I could easily make a post lamenting the negatives of this horrible year. From politics to the pandemic, we all know 2020 has been anything but pleasant. Typically, I spent my end-of-year blog post covering my favorite and least favorite media and books from the year. This year, I am skipping the least favorites to keep it positive as well as adding in some personal accomplishments.

Before diving in, one thing I want to note is that the TV shows, movies, and books on this list are not specific to this year; they are just things I watched/read this year. I would normally pick movies specific to the year but, with theatres closed and studios delaying releases, that was nearly impossible. The music I selected, however, is specific to 2020.

Personal Highlights:

1. After 11 months on Weight Watchers, I finally reached my goal weight, then continued to lose beyond that. In total, I lost 40 pounds, the majority of which I lost during quarantine. I’m glad to have done it the healthy way, and I discovered a love for cooking I did not know I had!
2. Contributing to my weight loss, I started running. I’ve never been a runner before, but I fell in love with it! It was a great outlet during the first few long months of virtual teaching. Ultimately, I ran a half marathon and made it to 15 miles. I plan to, eventually, run a full marathon–possibly in 2022.
3. My timeline for my full marathon is so far in the future because I also got pregnant this year! We found out I was pregnant on K’s birthday after trying for quite some time. Over the Christmas holiday, we learned we were having a boy.

TV Shows:

1. Fleabag: Is there really a season of TV as perfect as season 2 of Fleabag? I’ll give you the answer: no.
2. The West Wing: Watch this show, but don’t do what I did. Watching a show about perfect fantasy politics during an election year will make you hate the government and everyone in it. Voting after watching this show was tough since I fell in love with the honorable politicians on the show only to be confronted with the realities of, well, you know…
3. The Queen’s Gambit: Like everyone else, I hopped on this train when it hit Netflix. Having only played a little (very little) chess during my lifetime, I found this show to be absolutely fascinating. The lead character really made the show great though.

Honorable Mention: Friday Night Lights, Ted Lasso

Movies:

1. Parasite (2019): This was, by far, one of my favorite films I watched this year. It was absolutely not what I expected which made me love it even more. Plus, anytime a film has subtitles that you completely forget about, you know it’s well done.
2. Raging Bull (1980): It’s been a long-time dream of mine to make it through AFI’s Top 100 movies list so, when this film hit Hulu, I contacted my movie buddy (AKA my dad) to watch it. He, of course, had seen it. The filming is absolutely exquisite.
3. As Good As It Gets (1997): I have no idea how I made it to 2020 without watching this film, but I definitely regret waiting so long. Hilarious and heartfelt, this one was also substantially better than I thought it would be.

Honorable Mention: Bill & Ted Face the Music (2020)

Books:

1. The Secret History by Donna Tartt (1992): This book was probably the best book I’ve read in several years. I can’t even begin to describe how much I enjoyed this one. If you need further proof of my obsession, check out this post.
2. Call Me By Your Name by André Aciman (2007): This is just an achingly beautiful novel about first love. The movie was enjoyable, but it could not do justice to Aciman’s stunning language, especially Elio’s inner thoughts.
3. The Book of Two Ways by Jodi Picoult (2020): Picoult is my favorite modern writer so, obviously, her new book was going to make it on this list. After publishing what I thought was a weak novel (A Spark of Light) to follow up what is unarguably her best work (Small Great Things), The Book of Two Ways gave me the satisfaction I’d been craving (and did not get) with A Spark of Light. Despite what critics have said, I loved the incorporation of Egyptology and the job of “death doula” into the plot.

Honorable Mention: The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson (2002)

Music:

Okay, I know, I am definitely being overzealous with this category. I intended to pick three albums and ended up with seven. There was just so much good music to come out of this year, and I had a hard time deciding which of Swift’s albums I liked more. Whoops…

1. Father of All Motherf—– by Green Day: Green Day has been my favorite band since I was 14 years old but, honestly, I was worried about where they were going to take their sound. They are not ones for doing the same thing twice, but they already hit the top of their game with American Idiot. I love that they didn’t try to on this album. As the band has said, they just wanted to make a fun punk album, and they did just that. This album was a great balm when the pandemic reared its ugly head.
2. folklore & evermore by Taylor Swift: Both of these albums were a surprise to me. I was pretty sure Taylor Swift could not top Lover, but she just keeps getting better and better. I love that she experiments with her style, and the fact that she’s successful at it proves how good she truly is.
3. Letter to You by Bruce Springsteen: Aside from Green Day, the Boss is my other favorite musician. After the disappointment of Western Stars, I had pretty low expectations for this album. However, I shouldn’t have. Bruce came out in full force on this one, filling the album with a good combination of upbeat songs and his signature stunning lyrics.
4. Nectar by Joji: My brother turned me onto this artist early in quarantine, and I’ve listened to this album at least 50 times this year (in addition to his other music). I think it’s absolutely stunning and should get more recognition in the mainstream than it currently does. If you’ve not heard it, please check it out!
5. Tickets to My Downfall by Machine Gun Kelly: I felt like a giddy 16 year old listening to this album. MGK truly captured that mid-2000s pop punk sound while also managing to make an album that sounded totally of-this-time, too. For the scene kids and pop punk millennials, MGK is your king: he’s the only artist making decent and popular pop punk right now. And, by the way, he and Avril Lavigne are releasing a song together.

Honorable Mention: Imploding the Mirage by The Killers