As the new year begins, one of my favorite things to do is look back on the books, movies, and music that were most impactful and thought-provoking for me throughout the past year. I love year-end favorites lists because they encourage thoughtful reflection on art and gratitude for the stories that shape us. In light of that: Hark ye! Here’s my personal list of 2019 favorites! Some of this stuff is old news, while some of it is new news. All of it is highly recommended. Shout-out to the folks at rabbitroom.com for inspiring this list with their own annual year-end favorites lists! Here we go…
Books:
Am I going to cheat on this list and include two whole series as single entries? You bet I am!
#4. So Brave, Young, and Handsome by Leif Enger
Haven’t finished this one yet, but the first quarter of it has blown me away. In a similar vein with Peace Like a River (another Leif Enger book that is one of my all-time favorites), this novel follows a man on the run from the law, draws elements from classic westerns, and sings the beauty of the American landscape. No other author has inspired me more with their prose, made me laugh more while reading, or made me more grateful to live in the Midwest.
#3. The Arrival by Shaun Tan
This was the biggest artistic surprise of the year for me. Told entirely in hand-drawn, black-and-white snapshots, the story is an exercise in empathy – an invitation to join a refugee in making sense of a foreign, fantastical world filled with strange creatures, places, signs, and symbols. The way that Tam explores cross-cultural issues through fantasy is brilliant, and made me wonder, How come I’ve never seen this kind of story before? After a year and four months working with refugees, I was filled with fresh wonder and gratitude for the people I work with and the cross-cultural work that I get to do.
#2. The Wingfeather Saga by Andrew Peterson
I’ve been big a fan of AP’s music for years, and don’t know how I went so long without checking his books out. They’re so good. God used the first book of this series, On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness, to remind me how much I used to love telling stories and rekindle that creative fire this past summer. Brimming with fantastical creatures and strange lands, goofy lore and perilous adventure, they’re the kind of stories that I always dreamed of writing as a kid. My siblings and I read the first book together, and my sister has been working her way through the rest of the series since then.
#1. The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling
I’m a little bit late to the party with this one. Believe it or not, 2019 was the year that my family discovered Harry Potter for the first time (I know. As a literature nerd, I’ve got utterly no excuse). What a story! Rowling’s tale of a boy wizard facing a great evil deserves to be ranked with the works of Tolkien and Lewis as some of the best Christian fantasy ever written. Yep, I said Christian fantasy. If you’re in doubt, let me know, and I’ll do my best to convince you. The Deathly Hallows in particular filled me with fresh wonder and gratitude for the story that it echoes: the true story of Jesus Christ’s triumph over sin and death. It’s clear that Rowling loved this story and sought to reflect some of its light in her own tale, and I’m so glad she did!
Movies:
Honorable Mentions: Kubo and the Two Strings, Won’t You Be My Neighbor? ( the documentary, not the Tom Hanks film), Loving, Avengers: Endgame
#5. How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
My siblings and I are big fans of the How to Train Your Dragon franchise, and this film concluded the trilogy perfectly. The movie’s bittersweet epilogue was a surprisingly beautiful articulation of some things that my own heart had been working through in the transition from college to a new phase of life – the struggle to let go and the realization that new joys often bloom from loss.
#4. The Breadwinner
Animated by the same folks who created The Secret of Kells and Song of the Sea, Nora Twomey’s adaptation of Deborah Ellis’ classic novel is a powerful, heartbreaking, and courageous account of a young girl in Taliban-controlled Kabul, Afghanistan. I’ve gotten to know several Afghani refugees over this past year, and this story helped me to see their stories in a new way.
#3. Klaus
I’m not usually a fan of Christmas movies, but goodness, this one took me by surprise. If you haven’t seen it yet, get thee to Netflix before the Christmas season ends! If you want to know more about why I liked it so much, you can check out my blog review of the movie: “Breaking and Entering: Santa Claus and the Perilous Adventure of Christmas.”
#2. True Grit
Brilliantly scripted and terrifically acted from start to finish. This one’s gonna be on my all-time favorites list for a long time. Jeff Bridges is fantastic as Rooster Cogburn, the burned-out U.S. Marshall in need of a second chance, and young Hailee Steinfeld is every bit his equal as Maddie Ross, the outspoken kid who manages to see the potential beneath Rooster’s drunken exterior. This one inspired another blog post: “The Knucklehead, the Drunkard, and the Warrior Heart.”
