Best of 2015

 

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!!!