This is NOT a best of list. I think we’ve all had just about enough of that. (I kid, I love a good best of list, but they can get same-y and demoralizing and also such a crapshoot, let’s just admit they’re more Here Are Some Good Things—At Least We Thought So than anything remotely empirical).
Here are ten things across various categories that I loved which you might have missed, to ring in the New Year. That’s it! I hope maybe something here will strike your fancy and you’ll give it a shot and love it too. Numbers mean nothing!
The Paper Dolls of Zelda Fitzgerald, written and curated by her granddaughter Eleanor Lanahan. I have been of the belief for years—ever since we randomly encountered an exhibit of her art at the Lexington Public Library and I began to learn more about her own work—that Zelda is by far the more interesting Fitzgerald and this slim, beautiful book only confirms it.
I am basic about some things, and so occasionally I like to just pop on a classical Spotify playlist for reading and chilling on the couch in the evening. I don’t know much about classical music; it’s not my usual go-to. And I began to get verrrry frustrated at how male-dominated the playlists were. Enter one of my most-played lists of the year: Women in Modern Classical. I think my top song on my Wrapped came from this; give it a listen. (I’m still living for the day we get a new Zoe Keating album.)
Imogen West-Knights’ Slate piece: Gone Girl Cruise: What I saw during eight deranged days on the Gone Girl cruise.
The Bridgerton Experience. If you live nearby or get the chance, just go! (Do not spring for the tickets with seats—you can sneak into the seats, because everyone is on the dance floor by then.)
I enjoyed The Gilded Age on HBO Max way more than I probably should have, but what I enjoyed EVEN more and highly recommend if you liked TGA is Joanna Shupe’s The Fifth Avenue Rebels series. She is way more in command of her politics than the “robber barons were heroes actually” of the show, and they are swoony, hot, and wonderfully researched and written. Bonus: The fourth book is out in late January, so it’s the perfect time for a glom!
Skin care moment! This is the year I finally established a slightly more detailed skin care routine. The most crucial element? Discovered via The Cut’s skin care interviews, referred to as “Jesus in a bottle”=sold. Lotion P50 from Biologique Recherche! Smells terrible, works like a charm.
Speaking of beauty stuff, this was also the year I got into fragrances. I can’t believe I just typed that, but… It actually happened by accident, as so many wonderful things this year did. My friend Morgan took me to the LA Scent Bar when we were in town for LA Times Festival of Books. I bought an enormous bottle of Nice Bergamote perfume that I love, and the samples they gave me led me to buy a whole other sampler kit which was so fun and cool to get and do little tests with our neighbors on the porch over cocktails. Now I occasionally buy random samples for myself or as gifts (I gave my genius sculptor/baker friend a Love & Crime sample for her birthday and Christopher read the description out loud). And I’m incorporating an element of this into the magic of Wayward Sisters, because isn’t making scents like alchemy or potions? Of course it is. So there.
The After Party on Apple! I would have missed this too, if my friend Mur Lafferty hadn’t insisted we watch it together at night on retreat in the Outer Banks. MUR IS WISE. If you’re into the self-aware mystery moment we’re having ala Knives Out and Glass Onion (as am I!), then don’t sleep on this one. Also, give it a couple of episodes. Each one perfectly nails a different subgenre. So clever, and I guarantee you will be saying “Walt!” randomly by the end. Speaking of mysteries, you should also pick up Mur’s fabulous space murder novel, Station Eternity! (See also: The Resort on Peacock, which was weird and good.)
Actually, hey, Mur is the genesis of another of my favorite things this year: Brindlewood Bay, a murder grandma game with Cthulhu overtones. We played together with other friends in a livestreamed campaign called Arsenic and Old Dice and had a blast. (My character, a painter named Birdy Higginbottom, considered Bob Ross her nemesis due to a failed love affair. You can find these on Mur’s Twitch still, I believe.) If mystery-solving with your friends sounds your RPG speed, especially given we lost Angela Lansbury this year, well, give this one a roll.
Las Culturistas. Yeah, yeah, I assume everyone listens to this podcast already, but if you don’t, you’re sleeping on not just the entertaining, sparkling bromance between Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers but one of the deepest dives into the struggles and challenges and rewards of the creative life going. Plus, they’re obviously hilarious. But, seriously, I think because of where they are in both their careers, the conversations they end up having with their guests are deeply rewarding to listen to. They are still figuring it out, but also have achieved and learned so much and share it freely. I always leave this podcast thinking about the process of making art in some slightly new way.
So I absolutely am a reader, and feel like I know both of these people in a completely inappropriate way. And isn’t that part of the magic of a good podcast?
And there you go! This whole thing could have been books, but then I would remember a dozen I forgot as soon as I hit send, and feel terrible for making another list for another author to be like, nope, not on this one either. For today, let’s just say FUCK THOSE LISTS.
Happy New Year to all of you! I hope it brings the best to every single one of us.
These are all great things!
Thank you for the Zelda rec!