2011 Inputs (and favorites)

I'm a numbers guy, so I keep track of how many books and plays and movies I take in each year.

Here are my totals for 2011:

Books read:  39 

Last year I read 31 books.  I read quite a few that I liked a lot, but my favorites were:

Glow: A Novel by Jessica Maria Tuccelli (it'll be out this spring--I got to read a galley)


The Killer Angels: A Novel of the Civil War by Michael Shaara

Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly

The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine by Michael Lewis

Alice Bliss: A Novel by Laura Harrington

 

Plays read:  20

A tiny number.   I had a goal of reading one a week, but failed miserably.  I read some that I liked, especially plays by some folks in my writing groups.  I know I need to do better.


Plays and readings watched:  47

This is a few more than I saw last year, and about all that my schedule and budget can accommodate. In 2012, I'll be busy with Puddingstone Farm, so I won't have nearly as much time to attend plays for a big chunk of the year.  (I'll have to try to read more.)

Some of my favorites were Comedy of Errors by the Propeller Theatre Company at the Huntington--amazing energy from those guys, a reading of The Fakus by Joe Byers, and Red in the Brown Water by Tarell Alvin McCraney (produced by Company One), and Candide at the Huntington.


Movies watched:  61

Most these were via Netflix, but we get out to the movie theatre every once in awhile.  Watched a couple more in 2011 than in 2010  My favorites this year included:  the last two seasons of Friday Night Lights, all of The Wire seasons,  Zombieland, and Black Swan.  I loved The Wire and Friday Night Lights, but wasn't blown away by most films or television this year.  I hope 2012 will bring some better films.


In 2012, farming is going to take away a lot of movie and play watching time, but I imagine I'll still get some chances to sneak in some viewing time.