2016 Top 5.

I'm sticking with my tradition of putting this little Top 5 together, even though I am not sure it's of any interest to anyone other than myself since my picks tend to be such a random mix :)

TV shows


The Affair | Så Mycket Bättre 2016 | Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life | Historieätarna | Det sitter i väggarna
Only two American TV shows... In my fangirl days a decade or so ago I watched a dozen TV shows every week but these days we don't really watch a lot of TV. I think I've grown reluctant to start watching new TV shows because I don't want to commit to watching a show for years to come. Spending that much time watching TV is just not a priority in my life anymore. It's different with the occasional documentary or entertainment show like the three I've included here because they only last for a season or so. With that said, I loved revisiting Stars Hollow, something I thought I'd never get to do. There were some parts that I didn't really see the point of and some that were disappointing, but overall it had the feel of Gilmore Girls in the good old days, and although it surprised me I actually loved the ending!

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Films


Captain Fantastic | The Light Between Oceans | Bridget Jones's Baby | Room | The Danish Girl
As usual I watched quite a lot of films in 2016 and these are the gems that really stood out to me. Some of these came out in 2015 but I watched them for the first time in 2016. I looked forward to watching most of these for months or more before they came out in Sweden because I had a feeling I'd love them, and they all lived up to my expectations!

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Books

Girl At War | Speak | Purple Hibiscus | Necessary Lies | Goodbye Sarajevo
Clearly my tendency to choose novels with powerful stories about strong female characters continued in 2016... It feels very fitting for a year like 2016, in many ways.

2015 Top 5.

TV shows


Tusen år till julafton | 1864 | The Affair | Mad Men | Det är inte så dumt att bli gammal
This feels like the most random mix - one Swedish Advent calendar mini series, two American TV shows, one Danish mini series and a Swedish (mini) documentary series. But, as I looked through my life lately entries from 2015 these are the shows that stood out. Mad Men (which I will miss dearly) and The Affair were entertaining and Tusen år till julafton super cute while 1864 and Det är inte så dumt att bli gammal had the most lasting impact on me, on a deeper level.

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Films


Far from the Madding Crowd | Little Boy | Still Alice | Testament of Youth | The Theory of Everything
I feel like 2015 had more good quality films than previous years so it was quite difficult to pick a top 5 (I know some of these came out in 2014 but I didn't watch them until 2015 so I'm including them here). Honorable mentions would be Everest and The Imitation Game.

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Books


Little Bee | The Opposite of Loneliness | Sarah's Key | Shifting Colours | We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves
Out of the 12 books I read this year these were the ones I enjoyed the most. I don't necessarily think any of these would make it to my all-time favourites, but they were definitely worth reading and opened my eyes to certain issues I didn't know much about before. I wasn't very intentional about picking these books but realize now that it's easy to detect a common theme of injustice and prejudice in them, with the exception of The Opposite of Loneliness. Quite fitting for a year like 2015, as it turned out.