Wahoo, it’s time for my annual recap of all the books I read, TV / movies I watched, and theater I saw on-stage this year!
This is the fourth year I’ve put together a recap like this (here are links for 2013, 2014, and 2015). It started because of an article I wrote for The Writer magazine three years ago titled “Filling the Tanks” about how travel is the perfect time to read and catch up on all the media you may not have time for in your day-to-day life, and that such consumption of books and TV may reward your creative endeavors down the line in surprising ways.
BOOKS
I read 30 books this year! That’s more than I’ve read in any single year of my adult life. (Full disclosure: one is a very short story, but I’m including it because it was extraordinary.) I think part of the reason I read more this year is because I finally broke down and got a Kindle — when I was packing for my trip to Central America last spring, the large stack of books next to my carry-on bag was laughable. When I realized the purchase point of a Kindle is only $50 (how is it even possible to make a sophisticated electronic device for that cheap?!) I gave in and ordered one. Even after buying a case for the Kindle and a micro SD card for more space, that is still a tremendous deal. I prefer real books over digital but the ease of carrying the slender Kindle while traveling or commuting is undeniable. I also like that I can download TV shows to watch on a long bus rides in foreign countries; it’s easier and less assuming than watching on my larger laptop.
But back to how the Kindle helped me plow through more books this year — since it’s so small, I brought it everywhere and simply read more often. And I read faster on my Kindle. In checking out the pros and cons of e-readers, it appears the consensus is you read faster on a Kindle but retain more when reading an actual book.
I’ve recapped and rated each book I read in 2016. (Most of these books were not actually released this year.) I’ll pause here to single out my top four favorites: Between the World and Me by Ta’Nehisi Coates, The Martian by Andy Weir, It’s What I Do: A Photographer’s Guide to Love and War by Lynsey Addario, What I Was Doing While You Were Breeding by Kristin Newman. And now here’s everything I read in 2016, in chronological order.
 | Big Little Lies (Laine Moriarty) - 3.5 stars I was initially tempted to write this off as chick lit fluff, but Big Little Lies is more clever than that. It starts with a murder at an elementary school fundraiser -- but we don't know who died, or who killed the victim. The author shifts perspective between many characters (it's hard to keep track of everyone at first) as we uncover everyone's dirty laundry, piece by piece. The story backtracks to the start of the school year as we meet three mothers who strike up an unlikely friendship. Turns out their lives are entwined in ways they never thought possible. The author carefully balances the murder mystery with elements like female friendship, humor, domestic violence, class, and the snooty hierarchy among parents of children at private schools. HBO is developing this into a 2017 miniseries staring Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, and Shailene Woodley. |
 | The Light Between Oceans (M.L. Stedman) - 2 stars Wish I liked this one more. It takes place in Western Australia, on a tiny remote island that only has a lighthouse. The lightkeeper is stuck out there for months at a time with no human contact. While on a leave of absence to the mainland, he meets a charming woman who becomes his wife. They return to the island and over the next few years she has miscarriage after miscarriage. One day, not long after the lightkeeper's wife delivers a stillborn baby, a small row boat washes ashore with a live newborn and a dead man. Despite the lightkeeper's insistence that they do the right thing and report it to the coast guard, his wife persuades him otherwise. In her grief and desperate longing for a child, she believes this baby is the answer to her prayers. They bury the man's body and send word to their family back on the mainland that their daughter has been born. Years pass, and on a visit home they coincidentally meet the biological mother of the child, who has been frozen in grief since losing her husband and newborn years earlier. Over time, their cover story unravels and the truth comes out. It's lose-lose for everyone -- the biological mother, the parents who "stole" the baby, and the child who is now torn between two parents. All told, it's a depressing story that pokes at the emotions of the reader, but offers little in the way of deeper meaning or exemplary prose. So why put yourself through the emotional wringer? A feature film starring Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander was released last September, but I think I'm through with this story. |
 | Moranthology (Caitlin Moran) - 4 stars Caitlin Moran is one of my favorite writers -- she has been called "the Tina Fey of the UK," and her book How to Be a Woman was one of my top favorites from last year; I asked for her newly released Moranifesto for Christmas. So I eagerly gobbled up Moranthology earlier this year. It's a collection of writing pieces from her award-winning London Times column -- a mix of pop culture, memoir, and funny commentary on society, mixed with hilarious bedtime conversations with her husband. She's a genius at parsing a topic, cutting to the crux of the matter, and using funny metaphors like describing Benedict Cumberbatch as having "a voice like a jaguar in a cello, a face like a sloth made of pearl." My favorite line in the book is the closing paragraph for an interview she did with Keith Richards, quoting him, "I didn't invent the job, you know. There wasn't a shop in the window saying, 'Wanted: Keith Richards.'" What a beautiful piece of advice for how to move through this world as yourself. If you are new to Caitlin Moran, I'd recommend starting with How to Be a Woman, as it's one of the strongest pieces of writing I've encountered about feminism. |
