MOVIES
I'll start with movies this time. Again, this list is not the best of movies released in 2013 per se but just best of movies I watched in 2013. I'm not adding any/much commentary this time because I'd end up writing pretty much the same thing on all of them. What constitutes a "good" movie to me is a great or interesting or creative or unexpected story, strong performances, and in some cases, a unique visual element or elements. Also, any mention of the word "we" refers to myself and Michael, that guy I'm married to.
- Paranorman
- Beasts of the Southern Wild
- Arbitrage
- Lars and the Real Girl
- Chronicle
- Oblivion - I didn't love the ending and there were some significant plot holes but visually and musically I was thinking about it for days.
- World War Z
- Fargo - We had never seen it before and really liked it. We were saying "Oh yeah?" in a Midwestern accent to each other for the next week or so.
- Happy People: A Year in the Taiga - Really interesting documentary about a small village of people living off the land in Siberia.
- Mud
- 12 Years A Slave
- Europa Report - We DID NOT like Gravity. While intense, there was zero story in that movie. If you want to see a GOOD space/suspense movie you have to see this.
- Wild China - Miniseries similar to Planet Earth but completely centered on China. Really great animal footage and stories on the indigenous peoples living in small villages and communities in rural China.
- Great Expectations (2011 BBC Miniseries)
BOOKS
I read 37 books in 2013. Again, if you're not on Goodreads and you like to read, you should be! I like seeing what my friends are reading. I try to alternate between fiction, non-fiction, and Christian living so I don't end up reading all the same thing. Here's the rundown and the list of my favs.
Christian living - 10 books read
- Forgotten God by Francis Chan
- Crazy Love by Francis Chan
- Fight: A Christian Case for Non-Violence by Preston Sprinkle
- Knowing God by J. I. Packer
- Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes by Randolph E. Richards
Fiction - 17 books read
- The Wrinkle in Time quintet by Madeleine L'Engle - reread
- Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote - reread
- And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
- The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald - reread
- The Shining by Stephen King
- Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
Non-Fiction - 10 books read
- The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
- Bossypants by Tina Fey
- Twelve Years A Slave by Solomon Northup
- 1776 by David McCullough
- The Art of Intelligence by Henry Crumpton
- Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin
- The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
- The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris by David McCullough
- John Adams by David McCullough
Any suggestions for me to read or watch in 2014?
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