Kat's Got Your Culture

Café Pia is a nice little refuge on busy Kottbusser Damm. The seats outside are great for peoplewatching. It looks too small for much indoor seating, but actually there's a cozy nook with benches and cushions. They also have great iced lattes (and other drinks and a million kinds of pastries, etc. but iced lattes are more important). Definitely a good place to grab something if you're running errands on Ko'Damm or strolling through Graefekiez.

Among my main criteria for cafes in summer is whether they have iced lattes, so this one passed that test (although they strangely call them iced cappuccinos, but whatever). They also avoided one of my biggest pet peeves among German cafes that don't really know what iced drinks are: putting hot foam on iced lattes. Otherwise, it's located right along the Landwehr Canal near Ko'Damm (the part where the Tuesday/Friday market is), has outdoor seating and also an open, airy interior, which is nice since it's been such a hot summer. Apparently they also have brunch, but I didn't try it yet. Always nice to visit cafes when they're new and not overcrowded!

Get excited for Going to Summertime , coming out October 27! As an added bonus, this KGYC Guest Book is from Meerkat Press , which published two of my novels so you know it's worth checking out. Every suburban street holds secrets and ghosts, but Summerland Place holds more than most. The team from The Red Mullet Hair Salon head to Summerland Place to explore the abandoned houses there, on a prepaid, enter at own risk, explore every nook and cranny team building exercise. They are welcomed by the charismatic Milton, who runs the tours through the cul-de-sac he grew up in. They find houses filled with malevolent ghosts and tragic ones, with memories of family trauma and family meals. All come out changed by what they see, and what it triggers in them. Some will be lost in Summertime, a euphoric state of mind. Georgia, owner of the Salon, thinks she is stronger than any of it. She has no past trauma, no secrets; some would say no heart. She didn’t expect to fall in love. Every i...

Jules Verne must've been so hungry when he wrote this. About 80% of the book is lists of sea creatures and whether or not they're delicious. Verne was obviously a huge Moby Dick fan and even mentions it a couple times in this book, also emulating Melville's lengthy informational excursions, but I didn't find this to be carried by the writing in the same way as Moby Dick (which is also not a pageturner; let's be real). I also saw elements of Poe's sci-fi/adventure works but with less suspense. Overall, the characters other than Captain Nemo and Professor Aronnax are very flat. Conseil is devoted to Arronax and likes classifying fish and has no other thoughts, feelings, interests or traits. Usually he only serves as an occasion for Arronax to provide information on some topic (quasi "Conseil was sad so I told him the history of the underwater telegraph cable"). Ned Land is angry and talks about eating land animals all the time (confusing because he's...

There are a lot of good thrillers from the 90s, and I'll watch pretty much anything with Signourney Weaver in it. She's great as the traumatized shutin/serial killer expert in this, and it's satisfying to see her profile the killer going after her. It's not quite on a par with some of my favorites like the ones with Morgan Freeman as Alex Cross, but entertaining. Mostly slow-burn but some suspenseful moments. If you like Silence of the Lambs and Seven, this has a similar vibe.

In case you ever have this very niche need, the Upton Sinclair is a literary mocktail I invented a few years ago. I called it that because Upton Sinclair didn't drink alcohol and also appreciated sparkling, slightly tangy drinks (guessing about the second part). So, without further ado: The Upton Sinclair 1 part pink grapefruit juice 2 parts apple juice 7 parts sparkling water Enjoy!