My 2021 Books and Movies

In 2021, I watched 60 movies (Letterboxd) and 43 books (Goodreads).

My favorite book from last year was The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories, by Ken Liu. This book is a collection of short stories, including "The Paper Menagerie" which won both the Hugo Award (2012), and the Nebula Award (2011) for best short story. The stories featured mind bending ideas and intense flights of fantasy that were dazzling to hold in my imagination. Honorary mentions: "Sapiens" (Yuval Noah Harari), "Klara and the Sun" (Kazuo Ishiguro), "(Re)born in the USA" (Roger Bennett).

When I look at all the movies I rated as perfect last year, six were movies I had seen before. Of the remaining five, I most enjoyed Netflix's "Don't Look Up". I liked subdued and meek Leo DiCaprio, and over-the-top Jonah Hill.

(detail of Paper Menagerie book cover; design by Michael McCartney)