 | 100 Essays I Don't Have Time to Write (Sarah Ruhl) - 4 stars Sarah Ruhl is an accomplished playwright (I've only seen The Oldest Boy and would LOVE to see more of her work -- regional theaters, please produce more Sarah Ruhl plays!). She wrote this book of essays on "umbrellas and sword fights, parades and dogs, fire alarms, children, and theater." It's a delightful mix of topics. Take essay #61, for example; Ruhl explains why she hates the word quirky: "The word quirky suggests that in a homogenized culture, difference has to be immediately defined, sequestered, and formally quarantined while being gently patted on the head." She also debates the merits of naming a play Untitled to preempt preconceived notions -- "Titles by their nature imply that the play's architecture is like a bull's eye (and some are) with the point being in the center. Sometimes the point is in the margins, or in the experience of throwing the dart." These essays are brimming with insight and original thought. Highly recommended if you are interested in theater. |
 | When Breath Becomes Air (Paul Kalanithi) - 3.5 stars I sped-read this book at The Tattered Cover in Denver while visiting last March; I curled up in a chair for an hour and breezed through it. It's the only book on this list I didn't read every word of, as I was eager to get through it all in one sitting, so I skimmed some parts. I'm guessing most people will have heard of it -- it's been on best-seller lists all year. Neurosurgeon Dr. Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer in his mid-30's, and died two years later. He had never smoked in his life. He and his wife (also a doctor) decided to go through with their decision to have a child despite his prognosis, and their daughter Cady was born eight months before he passed. Paul wrote this book as a way to process his feelings about life and death. It's philosophical in a way that almost feels detached from the dying process, and yet triggers an emotional response in readers who can't help but put themselves in Paul's shoes and imagine what it feels like to live with the knowledge that you are going to die soon. In regards to their decision to have a child amidst this, Paul notes that "life is not about avoiding suffering." It's about creating meaning. This book is worth more than a cursory read. |
 | The Martian (Andy Weir) - 5 stars One of my favorite books I read this year. Even if you haven't read the book, you're probably familiar with the premise thanks to the Matt Damon movie released last year -- it's about astronaut Mark Watney who is mistakenly presumed dead during a mission on Mars, and left behind as his fellow astronauts take off during a storm to go back to Earth. When Mark wakes up, he is completely alone on the planet and must use his limited resources wisely to ensure he'll have enough food and water to stay alive until the next Mars mission can pick him up in several years. Eventually, NASA honchos back on Earth realize that Mark survived, and a multi-nation effort ensues to bring him back home alive. I found the book entirely gripping. Author Andy Weir originally wrote The Martian in Dickensian form, serial style, releasing one chapter at a time for free on the web as it took off in popularity. Weir is a self-described 'armchair astronaut' and did a remarkable job detailing the physics and biology required to convincingly weave this space story. He makes the scientific elements of the story -- like Mark growing potatoes and making water, or wiring solar panels to power trips in his rover -- totally compelling, even for someone like me with little interest in things like food biology. The movie is a decent adaptation (and they shot Mars on Wadi Rum in Jordan, where I've been!) but I missed the science-heavy details that blew my mind as I read the book. Can't recommend this one highly enough. |
 | Big Magic (Elizabeth Gilbert) - 4.5 stars Confession: I'm a big fan of Liz Gilbert's and would read literally anything she publishes. But Big Magic is an inspiring departure from her usual style of writing (memoir or fiction) -- it's sort of like Creativity for Dummies meets an expert Ted talk on how to unlock the artistic process. Gilbert writes bite-size chapters that break down how creativity is embedded in all of us, how the world tries to stifle that expression as we grow older, how we can still tap into it now, and why it's vitally important that we do this work. Plus she offers practical tips on how to identify ideas that present themselves to you, how to overcome writer's block, how to deal with criticism, and how to navigate making a living using your creativity when there is inherent pressure involved in that. Perhaps most practical of all: how to be a workhorse, and commit yourself to the disciplined and unglamorous practice of making art. It's not all Big Magic all the time. But Gilbert does a beautiful job pulling back the curtain on creativity and giving us a behind-the-scenes look at what that process looks like, as well as making a compelling case for why we all need to conjure up a little Big Magic in our own lives. |
