Hello there!
Well, it’s time for my favorite year-end activity: the annual favorites list! In many ways, 2020 was an incredibly tough year for art and artists. On the other hand, I found that quarantine provided lots of downtime to make art, explore new art, and catch up on great art that I’d missed in previous years. In terms of art discovery, this year was a treasure trove. I came across quite a few books, movies, and music albums that jumped straight into my all-time favorites lists, and many more that I thoroughly enjoyed (and a few that I thoroughly hated…). I hope this list can serve as a launching pad for your own exploration and discovery. So, without further chinwagging, here’s the list!
Books
Total read: 15
Honorable Mentions: The Cymbal Crashing Clouds: Companion Book by Ben Shive, The Faithful Spy: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Plot to Kill Hitler by Alex Berenson, Fiddler’s Gun by A.S. Peterson, Poverty Creek Journal by Thomas Gardner
#5. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
If you’re like me, your high school English teacher mentioned this book, and you filed it under the “Maybe Sometime in the Distant Future” part of your brain. Well, I finally got around to it, and now I know what all the fuss is about. A bold, hilarious, evocative, and impassioned memoir of life in the Jim-Crow era segregationist south, with far too many wonderful sentences to count (trust me, I tried writing them down and gave up when there were too many).
#4. “Leaf by Niggle” by J.R.R. Tolkien
If you’re a fan of Tolkien’s work, if you’re an aspiring artist, or if you’ve ever wrestled with the tension between lofty goals and hard realities, then this gem of a short story is for you. Tolkien penned it during a time of intense discouragement, when he wondered whether he’d ever finish his life’s work (which eventually became The Lord of the Rings), and it became a source of hope that enabled him to keep going. For that, I’m deeply grateful!
#3. Adorning the Dark by Andrew Peterson
There’s probably no person who has influenced my own sense of artistic vocation more than Andrew Peterson. So when I heard that the singer-songwriter and author of The Wingfeather Saga had written a book about the artist’s vocation, I was a tad bit excited. In a year when I was wrestling with difficult questions about my purpose, gifts, and aspirations, this book couldn’t have come at a better time.
#2. Telling the Truth: The Gospel as Tragedy, Comedy, & Fairytale by Frederick Buechner
Yup, it’s every bit as good as the title makes it sound. A gifted lecturer, pastor, and novelist, Frederick Buechner tells Bible stories with surprising modern twists that engage the mind, tug the heartstrings, and kindle the imagination all at once. Here’s a book to be savored slowly, preferably on rainy nights with a cup of very strong coffee.
#1. Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry
On the surface, Wendell Berry’s Jayber Crow and J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings are about as different as two stories could be – one an epic tale of quests and battles in a sprawling fantasy realm, one the memoirs of a bachelor barber who lives almost his entire life in the same tiny farming town in Kentucky. Yet, beneath the surface differences, the two stories share a beating heart. Beyond the remarkable attention to detail and the fierce and abiding love for the earth, both of these works are ultimately about fellowship, in the deepest and truest sense of that word. Jayber Crow is the first book that I feel fully comfortable ranking alongside The Lord of the Rings in my list of all-time favorites, which is the highest compliment that I can give.
Music Albums:
Total listened to: 35
Honorable Mention: Jesus is King by Kanye West, The Desired Effect by Brandon Flowers, Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings by Counting Crows, Surprise by Paul Simon, Everyday Life by Coldplay, Fever Breaks by Josh Ritter, Leave What’s Lost Behind by Colony House
#5. Desolation and Consolation by Drew Miller
Grappling head-on with weighty topics – loneliness, disillusionment, grief, and mortality, to name a few – Drew Miller’s songs explore the redemptive hope of the gospel in ways that are nuanced rather than simplistic, honest rather than sentimental, and ultimately deeply comforting. I marvel at the economy of his lyrics, which cover so much ground and yet flow so beautifully.
Song to check out: “Into the Darkness”
#4. Crooked by Propaganda
If there’s a record that I’d recommend to every American seeking to process the events of 2020, this would be it. While it’s a blistering, brutally candid account of our nation’s crookedness, it’s ultimately a record about crooked things being set right. This album is a tour-de-force, balancing epic scope with concrete imagery, tongue-in-cheek humor with historical analysis, social criticism with personal confession, old-school rap and hip-hop with Prop’s signature spoken word, and unflinching honesty with the full-bodied hope of the gospel.
Song to check out: “It’s Not Working”
#3. Now, Not Yet by Half Alive
Props to my buddy Aaron for introducing me to this one. I’m so dang proud of these guys for making this record – for setting their sights so high and taking so many creative risks in their efforts to say something true and beautiful. It’s as if the band was tracking my thoughts, questions, longings, and struggles throughout 2020 and decided to make an entire album based on what they saw, just for the heck of it. Every track makes me want to dance, both because the tunes are ridiculously groovy and because of those glorious music videos. Well done, lads.
