Over the past year, I consumed 61 books, 73 TV shows, 64 movies and many podcasts. These were my favorites.
(Note: Not all were released during the past 365 days.)
1. “The Hidden Palace” by Helene Wecker
2. “Child Zero” by Chris Holm
3. “The Kaiju Preservation Society” by John Scalzi
4. “Upgrade” by Blake Crouch
5. “Shadow Deal” by M.L. McKnight
6. “Death Moon” by Michael La Ronn
7. “Mortal Terms” by Michael La Ronn
8. “Snake Eyes” by Hillary Monahan
9. “Three Parts Dead” by Max Gladstone
10. “Oddball” by Sarah Andersen
(Honorable mentions: “Running Blind” by Lee Child, “Fairy Tale” by Stephen King, “Cold Hard Magic” by M.L. McKnight, “Spirit Chaser” by M.L. McKnight and “Suicide Kings” by Stephen Blackmoore)
1. “In Love: A Memoir of Love and Loss” by Amy Bloom
2. “On Animals” by Susan Orlean
3. “The Premonition: A Pandemic Story” by Michael Lewis
4. “A Walk Around the Block: Stoplight Secrets, Mischievous Squirrels, Manhole Mysteries & Other Stuff You See Every Day (And Know Nothing About)” by Spike Carlsen
5. “Lily and the Octopus” by Steven Rowley
6. “If You Ask Me (And of Course You Won’t)” by Betty White
7. “Finding My Voice” by Nadiya Hussain
8. “The Beauty of Dusk” by Frank Bruni
9. “The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration Into the Wonder of Consciousness” by Sy Montgomery
10. “My Life From Scratch” by Gesine Bullock-Prado
(Honorable mentions: “100 Things We’ve Lost to the Internet” by Pamela Paul, “Funny Farm: My Unexpected Life with 600 Rescue Animals” by Laurie Zaleski, “Ten Tomatoes That Changed the World” by William Alexander, “The Nineties” by Chuck Klosterman and “About Time: A History of Civilization in Twelve Clocks” by David Rooney)
Overall reading ratio: I read 17,927 pages. Books were split 65% fiction to 35% nonfiction and 55% female authors to 45% male authors.
1. The Great British Baking Show
2. Sandman
3. Stranger Things
4. Escape to the Country
5. Gardeners’ World
6. Love Your Garden
7. Julia
8. Ted Lasso
9. The Repair Shop
10. Men In Kilts
(Honorable mentions: Evil, The Great British Baking Show: Celebrity Edition, Nadiya Bakes, The Great American Baking Show, For All Mankind, America’s Test Kitchen — At Home, The Morning Show, The Gilded Age, Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Penelope Keith’s Hidden Villages, The Confession, Mike and Molly, Ghosts, Ghosts (UK), Kim’s Convenience, Jack Reacher, Junior Baking Show and Welcome to Wrexham.)
1. The Last Bus
2. Mrs. Harris Goes To Paris
3. The Loneliest Whale: The Search for 52
4. Becoming Cousteau
5. George Carlin’s American Dream
6. Luck
7. Sea Beast
8. Hello, Bookstore
9. Mr. Harrigan’s Phone
10. The Dig
(Honorable mentions: Jerry & Marge Go Large, The Last Movie Stars, Introducing Selma Blair, Free Guy, CODA, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Thor: Love and Thunder, The Adam Project, How to Survive a Pandemic, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, No Time to Die and Being the Ricardos)
1. The Vinyl Cafe
2. GrimmCast
3. Small Town Dicks
4. Naked Lunch
5. Against the Rules
6. BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine Podcast
7. Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!
8. Christmas Past
9. Sue Perkins: An Hour Or So With….
10. David Tennant Does a Podcast With…
(Honorable mentions: Clear + Vivid With Alan Alda, The Christmas Stocking, Nocturne, The Book Case, Criminal, Death, Sex & Money, Backstory, Awards Chatter, Sidedoor and The Anthropocene Reviewed)
One Comment
Courtney Mroch
LOVE this list! Or lists, I should say. I ALWAYS wonder what sort of things you like…and now I know! (And why do I wonder? Because you’re one of the most interesting, yet enigmatic, people I know. And smartest. I only remember ever speaking to you once, BUT there have been emails and blog comments. But when we spoke, I expressed one of my pessimistic political views like I’m sometimes apt to do (and this was when Obama was still in office, or about to be. Pre-Trump craziness.) Anyway, you said how you weigh candidates for what they stand for, not their party affiliation…or something to that extent. And in my mind, I was all, “You can do that?”
NOW it seems so obvious but back then for whatever reason I didn’t. But you opened my eyes that people are more than the boxes we try to put them into. And you also said something about Fox News and why it appeals to certain folks. I can’t remember exactly what you said, but it brought a great deal of comfort at the time because I couldn’t understand how anyone took that as a serious news outlet. I’m still amazed and appalled they still do, BUT whatever it was you said back then really helped at the time.
Anyway…all this to say I just admire and appreciate you so much and think you’re one of the coolest, most intelligent people I know. And now I’m realizing it’s the company you keep –not only great people you obviously surround yourself with (M! the kitties!) but also the media you consume. Thanks again for sharing!