 | Between the World and Me (Ta'Nehisi Coates) - 5 stars The most important book I read this year. Should be required reading for everyone living in America today. Ta'Nehisi Coates wrote Between the World and Me as a letter to his teenage son about what it's like to grow up black in America. How the legacy of violence against black bodies is so ingrained in the DNA of our country that even 150 years after slavery was officially abolished, it's still playing out on a daily basis on the streets of America. If you think this book sounds topical -- a comment on police brutality against African Americans that has increasingly made headlines these past few years -- that's a false line of thinking: the violence has been happening forever, we're only just becoming more aware of it now. To quote Coates in a 2015 interview, "This conversation is old, but the cameras are new." Coates deftly weaves an account of his own childhood and teenage years growing up in the inner city of Baltimore within the larger context of race relations in the United States. It is eye-opening, and it is heart-opening. I am grateful to have a deeper understanding of my own privilege and how it is entwined with institutionalized racism. Knowledge and understanding is the first step towards dismantling these forces at play in our world today. Also worth reading: Coates' recent essay for The Atlantic, "My President Was Black." |
 | 800 Grapes (Laura Dave) - 4 stars I read this over two days on a sailing trip in Belize, and it was the perfect read for that trip. You might have surmised from my review of Big Little Lies (above) that I'm a bit of a snob about chick lit -- luckily I pushed past any preconceived notions about this book falling into that category, as it proved to be deeper and more fleshed out. Mostly, I dug the characters, their problems, and the setting: Georgia grew up on her parents' winery in Sonoma, with the desire to one day run the place. (The book's title comes from the fact that it takes 800 grapes to make one bottle of wine.) But education and travel have taken her on a different life path. Shortly before she is set to marry her fiance on the family vineyard (they plan to move to London right after the wedding), she discovers a secret about him -- years earlier fathered a child with a famous actress, which had been successfully kept under wraps until now. Georgia heads to the vineyard a few days early to contemplate this news, but she's hit with more revelations -- her parents are now living apart from each other, they've just sold the vineyard, and her brothers are fighting over the same woman. So things are, in a word, complicated. There are certain farcical elements as Georgia attempts to fix matters. It's a light read that I very much enjoyed. |
 | The Diver's Clothes Lie Empty (Vendela Vida) - 2 stars This book got a lot of hype last year, in part due to its intriguing premise: an unnamed woman travels to Casablanca, Morocco and upon checking into her hotel is robbed of her wallet and passport. When the police chief eventually presents her with her missing backpack, she realizes it is NOT hers, but takes it anyway (because she is the kind of person who lets things happen to her instead of using her own agency -- I hate when female characters act like this), and she assumes the identity of the passport inside. She does this out of submission, not cunningness, and it comes off as mentally unbalanced. By chance she ends up getting hired as a stand-in for the lead actress of an American film shooting in Casablanca, and then has to keep up the exhausting act of pretending to be someone she's not. We slowly learn more about her past and how she ended up in Casablanca. I wish I could say it made me like the main character more, or feel more sympathetic towards her, but her backstory did not overcome my frustration at her lack of agency. My internal response to each successive narrative twist was, "Why did you do that?! You could have so easily gotten out of this jam!" After a few of those you start to feel like the author is just jerking you around. It reminded me of the worst book I read last year, Nobody is Ever Missing, which has a somewhat similar premise (quasi-unreliable narrator who is helpless in her own life ends up traveling to a faraway place). |
 | Luckiest Girl Alive (Jessica Knoll) - 3.5 stars Ani (our narrator) has everything she's ever wanted, which she's fought for tooth-and-nail: a highly sought-after career, a Manhattan apartment, a size 2 waistline, a handsome and wealthy fiance. She's the envy of everyone she meets, even though on the inside she is bitter and full of snark. Gradually we learn more about Ani's past and the horrific events that happened to her at boarding school (when she was known by her full name, TifAni) that propelled her to reinvent herself as an adult. Except that has come at a cost: she is brutally unhappy on the inside, having not fully grappled with the events of her past. But she has the chance to fix that when a documentarian contacts her about an interview regarding the incident at her boarding school. Luckiest Girl Alive is ultimately about the complicated quest to be authentic in a world that's all about appearances. I liked this book a lot. But I have a slight issue with how the main female character is presented, and it's the opposite problem of the previous book on this list -- she's depicted as a ruthlessly vindictive woman, bordering on manipulatively psychotic. She's not that far from the female lead in Gone Girl, which this book is endlessly compared to on Amazon. Why has it become cliche to write women on this end of the crazy spectrum? But I just came across an article the author wrote for Lenny (contains spoilers), which reveals that she herself experienced a similar trauma when she was in boarding school, and reading about her real-life reaction gives more weight to her decision to portray the main character as she does. |
