My top 10 favs of 2016: A year spent reading, watching and listening to intriguing stories

This year, I consumed 50 books, 39 movies, dozens of TV programs and many podcasts. Here are my favorites.

(Note: Not all were released during the past 365 days.)

1. “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society” by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
2. “The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic and Madness at the Fair That Changed America” by Erik Larson
3. “Isaac’s Storm: A Man, a Time and the Deadliest Hurricane in History” by Erik Larson
4. “Curtains: Adventures of an Undertaker-in-Training” by Tom Jokinen
5. “The Red Notebook” by Antoine Laurain
6. “End of Watch” by Stephen King
7. “Red Right Hand” by Chris Holm
8. “My Happy Days in Hollywood: A Memoir” by Garry Marshall
9. “The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food” by Jennifer 8. Lee
10. “In Such Good Company: Eleven Years of Laughter, Mayhem and Fun in the Sandbox” by Carol Burnett

(Honorable mentions: “My Memoirs: Fifty Years of Journalism, From Print to the Internet” by Bernard Gwertzman, “On My Own” by Diane Rehm, “The Care and Feeding of an Independent Bookstore: Three Instructive Essays” by Ann Patchett, “The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House” by Kate Andersen Brower and “Mary McGrory: The First Queen of Journalism” by John Norris)

1. This Is Us
2. Stranger Things
3. Grace and Frankie
4. House of Cards
5. Madame Secretary
6. Lucifer
7. Blindspot
8. Outlander
9. Timeless
10. Daredevil

(Honorable mentions: Sherlock, Luke Cage, Elementary, Agent Carter, Supernatural, The Americans, Designated Survivor, The Good Place, iZombie, Covert Affairs, Person Of Interest and Suits)

1. Spotlight
2. Cooked
3. I’ll See You In My Dreams
4. Batkid Begins: The Wish Heard Around the World
5. Trumbo
6. Money Monster
7. Sully
8. Before the Flood
9. Doctor Strange
10. The Big Short

(Honorable mentions: Learning To Drive, Captain America: Civil War, Hello, My Name Is Doris, Elvis and Nixon, Mr. Holmes, Jason Bourne, Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, Finding Dory, Hologram For The King, Weiner, Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens and He Never Died)

1. The Vinyl Cafe
2. Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!
3. Limetown
4. Nocturne
5. Death, Sex & Money
6. 99% Invisible
7. Dear Hank & John
8. Criminal
9. Radiolab
10. Fresh Air

(Honorable mentions: Tavis Smiley/PBS, The Sporkful, The Diane Rehm Show, The Nerdist, NPR Books, WTF with Marc Maron and the 10 Minute Writer’s Workshop)