Hi! Hello! Happy holidays! I hope this finds you peaceful, rested, and covered in couch sores.
Speaking of which, I watched a total of 60 movies in 2023! That’s a lot for me. Normally I’m a TV girl, but I’ve been abandoning a lot lately. Partly due to attention span, partly due to quality.
I still have a ton of movies to see as we enter awards season—Oppenheimer, Maestro, Poor Things, American Fiction, and others—so if you read my list and wail, WHERE’S FLOWER MOON? That’s why. If you wail, WHERE’S MAY DECEMBER? Well, to put it like Julianne, that wath thimply not for me.
I also read 47 books! I swore I’d stop making a yearly goal for books after trying for 50 a few years ago, when I sped-read everything and enjoyed nothing. I made myself miserable trying to hit an arbitrary goal! (While lengthy, that sentence would make the perfect title for my memoir.) But I can’t help myself. Arbitrary is my middle name. You guessed Louise, didn’t you?
It was also a fantastic year for funny tweets, which I saved before switching to Threads a few weeks ago. (Joke-wise, Threads is coming up short. Ugh. I’m struggling.)
Below are my top picks—take a look and let me know what you think.
Top Ten Movies
In no particular order:
I love a romance, and this story of a Covid-era date gone awry captured my heart.
My favorite of the year, and the only movie I’ve ever seen in a theater twice. Sublime!
This is a rewatch, so maybe it shouldn’t count. Well, bad news: I’m the boss! So it does. Originally, I saw it in the theater and only gave it a 7, because something is deeply wrong with me. Gave it another spin and rewarded it with the perfect 10 it deserves.
Admittedly, this movie is extremely close to my real-life sitch: normie husband, writer wife, one son. But it’s also a fascinating take on why we lie to the ones we love. A slam dunk.
An incredible performance by Teyana Taylor, who should’ve gotten a Globes nom. Here’s hoping an Oscar nom is in the cards.
Creative force Jon Batiste attempts to compose a symphony while supporting his wife through cancer treatment. Just try not to fall in love with him. Impossible.
Not a feel-good movie, but Andrea Riseborough’s Oscar-nominated performance from 2022 more than makes it worth a watch.
You don’t have to be a Judy Blume superfan (which HELL YEAH I AM) to appreciate this documentary about a bad-ass author who paved the way for so many. I adore this woman.
I’m a huge Zach Braff fan and will watch anything he directs. The movie is good—if not a little eye-rolly at times—but Florence Pugh is incredible. Watch it for her alone.
Know those movies you go into with extra-low expectations, and end up loving? (Napoleon Dynamite and The Blair Witch Project both come to mind.) This was one of those. I laughed a lot—even my 21 y.o. son, who barely remembers his dad’s old Blackberry, loved it. A fun, easy watch.
Top Ten Books
In no particular order:
Atomic Habits, James Clear
I swore off self-help books in 2023, like I do every year. I failed, like I do every year. I stole this from my son, so technically it doesn’t count, and I loved it. If you’re looking for super-small, not-scary ways to form habits, start here.
Comedy Sex God, Pete Holmes
Great stand-up comedians don’t always translate to great writers, but Holmes does an incredible job of writing exactly like he performs. (A very funny, light take on religion, too.)
Stitches: A Handbook on Meaning, Hope and Repair, Anne Lamott
Lamott might be my favorite writer ever, and this quick read is filled with the same honest humor and approachable spirituality you can always count on her for.
Heating and Cooling: 52 Micro-Memoirs, Beth Ann Fennelly
While doing a deep dive on how to write memoir, I became obsessed with this form: short bursts, rather than one big narrative. A gamechanger for me, both as a reader and a writer.
Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art, James Nestor
An easy read about science! Never knew there was such a thing. So much more interesting than I thought it would be, even if it did make me obsess over how I breathe. Worth it!
Making Comics, Lynda Barry
You will feel like a kid reading this delightful book—and you do not have to want to make comics to do so. I haven’t, and probably won’t, but I still want to be Lynda Barry. What a gem.
Safekeeping: Some True Stories from a Life, Abigail Thomas
Another collection of micro-memoirs, gorgeously written, that I recommended to my workshop students who want to try memoir but are intimidated by long-form. I’ll be rereading this one soon.
The Push, Ashley Audrain
A intense thriller that I thought about for a very long time. This one’s a jaw-dropper.
You Could Make This Place Beautiful, Maggie Smith
Smith, best known as a poet, writes in memoir form about her divorce. My top pick of the year, and the quickest I’ve ever torn through a book. Stunning.
Make Your Art No Matter What, Beth Pickens
A collection of therapy sessions in book form. Crucial reading for any creative who’s ever doubted themself. So much support packed into one book.
Top 25 Tweets
Substack and X hate each other, so I can’t embed tweets here. I put them up on my web site instead. Suck on that, Elon! To see them all, click the visual or the button below.
What were your 2023 faves?
I’d love to hear what movies, books, or anything else I might’ve missed. Hit reply or smash this magic button:
Working backwards:
- #’s 8 & 14 WRECKED ME!
- I made Maggie Smith autograph her book “to my favorite poet” aka me TYVM
- “I made myself miserable trying to hit an arbitrary goal! (While lengthy, that sentence would make the perfect title for my memoir.)” made me scream! Ma’am. Same.
I’m so happy to have met you this year. Thank you for the amazing writing. Cheers to a 2024 word count that doesn’t quit.
The minute you posted your top movies and books, I wanted to see what you had to say! I have only watched a couple of the movies, "Barbie" and "JoJo Rabbit" - both top notch. I am going to watch all the rest you suggested. I have not read any of your recommended books - but will. You have read 47 books in 2023 - what the hell??? So, two of my favorite books this past year are, "The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo" by Taylor Jenkins Reid. It is about an old Hollywood star and chronicles her life with all 7 husbands. This book kicks ass. The other one is, " Talking to Strangers" by Malcolm Gladwell. It has totally changed my view of what we perceive when we talk to people. I can't stop thinking about this book. Happy New Year! 2024 here we come.