 | Loving Day (Mat Johnson) - 4 stars I sought to read more about race this past year (including seeing plays and movies on this topic) and after hearing author Mat Johnson's interview on Fresh Air, I was very curious to read his book. It's about a biracial man named Warren who has inherited his father's decaying house in the heart of a black neighborhood in Philly. Warren is a struggling comic book writer. He can pass as white, and feels insecure about not being black enough when in the company of fellow African Americans, with whom he primarily identifies. One day he discovers he has a teenage daughter named Tal whom he never knew about, born out of a relationship from his teenage years. In her, he recognizes the same struggle for identity he has faced his whole life -- how do you move through the world when you're not fully white, and not fully black, but somewhere in between? Tal's mother has passed away so he takes charge of her education, wanting to enroll her into a high school with a predominantly black population. But she convinces him to give the Melange School a try, a private institution that focuses on the needs of mixed race children. Warren resists some of the philosophies they espouse, but the people and ideas at the school ultimately open up his own mind about identity. There is a love story. And ghosts. The book culminates in a celebration on Loving Day, the June 12th celebration that recognizes the Supreme Court decision which ruled miscegenation laws unconstitutional. |
 | Hamilton: The Revolution (Lin-Manuel Miranda, Jeremy McCarter) - 4.5 stars Can't get enough of the Broadway musical sensation Hamilton? Me neither. I highly recommend this coffee table book which features gorgeous photos, illuminating essays by members of the creative team, and a full libretto annotated by writer and star Lin-Manuel Miranda as he details the backstory behind the music and lyrics. I read this book cover to cover with a smile on my face the whole time. And if you're still reading this review, then you probably already know how fantastic the recently-released Hamilton Mixtape is -- I am continually impressed with how each successive Hamilton 'thing' is not just a cash grab, but so fully formed and essential in its own way. There seems to be a never-ending well of material with which to dig deeper, and I am one grateful fan. |
 | Modern Romance (Aziz Ansari & Eric Klinenberg) - 4 stars I've loved Aziz's stand-up for years (I first saw him at UCB in 2007 or 2008) and have eagerly anticipated the release of each comedy special he's done. So when he announced this book, it was a no-brainer that I would read it. Modern Romance examines how dating has changed from generation to generation -- Aziz teams up with sociologist Eric Klinenberg to observe trends, run focus groups, and even compare the dating landscapes in various countries. Back in the day, most couples met because they lived geographically close to each other -- often even on the same block -- but now it feels like dating options are endless, in the age of Tinder and Match.com. How are people today expected to sift through all the options and make a good choice? Aziz notes that he can't even go out for tacos without researching a dozen options on Yelp, so how much work should he put into finding the right partner? The authors examine how dating itself has changed in the digital world: "Why did he not text me back, but now he's posted a photo of his pizza on Instagram? Should I read into that?" Other topics include how to build trust with a partner when you have access to their email account or can read their text message history. I loved their look at dating in Buenos Aires, Paris, and Tokyo. Did you know that Japan is suffering from very low birth rates and the government will now pay for couples to go on first dates? So fascinating. This book tackles a lot of ideas (and features lots of charts breaking down data) with Aziz's sense of humor at the forefront. I read most of it on the subway and couldn't help but laugh out loud occasionally. Hey, maybe that'll help me meet someone in the real world -- sparking a conversation on public transit over a shared love of reading? A single girl can only hope. |
 | Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking (Susan Cain) - 4 stars I identify as an introvert, and found this book really fascinating -- it provides a window of insight into why I act and think the way I do. Cain details exactly what it means to be introverted (confirming certain things I suspected, illuminating other things I hadn't fully recognized before) and examines how society undervalues the skills of introverts. She parses the neuroscience behind why introverts act the way they do (how an organ in the brain called amygdala controls the nervous system and determines our response to stimuli). She presents studies in which young children are presented with stilmuli to predict if they're introverted / extroverted, and how parents can properly support an introverted child. She dismantles the idea that introverts aren't leaders and suggests how introverts can thrive even when subjected to the demands of an extrovert-favored world (e.g. open cubicles and the idea of "group think" in the workplace espoused by Google and similar companies are NOT helpful to introverts who thrive in a quiet space). She discusses how to navigate life as an introvert when sometimes you have to exhibit extrovert qualities (called the Free Trait Theory), and how it's possible to do so without disrupting your authentic nature. The whole book is life-affirming and made me feel even better about my own quirks and idiosyncrasies. |
