Standout books I read this year were Gregory Maguire's Hiddensee (2017) for its woven imagery and symbolism across so many themes.
Complete Stories & Other Writings by Jean Stafford (released 2021) because she awes me in every way, especially her writing from the perspective of being about 10 years old.
Invitation to a Beheading (1935) by Vladamir Nabokov for capturing the darkness of incarceration with such absurd lightness.
The second half of Claire Dederer's Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma (2023) for taking artist-mothers deadly seriously and simultaneously giving me so many tidbits about various artists that have led me to seek out their work or given it more depth.
Ilia Delio's Christ in Evolution (2008) for affirming and advancing the study of physics as a spiritual realm.
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier (1938) for its totally immersive mood.
I read a fair amount of graphic novels in between longer books, and highest honors this year go to Anna Haifisch's Schappi (2022) which made me laugh when precious little could even make me smile.
Movies I loved in 2023:
Lagaan (2001) A nearly 4 hour long (!) tale that carries you through every emotion, sweepingly. This movie has dance numbers, humor, sports, love, unrequited love, disability/caste justice, anti-colonialism, and probably other stuff I'm forgetting. The best kind of "feel good" film to me.
Bardo (2022) I knew nothing about Bardo going in, and telling you details wouldn't exactly spoil anything, but I still think it's best to experience it with no pretext. The theme is culture/class/art/existentialism, it's gorgeously shot, and there's a reference to In N Out.
A Letter to Momo (2011) I'm so impressed at how Japanese movies for-and-about the 9-12 year old age range tackle subjects like grief, resentment, loss, alienation, displacement, and social anxiety. Those were feelings I was having at that age, but I don't recall there being a lot of media accessible to me that gave any expression to that. A Letter to Momo had us cracking up, and also me openly crying with Momo after the loss of her dad. Another hallmark of Japanese adolescent turmoil featured in this movie is the presence of the spirit kingdom, which I also find so endearing and accessible in its acknowledgment of the expanding consciousness of grieving kids.
Tekkonkinkreet (2006) Absolute eye candy applied to an intense and complex depiction of human bonds forming and breaking. It's alluring for fans of animation and comics (particularly Japanese and French) because its references and mashups work together to form something transcendent of the sum of its parts. Yakuza Lost Boys, both whimsical and ragefull.
The Boy and the Heron (2023) This is the one you're most likely to have already seen on this list, I'm guessing. If you aren't already a fan of Hayao Miyizaki (the director), I'm not sure this is the most accessible starting place because its on the longer side and more mystical than some of his other works. As I look at these 6 movies/shows I've chosen, 5 of them are about the otherworldliness of grief and how love is often sharpest in that space (the outlier being Lagaan, but even then you could see that theme in it). For those who are already fans of Miyizaki, it's such a treat to see new landscapes from him! To me, the Boy and the Heron is a fitting installment to the canon in this particular time and place in our world, and it feels like a deepening of his reach into his genius.
Love & Anarchy (TV, 2020) I can't remember if I watched this last year or this year, but I haven't mentioned it in a roundup before, and it's a show that Jonas and I still quote and think about. It's roughly about the ethics of the publishing industry (particularly in Sweden, but themes apply elsewhere) and it is so jarringly funny and heartfelt.
Music that will remind me of 2023 is Boygenius, Carlie Hanson, Gorillaz' album Cracker Island, Corinne Bailey Rae's album Black Rainbows (and seeing it performed in Durham!), Leon Bridges' album Gold-Digger Sound, The Japanese House, seeing Porches in Chapel Hill, Kinnship, Kid Cudi's soundtrack for Entergalactic, and Jhene Aiko.
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