Another year, wrapped. I’m going to spare you the “looking back on 2021” paragraph — I haven’t processed 45% of the year and the rest all looked the same anyway.
Instead, I’ll leave you with a bunch of recommendations that floated to the top as I was putting this together. An early newsletter to close out the year that was.
Stay safe and warm and hold your loved ones close. See you in January 💌
Words read
On the internet:
Not every hobby is a side hustle (Ann Friedman)
Unlocking the commons (Tim Carmody)
Labels: You’re buying the same thing over and over again (Fifty Two)
The errand friend (Culture Study)
Diaries: Jan Morris (The Paris Review)
In paperback:
Fiction
Shades of Magic trilogy, V.E. Schwab (fantasy)
The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, Arundhati Roy (Indian fiction)
The Priory of the Orange Tree, Samantha Shannon (fantasy, LGBT)
Discworld series, Terry Pratchett (fantasy)
The Overstory, Richard Powers (environmental fiction)
The Wolf Hall trilogy, Hilary Mantel (historical fiction)
The House in the Cerulean Sea, T.J. Klune (contemporary fiction, LGBT)
First Person Singular, Haruki Murakami (short stories)
Non-fiction
Figuring, Maria Popova
The View from the Cheap Seats, Neil Gaiman
The Bookseller’s Tale, Martin Latham
Psst: It’s that time of the year again. If you’re a bit behind, consider gifting your loved one a subscription to a wonderful read — Kindred Spirits, perhaps. That’ll definitely be my holiday present 🎁
Music listened to
Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings: The Album
Atlantic Surfing (Orions Belte)
Media consumed
Documentaries
Wild Karnataka (Sir David Attenborough)
The Social Dilemma
Series
Medici: The Magnificent
The Falcon and The Winter Soldier
Haikyu!!
Schitt’s Creek
The Good Place
My Hero Academia
Jujutsu Kaisen
Masterchef Australia
Films
Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings (English/ Chinese)
From Up on Poppy Hill (Japanese)
Ocean’s 8 (English)
Space Sweepers (Korean)
Princess Mononoke (Japanese)
Forgotten (Korean)
Article 15 (Hindi)