 | The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry (Gabrielle Zevin) - 3.5 stars After being widowed at a young age, A.J. Fikry has resigned himself to a quiet life: he owns a bookstore on a small northeast island that predominantly receives visitors in the summer. But a series of events opens his life up to experiencing great love once again: he loses his prized original copy of an Edgar Allan Poe poem that he anticipated would secure his eventual retirement, a baby is dropped off at his front door whom he proceeds to adopt and raise, and over time he strikes up a relationship with his book sales rep who lives on the mainland. We meet the eccentric members of the small town where A.J. lives. This story is quirky, sad, and endearing. Glad I stumbled upon it. |
 | Me Before You (Jojo Moyes) - 4 stars I resisted this book, again tempted to write it off as chick lit, but it totally won me over. (I hear the recent movie adaptation is terrible so I've avoided that.) First we meet Will, who was a highly successful and well-traveled young man before an accident paralyzed him a few years ago. He is in need of a new caregiver for the next six months -- the length of time he's given his parents before he plans to enter a facility in Switzerland which will end his life via assisted suicide, according to his wishes. So his mother hires Louisa, a plain girl who lives in town and leads a rather uneventful life, to be his caretaker. Over time, she and Will eventually warm up to each other -- she brings touches of humor and normalcy to his world, and he opens her eyes to just how much the world has to offer if only she had the gumption to reach out and grab it. Soon enough Louisa learns of Will's plans for Switzerland and creates an elaborate calendar of wheelchair-friendly excursions meant to re-spark his interest in life. They end up falling for each other. But will this change Will's mind to end his life? Yes, it comes off as melodramatic, but the author executes it quite beautifully. |
 | Girl Waits with Gun (Amy Stewart) - 3.5 stars "When I allowed myself to think about the brevity of the time ahead of me, and the futility of spending any more of it on cooking and mending and gardening, it frightened me so much that I almost couldn’t breathe." Okay, THIS is how to write a lead female character! Author Amy Stewart has excavated the real-life, little-known story of the Kopp sisters of New Jersey in the early 1900s, detailing their vehicular altercation with Henry Kaufmann, a ruthless factory owner. Constance Kopp is the headstrong sister determined to make him pay for the damage to their car, despite the violent threats he unleashes on their home. Constance teams up with the local police to bring Kaufmann down, aiding the investigation and ultimately landing a job as one of the country's first-ever female deputy sheriffs. Excerpts from actual letters are used, as well as real newspaper headlines. But it's the grit and indomitable spirit of Constance that buoys this story, as we learn more about her past (invented by the author) which sheds light on her decision to stand up to Kauffman. The story is fun, gripping, and a little bloated, but ultimately an enjoyable ride. |
 | The Beginning of Everything (Robyn Schneider) - 3 stars I love reading a few YA novels each year -- there is something so raw about emotions experienced in high school, and I find the writing to generally be more satisfying than typical fiction for adults. In The Beginning of Everything, Ezra Faulkner believes that everyone will suffer a tragedy -- for him, it was the night he discovered that his girlfriend was cheating on him, after which he got into a serious car accident. The injuries he sustained ended his high school tennis career, but perhaps more seismically, he shifted down the social pecking order for his senior year -- Ezra no longer fits in with the jocks, and is forced to reconnect with nerdier friends from his youth. In doing so he meets Cassidy, a new girl who has transferred to their school under hushed up circumstances, and they forge a relationship. This isn't an earth-shattering book but I appreciate re-experiencing the intense highs and lows of teenage years vicariously through these characters. (FYI, I liked the final title on this list, Tell Me Three Things, more than this one, if you want to read a YA book and are debating between the two.) |
 | It's What I Do: A Photographer's Life of Love and War (Lynsey Addario) - 5 stars This book changed my life. It's the autobiography of war photographer and photojournalist Lynsey Addario -- her photos have graced the covers of The New York Times, Time, Newsweek, and National Geographic. She's won a MacArthur Fellowship (the genius grant), as well as a Pulitzer in 2009 for International Reporting. Lynsey has covered war conflict, been embedded with troops in Afghanistan's Korengal Valley, photographed genocide in Darfur, documented violence against women in the Congo, and dozens of other humanitarian crises around the globe. She was one of four NYT reporters kidnapped in Libya for five days in 2011, where she was repeatedly groped and threatened with death. Most recently, she has extensively photographed refugee camps in Greece. I read this book in early September and exactly one month later I was in Greece myself, volunteering at a refugee camp and documenting my experience to share with others. Reading about her story has me focused on how to use photography to shed light on important issues that really matter. And the fact that Lynsey grew up in Connecticut -- she even references Hamden and Sherman Avenue, the street where my parents' business is located -- makes me idolize her even more! It's been announced that Steven Spielberg will direct the movie adaptation of her autobiography, starring Jennifer Lawrence. |