#1. Beautiful Boy
This is the best movie that you’ve probably never heard of. It’s a brave, heartbreaking, and redemptive story of a young man’s recovery from drug addiction, based on the true story of a meth addict and the father who refused to give up on him. How Timothee Chalamet failed to win Best Supporting Actor at last year’s Academy Awards (or to even get nominated!?!) is something that utterly boggles my mind. I can’t remember seeing better acting, or being more moved by a film. It’s one of the most gut-wrenching stories that I’ve ever seen, but also one of the most hope-filled, healing pictures of recovery and God the Father’s unconditional love that I’ve ever seen. Please, please take some time to watch this if you haven’t. You can find it on Amazon Prime (Disclaimer: This is not a movie for kids. There’s a lot of profanity and some scenes of drug abuse. There’s also a brief sex scene that I had to fast-forward when I watched it).
Music:
Honorable Mentions: Graceland by Paul Simon, Albertine by Brooke Fraser, Finch in the Pantry by The Arcadian Wild, Hello Hurricane by Switchfoot, The Reckoning by Needtobreathe
#5. The Painted Desert by Andrew Osenga
Sucks you in with chill vibes and then sucker-punches you with brutal, healing honesty. One of my favorite lyrics from this past year is Osenga’s description of Jesus as “my bittersweet old friend.”
#4. The Joshua Tree by U2
I’d heard this classic rock album before, but 2019 was the year that I finally began chewing over the songs and exploring the stories behind them. After spending time with the album, I get why it has meant so much to so many. Along with the epic sounds (the opening build-up of “Where the Streets Have No Name” is one of my favorite musical moments ever), Bono’s passionate vocals and urgent, insightful lyrics are a love letter to the American landscape – both a lament for its brokenness and a hymn to its promise. The stuff that he was singing about in the 80s is just as relevant for our fractured political climate today.
#3. The Cymbal Crashing Clouds by Ben Shive
I don’t think I’ve ever encountered another songwriter whose tunes fit their lyrics so perfectly as Ben Shive’s do. Too many gobsmackingly wonderful lyrics in this record to count. Just a couple examples: “Who slipped the keys of the cherry-red Camaro in the pocket of the town drunk?” – “I was trying to find the pen and ink / the passages to pass between our souls / panning ordinary rivers on rumors of gold” – “Shrouded in steam and smoke / on a dark cloud he approaches / and the tails of his coal-black coat / are a train of lumbering coaches.” Wow, wow, wow.
#2. Behold the Lamb of God by Andrew Peterson
A breathtaking re-telling of the old, old story of Christ’s birth, made even better by the collaboration of many talented Rabbit Room artists – Jess Ray, Andy Gullahorn, Jill Phillips, Ben Shive, and Andrew Osenga, to name a few. Peterson’s new album starts with the Israelite exiles in Egypt and culminates in the birth of the long-awaited Savior, weaving Old Testament longing with New Testament fulfillment. There’s even a genealogy song! My new favorite Christmas album by a long shot. I broke my rule about only listening to Christmas music after Thanksgiving for this on
#1. The Ill-Tempered Klavier by Ben Shive
I couldn’t imagine that this album could surpass The Cymbal Crashing Clouds, and I wasn’t as impressed by it initially, but it grew on me with repeat listens and ended up becoming my favorite album of the year. It’s an amazing collection of songs, each of them a wondrous work of art in its own right. Together, the tracks explore the passing of time, the process of aging, the struggle of loss, and the hope of new life. This album become my soundtrack for the end of 2019, and it inspired yet another blog post: “The Bittersweet Burden of Leaving and Letting Go.” It’s gonna be on my all-time favorites list for years to come.
Songs:
Honorable Mentions: “Someone You Loved” by Lewis Capaldi, “Do You Remember” by Ben Shive, “Rise Up” by Ben Shive, “EGBDF” by Ben Shive, “Enough to Let Me Go” by Switchfoot, “Deliver Us” by Andrew Peterson, “The Graduate” by The Arcadian Wild, “Looking for Some Light” by Colony House, “Song of Songs” by Pierce Pettis
5. “The Ghost of Tom Joad” – Bruce Springsteen. One of the best songs about poverty that I’ve ever heard. In addition to being a haunting lament, this folk song by Bruce Springsteen contains beautiful echoes of Christ’s identification with the poor.
4. “Somewhere” – Rich Mullins. Discovering a Rich Mullins song that I hadn’t heard yet was a wonderful feeling.
3. “To the Ends of the World” – Caleb. This one stopped me in my tracks. Such a simple and beautiful description of God’s pursuing love.
2. “The Other Side” – Andy Gullahorn and Jill Phillips. Like many other Andy Gullahorn songs, this one contains a beautiful and surprising twist partway through. It also has one of my all-time favorite lines in any song: “When that day comes, don’t look back / Love will be the bags you pack / for the other side.”
1. “A Last Time for Everything” – Ben Shive. A stunningly beautiful meditation on suffering and the promise of redemption. I wouldn’t change a single line in this song.
So there you have it! That’s the art that inspired me this past year. What were some of your year-end favorites? Feel free to let me know in a Facebook comment! Thanks for reading!
Words for Wayfarers 