{"id":464720,"date":"2025-12-22T16:41:23","date_gmt":"2025-12-22T16:41:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/464720\/"},"modified":"2025-12-22T16:41:23","modified_gmt":"2025-12-22T16:41:23","slug":"socal-could-see-one-of-the-stormiest-christmases-in-decades-heres-how-to-make-the-best-of-a-wet-holiday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/464720\/","title":{"rendered":"SoCal could see one of the stormiest Christmases in decades. Here’s how to make the best of a wet holiday"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If you\u2019re spending the Christmas holiday in Southern California this year, prepare for some heavy rain and strong winds<\/a>.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s an 80% chance downtown Los Angeles will get 2 or more inches of rain from Tuesday through Christmas Day.<\/p>\n

You’re reading the Essential California newsletter <\/p>\n

If the forecasts are right, this could be one of the stormiest Christmases in recent memory for SoCal. The last time downtown got 2 or more inches of rain over Christmas Eve and Christmas Day was in 1971.<\/p>\n

Even if the weather outside is frightful, the inside of your home can still be delightful.<\/p>\n

This week is the perfect time to indulge in a good book, catch up on your favorite TV show, listen to some music, or stream one of the year\u2019s best films.<\/p>\n

Here are some ideas from the L.A. Times\u2019 Entertainment team.<\/p>\n

Best books of 2025<\/p>\n

The Merriam-Webster dictionary might not be as juicy as a celebrity memoir, but it is one of The Times\u2019 15 best books of the year<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In its first update since 2003, it has added 5,000 new words, 20,000 new usage examples and 1,000 new idioms and phrases. Some of you might be thinking, \u201cWhy do I need a physical dictionary when Merriam-Webster\u2019s website exists?\u201d But its sheer physicality is perhaps the best thing about this book \u2014 it is a solid doorstopper with pages ready to be riffled. You\u2019ll have knowledge directly at your fingertips.<\/p>\n

If the dictionary is not your book of choice, we have plenty of other options, including a biography of Aimee Semple McPherson. Author Claire Hoffman writes about the brilliant performer and inspiring preacher who was derailed by a notorious scandal. McPherson\u2019s spiritualism, stage presence and charisma propelled her into a place of celebrity and fame that became a trap.<\/p>\n

Best TV shows of 2025<\/p>\n

In our roundup of the best TV shows of the year<\/a>, don\u2019t expect many psychological thrillers as The Times\u2019 television critic Robert Lloyd thinks there are way too many of them on way too many platforms nowadays.<\/p>\n

Still, there are more than enough shows to praise this year, and \u201cNorth of North\u201d on Netflix is one of them. Set in Canada\u2019s northernmost territory among the Indigenous Inuit people, the sweet small-town romantic comedy wants to make its people, and you, happy, Lloyd wrote<\/a> in his review. (I can confirm: It definitely made me happy.)<\/p>\n

Also on the list: \u201cDemascus.\u201d The science-fiction comedy on Tubi is about the search for identity and purpose, with the titular character being propelled into alternative versions of his life and self by an experimental virtual reality gizmo. \u201cDemascus\u201d almost didn\u2019t see the light of day as AMC had commissioned the series and then declined to air it. \u201cNot being privy to any boardroom discussions or the thoughts of executives and accountants, I won\u2019t claim to know why that was \u2014 most everything these days is a calculation instead of a gamble. But simply as regards its quality, AMC was wrong and Tubi is right,\u201d Lloyd wrote<\/a> earlier this year in a review.<\/p>\n

Best albums of 2025<\/p>\n

This list<\/a> is perfect for anyone looking to take a break from the constant rotation of Christmas music.<\/p>\n

Bruce Springsteen\u2019s \u201cStreets of Philadelphia Sessions\u201d is a great place to start. It\u2019s from the Boss\u2019 \u201cTracks II\u201d trove of lost albums<\/a> that spans nearly the length of the half-century he\u2019s spent chasing a runaway American dream, according to The Times\u2019 Mikael Wood and August Brown.<\/p>\n

Jensen McRae\u2019s album \u201cI Don\u2019t Know How but They Found Me!\u201d also made the list, with Wood describing it as featuring the year\u2019s sharpest pop songwriting. \u201cIn chatty yet carefully measured tunes with nearly as many hooks as words, McRae illuminates the accumulated humiliations and misunderstandings against which every couple flail.\u201d<\/p>\n

Best movies of 2025<\/p>\n

In Amy Nicholson\u2019s roundup of the year\u2019s best films<\/a>, she realized a funny thing: Half of them are adaptations.<\/p>\n

One of them is a vibrant and venomous adaptation of Henrik Ibsen\u2019s \u201cHedda Gabler,\u201d in which Tessa Thompson stars as a restless housewife who needs to secure her milquetoast husband (Tom Bateman) a promotion and has a nasty habit of playing with guns. The original play is more than a century old, Nicholson wrote, but every scene feels screamingly alive.<\/p>\n

Although \u201cSinners\u201d is not an adaptation, Nicholson includes it in her roundup as the most exciting film of 2025, both for what it is and for what it proves: that fresh blockbusters still exist, and people are eager to gobble them up. The period-piece-vampire-musical mashup could have been discordant, she wrote, but writer-director Ryan Coogler makes all three genres harmonize.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s where you can find more of our roundups, including the best movies, TV shows, music, books, arts and comedy of 2025<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s top stories \"Map <\/a> Relentless earthquake swarms have rattled California. What does that mean for the Big One?<\/p>\n