books and movies 2013

   In 2012 I got into the habit of making a list of all of the books I read and movies I see. Otherwise how would I keep track? How would I know when to ease off on the Disney and/or murder mysteries? It would be a hard knock life and no mistake. Anyways it is the New Year and in honour of Janus (not actually in honour of Janus) I recommend you make two Word documents or two notes on your phone and title them "Movies 2014" and "Books 2014" respectively and then you too can make a post in the New Year extolling your virtues and/or apologizing for the lack of intelligent content. However, if you don't mind if your media intake is somewhat mindless then no need to apologize! Carry on your merry way.

   As a bonus: keeping these lists has made me more humble about my movie choices. I can't snootily say that I only watch movies from the 1950s and earlier when clearly I don't. And even when I do they are often screwball comedies (a pinnacle of hilarity, let me tell you) and really, just as good as the movies we make now.

   On to the lists. Here it is, friends: all the books I read in 2014 in the order I read them. (A disclaimer: I don't recommend every book and movie on these lists. Some were excellent, some were not. I'm posting these without commentary but feel free to ask me about them! I love to talk about stories.)

An * means I've read/watched it before.

1. Siddhartha / Hermann Hesse
2. The Kitchen Counter Cooking School / Kathleen Flinn
3. 1984 / George Orwell
4. Batman : Noel / Lee Bermejo
5. Gotham Central v. 4 / Greg Rucka and Ed Brubaker
6. *Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone / J.K. Rowling
7. The Perks of Being a Wallflower / Stephen Chbosky
8. French Milk / Lucy Knisley
9. Under the Banner of Heaven / John Krakauer
10. Anne of Green Gables / L.M. Montgomery
11. *Till We Have Faces / C.S. Lewis
12. Batwoman : Hydrology / J.H. Williams III, W. Haden Blackman
13. The Tipping Point / Malcolm Gladwell (abridged)
14. Bossypants / Tina Fey
15. The Invincible Ironman : Extremis / Warren Ellis, Adi Granov
16. Blink / Malcolm Gladwell
17. This Book is Overdue! / Marilyn Johnson
18. Redskull : Incarnate / Greg Pak, Mirko Colak
19. Thirteen Reasons Why / Jay Asher
20. Anne of Avonlea /  L.M. Montgomery
21. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? / Mindy Kaling
22. The Summer is Ended and We Are Not Yet Saved / Joey Comeau
23. Beasts of Burden : Animal Rites / Evan Dorkin, Jill Thompson
24. Nurtureshock / Po Bronson, Amy Merryman
25. Enough Room For Joy / Bill Clarke
26. Saga v. 1-2 / Brian K Vaughn, Fiona Staples
27. Anne of the Island / L.M. Montgomery
28. Foundation / Isaac Asimov
29. Slaughterhouse-Five / Kurt Vonnegut
30. *Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets / J.K. Rowling
31. A Grief Observed / C.S. Lewis
32. Adventure Time v. 1 / Ryan North, Shelli Paroline, Braden Lamb
33. The Poisoner's Handbook / Deborah Blum
34. The Drunken Botanist / Amy Stewart
35. Tolstoy and the Purple Chair / Nina Sankovitch
36. I Am Malala / Malala Yousafzai, Christina Lamb
37. Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children / Ransom Riggs
38. Alone on the Ice / David Roberts
39. Sparkling Cyanide / Agatha Christie
40. The Book Thief / Markus Zusak

 And the movies! Keep in mind that I wouldn't tell everyone to watch all of these movies. Some were good, some were not good, some people would enjoy some of them and not others. Some stories will click with you and some won't and the whys and wherefores of it all are a bit of a mystery. Also: I am not 100% sure I have every single movie I watched on this list. Sometimes I watch a movie and then completely forget about it.

1. *Hunger Games (12)
2. *Megamind (10)
3. *The Dark Knight Rises (12)
4. Looper (12)
5. Life of Pi (12)
6. Les Miserables (12)(x2)
7. About a Boy (02)
8. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (05)
9. *The Fountain (06)
10. Sherlock Season 2 (12)
11. The More the Merrier (43)
12. *Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (07)
13. Argo (12)
14. Mirror Mirror (12)
15. *Cat Ballou (65)
16. It Might Get Loud (08)
17. *The Scarlet Pimpernel (82)
18. *Pitch Perfect (12)
19. *Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows pt. 2 (11)
20. *Monsters Inc (01)
21.  Oblivion (13)
22. Shutter Island (10)
23. Gangs of New York (02)
24. *Sabrina (54)
25. *17 Again (09)
26. Mission Impossible (96)
27. The Great Gatsby (13)(x2)
28. The Talk of the Town (42)
29. Mission Impossible : Ghost Protocol (11)
30. Now You See Me (13)
31. *Get Smart (08)
32. Minority Report (02)
33. To Catch a Thief (53)
34. *Notorious (46)
35. *The Big Lebowski (98)
36. Red 2 (13)
37. The Last Stand (13)
38. *Hercules (97)
39. *Meet the Robinsons (07)
40. *I Capture the Castle
41. *Under the Greenwood Tree (05)
42. Top Gun (86)
43. Anchorman (04)
44. The X-Files (98)
45. *Boondock Saints (99)
46. Oceans 13 (07)
47. *Cinderella (97)(live action)
48. *Princess Diaries 2 (04)
49. *Batman Begins (05)
50. *Atlantis (01)
51. *Treasure Planet (02)
52. *Ironman 2 (10)
53. Monster's University (13)
54. *The Importance of Being Earnest (02)
55. *One Night With the King (06)
56. My Man Godfrey (36)
57. Benny and Joon (93)
58. The Phantom of the Opera (04)
59. *The Hunchback of Notre Dame (96)
60. Sinbad : Legend of the Seven Seas (03)
61. Catching Fire (13)
62. Holiday Inn (42)