Books Read in 2015

It pains my heart when I read statistics claiming that a quarter of American adults haven't read a single book this year.  Why would someone choose not to enrich their lives?  By reading books, you are more capable of building a robust perspective of the world and your fellow complex earthly beings who also reside here.

Whether you are reading a novel for the first time or re-reading your favorite book, there is never a better day, month or year to crack open a good read.  Listed below are all 33 of the books I've consumed in 2015:

1.  Yes Please - Amy Poehler

For lovers of: Female comedian memoirs 

2.  As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales From the Making of The Princess Bride - Cary Elwes

For lovers of: Behind the scenes tales of giants, sword fighting, and Rob Reiner as told by Westley himself

3.  Night - Elie Wiesel

For lovers of: 1st rate holocaust memoirs

4.  Scary Close: Dropping the Act and Finding True Intimacy - Donald Miller

For lovers of: Spiritual memoirs that appeal to the millennial/generation X persuasion.

5.  The Awakening - Kate Chopin

For lovers of: 19th century controversial literature

6.  David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants - Malcolm Gladwell

For lovers of: Books that teach you how your personal disadvantages can function as your ultimate advantage

7.  Bel Canto - Ann Patchett

For lovers of: Books that remind you of Breakfast Club but for held hostages 

8.  The Road - Cormac McCarthy

For lovers of: Grim, apocalyptic tales of survival

9.  The Giver - Lois Lowry

For lovers of: Children's dystopian literature

10.  The Joy Luck Club - Amy Tan

For lovers of: Mother-daughter narratives that transcend generations

11.  Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn

For lovers of: Alfred Hitchcockian marital page-turners

12.  Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless Love - Francis Chan

For lovers of: Spiritual devotionals trumpeting God's radical love

13.  Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte

For lovers of: Gothical romanticism

14.  Brave New World - Aldous Huxley

For lovers of: Satirical (and often times foreseeable) dystopian literature

15.  To The Lighthouse - Virginia Wolfe

For lovers of: Novels featuring minimal storytelling but enriching character development

16.  Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding

For lovers of: Embarrassingly candid confessional diaries 

17.  To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee

For lovers of: Beloved classics that nearly restore your faith in humanity (assuming you don't continue with Go Set a Watchman)

18.  About a Boy - Nick Hornby

For lovers of: British 'man-boy' fiction

19.  Emma - Jane Austen

For lovers of: Both Jane Austen and Clueless

20.  Plunder and Deceit - Mark R. Levin

For lovers of: Political non-fiction for millennials but marketed to baby boomers

21.  Midnight's Children - Salmon Rusdie

For lovers of: (Indian) magical realism

22.  Winesburg, Ohio - Sherwood Anderson

For lovers of: Stories chronicling small-town isolation

23.  The Stranger - Albert Camus

For lovers of: Fiction that ponders and grapples with existentialism and morality

24.  Beloved - Toni Morrison

For lovers of: Post-slavery tales that will give you the hibbie jibbies 

25.  The Fault in Our Stars - John Green

For lovers of: Young Adult weepies

26.  Cannery Row - John Steinbeck

For lovers of: 'Slice of life' novels that zero in on a community's townspeople 

27.  Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World- Bob Goff

For lovers of: Inspirational memoirs that will make you re-evaluate the way you live

28.  Tuesdays with Morrie - Mitch Albom

For lovers of: Books that make you want to call up your favorite professor or spiritual mentor  

29.  The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom

For lovers of: A Christmas Carol and It's a Wonderful Life

30.  Love in the Time of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

For lovers of: (Latin) magical realism

31.  1984 - George Orwell

For lovers of: Bleak and foreseeable dystopian novels that seem to always remain relevant


32.  Why Not Me? - Mindy Kaling
For lovers of: Memoirs that remind you of the conversations you share with your best friends


33.  A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickins
For lover of:  Classic Christmas tales that will lift your jaded spirits

Which books have you read (or re-read) this year?


See also: Books Read in 2014 
                How To Read Over 20 Novels a Year

Top 5 Films of 2014

I generally shy away from posting each year's top films.  There are simply too many films to consume theatrically each year, and not enough money in the bank.  To my dismay, I am not an academy member, therefore, I am not sent copious amount of DVDs in the mail to review. It's a lot easier to generate 'End of the Year' music lists plainly because it is more attainable to acquire music online these days between album previews, generous free downloads from your favorite artists and YouTube.

I have seen a "whooping" fifteen films released in 2014.  I can guarantee you by next summer, my 'Top 5 Films of 2014' will look very different as I will have seen a dozen more films from 2014 as they are readily available as streaming rentals.

Still, I am eager to exchange personal favorites with other film lovers.  I want to know what has affected you cinematically and narratively.  I want to know which movies kept your mind reeling late at night.  Here are mine:


1.  Boyhood

I've been waiting several years for this film to see the light of day.  I can't think of anything more 'epic' than a coming of age film that chronicles the daily life of an ordinary boy throughout the course of twelve years (shot in real time).  Granted, nothing about this boy is all that heroic and nothing about his life may be considered universally important.  However, the ordinary is more extraordinary when seen through the lens of a boy as he reaches transformation.




 2.  Birdman

Just saw this blistering beautiful mess last Friday.  I'm not entirely sure what I witnessed, but I know I love it.





3.  Grand Budapest Hotel

Wes Anderson + Hitchcock approach = Must see




4.  Muppets Most Wanted

This may be the first Muppet feature film worthy of your time and affection since Muppet Treasure Island.  As much as I adore Jason Segel, I'm relieved the studio ditched him and his Muppet fanboy screenwriting approach.  This time around, we are gifted with the charming but also irreverent Muppets we dearly missed and a plot that keeps the film moving and soaring.






5.  3 Way Tie:
Interstellar, Gone Girl, The One I Love

All three of these films have kept me on the edge of my seat but also left me scratching my head.  I felt it was necessary to group these films together because of their hybrid genres.  Each film takes either a sci-fi or thriller approach to familiar romantic or family relationship tropes.  Although none of these films are perfect for they have left viewers with a number of intellectual plot gaps, they have still put a lease on my noggin.




Honorable Mentions: Chef, Guardians of the Galaxy, Only Lovers Left Alive, Our Vinyl Weighs a Ton

Films I Still Need to See: Theory of Everything, Whiplash, The Imitation Game, Inherent Vice, American Sniper