Song to check out: “Still Feel”
#2. Dream War by Ella Mine
This one inspired one of my most recent blog pieces: “Dreaming in the Depths: Ella Mine and the Problem of Overwhelming Suffering.” It also brought me to tears twice, which is pretty darn unusual (only one other record has ever managed that: Andy Gullahorn’s recent album Everything as It Should Be). As someone who has struggled with debilitating mental illness, I resonated deeply with the story of brokenness and recovery that Ella Mine tells. Her album is unlike anything else I’ve heard – a haunting, dreamlike landscape of classical piano, alternative rock, and Celtic folk that 100% works. This one needs to be listened to front to back, with no interruptions. I’d also recommend checking out the story behind the album before you listen, as it provides context which enriches the listening experience (You can find her story here: https://rabbitroom.com/2019/10/dream-war-an-interview-with-ella-mine/).
Song to check out: “Wheel of Love”
#1. For What It’s Worth by J Lind
If I had to predict which album from the past year I’ll revisit most often in years to come, this would be it. Inspired by J Lind’s work alongside hospice patients, the album’s songs explore the theme that has resurfaced most often in my own heart over the years: the tension between the world’s deep beauty and deep brokenness. With graceful lyrics and instrumentation that is captivating yet unobtrusive, J Lind draws us into a journey from the highways of Nashville to a distant fantasy kingdom, from the far reaches of outer space to the jungles and slums of India, and from the starlit sea to a hospice bedside. Each song on the record is a uniquely beautiful, self-contained gem, and yet the songs weave together to form an intricate whole that is more than the sum of its parts. Not to mention, this album inspired a blog piece that may be my favorite thing I’ve ever written: “Brokenness, Beauty, and the Ballad of Samwise Gamgee.”
Song to check out: “Letter to the Editor”
Special Honorable Mention: “Sing Gently” by Eric Whitacre’s Virtual Choir 6
I don’t know what to say about this song, except that it’s a miracle and the closest thing to heaven I’ve ever encountered in music. I watched the video probably fifteen straight times after seeing it for the first time. And the best part…(drumroll, please)… my brother and his girlfriend are in it!
Movies:
Total seen: 55
Honorable Mention: 1917, My Neighbor Totoro, Won’t You Be My Neighbor, 13th, A Quiet Place, Downton Abbey, Knives Out, Tree of Life, Hamilton, Munyurangabo, Princess Mononoke, Doctor Strange
#5. The Secret of Kells
Featuring intricate, hand-drawn animation inspired by medieval illustrations, lovable characters, a soaring Celtic soundtrack, and a profound story about the value of art and beauty in dark times, this film would easily claim the title of my all-time favorite animated movie…. if not for another item on this list. It inspired a blog piece that I wrote around St. Patrick’s day and the onset of COVID-19, called “The Celts, the Coronavirus, and the Kingdom of God.”
#4. Tolkien
Until watching this movie, I’d never realized how profound and far-reaching J.R.R. Tolkien’s impact on the course of my life has been. His books are the reason I first fell in love with literature and storytelling as a little kid. And the presence of his desk and pen in a museum at Wheaton College was one of the main reasons I chose to study English at that school, where I met a group of friends who became the closest thing to Frodo’s fellowship that I’ve ever known (most of them Tolkien fans as well!). God used this lovely, under-the-radar film to help me celebrate and bid farewell to that special time, to rekindle my love for language and story, and to cement the sense of calling that he’d been nudging me towards all year. Watching the movie felt a lot like reconnecting with an old friend, like sharing the best kind of inside joke, and ultimately like coming home again.
#3. Spirited Away
Okay, Studio Ghibli fans… call me late to the party. I’ve been listening and re-listening to this movie’s soundtrack since the autumn. I’ve watched behind-the-scenes videos while scribbling details in my notepad. And on a car ride through Pennsylvania with one of my best friends, we discussed the film’s plot at high speed for about an hour and a half. All that to say, I’ve never been more gobsmacked, fascinated, moved, and inspired by a work of animation. Hats off to you, Hayao Miyazaki.
#2. Paterson
This film jumped into my top 5 favorite movies of all time almost instantly. It hurts my heart to rank it second on this list, because I love every single thing about it: the wonderfully quirky and relatable characters (including Adam Driver in his most un-Kylo-Ren performance to date), the loving attention to mundane details, the thoughtful and understated storyline (which flows along gently like the poems penned by its bus-driving hero), the off-beat humor, and the profound take on the artist’s vocation (which is the best I’ve seen in a film). The last ten minutes of the movie are sheer perfection.
#1. A Hidden Life
How to put this one into words? Nothing I say could begin to do it justice. I’ll just mention that I saw it 3 times in theaters, dragging different people along each time, and that it’s the most beautiful, worshipful, and emotionally resonant thing I’ve ever seen on the big screen. If you go into it expecting a typical Hollywood ride, with all the usual bells and whistles, you’ll almost certainly be disappointed. But if you go into it with an open heart, expecting to learn and grow, to be challenged to think and feel in unconventional ways, and to reflect on what makes you own life worth living, then I guarantee you won’t forget this one any time soon. You can read a more detailed review in my blog piece: “The Way of the Cross: Glimpsing Christ in A Hidden Life”
Words for Wayfarers 