The 2024 Best-Ofs!

 

Every year I promise little to no fanfare for the annual Best-Ofs, and this year I am going to honor my word. (Actually, I’m under the gun timewise with work, so I’m rushing the writing of this during my lunch break.)

 

Okay, you know the drill. The best and worst of my experiences this year (but mostly reading and watching stuff). Without further ado, here they are!

 

Best book: The Sum of All Fears (1991) by Tom Clancy

   My favorite book of my mid-90s Clancy phase turns out to be my favorite book of my 2024 re-read return to the Jack Ryan universe. It’s all there – terrorists, a-bombs, political intrigue, the CIA, the Navy, and all those acronyms. I recommend it highly if you’re into this sort of book or want to dip your toes into such water.

 

Worst book:

   Nonfiction (allegedly) – The Man Who Killed Kennedy (2013) by Roger Stone

   Garbage. Yeah, I’m about 95 percent Lone Gunman, but this is a book full of unsubstantiated rumors and wild leaps of faith. I’m not particularly a fan of LBJ, but this book reeked of cheap shots and I had trouble finishing it.

   Fiction – Satan’s World (1969) by Poul Anderson

   This is not the Poul Anderson I remembered fondly from my youth. Picked it up and read it on a whim, but it was a struggle to get through. Maybe it was me, but I don’t think so. Very sixties-ish but also very forgettable. In fact, I’ve forgot the plot and remember only the name of the main character.

 

Bucket Lists:

   I managed to power through The Republic and two out of six books of Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

 

Best Film:

   (tie) My Dinner with Andre (1981) and Parasite (2019)

   Andre is a wonderful anti-movie: the viewer is basically a third wheel at a dinner between two intellectuals whose conversation ranges all over the philosophical landscape. A dream for introverts like myself who yearn for such conversation in real life.

   Parasite is a Korean-language film detailing how a poor, down-on-its-luck family cons their way into a wealthy CEOs life. It’s clever and comedic with dark undertones that come out in the final scenes. Shouldn’t have won a Best Picture Oscar, but worth a watch and I was truly surprised when I checked it out on a whim over the summer.

 

Worst Film:

   I Saw the TV Glow (2024) – barf

   Runners-up: Kill the Irishman (2011) and The Talented Mr Ripley (1999) – also barf

 

Best TV:

   Netflix’s Arnold 3-part biography was pretty decent (the shame of that whole “screw your freedom” thing during the Wu Flu notwithstanding). Also, Wyatt Earp and the Cowboy War, about the gunfight at the OK corral and also on Netflix, was promising, though the Mrs. and me have so far only watched the first episode.

 

Worst TV:  

   Any New York football game

 

Personal Accomplishments:

   Kept two 2024 New Years resolutions! A new spiritual devotion (plus a second one begun in October, both to be kept private for now) and Soda Free for 365 days!

   Also painting my backyard fence over the summer.  (Next year’s goal – disposing of the empty buckets of stain and paintbrushes… 😊)

 

Phases:  

   Tom Clancy

   Kurt Vonnegut

   Dean R Koontz

   The growing LP collection (now up to 44 albums)

   Bernie Madoff deep dive (February)

   Mozart deep dive (May)

   The Kennedy Administration (October and November)

 

Best phase:

   Re-reads! Nostalgic and surprising. Really enjoyed those Clancy and Koontz books. Worth some research into my young adulthood to see what other authors to tackle next, maybe this summer.

 

Proudest moment:

   Little One’s European adventure in the spring and her student teaching in the fall.

   Patch’s successfully negotiating the complexity of becoming Confirmed as a Catholic.

 

Best Podcast:

   The Rest is History; great for long walks.

 

Best Youtube channel:

   Any of a number of true crime channels (Dreading, Dr Todd Grande, The Lawyer You Know, Bruce Rivers, Christina Randall, etc.), though for my overall mental sanity I need to cut back on the true crime in 2025 …

 

Song of the Year:

   Actually, album of the Year: Catalina Breeze by the Blue Jean Committee. Go ahead, check it out on Apple music or YouTube. The album has seven songs and is ten minutes long. It’s a win-win for all!

 

Workout tally:

   46 weight workouts

   89.5 miles walked

   They don’t average to much divided over the course of a year, but I tend to work out in clumps … one month gung-ho, six weeks sedentary, six weeks Schwarzeneggarian, three weeks couch potato, wash rinse repeat. A 2025 goal would be to work-out more consistently.

 

Reading tally:

   39 books read cover-to-cover (21 fiction, 18 nonfiction). A low number historically, due to eight massive Clancy hardcovers and the thousand-page A Thousand Days review of the JFK administration.

   12 of the 21 fiction books were re-reads dating back to 1989.

   Read 2/3 of the Old Testament in the Douay-Rheims translation (up to Isaiah).

   Abandoned seven books (three fiction, four nonfiction) anywhere from 49 to 587 pages in. Life’s too short …

 

All in all, overall, a fine year. Not the best, not the worst. It had the feel of a “harbinger” year for me. I find my tastes in literature, viewing, and listening are changing, pointing towards something or things more challenging. A “harbinger” of better – or just different – things to come. We’ll see …