Here’s the list of titles that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed reading, listening to, and watching over the last twelve months. My list includes some old, some new, and some rediscovered titles and authors. Follow the links to read my previous posts related to my annual list of favorites.
Books
Nonfiction
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, Caitlin Doughty
The Professor and the Madman, Simon Winchester
Novels
The Fault in Our Stars, John Green
The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien
Picture Books
New: The Book with No Pictures, B.J. Novak
Classic: The Hat, Tomi Ungerer
Ebook by a Classmate
Life with Charley: A Memoir of Down Syndrome Adoption, Sherry McCaulley Palmer
Self-Published Local
Salubrious Climate, Alison Holt Knight
On Creative Writing
Expressive Writing, Kathleen Adams
The Plot Chickens, Mary Jane Auch (Picture Book)
The War of Art, Steven Pressfield
Songs
“Sail,” AWOL Nation, Megalithic Symphony (Explicit)
“Drive-In Movies,” Ray LaMontagne, Supernova
“Heaven Knows,” The Pretty Reckless, Going to Hell
Album (Vinyl)
Odessey and Oracle, The Zombies
Cold Fact, Rodriguez
Sun Record Company Volume 1, Various Artists
Album (Digital)
Mandatory Fun, Weird Al Yankovic
Movies
Based on a Book
The Book Thief (Markus Zusak)
Docudrama
Parkland
Documentary
TV Series
House of Cards: Seasons One and Two (Netflix)
True Detectives (HBO Series)
Boardwalk Empire Season 4 (HBO Series)
YouTube
Viktoria Modesto’s video is a provocative and compelling mash-up of film, music, modeling, and performance art. She’s billing herself as the first amputee pop artist. Follow the link below to watch.
Stump The Librarian 
Alan, all of this sounds intriguing to me, but I can’t wait to get my hands on the Expressive Writing book. Thanks for sharing these. Happy New Year to you and your family!
Love, love, love The War of Art.
I saw Tim O’Brien (The Things They Carried). He was the writer in residence at Spalding in May 2013. One thing said has stuck with me all this time — “Your job as a writer is to evoke empathy in your readers.”
I also like that Sherry Palmer lady (Life with Charley). Great book, but she’s an even greater person!