Another year over. It was a good and bad year. Happy and sad. There have been many lessons, moments of realisation, and a lot to be grateful for.
I stopped blogging my monthly favourites in the middle of the year and I don’t regret it. A lot starting happening in my personal life and this blog was no longer a priority for me. It’s one of the things I’m proud of this year: not letting my own pressures get to me.
The New Year tends to get me down, without fail. It feels like the ultimate Sunday Scaries for the year ahead. One of the good things is looking back on the pop culture I enjoyed throughout the year and listing my favourites, so here it is in blog form.
I may blog about 2022 new year goals and hopes another time, as it’s been a nice distraction to the gloom I am already feeling. For now, here are my yearly favourites for 2021:
My favourite things of 2021
Splitting into respective sections, here are things I liked in 2020.
Books
I hit my reading goal of 12 books! None of which were from 2021 though, therefore my favourite reads of the year are from previous years:
- Hamnet – Maggie O’Farrell
- Only You – Kate Eberlen
- Last Letter From Your Lover – Jojo Moyes
- Daisy Jones and the Six – Taylor Jenkins Reid
- This Is Going To Hurt – Adam Kay
Music
Taylor Swift’s re-recordings could easily have made up the whole list, but I have to draw a line somewhere.
- brutal – Olivia Rodrigo
- Right Now – Anthony Ramos
- Girls Like Sex – El Devine
- One Night – Griff
- Meet Me At Our Spot – The
- My Universe – Coldplay, BTS
- Happier Than Ever – Billie Ellish
- The Walls Are Way Too Thin – Holly Humberstone
- All Too Well (10 minute version) – Taylor Swift
TV
- Succession (season 3, Sky)
- Loki (season 1, Disney+)
- Mythic Quest (season 3, AppleTV)
- Squid Game (season 1, Netflix)
- WandaVision (Disney+)
- Motherland (season 3, BBC)
- Shrill (season 3, BBC3)
- Ted Lasso (season 2, AppleTV)
- It’s A Sin (Channel 4)
- Only Murders In The Building (season 1, Disney+)
Honourable mentions: Shadow and Bone (season 1), Invincible (season 1), Sex Education (season 3), Young Rock (season 1)
Film
2021 first time watches
I loved these films I hadn’t seen before.
- Chef (2014)
- Saint Frances (2019)
- Other People (2016)
- Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution (2020)
- 20th Century Women (2016)
Honourable mentions: Big Eden (2000), Philomena (2013), I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore (2017), Summerland (2020), Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019), Ghostbusters (1984), You Were Never Really Here (2017), Erin Brockovich (2000), Ocean’s Eleven (2001).
2021 watches
There are a lot to sort through but I’m happy with my final 20.
- In The Heights
- Dune
- Tick, Tick… Boom!
- King Richard
- CODA
- The Last Duel
- Promising Young Woman
- Minari
- The Power of the Dog
- Shang-Chi
- The Father
- Another Round
- Shiva Baby
- Palm Springs
- Spider-Man: No Way Home
- A Quiet Place Part II
- The Map of Tiny Perfect Things
- Mitchells vs. The Machines
- Vivo
- Love and Monsters
Wishing everyone reading this a happy 2022!