 | Everything I Never Told You (Celeste Ng) - 3.5 stars At the center of this story is the mysterious drowning of a Chinese-American teenager named Lydia in a small town in Ohio in the '70s. The tragedy unravels her family -- her Chinese father is a professor at the local college, and her white American mother is a stay-at-home mom raising Lydia's younger brother and sister. We flashback to the parents' childhoods and when they fell in love during college. These memories shed light on their current state of mind in the wake of Lydia's death. When it becomes apparent that Lydia died at her own hand, her parents and siblings work independently to uncover what led her to that decision. Everything I Never Told You is a study on race, class, gender, and the complications of navigating the intersections of those identities in a family setting. It's a sensitive portrait of a family going through a tragedy. |
 | What I Was Doing While You Were Breeding (Kristin Newman) - 5 stars By far the funniest book I read last year (with respect to Caitlin Moran, who, as mentioned above, is the Tina Fey of the UK). Kristin Newman is a comedy writer too, having penned episodes of That 70s Show, How I Met Your Mother, Chuck, Galavant, The Muppets, and more. During the hiatus between seasons of TV shows, she would travel to far-flung places for weeks or months at a time, and typically hook up with sexy local guys. So this book is mostly a memoir of her sexual exploits, sprinkled with fun cultural observations and deeper thoughts on life and meaning. The title pokes fun at all her fellow friends who picked marriage and motherhood while she prioritized traveling and international hook-ups, but in reality she knew that she one day would want a family. (Kristin is now married and recently had a baby so it all worked out.) I want to quote two of my favorite passages: |
 | How Not To Travel the World (Lauren Juliff) - 2 stars I've read a handful of travel memoirs over the years and, as you might imagine (since I also travel and write about it), I can be kind of picky about them. I didn't do Lauren any favors by reading her memoir as a follow-up to What I Was Doing While You Were Breeding, the best I've ever read in this genre. Here's the thing: I love Lauren's blog, and how open and honest she is about her travel mishaps and struggle with anxiety. But I did not love this novel-length account of her first big international solo trip. Being accident-prone is one thing, but in a few places she comes off as so clumsy that it's not relatable. Good on Lauren for putting it all out there. I wish the writing had been more compelling. I still read and like her blog very much. |
 | Hush (Eva Konstantopoulos) - 4 stars My friend Eva published this horror novella five years ago and it was recently adapted into a film, which shot in Scotland last year. I'm not generally into horror but found HUSH so gripping -- how is it possible for a story to surprise you, but also unfold in such a natural way that in hindsight you realize how inevitable that series of events was? I think it's a testament to good outlining and character development mixed with strong storytelling instincts. Here's the premise: Angela and her brother run a ghostbusting scam -- they use fake equipment to investigate possible ghost sightings by recently bereaved people. But one of the jobs ends up being more than they bargained for: an old foster home where a man once brutally silenced little girls is now haunted, but are the terrors strictly supernatural, or are there real forces working to bring down their team? I envisioned the whole story playing out in a visual way as I read it, so it comes as no surprise that this novella was optioned for a film. I can't wait to see it. It's a quick and engaging read, and it's currently available for $1.99 on Kindle. |
 | Beautiful Ruins (Jess Walter) - 3.5 stars At times this felt like a magical book, and other times it was missing a certain je ne sais quoi. We meet characters at various times in history, on different parts of the globe -- a frustrated motel owner on the coast of Italy in 1962 gets pulled into behind-the-scenes drama on the filming of Cleopatra, a jaded musician escapes to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival on his last dime in the 90's, a 30-ish woman in present-day Hollywood desperate to get out of her development job. Ultimately each thread of story weaves together and we find out how they're all connected. It's ambitious in scope and rich in detail. But the story drags at times, and I'm not sure it all adds up to more than the sum of its parts. On a personal note, I appreciate the globetrotting and the Hollywood backlot drama, but I had hoped to feel more invested in these people and their stories. |
