Top Ten _____ [books, general fiction]

Over the past 18 years or so, I’ve read somewhere around 800 books. Just for fun, I thought I’d look at some of my favorites, starting with fiction, and see if anything interesting emerged. In this batch of books, I’ve excluded science fiction/fantasy and YA/children’s, which I plan to go through separately. I’m not a huge fan of romance/thrillers/mysteries, so aspects of those genres don’t feature heavily in the list below. Books are listed in reverse alphabetical order by author’s last name.

Our Town, Thornton Wilder – A play about everyday life in a small New England town at the beginning of the 20th century. Its intentional simplicity and sparseness emphasizes the message, and in many ways is the message.

The Color Purple, Alice Walker – An epistolary tale told by Celie, an African American woman living in the south in the 1900s, about the struggles and abuse she faces. At times violent and explicit, it’s nevertheless a powerful story.

Cannery Row, John Steinbeck – On a street lined with sardine canneries, characters go about their lives in Monterey, California during the Great Depression. I chose Cannery Row over something like The Grapes of Wrath or Of Mice and Men for being slightly less depressing than Steinbeck’s typical work.

The Catcher in the Rye, J. D. Salinger – A coming of age story filled with angst and alienation in which nothing much happens. Holden is, objectively, kind of annoying, but with reason, and there’s a particular mood that Salinger effectively captures.

To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee – Set in Maycomb, Alabama, during the Great Depression, To Kill a Mockingbird tells the story of Scout Finch growing up with her brother Jem while her father Atticus defends a black man accused of raping a white woman.

Crazy Rich Asians, Kevin Kwan – When Rachel Chu travels to Singapore with her boyfriend Nick Young, she doesn’t expect to meet a bunch of crazy rich Asians. (Are they crazy rich? Or crazy and rich? Probably both.) It’s a ridiculous and completely fun read.

One Hundred Years of Solitude (Cien años de soledad), Gabriel García Márquez – Magical realism at its finest; the book follows seven generations of the Buendía family in the town of Macondo, and explores the ideas of fate and inevitability.

City of Tranquil Light, Bo Caldwell – Based on the author’s grandparents’ experiences as missionaries living in China during the first half of the 20th century. The writing treats the characters and setting with care, resulting in a lovely read.

Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen – Poor Mr. Bennet has five daughters to marry off in early 19th century England. Despite many misunderstandings and preconceived assumptions, will any of the Bennet women find love? Absurd at times, with memorable characters.

If you’re counting, that’s nine books for a top ten list. I couldn’t decide on a tenth, so here are some honorable mentions: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Mark Twain), Dracula (Bram Stoker), The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck), Frankenstein (Mary Shelley) (arguably the first science fiction novel), Wuthering Heights (Emily Brontë).

The list is pretty balanced in terms of gender – four female authors and five male authors. The oldest book is Pride and Prejudice, published in 1813; the newest is Crazy Rich Asians, published 200 years later in 2013. Most of the rest of the books cluster around the mid-1900s. There’s one book (One Hundred Years of Solitude) not originally published in English. One Hundred Years of Solitude is also the longest book by page court, per Goodreads, and Cannery Row and Our Town tie for the shortest (though by word court I would guess Our Town is shorter because it’s a play). And lastly, like only players with last names beginning with B scoring for the Revolution, five¹ of the nine books have titles that start with C.

¹Six if you use the original Spanish title for One Hundred Years of Solitude.

Top Ten _____ [Musicals]

I’ve documented my musical viewings, but what you really want to know is what’s worth watching out of all those overtures, choreography, love songs, and . . . ABBA?

10) Mamma Mia! – That’s right, we’re starting things off with a jukebox musical romantic comedy set on a Greek island featuring a Swedish pop group. It’s light and fun, and doesn’t try to be anything it’s not. Watch at your own risk of getting the songs stuck in your head for weeks.

9) The Phantom of the Opera – One of two musicals I’ve seen on Broadway. Some people can’t stand Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals, but I don’t think he’s too bad. Phantom has a coherent enough plot, good songs, a dance number, and generally ticks all the boxes of what you want in a musical, which may be why it’s Broadway’s longest running show.

8) The Music Man – Too classic to leave off the list. It’s got a lot of recognizable songs. The competing conman/falling in love plots are similar to A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, but it’s more well known, maybe because its title doesn’t take three years to type.

