A few of my favorite things

Vol. 57

In This Issue: BEST OF THE YEAR | NOW READ THIS | TAKE ACTION | FINAL FRAME(S)

Time is a construct, and years are made up, but that doesn’t mean we can’t use the end of December as a good time for rest, reflection, and fortifying ourselves with delights and joys to help us through the coming days.

With that in mind, here are some of the songs, books, shows, and movies that brought me happiness in 2024 (a year that, in many ways, felt like a freakin’ decade). I hope you find a few things to enjoy for yourself in these suggestions! And if you have recommendations of your own, please do leave them in the comments - there’s always room for more.

Favorite books of the year

I use the Storygraph app (independently/POC-owned and operated service that functions in much the same way as Goodreads but without giving money to Jeff Bezos) to track my reading, along with some notes I keep in a journal.

I’m currently reading Hanif Abdurraqib’s newest book, There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension, and strongly suspect it will be quickly added to my favorites list. The man has an incredible way of seeing the world, and of writing about it. I had the pleasure of attending a reading/speaking event of his, hosted by our incredible local indie bookstore A Room of One’s Own, and he’s honestly just as insightful and engaging off-the-cuff, too.

It’ll be my 33rd book read this year, according to my Storygraph records. Of those, here are my other top five (in no particular order). If you do end up wanting to check out any of these, I humbly suggest buying from your own local indie bookstore and/or borrowing from your public library!

Non-Fiction:

1. A Paradise Built in Hell by Rebecca Solnit: A look at various natural and manmade disasters and how the majority of people tend to react to them with altruism, improvisation, and care for strangers and loved ones alike–contrary to the narrative that media and those in power like to spread/believe. A realistic yet ultimately hopeful treatise on the incredible possibility of a human future based more in horizontal organizing, mutual aid, and abundance.
2. The Lucky Ones by Zara Chowdhary: This is an incredible memoir from a now Madison-based author. Chowdhary witnessed and survived a violent episode of ethnic cleansing in her native India when she was just a teenager, events with repercussions still playing out today. Both a deeply personal story of family and growing up, and a vital (and still painfully relevant) examination of what leads people to turn on their neighbors, and how others survive it. Chowdhary has given us all a heavy and beautiful gift by sharing her story with the world.
3. The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine by Rashid Khalidi: It seems like everyone read (or at least pretended to read) this book this year, and understandably so. Khalidi (who has deep familial roots in the region and access to rare archival and historical materials about its history) gives a detailed and approachable accounting of the events and people that have shaped modern Palestine and led us to the terrible situation we’re now confronted by in Gaza and the West Bank.
4. An Immense World by Ed Yong: A fascinating, fun, and informative look at the incredible and diverse ways that living things experience the world that will help you expand your own perspective on the reality we all share. Ed Yong is a talented science writer who makes complex topics approachable and engaging.
5. Ignition: Lighting Fires in a Burning World by M.R. O’Connor: Having become fascinated and involved directly in the world of prescribed fire in recent years, I was primed for this excellent piece of writing by journalist-turned-fire-bug M.R. O’Connor. What began as a project to understand why wildfires have grown more immense and destructive turned into a deep-dive into the various aspects of fire’s past, present, and future, the people who work with it and the impacts it has on their lives, the indigenous knowledge and experience that’s vital to our understanding and use of fire, and more. I love well-researched and reported writing like this that also incorporates personal feelings and experiences, and I feel like this largely misunderstood topic is only going to become more important as time goes on.

Fiction:

1. The Familiar Leigh Bardugo
2. Beloved by Toni Morrison
3. The Founders Trilogy (Foundryside, Shorefall, and Locklands) by Robert Jackson Bennett
4. The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson
5. Babel by R.F. Kuang

Favorite songs of the year

Each year for almost the past two decades, I’ve compiled a mix of my favorite music from that year. The project began when I felt like I’d grown lazy about seeking out new music and it’s become a thing I love sharing out at the end of the year, in the hopes that others might also discover something they like/love on the list.

