A few of my favorite things in 2023 ✨

The books, newsletters, movies, music, and more that made my year.

It’s the last newsletter of the year! I’m taking next week off and I’ll be back in your inbox with tools to kick off 2024 on January 2. And if you want a headstart, check out last year’s post on how to welcome the new year with intention, or my short podcast episode on the same subject.

Happy holidays! And now, allow me to close out the year with a few of my favorite things.

My favorite books of 2023

I read 30 books this year, well behind my goal of 45, and the 40 I read in 2022. In my defense, I got absolutely sidelined by my attempt to get through Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables, which is about 1500 pages long. I’ve been reading it since September 3 and I’m still only three-quarters of the way through! It’s good but my god! They’re finally at the damn barricade.

Anyways… here are five favorites I did finish this year.

1. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin. My first read of the year was my favorite. A novel about gaming, friendship, love, and loss, and how life unfurls in surprising and heartbreaking ways.

2. Wintering by Katherine May. It’s the perfect time to read this book to settle into your winter self and lean into living by the season.

3. All the Beauty in the World by Patrick Bringley. Bringley left his job at the New Yorker to work at the Metropolitan Museum of Art for a decade. I loved this simple read about art and life.

4. The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. This novel introduced me to an aspect of time travel I’d never considered before, and now ask people as a party trick: If you could have sex with yourself as yourself, would you?

5. Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. Fire up your creativity with a good dose of woo.

Honorable mentions: I devoured all three of Andy Cohen’s books this year and I loved every second. I also learned and felt so much from My Promised Land by Ari Shavit, a personal narrative history of the creation of Israel alongside the forced expulsion and occupation of Palestinians, written by the great-grandchild of one of Israel’s founders.

My favorite reads from this year’s Compendiums

One year of facing fear by

Tatiana Gallardo

Listening to Taylor Swift in prison by Joe Garcia

Will this enlarge me or diminish me? By

Austin Kleon

In my slut era and not having sex by Maria Yagoda

The books I wish men read by

Holly Whitaker

Is therapy-speak making us selfish? By Rebecca Fishbein

Men are lonely. But women are being attacked. By

lyz

The annoying act of telling people what you do by

Marlee Grace

I thought my mother was an only child. I was wrong. By Jennifer Senior

Never having children doesn’t mean you’re going to be lonely by Holly Williams

How to have 155 ideas in 31 days by

Chrissy Hennessey

My favorite internet discoveries from past Compendiums

• ✅ Aesthetically pleasing desktop to-do lists

• 🏆 Keep a running list of your achievements in a brag document.

• ⏰ I was fascinated by this interview with a man who spent months living underground to research humans’ internal clocks.

• 🪩 I bought this disco ball essential oil diffuser and it reallyyyyyy brings me joy.

• 💸 Are you middle class?

Newsletters I paid for in 2023

Recovering by

Holly Whitaker

Ann Friedman Weekly
Webworm by

David Farrier

Monday Monday by

Marlee Grace

Today in Tabs by

Rusty Foster

Media and jobs newsletters:
Kaitlyn Arford’s Freelance Opportunities — my fave
Freelance Journalism Jobs — all listings pay $1/word or $100K/year, friends and fam discount code for a free month: FRNDSNDFMLY2023
Opportunities of the Week
Journalism Jobs and a Photo of My Dog
Study Hall

Podcasts

My absolute favorite podcast is Celebrity Book Club with Steven & Lily. It’s extremely New York and extremely queer and I turn it on whenever I need to laugh. This is probably my fave podcast episode of all time:

More podcasts I love:
Seek Treatment — Insane conversations with Cat and Pat. (Pat Regan is my favorite comedian of all time.)
Who? Weekly — Gossip/media commentary about Z-list celebrities
Tooth & Claw — Stories of animal attacks with three funny, good-natured bros, one of whom is a biologist who tells you the science behind what wild animals are thinking and how we can better interact with them. My mom and I zoom through eps on road trips.
The Daily — One in-depth, well-told story a day.
This Morning Walk — Strolling and thinking with

Alex Elle

and Libby DeLana

Music

This year I discovered Julia Jacklin and wow…I am so grateful. She has so much to say about what it means to be a woman and I’m dreaming of seeing her live in 2024. Please, give both of her albums a full listen on a long walk.

Come on, give me the room tonight
You know I've told you before that you hold me too tight
And my head alone just wants to say

I don't want to be touched all the time
I raise my body up to be mine
Yeah, I don't want to be touched all the time
I raise my body up to be mine

I listened to a lot of Eleri Ward’s Sondheim covers. I heard all of Voodoo by D’Angelo for the first time this year and damn, this album is 23 years old and it’s as fresh as if it was released yesterday. I work to it all the time now. This and this and this were playing all year long. I’m also very obsessed with this sweet swoon of a song by Years and Years right now. It perfectly captures that feeling of young love/lust:

If you care to listen, here are my handpicked favorite songs of the year:

Favorite creators

I added my fave TikToks of the year to an Instagram highlight. ENJOY!

This was by far my favorite TikTok of 2023:

@ricotaquitoMe

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I’m also loving videos of natural ice skating—so serene and relaxing. I want to do this someday.

@elladjbaldeAnother day of doing what I love to do. Videography by @Paul Ayer #figureskatingtiktok #blackexcellence #wildice #mountains #adventure #peace

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More of my fave creators:
Boon Vivant. Tomas Matos. Toeknee. Mike Posner. Jake Krantz. Eleri Ward. Smokedenglishsalmon. Daniel Colon. Zach Piona. Lola Kolade. Planet Money. Slimetown. Fleetwood Jack. Andrea Animates. Jazmyn W. Carnell Nichols. Schoolhouse Caulk. NotWildin. Andrew Murnane. Andrew Licout. 5hahem. Claireandpeter. Hicorook. Julian Burzynski. Negative25music. Darendarendaren. Michelle Norris. Nate White. Benito Thompson. Basement Gang. AyHollywood. Taryn Delanie.

Films

I saw 22 movies in theaters this year! (I have an Alamo season pass and one of my favorite solo activities is to hit the cinema.) I adored Barbenheimer season and saw them both in the same weekend. I LOVED when pink took over everything for a month and women ruled all.

Saltburn — When I left this film I turned to my friend and said, “That’s the most I’ve felt at a movie in a long time.” Go see it and find out why everyone is being horny on main for this film and these men! Plus I live for Emerald Fennell, the director.
Past Lives — A starcrossed love story for the real world, with a compassionate, selfless husband-type I don’t often see in popular culture.
Polite Society — A totally different kind of action/coming-of-age movie about sisters saving each other.

Television

I know I watched hundreds of hours of TV this year, but I can barely recall any of it. There were endless rewatches of Will and Grace and Happy Endings, to be sure. Otherwise:

Succession. I miss these evildoers.
The Gilded Age. Smooth brain TV in the best way.
Project Runway. I love watching people create, and this is the one TV show I can say genuinely inspires me.
90 Day Fiance and its 30 spinoffs (do NOT sleep on 90 Day Fiance UK).
Pretty much every franchise of The Real Housewives, but especially Beverly Hills and Potomac.

I hope you have the happiest holidays and a very centering New Year! Thank you for being here with me in 2023!