It's that time of year - the time in which every magazine, website and Hollywood organization bestow their "best of" awards and compile a variety of top 10 lists. So I figured it might be fun to do the same here at Ask Allison. Here are some of my tops for the year:
Best Book: Then We Came to The End by Joshua Ferris. This book wasn't for everyone, but it was for me. I was flat-out amazed at his creativity and genius, and frankly, loved every single thing about the book. As an author, I read a lot of books and think, "maybe on my best day and with the right idea, I could pen something similar to this," but with Then We Came to The End, I set it down and just thought, "HOLY SHIT, this guy is all sorts of spectacular, and I revere him." (Btw, I don't meant to imply that I could write all the books that others do. I hope it doesn't come off that way! Just that, you know, I could understand their creative process and how they got to where they did, etc. With Ferris, there was none of that.) Again, I know that not everyone loved this book as I did, but for its creativity and genius, it was my favorite of the year.
Book that Made Me Nearly Pee in My Pants: I Love You, Beth Cooper by Larry Doyle. OMG, I defy you not to have tears streaming down your face as you read. Side-splittingly hilarious but still entirely relatable, and I loved it.
Book that I Wished I'd Written: How to Talk to a Widower by Jonathan Tropper. Now, here's one of those books I was talking about: I understood how he wrote it, how he created his characters, where his story arc was going, and just adored every single page and word of it. I think I read this book in 24 hours because I was so consumed with it, the words, the message, the writing. Love.
Best TV Show: 30 Rock. I can't for the life of me figure out why more people don't watch this show. Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin (who, incidentally, I saw at the gym yesterday!) are comic gold.
Best New Show: Chuck. Zachary Levi is the new Jon Krasinski, with a touch of Adam Brody thrown in. As if I need further reason to tune in.
Best Movie (Out of the Few Movies that I Get to See): I have two young kids and a husband who would always rather go out to dinner than see a movie when we have a sitter, so...I'm a movie buff who doesn't see as many movies as she'd like. So, for example, I haven't seen any of the recent Oscar-bait releases except for Juno, and thus my two favorite movies of the year (to date) are probably Waitress (my Keri Russell love knows no bounds) and Gone, Baby, Gone, in which Ben Affleck redeemed himself for any and all Bennifer 1.0 embarrassments.
So tell me, what were your favorite books, TV shows and movies this past year? I'm always up for suggestions on all fronts!
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13 comments:
A nominee for favorite blog phrase would be "In which Ben Affleck redeemed himself for any and all Bennifer 1.0 embarrassments."
That's funny :)
I totally agree on Then We Came to the End - loved this book so, so much. The last line of the book just sent me reeling. (What do you call his POV? First person plural?) Regardless, I thought it was brilliant, simply brilliant.
Heya, Jen!! How are you?? I believe that Ferris's POV is called second-person. Wasn't it amazing?? I'm not surprised that we agree. :)
I've only seen one episode of 30 Rock, and Alec Baldwin was so so funny. It was the where Tina Fey goes to book signing and meets her childhood idol. I love the scene where Alec's character is acting out a fake counseling session with Tracy. I'm laughing now just thinking about it. I'll try to catch more episodes for sure.
What about the Big Bang Theory? Am I the ONLY person who watches it? This has got to be one of the funniest shows ever. You kinda have to speak geek to get some of the jokes, though (I do).
What a great idea for a blog post. Love it.
The best book I read this past year was Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life - although it's been released for awhile.
Best TV show: Journeyman now canceled by those commy network bastids *sob*
Best book is tough!!!!
Best movie...I dont see so many either but Gone Baby Gone was SOOOOOO depressing. I liked I Am Legend a lot....but again not the happiest of endings.
LOVED Waitress! I saw it with a new friend I had met through our kindergarteners. Ironic story--the day we saw it we also went out to lunch. Later that day, I found out from a mutual friend that it was my new friend's birthday. I was hosting a neighborhood get-together that night and my new friend was coming over too, for the first time.
So, I bought a French silk pie, and only people who saw the movie WAITRESS will get this... I wrote her a note and taped it to the top of the pie. The note said:
I invented this pie and I call it a--"I CAN'T BELIEVE I SPENT THE DAY WITH YOU AND I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW IT WAS YOUR BIRTHDAY" pie.
Allison, did you see August Rush--great movie also, and awesome music!
Loved Waitress and 30 Rock (though I'm a much bigger scrubs fan!).
I just posted my best and worst 2007 book picks at bookaweekwithjen.blogspot.com. Check it out!
Jen A. Miller
MM- Hee! I love it!
I loved How To Talk To a Widower to! So much so that I'm now going back and reading everything else of his.
I thought The Road took me by surprise and certainly stays with you and while it wasn't published in 07 I read and thought "wish I'd thought of that" after reading The Time Traveler's Wife.
Have a Merry Christmas everyone!
Tina Fey is a goddess.
You didn't list your book as one of the top picks. Shame on you! I loved TDLF.
I totally agree about Waitress, I LOVED it. Keri Russell is one of the best. And 30 Rock, how can anyone not laugh hard during those 30 minutes its on?
I rarely get to the movies but I did see Juno and that actress Ellen Page is the bomb.
xoxo
JUNO all the way! And did you know the screenwriter was discovered through her blog about the adventures of being a stripper - seriously, you can't make that stuff up!
The movie was fantabulous...excellent dialogue.
Happy New Year!
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