7) Rent – Yes, the characters are kind of lazy jerks, but you don’t always need fully lovable protagonists. The score is rock solid, and I can’t speak to how much or little it parallels Puccini’s La Boheme because I’ve never seen or read about it.

6) West Side Story – The other musical I’ve seen on Broadway, and I recently watched the 1961 movie on Netflix. It’s based on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, so if you think about the plot too much it makes no sense. However, it’s a Leonard Bernstein score, Stephen Sondheim wrote the lyrics, and Jerome Robbins did the choreography, so that more than makes up for all the characters’ questionable decisions.

5) Mary Poppins – There’s something about the 1964 movie that just feels magical. Well, besides the fact that Mary Poppins magically descends from the clouds, transports children into paintings, and hosts a floating tea party.

4) Into the Woods – Scored by Sondheim, book by James Lapine. It’s a clever musical adaptation and intertwining of fairy tales. I’ve seen the Jr. version staged live and the movie, but not the full live musical.

3) Les Miserables – Probably the only musical on this list that could possibly be described as epic, in terms of both the music and the plot. It’s a sung-through adaptation of Victor Hugo’s 3000-page novel, which I have not read. (Rent and Phantom are both almost sung-through, but do have some spoken lines.)

2) Guys and Dolls – Based on Damon Runyon’s short stories of the New York underworld. Reasonable plot, interesting characters, strong songs, and interspersed funny moments make this a very solid musical, and one of my favorites.

1) The Sound of Music – Couldn’t not have a Rodgers and Hammerstein musical on the list. Based on the number of times I’ve seen this movie, I’ll call it my favorite. Besides the classic Julie Andrews 1965 version, I’ve also seen the recording of NBC’s 2013 live production starring not-Julie Andrews as Maria. Doesn’t compare to the original movie.

I've compiled a list of musicals the library has that 1) I haven’t watched and 2) aren’t random obscure productions like The Utter Glory of Morrissey Hall (run of a single show on Broadway). There’s nothing huge on the list that I think would unseat anything in my top ten musicals, but you never know. I also haven’t seen Wicked, Hamilton, Dear Evan Hansen, etc., or any of the Disney spectacles, so this ranking is subject to change. But this is the list for now, and here’s where I try and convince you all that Shrek The Musical is not terrible, and also surprisingly, the songs for School of Rock (scored by Andrew Lloyd Webber) are pretty good.

Top Ten ____ [TV shows]

I don’t watch that much TV, but I have watched more than 10 different TV shows. Notable shows I haven’t seen include Parks and Recreation, Breaking Bad, and Game of Thrones, so that’s why none of them are on the list. As a rule of thumb, if I don’t mention your favorite, undeniably great show, just assume I haven’t seen it.

10) Fresh off the Boat – The first Asian American-led TV show since All-American Girl (1 season, 1994-1995) gets the last spot on the list. It’s not always the strongest show in terms of plot, but I’m a fan of the cast. The show follows the Huang family after their move to Orlando, Florida in the 1990s. While Louis establishes his steakhouse and Jessica works on her mystery crime novel, they both parent Eddie, Emery, and Evan as they navigate elementary/middle/high school, enter into relationships, learn to drive, and make college plans. The jokes don’t always land, but there are a lot of good moments.

9) Sherlock – BBC’s take on Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous detective has Holmes and Watson sharing a flat in modern-day London where Sherlock runs his consulting detective agency and Watson blogs about their adventures. The first two seasons, which primarily adapt Doyle’s stories, are really, really good – the plot is engaging, the dialog is tight, and the camera work is excellent. Season three has a couple of my favorite scenes, but starts moving away from being strictly a detective show. Then came season four. It’s too clever for its own good. It starts reaching conspiracy theory levels of what-the-heck. Just for that season, Sherlock ends up this far down the list.

8) The Magic School Bus – In this show that teaches children science, the elementary-aged characters regularly climb onto a magical transforming bus that shrinks, grows, and turns kids into reptiles, bats, water, and more. Sounds safe and realistic to me. I actually appreciate that there’s absolutely no attempt to explain how the bus works. Everyone just accepts it. The science, while often simplified (it’s a 25-minute children’s TV show; give it a break), is generally theoretically sound. I’m now in engineering, so a show that relates math and science to everyday life gets a thumbs up from me. [Other educational/semi-educational TV shows from my childhood: Cyberchase, Reading Rainbow, Between the Lions, Zoboomafu, Fetch!, Zoom, and Liberty’s Kids. Thanks, PBS.]

