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!

Books Read in 2016

I did not read nearly as many books in 2016 as I did in 2015. But I did read some! Here are my favorite reads from the last year:

• A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

This was difficult to read because the subject matter was truly heartbreaking. The main character, Jude, has emerged into adulthood (somehow), despite a litany of horrible childhood abuses of every type you can imagine (and trigger warning! - many of which are described in detail). Even though the traumas of his past are actively over, the physical, emotional, sexual, spiritual pain remains, impacting his ability to forge strong, healthy relationships with anyone - including himself. 

• The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon (5 stars)

This was a really cute YA novel. Jamaican-American immigrant Natasha meets-cute with Korean-American Daniel on the worst day of her life (the day her family is about to be deported). Adorableness and heartfelt conversations ensue.

• Sex Object by Jessica Valenti (4 stars)

Remember that blog post I wrote about grieving losses? That's what this book feels like. It doesn't necessarily have a coherent thesis or any concrete advice (and the introduction brings up this fact, so Jessica Valenti is well aware of it), but it was an interesting look into someone's life - especially the unwelcome, seedier parts of it, the mistakes, failures, and sources of shame and embarrassment (whether rightfully earned or not) that we often try to sweep under the rug. It's a memoir of growing up female in New York City, and its rife with examples of everyday sexism. Not always an easy thing to read, but I felt like it was an important read. Sometimes all we can do is offer to be a witness, you know? History needs witnesses.

• The Flight of the Silvers by Daniel Price (4 stars)

There were a few problematic things about this book - mainly that the characters were sort of one-dimensional/stereotypes, especially the women. But the plot was intriguing and solid enough to mostly make up for the mediocre handling of the characters.

• Moloka'i by Alan Brennert (3 stars)

This was an interesting historical novel about a leper colony in Hawaii at the turn of the (last) century. It covers a lot of important topics and was decent storytelling - but I did at times feel like it could be more. I think it was just the way it was written that I found lacking a little. It felt like literary subject matter but wasn't written in a literary sort of way - not necessarily a bad thing, but it didn't quite seem like a perfect fit for me.

• How to Be Secular: A Call to Arms for Religious Freedom by Jacques Berlinerblau (4 stars)

This was a great introduction to the role religion plays in politics (to the detriment of both). It outlined history I wasn't aware of and was eager to learn. My husband read this book first, and loved it so much he decided to buy it. Then I finally got around to reading it this year; I read it while on vacation, lounging on the beach, underlining nearly every paragraph in pencil.

• Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs (4 stars)

The first book in the series (I read all three this year) was the best. My main complaint with the sequels was the way the female characters were treated - any empowering that happened in book one was minimized or completely taken away from them in books two and three. But that wasn't the only issue - I also found the plot less appealing in general. The first book however, was highly enjoyable. I loved the extended metaphor between the shadows and the WWII Nazis; the idea that children and other innocents could be targeted for a number of reasons (Jewish heritage, "peculiarities") and that such persecution could not and should not be tolerated.

• Uprooted by Naomi Novik (5 stars)

This book was recommended to me by a friend. (More than recommended actually - she bought me my own copy and shipped it to my house as a gift. I had to read it after that!) It twists the fairy tale genre by challenging stereotypical gender roles, and offers a nuanced, well-written, relatable female lead who I loved.

• When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi (4 stars)

This was a heartfelt memoir written by a neurosurgeon dying of lung cancer. If he had lived to see it finished, it would have been a better book - but his time was limited, and he got an impressive book written in the little time he did have.

• The Muralist by B.A. Shapiro (5 stars)

I'm a sucker for books about artists - especially historical artists written by authors who did detailed research into the time period. But this is more than just a strong book about an artist (and the Abstract Expressionist movement in New York City) - it's also an important book for the current political climate. It's all too easy to draw parallels between American attitudes toward Jewish refugees in the pre-World War II era and American attitudes toward refugees today.

• All of David Mitchell's books 

I also read all of David Mitchell's books this year (or re-read in the case of Cloud Atlas, The Bone Clocks, and Number9Dream, which I had read previously). I already talked at length about my opinions on these books in this blog post - so I won't bore you again. :)

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Here's to another year filled with good books! Bring on 2017. :)