Favorites from 2021

So, it’s been since last spring that I’ve updated this blog, which is quite definitely a long time and I don’t even know who has stuck around since then. This past year has been incredibly busy and marked with many ups and downs personally, emotionally, and professionally. I solo travelled to Slovenia and Croatia this past summer where I met some incredible people, I faced many challenges as a new teacher, I had a few mental breakdowns and ultimately realized it’s okay to call out of work for mental health reasons, and the list goes on. I miss writing here and I want to work on being more consistent with posting; this is my outlet for dumping all my whirring thoughts and opinions, and hoping others maybe want to hear what I have to say. So to start off the new year, I want to look back on 2021 and share my token favorites list of the year. I will cover my top favorites in music, literature, and film/tv. As always, feel free to comment on my list with your own thoughts and recommendations. Happy new year everyone and may it be a good one.

best literature I read this year (not limited to 2021 published stuff)

• Cloud Cuckoo Land (2021, Anthony Doerr)- Author of All the Light we Cannot See, Doerr once again creates a masterpiece with Cloud Cuckoo Land. This time he embarks on a more expansive and ambitious journey, weaving together multiple different stories across time and space, as an ultimate tribute to the lasting power of storytelling and literature. Doerr combines mythology, environmental commentary, historical fiction, science fiction, and philosophy to an astonishing effect. Humanity can be a beautiful thing when we see ourselves in each other and in the world around us.
• A Tale for the Time Being (Ruth Ozeki)– Ruth Ozeki is a novel writing, documentary filmmaking, zen buddhist priestess. All of these attributes influence this wonderful, eccentric, and mystical novel to the fullest degree. I learned quite a bit about japanese school culture, the art of zen, buddhism, french philosophy, and what it means to search for time and meaning in time. (Fair warning, there are some triggering topics in here such as mental illness/suicide, bullying, and child abuse. )
• Beautiful World Where Are You? (Sally Rooney, 2021) – This is a novel which insightfully encapsulates much of the human experience, particularly millennial human existence, in these current times. The characters are messy, complicated and completely overwhelmed with how to handle the chaotic world they find themselves in, how to deal with the contradictions of modern living, of politics and privilege and environmental collapse. But there is incredible beauty to be found in this novel and in this world, as Rooney posits, because there are the people we love who make the chaos into something worth living through.
• Things we Lost in the Fire (Mariana Enriquez) – Enriquez is an Argentinian writer who combines gothic horror with political commentary, psychological horror and magical realism. This collection of short stories not only abounds with ghosts, blood, haunted houses and graves, but also with intelligent reflections on femicide, Argentinian history, feminism, and political corruption that are just as scary as the things that go bump in the night.
• How to Hide an Empire (Daniel Immerwahr) – This is a non-fiction book about the history of the US as an empire. Immerwahr sets out to show US history from the often hidden perspective of the greater US, changing the shape of US history as known by mainlanders. “Still, if there is one thing the history of the Greater United States tells us, it’s that such territory matters. And not only for the people who live in the colonies or near bases…The war on terror, the birth control pill, Godzilla, Iran-contra, chemotherapy… you can’t understand the histories of any of these without understanding territorial empire.”
• additional titles: In the Dream House (memoir, Carmen Maria Machado), Migrations (Charlotte McConaghy), Exhalation (Ted Chiang), and the Order of Time (nonfiction, Carlo Rovelli).

best music I listened to (not limited to 2021 releases)

• Olivia Rodrigo– this girl is killing it on the music scene and rightly so. For being so young, her music has an edge, an inventiveness and maturity that manages to capture what it means to grow through heartbreak. I will gladly sing deja Vu and traitor in the car until I am gray haired and old.
• stoned at the nail salon (2021, Lorde)– I have always been a huge fan of Lorde, and out of all the songs on her newest album, this one strikes a chord with me the most. It is a beautiful, understated, and poetic look at growing up and realizing just how fast time can go. Her vocals are strong here, quiet and perfectly coordinated with the soft, melancholic instrumentals.
• Stop Making This Hurt (2021, Bleachers) – while their latest album was not as good as I had hoped it to be, this song in particular stood out to me with its lyrics and incessantly catchy instrumentals. Antonoff sings of taking the sadness out of saturday night, but then at the same time wondering what would be left if we did take out all the hurt- what would be left to fight for, to fight against?
• Holly Humberstone– She is quickly becoming one of my favorite indie pop artists, with her constant output of insanely addicting beats and lyrics. There is a rawness and an edge to her sound that puts her above any sugary pop stylings, and her clever songwriting makes her an artist to watch. I suggest giving a listen to anything of hers, but especially The Walls are Way too Thin, Friendly Fire, Scarlett and Overkill.
• the Lumineers- They are coming out with a new album this month, and in 2021 blessed us with three amazing tracks that will be featured on it. As usual, they are at their finest with a beautiful blend of folk/rock instrumentals and compelling storytelling through their lyrics. Brightside is my favorite out of the three released tracks from the year.
• additional music: Maude Latour, Fruit Bats, Valley, Remi Wolf

best film/tv I watched (not limited to 2021 releases)

• Tick Tick Boom (2021, Lin Manuel Miranda) – this film is a love letter to artists and art everywhere, and beautifully pays tribute to Jonathan Larson and the incredible work he produced in his criminally short life. It reminded me of my own passion for the arts and made me think about my decisions in life. I was immensely moved by the performances in the film, especially Andrew Garfield’s role as Jonathan, and as the film came to a close, I felt a deep sense of love and heartache for this world we live in and for the people who choose to fill it with beautiful art
• Quo Vadis, Aida? (2021, Jasmila Zbanic) – I have so many thoughts about this brutal, gut wrenching, and powerfully informative film, which centers on the Srebrenica massacre in 1995 (an event where thousands of bosnian men were murdered by the serbian army). Everything about this film was superbly done, from the acting to the cinematography to the directing. Srebrenica at the time was supposed to be a UN protected area safe from the serbian army, and Zbanic does an incredible job of 1) exploring the tangled politics of agencies and international policy that often bungle humanitarian crises, and 2) placing into that context the people whose lives are in the hands of such bureaucratic and political chaos. The film does not sensationalize or make sentimental the subject at hand.
• Yellowjackets (2021) – this is such an insanely addicting show (can be watched on showtime), one which intelligently and honestly portrays female relationships, the lasting impact of trauma, and adolescent growing pains. The show follows a lord of the flies meets Lost scenario where a female soccer team’s plane crashes in a remote jungle, and how they deal with what happened decades later. The female characters are all compelling, both the teenage and adult versions, and the writing takes them seriously as flawed, messy and complex people. The show is part psychological thriller, part folk horror, and part coming of age drama, and is truly a brutal, raw and entertaining look into survival and how the past comes back to haunt us.
• additional titles: Love Victor, The Other Two, The Green Knight (2021), and Babylon Berlin