A summary of books, films, and other media produced, consumed, and enjoyed this year by me:
Best Non-Fiction Read for the First Time:
- Sons of Providence by Charles Rappleye
- In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick
- Fun Home by Alison Bechdel
- Closer to Freedom by Stephanie Camp
- The Race Beat by Gene Roberts and Hank Klibanoff
Best Fiction Read for the First Time:
- The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
- Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
- Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
Best TV/Movies watched for the First Time:
- West Wing (1999-2006)
- Parks and Recreation (2009-2015)
- House of Cards (2013 – )
- Jessica Jones (2015 – )
- Selma (2014)
- Thelma and Louise (1991)
- Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)
Best Performances:
- Welcome to Night Vale’s “The Investigators” @ Berklee Performance Center – May 20
- Newsies @ Boston Opera House – July 2
- Kinky Boots @ Boston Opera House – August 19
- The Book of Mormon @ Emerson Colonial Theatre – October 11
- The Wiz @ NBC – December 4
- *Honorary Mention: Sydney Lucas’s performance at the Tony’s
Best Posts or Articles By Other People Published This Year:
- “Public history and public libraries: a natural affinity” by Jeff Manuel
- “Waiting by the light: One artist’s account of riding the T” by Kate Gilbert
- “Hamilton, Art, History, and Truth” by Joseph M. Adelman
- “An Undergraduate’s Love Letter to Digital Humanities Research” by Tiffany Chan
- “I used to lead tours at a plantation. You won’t believe the questions I got about slavery.” by Margaret Biser
Best Posts By Me:
- At Past @ Present: Closing the Gap: Frequently Asked Questions at the John Brown House Museum
- On this blog: On My 20th Listen to Hamilton
- At UMass CHC: A Moral Voyage: The Binder
- At Five College Digital Humanities: Museum of Forbidden Technologies
- At UMass New Media: What I Learned About Myself in English 302
Cool things that happened this year, not mentioned elsewhere in this post:
- I visited some cool museums – the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia, the Eiteljorg Museum of Indianapolis, and the Elms Mansion in Newport to name a few.
- I mostly followed my New Year’s Resolutions.
- I redesigned my website.
- I officially started my thesis!!!