Amidst the madness of the world, I consumed 54 books, 35 movies, dozens of TV programs and many podcasts this year. These were my favorites.
(Note: Not all were released during the past 365 days.)
1. “The Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century” by Kirk W. Johnson
2. “The Outsider” by Stephen King
3. “Neither Snow nor Rain: A History of the United States Postal Service” by Devin Leonard
4. “The Name of the Wind” by Patrick Rothfuss
5. “The Wave: In Pursuit of the Rogues, Freaks and Giants of the Ocean” by Susan Casey
6. “It’s All Relative: Adventures Up and Down the World’s Family Tree” by A.J. Jacobs
7. “The Little Book of Lykke: The Danish Search for the World’s Happiest People” by Meik Wiking
8. “Elevation” by Stephen King
9. “The Year of Living Danishly: My Twelve Months Unearthing the Secrets of the World’s Happiest Country” by Helen Russell
10. “Why We Sleep” by Matthew Walker
(Honorable mentions: “Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader” by Anne Fadiman, “Dinner with Edward: A Story of an Unexpected Friendship” by Isabel Vincent, “The Switch” by Joseph Finder, “I Remember Nothing: and Other Reflections” by Nora Ephron, “From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death” by Caitlin Doughty, “Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury, “Cherries in Winter” by Suzan Colon, “Dear Fahrenheit 451: Love and Heartbreak in the Stacks: A Librarian’s Love Letters and Breakup Notes to the Books in Her Life” by Annie Spence, “Our Bodies, Our Shelves: A Collection Of Library Humor” by Roz Warren, “How to Find Love in a Book Shop” by Veronica Henry and “Flat Broke with Two Goats” by Jennifer McGaha)
Overall reading ratio: I read 16,276 pages across 54 books — 51% fiction, 49% nonfiction; 43% male, 57% female.
1. Sense8
2. The Great British Baking Show
3. Love Your Garden
4. Grace and Frankie
5. The Kominsky Method
6. 9-1-1
7. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
8. One Day at a Time
9. A Million Little Things
10. Escape to the Country
(Honorable mentions: Timeless, The Great British Baking Show: Master Class, Santa Clarita Diet, This Is Us, Big Dreams Small Spaces, Jessica Jones, The Punisher, Elementary, The Good Doctor, Madam Secretary, Grimm, Escape to the Continent, How I Met Your Mother, Salt Fat Acid Heat, Castle Rock and Altered Carbon.)
1. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
2. Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold
3. Last Flag Flying
4. Feminists: What Were They Thinking
5. The Man Who Invented Christmas
6. Ready Player One
7. Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
8. Unrest
9. Between the Folds
10. Avengers: Infinity War
(Honorable mentions: Bohemian Rhapsody, Shape of Water, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Molly’s Game, Love Between the Covers, Black Panther, Solo: A Star Wars Story, Tag, Game Night and Skyscraper.)
1. Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me
2. Small Town Dicks
3. Clear+Vivid with Alan Alda
4. Criminal
5. Death, Sex and Money
6. The Anthropocene Reviewed
7. Fresh Air
8. Nocturne
9. Dear Hank and John
10. The Daily
(Honorable mentions: The Bookshelf, Everything Is Alive, 99% Invisible, Radiolab, Rumble Strip, Sidedoor, This Is Love, Let Me Google That, Awards Chatter, Reply All, Word of Mouth, The Sporkful, Outside/In, Something Wild, The Penguin Podcast, The Science of Happiness, Remembering the Passed, Back Story, You Must Remember This and I Was There Too.)
2 Comments
roswarren
I am honored that my book (OUR BODIES, OUR WHELVES) made your honorable mention list! Thanks for reading me — Roz
Jade Walker
Keep up the great work!