End of the Year Cultural Round-Up

 While my day-to-day blogging practice is entirely aspirational, I am good at the annual review each December and making my New Year's resolutions on the first business day of each new year. 

I've got a lot to cover. This has been an excellent year for me. I traveled to Toronto, Berlin, Venice, Sicily, and Palm Springs. My dream of getting a beach house came true. My kids and marriage are all healthy and strong. I connected with a lot of old friends and deepened my friendships with many others as well. 

I also read many books and watched a decent amount of TV and movies. Here's a list of the books I finished:

  • Real Estate, Deborah Levy (memoir)
  • Wild Seed, Octavia Butler (scifi/fantasy)
  • The Silence of the Girls, Pat Barker (historical fiction)
  • The Ministry for the Future, Kim Stanley Robinson (hard science fiction)
  • Please Kill Me, Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain (oral history of punk)
  • Hollywood Bowl, Mikel Jollett (memoir)
  • The Killing Moon, NK Jemison (scifi/fantasy)
  • The Argonauts, Maggie Nelson (memoir)
  • Transient Desires, Donna Leon (mystery)
  • Meeting in Positano, Goliarda Sapienze (literary fiction)
  • Circe, Madeline Miller (historical fiction/fantasy)
  • The Girls of Troy, Pat Barker (historical fiction)
  • My Name is Lucy Barton, Elizabeth Strout (literary fiction)
  • Small Things Like These, Claire Keegan (literary fiction under 200 pages)
  • Department of Speculation, Jenny Offill (literally fiction under 200 pages)
  • Fever Dreams, Samantha Schwerbin (literary fiction under 200 pages)
  • Montana 48, Larry Watson (literary fiction under 200 pages - what can I say? I was on a kick)
  • Buddha in the Attic, Julie Otsuka (literary/historical fiction under 200 pages)
  • Cold Case, Paul Hines (true crime)
  • I'll Come in the Dark, Michelle McNamara (true crime)
  • Women of Troy, Pat Barker (historical fiction)
  • A Little Devil in America, Hanif Abdurraqib (cultural essays/memoir)
  • Hot Milk, Deborah Levy (literary fiction)
  • Strangers to Ourselves, Rachel Aviv (memoir/non-fiction about mental illness and identity)
I started several other books and didn't finish them. The only one I regret giving up is The Heart of the Matter by Graham Greene, but my library app returned the book before I could finish it so I've had to put it back on hold. 

My list of new music is very short. Beyonce "Revelations" and The Mountain Goats "Bleed Out." I listened to a lot of other stuff but these were the only two new albums I returned to repeatedly. I also listened to the Silk Sonic album more than once. 

I did a little better in the movie department. Some of these were re-watches, and yes, I have pretty pedestrian/mainstream movie tastes:
  • Spiderman: No Way Home (superhero)
  • Into the Spiderverse (best superhero movie ever?)
  • Dune (scifi/fantasy)
  • No Time to Die (James Bond)
  • French Dispatch (Wes Anderson)
  • Bourne Legacy (Jason Bourne without Matt Damon)
  • Everything Everywhere All At Once (the best movie of the year/scifi/fantasy)
  • The Batman (not so superhero)
  • The Eyes of Tammy Faye (drama)
  • Eurovision (comedy)
  • The Lost City (comedy? but with lots of Channing Tatum)
  • For Your Consideration (least memorable Christopher Guest movie)
  • Kimi (drama/crime/scifi sort of)
  • League of Their Own (historical fiction? with Tom Hanks)
  • Collateral (Michael Mann thriller)
  • Nope (scifi/horror/comedy?)
  • Ticket to Paradise (comedy that isn't particularly funny except for one scene where I almost peed myself laughing. Also Clooney has gotten too much work done on his face.)
  • See How They Run (a fake Agatha Christie story that is neither funny nor mysterious)
  • The Woman King (superhero/historical fiction)
  • Fantastic Mr. Fox (Wes Anderson animated, definitely his best, and one of my favorite movies. We've decided its a Thanksgiving movie)
  • Wakanda Forever (superhero)
  • Emily the Criminal (crime/thriller/labor movie)
  • Top Gun: Maverick (not so superhero)
In my mind, I've barely watched any movies this year, but I guess that's wrong. I did watch a LOT of television. I know that for sure. 
  • Shining Girls (scifi/thriller)
  • Severance (scifi/thriller)
  • Top Chef (reality TV)
  • Peaky Blinders (historical fiction/drama)
  • The Bear (drama)
  • House of Dragons (incest drama)
  • Loot (comedy but not as funny as one would hope)
  • Bad Sisters (one of the best shows of the year - dark comedy/mystery)
  • For All Mankind - (scifi/fantasy)
  • See (uhhh, not sure what to call this. Maybe dystopian fantasy)
  • Andor (Star Wars offspring. I only watched 1 episode but I am going to watch the rest of it soon)
  • League of their Own (better than the movie. historical fiction/LGBTQ)
  • The Good Fight (legal drama/fantasy)
  • Hawkeye (superhero)
  • The Stand Ups (comedy special)
  • Jim Gaffigan Special
  • Roy Woods Jr. Special
  • Abbott Elementary (sitcom)
  • Sex Education (comedy)
  • Call My Agent (dramedy)
  • Bridgerton (erotica/ historical romance)
  • We Are Lady Parts (one of the other best shows of the year. Like Ted Lasso good. I've pretended I've never seen it just to trick people into watching it with me, I love it so much)
  • Slow Horses (spy/thriller)
  • The Night Manager (spy/thriller)
  • Little Drummer Girl (spy thriller, again, on a bit of a kick)
  • Sex Lives of College Girls (comedy)
Since this is supposed to be a cultural round-up, I will say that I did go to one play this year, and I didn't like it. I saw a lot of art, including at the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin, at the Venice Biennale, and also closer to home. I saw the Alice Neal show a few months ago and it was really good. Most recently, I saw the Joan Brown show at the SFMOMA and it is definitely worth the trip. 

Okay, chickadees. I hope I've given you some good recommendations/ideas for stuff to consume. I am happy to go into greater detail on any of this but right now, I am trying to be completist. Happy hunting and send me your recommendations for 2023. 

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