Pleasures of Reading, Viewing, and Listening 2022
by Christina M. Rau
I kept up my reading streak this year, and I’m a happier person for it! Additionally, I kept up with my usual podcasts and added on some new ones; mini-episodes are now my jam. Spotify told me what to listen to, so I guess I’m a convert. I had a quick movie streak and watched some interesting television. Not everything was good, but still, it was a very good year. Included here is the good stuff.
READING
The top-notch very favorite books I read almost book-ended the year and are both nonfiction.
Back in January, I read Widow Basquiat: A Love Story by Jennifer Clement. It. Haunts. Me.
Then in November, a sudden urge came over me, saying “you must read this book,” so I read Wild by Cheryl Strayed, and then immediately watched the movie, and then kept talking about it. It’s magic.
Poetry
What We Do To Make Us Whole by Christina M. Rau (hey! that’s me! my newest book!)
Against Heaven by Kemi Alabi
How To Love A Country by Richard Blanco
Tainted Lionheart by Christine Weimer
Inheritance by Elizabeth Acevedo
Poetry and Science: Writing Our Way To Discovery ed. by Lucille Lang Day
Otherwise Known As Home by Tim Wood
All Things Bent Are Beautiful by James Diaz
Thief in the Interior by Phillip B. Williams
When The Pilotless Plan Arrives by Ann Cefola
I Love You Means Nothing by Dre Hill
Ennui: From The Diagnostic and Statistical Field Guide of Feminine Disorders by Deborah Hauser
Damsel In Dystopia by Sarah Borruto
Soul Of A Rising Phoenix by Emma Desulme
Night-Blooming Cereus by Melody Wang
Servicing Nostalgia by Brendan McEntee
Nonfiction
Everything Bad Is Good For You by Steven Johnson, a little outdated but still interesting
We Learn Nothing by Tim Kreider
How To Live by Derek Sivers
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Brat: An 80s Story by Andrew McCarthy
Fiction
Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid, wowza!
Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid, wowza again!
Trash by Dorothy Allison
The Complete Collection of People, Places, and Things by John Dermot Woods
Several People Are Typing by Calvin Kasulke
Iphigenia Murphy by Sara Hosey, which is YA
Severance by Ling Ma, which made me scared for the world over and again
Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo, very poetic YA
Let’s not forget literary journals!
Swifts & Slows (https://www.arteidolia.com/swifts-slows/)
Anti-Heroin Chic (http://heroinchic.weebly.com/)
Punk Monk Magazine (https://punkmonkmagazine.blogspot.com)
Roi Faineant Press (https://www.roifaineantpress.com/)
Skink Beat Review (https://www.flipsnack.com/nikkiax/skink-beat-review-pride-2-2/full-view.html)
The Disappointed Housewife (https://thedisappointedhousewife.com/)
fillingStation (http://www.fillingstation.ca/)
VIEWING SPONSORED BY NETFLIX BECAUSE I HAD TO JUSTIFY PAYING THE HIGHER PRICE
Call Me By Your Name (somehow, I couldn’t get away from Timothee Chalamet this year)
Lady Bird (see?)
Jobs
The Alpinist
St. Vincent
Count Me In
Perfect Bid: The Contestant Who Knew Too Much
Bob Ross: Happy Accidents, Betrayal & Greed
Made You Look: A True Story About Fake Art
This Is A Robbery: The World’s Biggest Art Heist (I got into art!)
Blade Runner 2049
Killing Hasselhoff
Good On Paper
The Gentlemen
The Good Place, so smart!!
The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window (Kristen Bell streak)
Dead To Me, all three seasons
Zach Stone Is Gonna Be Famous
Space Force, Seasons 1 & 2
The Mole, the new one! So good!
Murderville
Eat The Rich
The Duchess
That’s My Time with David Letterman
Untold: The Girlfriend Who Didn’t Exist
Inventing Anna
Stranger Things
The Playlist, a dubbed Swedish mini-series about Spotify, which includes an episode that takes place in the future
Old Enough, a series of no-more-than-20-minute episodes of Japanese children under the age of 5 going off into the city by themselves to complete chores. Uh. May. ZING!
OTHER VIEWING
Rat In The Kitchen
Bullet Train
Elvis
Minions: The Rise of Gru
Thor: Love and Thunder
Jurassic World Dominion
Top Gun: Maverick
Everything Everywhere All At Once
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, a masterpiece!
LISTENING TO PODCASTS
Reality Gays Podcast
The Dork Forest
The Slowdown (poetry podcast)
Buddhist Boot Camp
Couples Therapy with Naomi Ekperigin and Andy Beckerman
Quantum Reiki & Healing
The Fckry
Two Cool Moms
The Poet and the Reader
LISTENING TO MUSIC
Train’s AM Gold album
Lumineer’s Brightside album
AllOne’s Emotionauts album
CoffeeNap’s (Of) Smoke Rings and Tenderness album
And my top songs according to Spotify and narrowed down by me because a lot of songs are on my yoga playlists for teaching:
If We Were Vampires by Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
Meet Me At Our Spot by The Anxiety
Best They Ever Had by Rozes
abcdefu by GAYLE
Lay Your Head On Me by Major Lazer, Diplo, Jacques Lu Cont, and Diplo
Big Energy by Latto
Say Hey by Michael Franti & Spearhead
Drunk by Elle King and Miranda Lambert
A-O-K by Tai Verdes
Say My Name by Hozier
San Luis by Gregory Alan Isakov
Drive by Valerie Broussard
Christina M. Rau is the author of the 2021 poetry collection What We Do To Make Us Whole, the Elgin Award-winning sci-fi fem poetry collection, Liberating The Astronauts (Aqueduct Press), and WakeBreatheMove (Finishing Line Press) and For The Girls, I (dancing girl press). She’s served as Poet In Residence for Oceanside Library NY, was named Long Island Poet of the Year by Walt Whitman Birthplace, and is the recipient of the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Creative Works and a New York State DEC arts grant through Huntington Arts Council. She also serves as Editor-in-chief for the international literary journal The Nassau Review at Nassau Community College, where she teaches writing. http://www.christinamrau.com
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