 | I Want to Live (Thom Jones) - 4.5 stars I'm sort of cheating by including this short story because it's only 17 pages, but I stumbled upon it when one of my favorite authors Cheryl Strayed wrote about how meaningful it is to her. And now I want to share it with you: you can download it now (free PDF at this link) and experience the power of this piece. It starts with a woman finding out she's been diagnosed with cancer and it ends with her death. In the intervening pages, we ride the waves with her as she goes through each stage of illness. It's a brutally honest glimpse into what that feels like. Thom Jones packs a succinct, powerful punch, proving that length has little to do with good storytelling. |
 | The Gifts of Imperfection (Brene Brown) - 4 stars Brene Brown is a researcher, author, and speaker who has spent most of her career studying shame. After years of interviewing people for research, she had an epiphany about exactly what makes happy people tick -- and this book is the thesis of that epiphany. Here are the big points she writes about: understanding worthiness, being vulnerable, accepting and forgiving our own flaws, identifying feelings of shame and working through them, choosing authenticity, exercising compassion, and using our gifts to create meaningful work. No matter where you are on your own journey of self-acceptance, you'll find these words useful. |
 | The Heidi Chronicles (Wendy Wasserstein) - 4 stars This is one of the more important feminist plays in our culture, written by Wendy Wasserstein in 1988. We meet Heidi during her high school years in the 1960s and follow her over the next several decades as she becomes a successful art historian. Heidi is part of the trailblazing generation of women who seek to have it all: education, jobs, a husband, children. But she encounters obstacles along the way, as trailblazers often do -- this line, delivered by Heidi's on-again / off-again love Scoop, says it well: "On a scale from one to ten, if you aim for six and get six, everything will work out nicely. But if you aim for ten in all things and get six, you're going to be very disappointed. And, unfortunately, that's why you 'quality time' girls are going to be one generation of disappointed women. Interesting, exemplary, even sexy, but basically unhappy. The ones who open doors usually are." I bought this play after missing the 2015 revival on Broadway starring Elizabeth Moss. I'm so glad to now be acquainted with this work. |
 | The Good Girl (Mary Kubica) - 3 stars I think I have to stop reading books that everyone compares to Gone Girl, because as much as I liked that novel, these sort of dark stories that involve violence against women are not my cup of tea. (The Good Girl had several thousand 4-star reviews on Amazon and the Kindle version was only $2.99, which is why I clicked purchase.) Mia, the 20-something daughter of a prominent Chicago judge, has been kidnapped. The perspective shifts between four different narrators as we find out what happened to her -- Mia, her mother Eve, her kidnapper Gabe, and detective Colin. The author jumps back and forth in time from 'Before' and 'After' the story's climax (the chapters are labeled as such) -- this amps up suspense as we get tidbits of plot that slowly add up to explain how everything unfolded. But there's no escaping the fact that this whole story centers around a violent, on-going crime committed against a woman. And when it becomes predicable that Mia and her kidnapper will have some sort of romantic connection, the story lost me -- Stockholm Syndrome is a convenient and icky plot twist. |
 | Tell Me Three Things (Julie Buxbaum) - 4 stars This is the other YA novel I read in 2016. Jessie is entering her junior year of high school and things are rough -- her mother passed away 733 days ago, and she and her father have just moved from Chicago to Los Angeles to live with his new wife, whom he met in an on-line support group for grieving widows. Jessie's new at her school and out of the blue she gets an email from someone called 'Somebody Nobody.' He offers to help her adjust to the new school, but only on the condition that he remain anonymous. They chat daily for months. But that mystery is only part of Jessie's life as she struggles with making new friends, navigating the class differences between her blue collar upbringing and the snotty private school she now attends, missing her old life back in Chicago, and finding her place in the new family structure she's been thrust into. Author Julie Buxbaum captures the tumultuous life of high school beautifully, and the struggle to be authentic in a pool of insecure teenagers all trying to find their way. I love how sensitively the exchange between Jessie and Somebody Nobody is written. And the unrelenting grief Jessie is working through: "I feel like a normal teenage girl heading to a normal party on a normal Saturday night. I might have, for at least a while, taken off my top-secret grief backpack." |
And these next books are on my reading list for 2016, as I just received most of them for Christmas (based on recommendations and reviews; I keep an on-going list of what catches my eye throughout the year):
Tinkers by Paul Harding, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, Truth & Beauty by Ann Patchett, The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, Carry on Warrior by Glennon Doyle Melton, The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg, The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen, Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott, Under the Influence by Joyce Maynard, Give and Take by Adam Grant, Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff, Moranifesto by Caitlin Moran, Bark by Lorrie Moore, and The Ramblers by Aiden Donnelly Rowley.
