Best of 2017!

2018 is finally HERE! Last year was pretty crazy — a difficult year for me, for sure, but also a rewarding one. Here’s some lists of the “best of 2017” in movies, tv, books, and music — but I will admit that I’m a bad list-maker because I just thought up all of these last night. My dad keeps a running list all year so that he won’t miss anything by the time the new year rolls around. So, I definitely forgot some stuff, but here’s my best attempt. I don’t want to make this toooo long, so I won’t explain every single pick. But I’ll talk about them with you in real life, if you want!

Movies

Honestly it wasn’t that great of a year for movies. I was struggling a little to think of my top 5, but here they are:

5. Wonder

4. Beauty and the Beast

3. Get Out

2. The Big Sick

1. Ladybird

Although we’ve all seen the coming-of-age trope a thousand times, Ladybird is a fresh take about teenage Christine McPherson struggling with boys, friends, her mom, and wanting to get out of her small town after high school. Ladybird has a killer soundtrack and early 2000s vibes, stellar performances by Saoirse Ronan and Laurie Metcalf, and witty honesty. Read my review here!

TV Shows

There are still a lot of 2017 shows I need to catch up on, such as Mr. Robot, Dark,  Ozark, Insecure, and Mindhunter. Two of my once-favorite shows, Girls and House of Cards, were disappointments this year (plus, ef Kevin Spacey), so they didn’t make the cut. However, a few great shows I watched this year that weren’t from 2017 included Turn, The Man in the High Castle, Parks and Recreation, The People v. OJ Simpson, and Westworld. Here are my top 10 of 2017 picks:   

10. Big Little Lies season 1

9. Portlandia season 7

8. This is Us, season 2

7. Master of None season 2

6. Broad City season 4

5. The Handmaid’s Tale, season 1

4. Stranger Things season 2

3. The Crown season 2

2. The Leftovers season 3

1. Game of Thrones season 7

This is my number one, even though I have a few problems with this season, like how FAST it went (season 6 moved at a snail’s pace, but they sped this season up a little too much) — and at times it felt a little fan fiction-y (you know what I’m talking about). But Game of Thrones is the best TV show of all time, in my opinion, so it will always be number one. Things are picking up now in Westeros. I’m rooting for Jon for the Iron Throne, all the way.

Books

I didn’t read a lot of books that were released in 2017, mostly books a few years old and some classics. So, this is a list of the best books I read this year, but not necessarily books released this year.

10. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood (1985, fiction)

9. Turtles all the Way Down by John Green (2017, fiction)

8. Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer (1996, nonfiction)

7. The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave by Frederick Douglass (1845, nonfiction)

6. The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls (2005, nonfiction memoir)

5. The Sun and her Flowers by Rupi Kaur (2017, nonfiction poetry)

4. The Opposite of Loneliness by Marina Keegan (2014, fiction short stories and nonfiction essays)

3. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson (2016, nonfiction)

2. Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2013, fiction)

1. Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl Wudunn (2008, nonfiction)

This book is so great. Nicholas Kristof is a New York Times op-ed columnist and his wife, Sheryl Wudunn, is also a journalist. They are one of the only married couples to win a joint Pulitzer for journalism. Anyway, I’ve discussed my love for this book before here, but overall this book is a compilation of the human rights abuses of gender-based violence Kristof and WuDunn saw for decades from their journalistic and humanitarian work all over the world. Their research and storytelling looks at the many examples of gender discrimination worldwide, but also how women are the world’s number one economic asset and their empowerment is the key to alleviating global poverty.

Music

Disclaimer: I usually always listen to entire albums. I very rarely have a standalone favorite song separate from my favorite albums, so these are my favorite songs and albums of 2017 in the same order:

3. Plural by Electric Guest (best song: Dear to Me)

2. America, Location 12 by Dispatch (best song: Midnight Lorry)

1. Melodrama by Lorde (best song: Supercut)

I was never much of a Lorde fan before this album. I thought she was cool, and Royals was catchy, but that was about it. I thought I’d give this album a listen, though, and holy crap it’s so good. Lorde is an amazing lyricist. Never would I ever have described love as “psuedophedrine” or “fluorescent” or a “supercut,” but damn it is! I’m sure I mostly love this album so much circumstantially: Lorde and I are the same age, and this album is about losing a great love at the cusp of adulthood–all very serious and important, but also melodramatic if you take a step back.

Moments

I’m not sure that I can rank the best events/moments of the year, but here’s some photos from the best parts of my year:

Happy New Year!!

NOTE: This blog claims no credit for any of the images used here, besides my own in the “Moments” section. The the images on this site are the property of their respective studios, creators, and authors. If there’s an image appearing on this blog you wish to be taken down, please email me at anderson.2940@osu.edu and it will be removed.