During 2021, I consumed 61 books, 48 TV programs, 60 movies and many podcasts. These were my favorites:
(Note: Not all were released during the past 365 days.)
1. “Blacktop Wasteland” by S.A. Cosby
2. “Bella Bella” by Harvey Fierstein
3. “The Last Flight” by Julie Clark
4. “The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue” by V.E. Schwab
5. “Bottle Demon” by Stephen Blackmoore
6. “Fire Season” by Stephen Blackmoore
7. “Later” by Stephen King
8. “Billy Summers” by Stephen King
9. “The Last Bookshop in London” by Madeline Martin
10. “Unclean Spirits” by Chuck Wendig
(Honorable mentions: “Project Hail Mary” by Andy Weir, “Falling” by T.J. Newman, “The Midnight Library” by Matt Haig and “Marigolds, Myrtle and Moles: A Gardener’s Bedside Book” by Alan Titchmarsh.)
1. 
“Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law” by Mary Roach
2. “The Detective in the Dooryard: Reflections of a Maine Cop” by Timothy A. Cotton
3. “Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President” by Candice Millard
4. “The Hotel: A Week In The Life Of The Plaza” by Sonny Kleinfield
5. “Mortuary Confidential: Undertakers Spill the Dirt” by Todd Harra and Ken McKenzie
6. “You’re Lucky You’re Funny: How Life Becomes a Sitcom” by Phil Rosenthal
7. “The Rural Diaries: Love, Livestock, and Big Life Lessons Down on Mischief Farm” by Hilarie Burton Morgan
8. “When Women Invented Television: The Untold Story of the Female Powerhouses Who Pioneered the Way We Watch Today” by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong
9. “Books” by Larry McMurtry
10. “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” by Rebecca Skloot
(Honorable mentions: “Spying on Whales: The Past, Present, and Future of Earth’s Most Awesome Creatures” by Nick Pyenson, “Part of Our Lives: A People’s History of the American Public Library” by Wayne A. Wiegand, “Haunted Hillsborough County” by Eric Stanway, “What Fresh Hell Is This?: Perimenopause, Menopause, Other Indignities, and You” by Heather Corinna, “The Experts’ Guide to 100 Things Everyone Should Know How to Do” by Samantha Ettus, “American Sherlock: Murder, Forensics, and the Birth of American CSI” by Kate Winkler Dawson and “The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements” by Sam Kean)
Overall reading ratio: I read 18,452 pages — 65% fiction, 35% nonfiction; 53% male authors, 47% female authors.
1. The Great British Baking Show
2. Gardeners’ World
3. Love Your Garden
4. Ted Lasso
5. The Repair Shop
6. Escape to the Country
7. America’s Test Kitchen — At Home
8. The Morning Show
9. Evil
10. Grow Your Own At Home With Alan Titchmarsh
(Honorable mentions: I’ll Be Gone In The Dark, Staged, Grand Designs, Active Shooter: America Under Fire, For All Mankind, Lovecraft Country, WandaVision, Travelers, Nadiya Bakes, Bridgerton, The Hot Zone, Punisher, Ghosts, Ghosts (UK version), Falcon and the Winter Soldier, The Outsider, The Witcher, Altered Carbon, Chicago Med and Alpha Dogs.)
1. Nomadland
2. One Night In Miami
3. Love, Gilda
4. Gunpowder Milkshake
5. Four Hours at the Capitol
6. Studs Terkel: Listening to America
7. The Last Cruise
8. The Phone Call
9. The Aeronauts
10. Soul
(Honorable mentions: Dune, A Quiet Place Part II, Red Notice, Black Widow, Jungle Cruise, 76 Days, Shang Chi and the Legend of the 10 Rings, Fear Street Part 3: 1666, Greenland, Luca, Fear Street: Part 2 – 1978, Fear Street: Part 1 – 1994, Verify Road Trip: Climate Skeptic Examines What Scientists Know And How They Know It.)
1. 2. Small Town Dicks
3. Against the Rules
4. BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine Podcast
5. Lost At the Smithsonian with Aasif Mandvi
6. Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!
7. Backstory
8. Awards Chatter
9. Sidedoor
10. The Anthropocene Reviewed
(Honorable mentions: 99% Invisible, Radiolab, Christmas Past, Sue Perkins: An Hour Or So With…., David Tennant Does a Podcast With…, The Christmas Stocking, Fresh Air, Clear + Vivid With Alan Alda, The Daily, Beautiful/Anonymous, Dear Hank & John and Mobituaries With Mo Rocca.)
