streaming » sneaky pete. amazon prime.
Already in its third season, this series features Giovanni Ribisi as a recently released felon named Marius who assumes the identity of his cell mate to avoid the people he scammed out of $100,000. Marius moves to upstate New York and claims to be Pete, the long-lost grandson. He is welcomed home and quickly brought into the family’s failing bail bond business. Since his cell mate talked incessantly for three years about these people, Marius does a great job of fitting right in as ‘Pete.’ His goal is to come up with the money to pay off his debts, all while keeping his real-life little brother out of trouble, making his parole officer happy and continuing his fake life. It is rather addictive, and Marius’ new family is a cast of characters that makes every scene worth watching.

book » maid: hard work, low pay and a mother’s will to survive by stephanie land.
Does a book ever make you frustrated? This one might. It’s the memoir of Stephanie Land, a mom who leaves her abusive boyfriend, baby in tow, and ends up in a homeless shelter. Her story shows just how hard it is for a single parent to make a life working minimum wage jobs and cobbling together outside resources. She worked for years as a maid to the wealthy and writes about life as a “nameless ghost” who took care of the upper middle class. Land is honest about bad life choices she made, but her struggle to get ahead just a little bit is raw and candid. She had the grit to push through for herself and her daughter, but after reading this, you could understand if she had chosen to give up.