You can find the full playlist on my Tidal account. Here is a selection of 10 of my very favorite tracks from that longer list (in no particular order), which you can also find on YouTube:

1. “Caffeine & Alcohol” by Kat and the Hurricane (Madison locals!)
2. “Soup” by Remi Wolf
3. “A Little More” by Amber Mark
4. “In the Moment” by RUFUS DU SOL
5. “Voices Through Rubble” by The Halluci Nation ft. Saul Williams
6. “BITCH YOU COULD NEVER” by Yseult
7. “Dogbane” by Sarah Shook and the Disarmers
8. “Crash” by Kehlani
9. “Run Your Mouth” by the Marias
10. “Mood Swings” by Little Simz
11. “I Want It All” by Katie Gavin
12. “Right Back to It” by Waxahatchee
13. “Reaching Out” by Beth Gibbons

Favorite movies of the year

• Love Lies Bleeding

  • I think I had my mouth hanging open for half of this profoundly weird and wonderful ride of a film. Sexy, gross, and very, very gay.

• National Anthem

  • A beautiful portrayal of rural/country queers, gay rodeo, and found family.

• Challengers

  • Single-minded people hurting other single-minded people, with homoerotic tension, lots of tennis, and a wind storm!

• I Saw The TV Glow

  • A slow-burn, gut-punch of a movie about the costs of repressing true selves and the mundanity of modern suburban life.

Favorite TV shows of the year

• “Arcane: League of Legends” (Netflix)

  • One of the best animated series I’ve ever seen, hands down. Class conflict, chosen family, queer-norm world, steampunk aesthetics, killer soundtrack, diverse and well-written characters, gorgeous animation. What else can I say? A delightful surprise.

• “Hacks” (Max)

  • I’m a late arrival to this show after worrying it would be too much cringe humor and terrible people being terrible without showing any growth or change, but it ended up balancing the cringe with genuinely sharp/funny writing and meaningful character arcs.

• “What We Do in the Shadows” (FX)

  • Bizarre and hilarious from front-to-back, the final season did not disappoint, and the final episode absolutely stuck the landing.

• “Agatha All Along” (Disney+)

  • A gay romp!

• “Somebody, Somewhere” (Max)

  • More shows like this, please! Genuine feeling, well-acted, chosen/found family, very queer, and very relatable small-Midwestern-city-feels/setting.

• “We Are Ladyparts” (Peacock)

  • Another example of the wealth of stories left to be told when we’re not stuck in the “white American men controlling everything” loop of Hollywood. Charming, silly, funny, and heartfelt.

• “Shogun” (Hulu)

  • I thought I was going to hate it, but the show is beautifully shot and acted, even when it gets a bit gross for my taste, with the focus (rightfully) on the Japanese characters, politics, setting, etc. and the stray white man used mostly to highlight the absurdity of Western disdain for other cultures and drive to colonize and control everyone.

Now Read This.

“Prisoners of the state” [Phil Rocco for The Recombobulation Area]

A detailed and fascinating look at how Wisconsin’s current model of shared revenue for counties is short-changing the places that contribute the most.

“On! On! On! Cried the Leaders in the Back” [Margaret Killjoy at Birds Before the Storm]

A hundred and seventy years later, and we’re still led by the leaders in the back, who use our best nature against us. Who use poetry against us. Who use glory against us.

They expect us to follow their orders, and I hope we don’t.

Take Action.

“You asked for ‘action steps’ for this troubling moment” [Margaret Sullivan at American Crisis]

I heard from a reader recently who asked for (well, sort of demanded) what she called action steps — ways that regular citizens can go forward at a time when democratic norms are being threatened daily and the dangers of a second Trump administration haven’t even begun in earnest. So, as a start, here are a few.

The U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights has an updated toolkit that includes multiple ways to resist the genocide in Gaza and provide direct relief to those impacted.

Final Frame(s).

Some of my favorite nature photos, taken with my cell phone, from 2024:

‘Til Next Year.

Who knows what comes next, but 2025 will likely be very hard for a lot of us. All the more reason to hold each other close, find the joy where we can, and fortify ourselves for the fight. Because it is a fight worth having. Because you are needed here.

I love us. Take care. Free Palestine.