the time period is new to me, the will-they-or-won’t-they romance is fun.
Recommendations for Nonfiction Books
I have some sort of personal connection to all these books, which I explain below. I read the print versions of these books because I prefer to read nonfiction in hardcopy format.
His Very Best: Jimmy Carter, A Life
(by Jonathan Alter; find it here)
A 671-page biography of Jimmy Carter (plus 56 pages of endnotes), this is a very detailed look at the 39th president of the United States. The book provides info about Carter’s ancestors and then describes his life. It ends before Carter’s death in December 2024.
Why I like it: Actually, I’ve only scanned through it but I heard the author speak during a panel presentation at the Tucson Festival of Books and his stories about Carter made me want to buy the book. Since Carter had recently passed away and he was in the news, I stood in line and got it autographed.
Buffalo Soldiers in Arizona
(by John Langellier; find it here)
A short book with over 80 photos that presents a history of the Black soldiers who served in the U.S. Army in Arizona. Each of the 4 regiments gets its own chapter, with another chapter devoted to the service of Buffalo Soldiers in World War II. Only available in paperback.
Why I like it: Several years ago I visited Fort Huachuca where the Buffalo Soldiers were stationed and learned about them at the museum there and after hearing this author speak at the Tucson Festival of Books I decided to buy it (and had it autographed) to get a more in-depth look at a part of American history that is not especially well known, and the images make the lives of the soldiers more real.
Gullah Geechee Home Cooking: Recipes from the Matriarch of Edisto Island
(by Emily Meggett; find it here)
If you are interested in Southern cooking or in culinary history, you’ll enjoy this book because it includes much more than the 123 recipes shared by the 89-year-old author. It’s both an autobiography and a description of life on one of South Carolina’s Sea Islands, home of the descendants of enslaved Africans who have maintained their distinctive culture through the centuries.
Why I like it: I once spent 2 months on a different Sea Island that was also a center of Gullah culture and found it fascinating because the Gullah Geechee people’s ancestors were from Sierra Leone where I was a Peace Corps Volunteer, the photos are beautiful, and the story of Ms. Meggett’s life is inspirational.
Recommendations for TV Shows
All these shows are binge-worthy series with multiples seasons. Shows are listed in alphabetical order and info about where you can view them is provided at the end of each blurb.
All Creatures Great and Small
(5 seasons broadcast, 6th season in production)
This new version about the life and work of a Scottish veterinarian and his found-family in Yorkshire, England, before and during World War II is based on the book series by James Herriot. Each episode features a different animal issue and the scenery is gorgeous.
Why I like it: Episodes are a good mix of animal care and gentle humor, character development is excellent, and the production design is wonderful.
Stream on paid member benefit PBS Passport or pay to view episodes on Amazon Prime Video.
Call the Midwife
(14 seasons broadcast, renewed for 2 more seasons)
This heart-warming show about the lives and loves of a group of midwives working out of a religious convent in mid-20th century London is based on the memoir of a real midwife. Over the course of 14 seasons and counting, viewers see how nursing, midwifery, and social attitudes in a poor section of the city change.
Why I like it: The characters and their lives draw you in, the health issues presented in the episodes are both timely and historically interesting, and the period music is fun to hear.
Current Season 14 is available to stream on PBS until June 17, 2025; watch Seasons 1-13 on Netflix; all episodes available for purchase on Amazon Prime Video.
Dark Winds
(3 seasons broadcast, 4th season in production)
Set on the Navajo Nation in the 1970s, this show about 3 Navajo Tribal Police officers is loosely based on the books by Tony Hillerman. Each season is a story arc focused on solving one crime and subplots about the officers’ personal lives make the characters more real.
Why I like it: Lead actor Zahn McClarnon is great here (and in everything else I’ve seen him in), I appreciate that the show used Native actors and crew and Navajo consultants, and I enjoy learning more about the culture especially since I’ve visited Dinétah (aka the traditional homeland of the Navajo).
All 3 seasons available on AMC+ with a paid subscription but you can get a 7-day free trial; watch Seasons 1-2 on Netflix; watch Season 1 Episode 1 for free on Amazon Prime Video with all the other episodes available to purchase.
The Diplomat
(2 seasons broadcast, 3rd and 4th seasons forthcoming)
A thriller about an American woman who becomes the ambassador to the United Kingdom although all her experience is in the Middle East, and how she navigates her wayward husband, embassy staff, and British politicians. Lots of twists and turns, this show also includes lots of profanity. References to current events are interspersed throughout and give the show an aura of verisimilitude.
Why I like it: The husband-and-wife relationship is fun to watch, the way the Embassy employees are portrayed is interesting, how the female ambassador almost always saves the day is great.
All seasons on Netflix.
Ludvig
(1 season, 2nd season forthcoming)
A crime show about an English man who creates puzzles for a living and isn’t very good with people, he gets enticed by his sister-in-law into investigating his police detective brother’s disappearance. Each episode of this dramedy is a self-contained mystery and the fun is watching Ludvig use his puzzle skills to solve the crimes.
Why I like it: The crimes are ingenious, the main character’s reluctance to get involved is endearing, I want to know what happened to the brother.
Watch with a subscription on Britbox, but a free trial is available, or connect to Britbox via Amazon Prime Video where a free trial is also available.
Paradise
(1 season broadcast, renewed for a 2nd season)
A political thriller with a great twist at the end of the first episode so I won’t say much about the plot. But it involves a Secret Service agent detailed to protect a former president of the U.S. When things go wrong, it’s up to Agent Collins to figure out what’s going on.
Why I like it: If I tell you, it’ll be a spoiler!
Only on Hulu, or Disney + if outside the U.S.
Queer Eye
(9 seasons, renewed for 10th season)
A makeover show with 5 gay men who descend upon a city to bring out the best of the people they’re helping. Each episode focuses on one person and spends 5 days showing that person how to make improvements in their lives.
Why I like it: It’s a reality show that builds people up, it shows how ordinary people can make positive changes in their lives, it’s enjoyable to see how the men interact with their subjects.
Only on Netflix.
Happy reading and watching!
