2020 Standouts {feat. Books, Movies, & Television}
Well, folks, it's that time of year.
Actually, it's past that time of year. I did intend to have several review/wrap-up posts published by December 31, but . . . as you can see, that didn't turn out. Stuff happened, it is what it is, no use crying over spilled milk, that sort of thing.
Nevertheless, I've still been stubbornly determined to finish this shout-out post, so that's what I've done. This will be exactly what it sounds like: a highlight reel of some of my Personal Bests in reading and watching over the course of 2020.
(To keep it manageable, I've limited myself to ten or fewer stories in each category. I also want to point out that I primarily went off of personal enjoyment when selecting my top picks. There may have been other stories that were better crafted from a critical or semi-objective perspective. But if a conflict arose in my ranking process, I typically went with which story I personally enjoyed more, or which one resonated more deeply with me, regardless of its technical quality.)
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Books
"Fiction"
- The Marquise and Her Cat, by Shari L. Tapscott
- rating: 5 stars
- simple, refreshing, pastoral retelling of Puss in Boots
- the Gold Seer trilogy, by Rae Carson
- consists of: Walk on Earth a Stranger | Like a River Glorious | Into the Bright Unknown
- overall series rating: 5 stars
- Western-Lite™ of the young-adult persuasion about a girl who can magically locate (and maybe control?? *wiggles eyebrows*) all kinds of gold
- The Tower at Stony Wood, by Patricia A. McKillip
- rating: 5 stars
- gorgeous high fantasy; you should try McKillip immediately (but start with The Forgotten Beasts of Eld)
- The Curse of the Pharaohs, by Elizabeth Peters
- rating: 4 stars
- book #2 in a British period mystery series focused on Egyptology — comedy gold
- Life of Pi, by Yann Martel
- rating: undecided
- how does one classify this book y'all I don't know
- West, by Edith Pattou
- rating: 4 stars
- book #2 in a duology retelling East of the Sun, West of the Moon
- The Great Alone, by Kristin Hannah
- rating: 3 stars
- this had Issues but I also couldn't stop thinking about it, so
- Dread Nation, by Justina Ireland
- rating: 4 stars
- my concession to paranormal YA
- Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare
- rating: 4 stars
- this was actually good okay fight me
- My Plain Jane, by Cynthia Hand, Jodi Meadows, and Brodi Ashton
- rating: 5 stars
- reinvention of Jane Eyre — witty and diverting
"Nonfiction"
- Letters to America: Contemporary American Poetry on Race, ed. Jim Daniels
- rating: 5 stars
- amazing
- A Room of One's Own, by Virginia Woolf
- rating: 5 stars
- I genuinely love Virginia Woolf's writing and her way of thinking so much you guys
- Be the Bridge: Pursuing God's Heart for Racial Reconciliation, by LaTasha Morrison
- rating: 5 stars
- a message the evangelical American Church sorely needs to hear
- Messy Beautiful Friendship: Finding and Nurturing Deep and Lasting Relationships, by Christine Hoover
- rating: 5 stars
- helped me to process some changes/evolutions/struggles in various long-term friendships
- Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators, by Ronan Farrow
- rating: 4 stars
- explains the Harvey Weinstein case in detail and provides additional context for the #MeToo revelations as a whole
Movies
- The Huntsman: Winter's War
- MPAA rating: PG-13 | my rating: 4 stars
- Emily Blunt's Freya is everything to me and so is Chris Hemsworth's Eric okay that's all
- French Kiss
- MPAA rating: PG-13 | my rating: 5 stars
- Meg Ryan and Kevin Kline cavorting about the French countryside in pursuit of Nate Ford before he was cool — I mean, in pursuit of Timothy Hutton — and being absolutely adorable while doing so
- The Sound of Silence
- MPAA rating: none given | my rating: 3.5 / 4 stars
- intensely, almost depressively quiet movie about sound and city living — narratively fascinating to me
- The Death of Stalin
- MPAA rating: R | my rating: 5 stars
- superbly intelligent black comedy about — well, about the death of Stalin and its aftermath
- Where'd You Go, Bernadette
- MPAA rating: PG-13 | my rating: 5 stars
- The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013) but make it female: full of panoramic views, beautiful humor, and ordinary/extraordinary life
Television
- Brooklyn Nine-Nine
- rating: 5 stars
- Parks and Recreation but make it about law enforcement officials: funny, iconic, and endlessly meme-able
- Schitt's Creek
- rating: 4 stars
- Alexis, Moira, and David Rose: comedy giants
- Galavant
- rating: 3.5 / 4 stars
- outrageous and unnecessary but darned if I don't find it hilarious (and occasionally adorable)
- Single Parents
- rating: 4.5 stars
- WHERE IS MY SEASON THREE I MUST HAVE RESOLUTION
- Bless This Mess
- rating: 4.5 stars
- I need more of Dax Shepard and Lake Bell pretending they know how to ranch, stat
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What were your favorite books of 2020?
Favorite movies?
Favorite TV shows?
Books: The Five, Amazing Grace, Unbroken, The Lost Girls of Paris and a lot of WWII history.
ReplyDeleteShows: Band of Brothers, Blue Bloods
and Press Gang
Movies: le Roi Soleil and either than that I don’t think I saw any great movies last year.
2020 was definitely a year of reading though.
I remember you reading a lot of WWII history last year. I'm glad it was a good reading year for you!
DeleteThe line "my concession to paranormal YA" made me chuckle. :D
ReplyDeleteHow DOES one classify Life of Pi. I really don't know.
My Plain Jane!! Yessssssssss!!! *Christian jazz hands*
(I'm sorry, I'm reviving that meme of ours xD)
My favorite reads of 2020 were The Princess and the Fangirl, The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy, Hogfather, The Chosen, and Aurora Rising.
