Best of 2013 Consumption

It’s that time, amigos, to say goodbye to 2013. I’ve once again made a note of the best stuff I spent my time reading or seeing. You’re most welcome to it. Not all of it is from said year, just consumed in it. Please, too, consume with a grain of subjectivity.

BEST FICTION BOOK: The Armageddon Blues: A Tale of the Great Wheel of Existence by Daniel Keys Moran

• RUNNER-UP: Widow: Stories by Michelle Latiolais

• HONORABLE MENTION: The Family Corleone by Ed Falco

BEST NONFICTION BOOK: Co. Aytch: A Confederate Memoir of the Civil War Sam R. Watkins

• RUNNER-UP: America, Through the Spectacles of an Oriental Diplomat by Tingfang Wu

• HONORABLE MENTION: The Meaning of Sunglasses: And a Guide to Almost All Things Fashionable by Hadley Freeman

BEST BOOK OF PHILOSOPHY: The Quantum Mechanics of Minds and Worlds by Jeffrey A. Barrett

• RUNNER-UP: Wabi-Sabi—for Artists, Designers, Poets & Philosophers by Leonard Koren

• HONORABLE MENTION: Orthodoxy by G. K. Chesterton 

BEST BOOK OF POPULAR SCIENCE: E=mc2: A Biography of the World’s Most Famous Equation by David Bodanis

• RUNNER-UP: Before the Big Bang: The Prehistory of Our Universe by Brian Clegg

• HONORABLE MENTION: All Yesterdays: Unique and Speculative Views of Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Animals by  Darren Naish (writer), C. M. Kosemen, John Conway (writers, illustrators) and Scott Hartman (illustrator)

BEST STAR WARS ANYTHING: Clone Wars episode “The Lawless” by Chris Collins (writer) and Brian Kalin O'Connell (director)

• RUNNER-UP: William Shakespeare’s Star Wars: Verily, A New Hope by Ian Doescher

• HONORABLE MENTION: The Star Wars works of yours truly

BEST MOVIE AT THE THEATER: Before Midnight by Richard Linklater (writer, director), Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke (writers)

• RUNNER-UP: Pacific Rim by Guillermo del Toro (writer, director) and Travis Beacham (writer)

• HONORABLE MENTION: Gravity by Alfonso Cuarón (writer, director) and Jonás Cuarón (writer)

BEST MOVIE ON DVD: Howl’s Moving Castle by Hayao Miyazaki (writer, director)

• RUNNER-UP: West Coast Seattle Boy—Jimi Hendrix: Voodoo Child by Bob Smeaton (director)

• HONORABLE MENTION: Throne of Blood by Akira Kurosawa (writer, director), Hideo Oguni, Shinobu Hashimoto and Ryûzô Kikushima (writers)

BEST COMIC BOOK: The Four Immigrants: A Japanese Experience in San Francisco, 1904-1924 by Henry (Yoshitaka) Kiyama

• RUNNER-UP: The Complete Little Nemo, Vol. IV: 1910-1911 by Winsor McCay

• HONORABLE MENTION: Batman: Arkham Asylum—A Serious House on Serious Earth, 15th Anniversary Edition by Grant Morrison (writer) and Dave McKean (illustrator)

BEST BOOK OF POETRY: Selected Poems of Rainer Maria Rilke translated by Robert Bly

• RUNNER-UP: The Rose That Grew from Concrete by Tupac Shakur

• HONORABLE MENTION: Christmas Carols: Complete Verses (Dover Thrift Editions) by Various

BEST TV SERIES: Seinfeld

• RUNNER-UP: Game of Thrones

• HONORABLE MENTION: House of Cards 

BEST THEATRE SHOW: Terminator Too: Judgment Play by Thomas Blake (writer, director) and Jim Cunningham (writer)

 

• RUNNER-UP: The Lion King musical by Julie Taymor (director), Elton John (music), Tim Rice (lyrics), Roger Allers and Irene Mecchi (writers)

• HONORABLE MENTIONS: Stomp by Luke Cresswell and Steve McNicholas; National Theatre Live: Frankenstein by Danny Boyle (director) and Nick Dear (writer), Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth by Spike Lee (director), Kiki Tyson (writer) and Mike Tyson (writer, performer)

MOST IMPACTFUL CULTURAL EVENT: Edward Snowden NSA revelations

• ADDITIONALLY: Supertyphoon Haiyan, ongoing Syrian Civil War

• HONORABLE MENTION: Election of Pope Francis

That's it for my first outing here, and my return to blogging. See ya on the flipside of the New Year, friends! ~ Abel G. Peña