There are also a number of books on my list that I’ll buy digitally for my Kindle as needed throughout the year (listed in no particular order): The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead, All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman by Lindy West, The Wangs Vs. The World by Jade Chang, The Mothers by Brit Bennett, The Assistants by Camille Perri, You Will Know Me by Megan Abbott, Today Will Be Different by Maria Semple, Every Anxious Wave by Mo Daviau, Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi, and The Nest by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney.
Plus I have several books from last year that are still on my list to read: Brother of the More Famous Jack by Barbara Trapido, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith, The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri, The Giver by Lois Lowry, The Sleepwalker’s Guide to Dancing by Mira Jacob, Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid, and Uglies by Scott Westerfeld.
This really is a never-ending list.
TV SHOWS
Downton Abbey (S6), Younger (S2), Master of None (S1), Transparent (S1 & S2), Teachers (S1), Catastrophe (S1 & S2), Scandal (S5), CNN’s The Wonder List with Bill Weir (S2), Orphan Black (S1), Kimmy Schmidt (S2), Lady Dynamite (S1), House of Cards (S4), Broadchurch (S1 & S2), Bloodline (S2), Nashville (S4)
MOVIES
The Revenant, Bridge of Spies, Spotlight, Joy, The Big Short, Room, Brooklyn, Dirty Dancing, Ghost, Grease, Steve Jobs, Chef, The Martian, The Nice Guys, Independence Day (1996), Don’t Think Twice, Sausage Party, Hunt for the Wilderpeople, Lemonade (if that counts as a movie), Snowden, Girl on the Train, PBS: Hamilton’s America, Hail Caesar, La La Land, Arrival, Moana, Edge of Seventeen, Loving, Nocturnal Animals, The Lobster, What We Do in the Shadows
THEATER
I saw 54 theatrical events in 2016 (exactly the same number as 2015). I’m going to quote exactly what I wrote last year: theater is a big priority for me and I’m on a lifelong quest to study the depths and expanse of this art form. Attending a variety of shows is an investment in my on-going education. Below is a list of all the plays and musicals I saw in 2016; I’ll spare you a recap of each one, but you can read more about them here.
- 34 in NYC (7 on Broadway, 27 off-Broadway) — Stupid Fu**ing Bird / The Woodsman / YOUARENOWHERE / Body of an American / Blackbird / The Wildness / The Robber Bridegroom / Ironbound / Mike Birbiglia’s Thank God for Jokes / Familiar / Kentucky / Streetcar Named Desire / She Loves Me / War / Skeleton Crew / Fiddler on the Roof / The Effect / Incognito / The Fantasticks / Small Mouth Sounds / The Layover / Men in Boats / Waitress / Mechanics of Love / The Encounter / Oh Hello / Buy Sell Date / Tick Tick Boom / Vietgone / Master Harold and the Boys / A Life / The Harvest / Sweet Charity / Falsettos
- 20 outside of NYC (18 in LA, 1 in Denver, 1 in New Haven) — Bridges of Madison County (Ahmanson) / 1984 (Broad Stage) / An Act of God (Ahmanson) / Empire (La Mirada) / The Mystery of Love and Sex (Taper) / Barcelona (Geffen) / The Mountaintop (Matrix Theatre) / Improvised Shakespeare (Largo) / Big Sky (Geffen), The Engine of our Ruin (Victory Theatre), Boy (LATW), West Side Story (Hollywood Bowl), Grey Gardens (Ahmanson), Wonderful Town (Dorothy Chandler), Icebergs (Geffen), Sisters Three (VS Theatre), Merrily We Roll Along (Wallis), Beauty Queen of Leenane (Taper), Santaland Diaries (Denver DCPA), Patton Oswald (College St. in New Haven)
Here’s a visual recap of everything I saw in NYC this past year, by season — click through for reviews:
Once again, thank you for indulging me as I recount this year’s media and literary diet. What were YOUR favorite books of the year? How about TV shows, films, and plays or musicals?
NOTE: I used Amazon Affiliate links for the book titles; should you purchase one, I’d receive a tiny commission. For the record I have yet to earn a dime doing this but I’m legally obligated to say they’re affiliate links.
Bookmarking this for my future reading needs! Also so happy you love Caitlin Moran. I just got Moranifesto and it is in my giant pile of to read books!
Caitlin Moran is my favorite! Long live Caitlin Moran!!