2019 Media Year in Review

In 2018, I read 30 books and decided to make it a priority to read at least 50 books in 2019 - and I'm proud to say I surpassed that goal, reading 60 books! - though admittedly some of those were re-reads of old favorites. Here were some of my new favorites, read for the first time in 2019:

Non-fiction:

• 21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari
• Act Natural: A Cultural History of the Misadventures of Parenting by Jennifer Traig
• Everything Happens For a Reason - And Other Lies I’ve Loved by Kate Bowler
• Becoming by Michelle Obama
• Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead by Brene Brown
• Expecting Better: Why the Conventional Pregnancy Wisdom is Wrong - And What You Really Need to Know by Emily Oster
• Everything Below the Waist: Why Health Care Needs a Feminist Revolution by Jennifer Block
• Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations by Mira Jacobs

Fiction:

• The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
• Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera
• Circe by Madeline Miller
• The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
• When Elephants Fly by Nancy Richardson Fischer
• Normal People by Sally Rooney
• Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
• The Girls at 17 Swann Street by Yara Zghei
• Hot Dog Girl by Jennifer Dugan
• Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey

I also saw 10 theater productions (in Detroit, Flint, and local community theaters), 35 new movies (in theaters, borrowed from the library, or on Netflix), and 15 TV series (on various streaming services) over the course of 2019, also totaling 60. Here were some of my favorites in those categories:

Theater productions:

• A Midsummer Night’s Dream @ the Capitol in Flint (2/15)
• The Play that Goes Wrong @ the Fisher Theater (2/17)
• Hamilton @ the Fisher Theater (3/17)
• Waitress @ the Fisher Theater (5/12)
• Anastasia @ the Fisher Theater (6/16)

Movies:

• Mary Poppins Returns
• Crazy Rich Asians
• Captain Marvel
• Spiderman into the Spider-verse
• Avengers: End Game
• Wine Country
• Toy Story 4
• Booksmart
• Always Be My Maybe
• Rocketman
• Yesterday
• Harriet
• Frozen 2

TV shows:

• Derry Girls
• Russian Doll
• Pen15
• Schitt’s Creek
• The Great British Bake-Off
• The Good Place
• Bojack Horseman

(Not enough recommendations for you? If you want to read my 2018 favorites, you can visit this post.)

2018 Reading & Theater Year in Review

I didn't read as many books in 2018 as I have in some more prolific years, but I did read 30 books over the course of the last twelve months, including several that I immensely enjoyed and learned from. My favorite reads in 2018 included non-fiction, fantasy, graphic novels, YA, and bestselling literature:

• Strange the Dreamer and Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor
• An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green
• Like a Mother: A Feminist Journey Through the Science and Culture of Pregnancy by Angela Garbes
• Educated by Tara Westover
• Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders
• Nimona by Noelle Stevenson
• The Facts of Life by Paula Knight
• The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist
• Doing Harm: The Truth About How Bad Medicine and Lazy Science Leave Women Dismissed, Misdiagnosed, and Sick by Maya Dusenbery
• Starglass by Phoebe North
• If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo

As usual, my to-read list on Goodreads (which is currently at over 1000 books) is far too long for the amount of time I have to actually read (especially given that more new books are coming out all the time) - but I'm going to try to prioritize reading more in 2019 again and see if I can read at least 50 books next year.

This year I was also fortunate enough to have the opportunity to go to twelve theater productions! Four of them (if an Upright Citizens Brigade improv show counts) were seen during my trip to New York City with my husband in late March/early April, including two off-Broadway shows (Puffs, a Harry Potter parody; and the musical Avenue Q) and Lobby Hero on Broadway. Another four were put on by our local community theater, Avon Players in Rochester Hills: Boeing Boeing, Dial M for Murder, and the musicals Brides of Madison County and the Hunchback of Notre Dame.  Three more were part of "Broadway in Detroit": Something Rotten at the Fisher Theater, and Wicked and Aladdin at the Detroit Opera House. And the final show we saw in 2018 was the musical Cabaret at the Whiting in Flint, MI.

We always try to make an effort to see as many theater productions as our schedules (and bank accounts) will allow - because my husband and I both love to see live shows and to support local theaters - but this year was definitely our record so far. (In fact, we actually had tickets to see thirteen shows, but ultimately decided not to see our local community theater's production of Steel Magnolias in September, as it was only a week after my D&C for my miscarriage, and we didn't feel particularly up for what we knew would be a very emotional drama.) 2019 is shaping up to be another exciting (and potentially record-breaking) year for theater for us - we already have tickets purchased for nine shows, all in the first half of 2019, including the rest of our "Broadway in Detroit" season tickets and Avon Players season tickets. I've also been toying around with the idea of taking a long weekend to Stratford, Ontario to see a few plays (since it's already been 13 years since I've last been!!). Whether or not we take a Stratford trip or decide to see any plays in July-Dec 2019 will likely depend on how quickly we're able to get pregnant again, and when my due date ends up being - but it's certainly possible that we'll break our record of twelve shows throughout the course of 2019!