It's obviously nerve wracking for writers at the end of the year to see best of lists come out. You can end up feeling pretty queasy about whether or not you're seeing your own work appear or not. However, I love to find out about books my friends love because I almost exclusively read books suggested by people in my sm feeds and friends, and not by any of the major book outlets, which takes the rat race factor out of it for me. (Not all who gain the spotlight are the most talented, and every writer I know knows this--it's a good protection against the feeling of being unsung). In case anyone is wanting to know, here are the books I read this year and I did write at least notes on most of them if not an out and out mini review. That was almost all prose, so if you want to know what poetry I really really recommend for this year, please check out The Last Word's Instagram page, and consider listening to The Last Word here on Spotify. I'm on sabbatical this year, ...
I wanted to put together a list of movies that people watch in their own custom holiday rituals, and maybe expand the idea of what a holiday movie is. Or not. Either way, I'm looking forward to watching some of these titles. --CK * Every holiday season, my family watches Tombstone (1993). It has nothing to do with the holidays, though there is some snow and festiveness...eventually, sort of. We love the irreverence of Val Kilmer's Doc Holliday character in contrast with the stoic Earps, and the varied mirror-image of the hateful villains (to include the system of law enforcement). We love the presentation of human fallibility and the artistry of the cinematography, the straightforward storytelling and the portrayal of the American West as truly problematic as opposed to romantic, and the general subversiveness of it as a Western. A quotable classic! -- Khadijah Queen Halloween (John Carpenter, 1978) This is as much a seasonal film as a holiday film, which reminds me how tied h...
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