Here are my totals for 2010:
Books read: 31
Last year I read 51 books. My wife, Tracy, reads about twice as many as I do. This year was super busy for me, so my reading time was greatly curtailed. I read quite a few that I liked a lot, but my favorites were:Paper Towns
by John Green 
Water for Elephants
by Sarah Gruen
City of Thieves
by David Benioff
Wolf Hall
by Hilary MantelThe Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl
by Timothy EganPlays read: 23
Favorites included: A Live Dress by Martha Kaufman, Shelter by Miranda Craigwell, and The Private Lives of Eskimos by Ken Urban.
This is a very small number, I know, but more than I read last year. I'm a slacker. I hope to read one a week this year.
Plays and readings watched: 43
This is more than I saw last year, and about all that my schedule and budget can accommodate. (I spent more than $400 on theatre tickets this year. I was lucky to get quite a few free tickets and that I have a StageSource membership.)
My favorites were Gatz by the Elevator Repair Service at the ART, Lydia Diamond's Stick Fly at the Huntington, and The Aliens by Annie Baker from Company One, and Mauritius by Theresa Rebeck at the Gamm Theatre.
Movies watched: 56
Most these were via Netflix, but we get out to the movie theatre more now than when the kids were little. My favorites this year included: Winter's Bone, I Am Love, Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog (not really a movie), and The Messenger. Probably my favorite film/video of the year was Season 1 of Friday Night Lights, which totally captured my attention (we're on season 3 now). For the past few years, I've really felt that long-form dramatic television has reached new heights and offers some of the best dramatic writing appearing in any form right now.
I'm looking forward to reading and seeing a lot more new work in 2011.
4 comments:
I like your lists, Patrick!
I just bought Wolf Hall for my brother for Christmas (he likes things English), so I'm glad it's a good one. I saw Stick Fly in Los Angeles, and loved it! Not many people tackling class differences as well as race challenges as elegantly as she did in that play. Wish I could have seen Gatz! The Messenger was so incredible I well up just thinking about it. I bought the DVD (and I never do that with movies anymore).
Best wishes to you in the new year!
~Ellen
Thanks, Ellen! Wolf Hall was great--I've been working on a play about this time period for years and years, so it was right up my alley.
Glad you liked Stick Fly. It was a big hit here in Boston.
Gatz was amazing--it illuminated the novel for me in entirely new ways. And some very cool theatrical moments.
Happy New Year to you, as well. You certainly had a great 2010--I hope 2011 can match it!
I liked WOLF HALL a lot, and WORST HARD TIME was both fascinating and a great read. Mantel has a sequel coming out, too.
That makes sense for there to be a sequel. I was really surprised at where she ended Wolf Hall.
Egan's method of approaching the dust bowl seemed really smart to me. Really brought the impact of it home.
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