I can't think of any stand-out movies I watched in 2020--honestly, if I'm not going to the theater (and I wasn't) I really don't watch movies very much--but my favorite TV shows of the year were definitely Umbrella Academy and She-Ra.
Hehe, thank you. It amused me as well. ;D
DeleteRIGHT?! Like, what is it?
xD I love that meme of ours!
Ooh, yes, yes! I remember your lovely reviews for those books . . . *happy sigh* Good times. :)
That makes sense! Ahh, yes, we've had fun talking about UA and SR. ;-P
Ooh, these all look so good, though I'm not familiar with many of them. I had a top ten list for my favorite books, movies and shows for the year, but I'm completely forgetting what they were. Hmmm. Okay, never mind, I remembered a couple.
ReplyDeleteBooks: Little Women, The Book Thief, The Miseducation of Cameron Post, Stalking Jack the Ripper, The Last Summer of the Garrett Girls.
Movies: All the MCU movies I saw this year, Beetlejuice, Heathers, Edward Scissorhands, Jumanji: The Next Level, and Mean Girls.
Shows: Community, Warehouse 13, Glee, Parks and Rec (can't believe it took me until this year to watch it!), Anne With An E, the first two seasons of Riverdale, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Okay, I guess I remembered quite a bit, actually.
Hope your 2021 is great, and is filled with just as much great media.
Ahhh, such good stories, McKayla! The Book Thief is just . . . *chef's kiss* And I love Parks and Rec so much. <33 Although, I relate: sometimes I'll finally start a show I've been dancing around for a while, and I'll think to myself, "How have I taken this long to watch this?"
DeleteAww, thank you so much! Right back at you.
I think people don't know/forget that Shakespeare had a sense of humor. I don't think I'd read much Shakespeare when I read Romeo and Juliet, so I was surprised, it,s quite funny and there is more than mooning about which is what I'd thought it was.
ReplyDeleteI've got to try Patricia McKillip (again?).
Honestly, I'm like "movies, what movies" Its a good thing I keep track of things with Goodreads and my blog and such because my memory is terrible lately.
40 of my 60 books were rereads, so clearly I thought all those winners.
I finished Anthony Trollope's Chronicles of Barsetshire. I greatly enjoyed those. I found them more readable, more my taste than Dickens.
I read very few nonfiction, books but highly recommend Restless Empire: A HIstorical Atlas of Russia.
I watched the first season of Schitt's Creek (skimmed, the town mayor got skipped mostly, I loathed him and the humor involving him), but its too, uh, decadent morally for me to feel comfortable long term, plus Mutt leaves. Plus I think I got the taste of the humor and it all just seemed to be more of the same after that.
I started watching Clone Wars around Christmas. I've watched all the live action star wars movies, and this beats them all majorly. This is probably a tie for top tv with Oh, My Venus, my first k-drama which I still haven't finished.
I rewatched a lot of movies too. As far as new to me I enjoyed The Lady Vanishes the 2015 version. Jumanjii to was hilarious. And while I wouldn't call 12 Angry Men a favorite, it was such a brilliant film.
Yes! I was quite surprised by how much I liked Romeo & Juliet. In my opinion, Shakespeare makes his message very clear, and it definitely isn't, "Two teenagers killing themselves over their crushes is The Height Of Romance."
DeleteI've really been enjoying McKillip over the past couple of years.
Wow, 40 rereads! Good for you. I used to be great at rereading, but I've lost the knack a bit over the last few years. I'm hoping to fix that this year.
I've become more interested in Trollope's Barsetshire Chronicles since watching the new Doctor Thorne adaptation. (Ooh, and I get what you mean about Dickens. There are a couple of his books that I do really like, but overall I feel pretty "meh" about him.)
My brothers used to really like Clone Wars, and lately I've been thinking that I'd probably enjoy them too. I'll have to try them soon.
Ooh, I've never heard of The Lady Vanishes.
Mmmm, French Kiss is such a frothy little delight.
ReplyDeleteWe have already discussed the Huntsman and his lady, I think. I need to rewatch both movies.
I almost read Where'd You Go, Bernadette. I even got it out of the library. And I almost went to see the movie in theaters, too. You're making me think I should rectify both those almosts.
It really is. It was quite a refreshment for me.
DeleteIndeed we have. Love 'em.
Actually, I almost read the Bernadette book, too. I started it, lost interest. But I want to try it again sometime. And I absolutely recommend the movie.
I like the Prince Henry gif very much. ;D
ReplyDeleteI read Romeo and Juliet in 2019 and expected to be rolling my eyes the whole time, but actually I was laughing because Shakespeare is so witty! And the story was actually decent. I approve. Besides that, I don't think that I've read or seen any of these, but I am interested in Life of Pi. I had a really good reading and watching year in 2020, and an looking forward to what this year brings!
Ahh, thank you. I like it, too. ;D
DeleteRight?! It has a lot more substance than people imagine. Life of Pi was very interesting. There was a twist near the end that made me uncertain of what my final opinion was, but it was really well-done.
I'm so glad 2020 was a good story year for you! I hope this one is just as good.
Schitt's Creek kept me laughing through 2020. I've only seen the first season of Galavant it was surprisingly entertaining, and I've been meaning to watch Single Parents, but I don't think it's on any of the streaming sites I use, so I'll probably half to buy it. Looks good though.
ReplyDeleteRight?!
DeleteGalavant is such a quirky show but I love it.
I completely fell in love with Single Parents!! I watched it on Hulu; I'm not sure where else it might be? *shrugs* I'd definitely recommend it, though!