2016--A Look Back at the Best of the Year
Every year seems to have its share of ups and downs doesn't it? Many folks on social media are calling 2016 the worst year ever, and I'd say it's definitely had it's low points! But in the midst of vast global crises and a turbulent American political season there were things I came across that did bring sparks of great joy. I love looking back at the sounds, tastes, books, and things that shaped each year for me, so without further ado, here are some of my "best of 2016" finds.
Watching: This is a pretty short category--we just don't watch a lot of TV in our home. We don't have any type of cable or rabbit ears anymore, so we get exactly zero channels and only watch one Netflix series at a time. This year three shows really made up the best of our watching experiences--Friday Night Lights, an old TV show we started binge watching about a year ago but didn't finish until this spring. We loved it--the characters, the football culture, and I especially loved watching Coach and Tami Taylor's relationship--such a wonderful depiction of a real marriage with it's ups and downs and unwavering commitment to one another. The Newsroom was an HBO series made up of 3 seasons we flew through this summer in the midst of our moving. We could not get enough and were so sad when it was over. Written by our beloved Aaron Sorkin (creator of the West Wing) this drama depicts life in a network cable newsroom using real life news stories (the assassination of Bin Laden, the exploding of the oil rig in the Gulf Coast, the shooting of Gabbie Gifford) to demonstrate the choices and processes a network has to go through to decide what goes on air. It was so so well done and fascinating. Lastly this past month we watched all 10 episodes of The Crown, a Netflix series everyone is raving about. And we'd join in that raving. It was a stunning and fascinating depiction of what life as the queen is, and what Queen Elizabeth had to go through in her personal life and political life when she ascended the throne at only 25 years of age. We can't wait for season 2, but apparently it will be a year. I also would like to report that I successfully made it through my first Star Wars movie--Episode 4, a New Hope, without falling asleep. I'm giving myself a huge pat on the back for this one.
Eating: Anyone who follows me on social media knows I love menu planning, cooking, feeding people and reading about food. Every year there seem to be a few new recipes I discover that find themselves recurring in our menus over and over again. 2016 was the year of
Lasagna Soup (this is the easiest most delicious comfort food ever)
Mango Chipotle Fish Tacos (hey we are on the coast, better figure out how to cook and get my family to eat fish! These are awesome, and everyone eats them amazingly well.)
Creamy Tomato and Shrimp Pasta (again, living on the Atlantic fresh shrimp is in abundance here and all 4 of us love it!)
The year of learning about my Instant Pot. I got this amazing contraption for myself on black friday and have used it a ton this past month. It's an electric pressure cooker that also works as a crock pot, a steamer and rice cooker. I am in love with it and have made some amazing dishes incredibly quickly with it.
Listening: We discovered the beauty of Spotify this year, I know, we are eons behind the times, but we invested in a family subscription to it so we can listen commercial free anytime we want and we both use it daily--Charles at work and me around the house. I don't find that I really get to listen to the radio much anymore with kids in the car so the only music I really know this year is the music Spotify recommends to me each Monday on my "Discover Weekly" play list it makes for me. It's been fun to discover a few new artists that I know I never would have come across otherwise. My favorite by far is the band Tim be Told, a Christian group that has some incredible music. Tom McConnell is kind of a blue grass artist I've discovered that always gets my boys dancing. The Hamilton soundtrack was a staple for me this past spring. North Point's worship album Inside Out has my favorite worship song of the year "Death Was Arrested" which we sing often at our church. Lamar Odom Jr. and Christy Nockles' new Christmas albums were the soundtrack of this December for our house. Podcasts were also a huge part of 2016 for me and kept me company through hours of laundry folding and dinner making. I continued as a very faithful Sorta Awesome listener, never missing a Friday episode of this favorite podcast. I also discovered the podcast What Should I Read Next? with Anne Bogel where she does "literary matchmaking" each week with a listener to determine what they should read next based on their previous favorite books. I've added a ton to my list of books I need to read! My newest favorite podcast is called Pantsuit Politics and was a breath of fresh air during this nasty election and post-election season. It's with 2 gals, one from the left and one from the right and they discuss everything going on in politics with no shouting, insults, or name calling. Simply two incredibly intelligent women trying to have thoughtful conversation about various issues. They have weekly segments called "compliment the other side" where they have to find someone on the opposite end of the political spectrum than themselves and point out something good that they are doing in politics, and at times these women have moved me to tears as they have spoken so thoughtfully and with such conviction of the political climate in our country. It's this year's must-listen for me.
Reading: I set a goal for myself to read 35 books this year and I have about 200 pages to go before New Year's Eve to meet that goal--I'll make it I'm sure! I read a bit of variety this year--an autobiography of Laura Bush, some chick lit, some faith-based memoirs, some contemporary fiction, and more. But the best book hands down of 2016 was The Indifferent Stars Above: the Harrowing Saga of a Donner Party Bride by Daniel James Brown. I loved this book more than anything else I picked up this year and I could not put it down once I started. He wrote Boys in the Boat which I read in 2015, and that was my favorite book of last year, so apparently I just really really love his writing! This book fascinated me and haunted me and I traveled with this party of immigrants across the plains and into the Sierra Nevada mountains where they became stuck due to heavy snow and insufficient supplies. Starvation, frost bite and illness led to the deaths of many, leading them even to cannibalism as they faced no other option for sustenance. Their courage and determination was incredible to think about, and I cannot highly recommend this book enough.
Other notable reads of 2016 were the new fiction book The Mothers by Brit Bennett, The Coincidence of Coconut Cake, a lighthearted love story centered around a food reviewer, A Man Called Ove which received a lot of attention in the book circles in the past 2 years, and Hillbilly Elegy by JD Vance which was a fascinating look at life in the rust belt of Ohio and northern Kentucky--a timely read given the election of Trump as our president--this book shed some light on communities of people who showed up in droves to vote for him and offered me a look at why they were compelled to do so. The final book I found mention-worthy of my 2016 list was Love Does by Bob Goff, a book that invites readers to live their lives of faith with what he calls whimsy--a child-like exuberance rooted in the reality that we are God's children and therefore can stop fretting about the things we are so tempted to dwell upon, and instead love others with great daring. I can't really explain this on adequately, only to say it was good enough I bought it for my husband for Christmas because I think every adult should read this book!
There you have it! My picks for this year's best reading, watching, listening and eating! How about you? As you look back over the past year, what items would make your lists in these categories??