7) Community – Seven students find their way to Greendale Community College and form a study group that becomes more than a study group. Episodes are centered around the classes they take, but tie into other events that happen throughout the year. One of the show’s big strengths lies in its ability to spoof other genres/styles in the context of Greendale. The season 1 and 2 paintball episodes (imitating action, western, and sci-fi movies) are some of the best TV I’ve seen. There’s also a funny bottle episode and a Claymation Christmas. That said, I see the problems with season 4 that are a result of the showrunner (Dan Harmon) being fired after season 3. The show goes off the rails a bit. Although Harmon was brought back for seasons 5 and 6, they don’t quite capture what they had in the first half of the show’s run, but Community’s worth a watch even just for the first three seasons.

6) Star Trek: The Original Series – Due to budget and technology constraints, TOS is not great television, especially season 3, but this was the Star Trek that started it all. Even if the plots are formulaic, they address pertinent questions about moral and social issues ranging from the use of technology to discrimination.

5) Star Trek: The Next Generation – TNG has some of the same problems as TOS in terms of plot, and it takes some time for the characters to settle into their roles, but once they do, it’s classic Star Trek. The casting overall is strong, but Patrick Stewart as Captain Picard is brilliant.

4) The Great British Bake Off – A baking competition in which the contestants are pleasant to each other. What more could I ask for? I prefer the original hosts, because the current hosts are downright bizarre sometimes, but I’m not really complaining.

3) Jeopardy! – Last year during the MLS season, I discovered that I have TV service through the internet, which I used to watch the Revolution’s one nationally televised game in Spanish. For some reason, I didn’t think about also using my newfound TV access to watch Jeopardy! until after I went home for Christmas and came back to Ann Arbor. Since then, I tune in for my week-nightly viewing of Jeopardy!, where I can put my stores of semi-useless knowledge to use.

2) The Office – Everyday life at the Scranton branch of the Dunder Mifflin paper company. The characters are all flawed, but ultimately likeable, and yes, the office dynamics and shenanigans are exaggerated, but I’ve worked with some interesting people and done some pretty ridiculous things in my office, so they’re not that far out of left field. I can see why the show’s not for everyone, but I think it’s hilarious. The first season is a little rough, it really hits its groove in the middle seasons, then the last two seasons have a few questionable episodes before the final three episodes, which have some incredibly funny, strange, poignant moments.

1) Avatar: The Last Airbender – Like Star Trek, it considers important issues regarding gender roles, racism, propaganda, and animal abuse, among many others. It also has amazing characters, plot, and animation, so it earns the top spot on this list.

Other noteworthy shows (not necessarily vying for a spot in the top ten, but interesting for one reason or another) – lesser known, but Person of Interest is relevant to current questions about technology and surveillance. A computer program, “The Machine,” can predict crime before it happens and can output the social security number of a “person of interest” – a perpetrator, victim, or bystander. The first couple seasons have mostly self-contained episodes with variations on a standard plot, then an overarching plot is woven in. The last season was regrettably cut short, so the finale is a little rushed, but still done well. And not lesser known, but The Walking Dead. Only the first ~3 seasons, maybe the first ~5, and only more if you want to see what a train wreck it becomes. Starts out great, turns into a zombie soap opera. That’s all I’ll say about that.

Top Ten _____ [Movies]

One of my coronavirus/staying at home activities has been listening to podcasts and working on my collection of jigsaw puzzles. So, business as usual. Recently I listened to a podcast where the hosts talked about their ten favorite movies, which got me thinking about what my personal top ten movies would be. I’m not a film student or a movie connoisseur, which is my way of warning you that you may think I have terrible taste. In reverse order:

10) A River Runs Through It – This could be replaced with a few movies I’ll list at the end, but I’m going with this one because of the score and fly fishing.

9) Harry Potter – I actually didn’t read the books or watch the movies until at least high school, but because they came out as I was growing up, I feel like this is one that has to be on the list. It’s been awhile since I saw the movies, so I’ll probably just go with Sorcerer’s Stone or Prisoner of Azkaban. I’m also a fan of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, but I will say it doesn’t stand up to Harry Potter. Great soundtracks in both though.

8) Mean Girls – This might be another generational thing. Like Harry Potter, it’s not objectively amazing (see – lamp Ginny, “HARRY DID YAH PUT YAH NAME IN DA GOBLET OF FIYAH?” Dumbledore asked calmly, Voldemort’s disintegration), but there are so many great iconic moments. My roommates one year made me watch it and there’s something about it that captures the strange and wonderful world of public school in that time – math class, the cafeteria, talent shows, the mall.

7) The Princess Bride – After some thought, I decided to go with The Princess Bride in the comedy genre. It’s funny and smart without trying to be too clever. I thought about a true parody/mockumentary and will list some below, but I couldn’t justify one over The Princess Bride.

6) The Sound of Music – There had to be a musical. The Sound of Music gets the spot because of the number of times I’ve seen it, the songs, and its classic appeal.

5) Guardians of the Galaxy – After eleven years and twenty-two movies, I figured I should put a Marvel movie on the list. The Avengers is the best representative of Marvel (and is my second choice Marvel movie), but I’m going with Guardians because 1) talking raccoon, 2) talking tree, and 3) easily the best soundtrack album. The characters are great, it’s funny, and it’s not a standard superhero origin movie.

4) Finding Nemo – My choice for an animated movie. I saw it in the theater and the animation was stunning on the big screen. Also the soundtrack is excellent.

3) Miracle – I don’t know how many times I’ve seen this movie. It’s the standard gym class before break/between units movie and is one of two DVDs I own (the other is season 4 of The Office – it was $2 at the library book shop). If you don’t know, it’s about the 1980 US Olympic men’s hockey team and how they beat the Soviet Union on their way to the gold medal. Besides being a great story, team captain Mike Eruzione was from Massachusetts and attended Boston University; former Cornell goalkeeper Ken Dryden was in the booth with Al Michaels for his “Do you believe in miracles?” call; the game was played in Lake Placid, NY, just a few hours from Cornell; and thanks to the Cornell pep band I’ve watched dozens of hockey games. I have a lot of connections to this movie, except actually being alive when the game was played.

2) Star Wars – I’m not counting this as one entry. Ewan McGregor notwithstanding, I don’t think you can say that any one of the prequel movies is the best Star Wars movie. Similarly, the sequel trilogy just doesn’t stand out as the best. Besides the gratuitous fanservice, I found basically every single side character more interesting than Rey (nothing against Daisy Ridley). Solo was a great backstory prequel (how Han got his name, met Chewie, and earned won obtained the Millennium Falcon? Yes, please.). Rouge One is arguably the most well-crafted movie in terms of characters, plot, and anticipation. I have a special spot for A New Hope because it’s the movie that started everything off and I still remember the first time I saw it. However, The Empire Strikes Back probably has the strongest case for best Star Wars movie. It’s got the original characters, a solid plot, and one of the greatest plot twists ever in Vader’s “I am your father” line.

1) Lord of the Rings – Tolkien considered LotR one book, so this I am counting as one entity. I haven’t watched the LotR movies in years, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a better adaptation of a book. Even the parts that were left out or altered generally make sense (hello, hundred pages of Tom Bombadil).

Other contenders for my serious movie were Dead Poets Society, Wind River, and Manchester by the Sea. Besides The Princess Bride, I also considered Spaceballs and Best in Show, and briefly thought about Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure or The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. In the movie-based-on-a-real-life-event category – The King’s Speech, The Inn of the Sixth Happiness, Spotlight, and Apollo 13, but none of them beat out Miracle for me. Ocean’s Eleven is my favorite heist movie and the only movie I considered for cinematic merit was 2001: A Space Odyssey, but there are too many other movies I enjoy more. I’ll discuss musicals and animated movies separately. So there’s my list. We’ve got an actually serious movie, magic/fantasy, a high school comedy, a not serious movie, a musical, action/superheroes, an animated movie, a sports drama, a sci-fi space opera, and an epic fantasy adventure. Leave your favorite movies in the comments, where you can also let me know how scandalized you were that I didn’t consider [insert movie here].