Everything I Consumed in 2016

I’m a listmaker. And here are some reasons why.

I keep track of my life through lists. I keep daily logs of everything I do every day, lifelists, teachers and students I’ve had, things I learn every year, things I accomplish every year, a list of my friends, my favorite go-to jokes, the books, movies, and TV that I consume.

Evaluating vs Crossing
The criticism I hear about lists has to do with just making a list to cross stuff off. The best use of a list IMHO is not to just tally up the states or countries you’ve been to, or count the things I’ve accomplished. Lists work best when you use them as a way to collect data, and then evaluate and analyze it. I love the end of the year as a time to review my lists and look at the trends and takeways– what worked and what didn’t, what stuck and what sucked. In an effort to be more transparent, I wanted to share my lists and evaluations with you of the books, movies, and TV that I consumed this year. I encourage you to start your own for 2017 and see what you learn.

BOOKS I READ IN 2016

Top Books of 2016

1. “The Art of Asking” Amanda Palmer
2. “The Artist’s Way” Julia Cameron
3. “Becoming Wise” Krista Tippett
4. “Big Magic” Elizabeth Gilbert
5. “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” J.K. Rowling
6. “How to Find Fulfilling Work” Roman Krznaric
7. “So Good They Can’t Ignore You” Cal Newport
8. “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck” Mark Manson
9. “The War of Art” Stephen Pressfield
10. “Yearnings” Irwin Kula

11. “The Art of Communication” Thich Nhat Hanh
12. “The Art of Mindful Living” Thich Nhat Hanh
13. “Art and Fear” David Bayles and Ted Orland
14. “Catching the Big Fish” David Lynch
15. “The Courage to Create” Rollo May
16. “Deep Work” Cal Newport
17. “The Defining Decade” Meg Jay
18. “Gratitude” Oliver Sacks
19. “The Happiness of Pursuit” Chris Guillebeau
20. “How To Be Alone” Jonathan Franzen
21. “How to Worry Less About Money” John Armstrong
22. “The Last Safe Investment” Bryan Franklin and Michael Ellsberg
23. “Matheny Manifesto” Mike Matheny
24. “On Writing” Steven King
25. “The Pixar Touch” David Price
26. “Powers of Two” Joshua Wolf Shenk
27. “The Reason For God” Timothy Keller
28. “Small Victories” Anne Lamott
29. “Stumbling On Happiness” Daniel Gilbert
30. “Synchronicity” Joseph Jawarsky
31. “Team of Rivals” Doris Goodman
32. “Trust the Process” Shaun McNiff
33. “What do you Do With an Idea?” Kobi Yamada
34. “What I Talk About When I Talk About Running” Haruki Murakami

Evaluating
The books identified as the top of the year are usually the ones that make me see something in a new way. I continue to think about their content and message long past the last page.

The books seem to fall in 3 categories.

1. Art
   There are a lot of books on art-making, creativity, and the process of becoming an artist. Big Magic, The Artists Way, Courage to Create, Powers of Two… all of these and more are all focused on being an artist.
2. Living More Meaningfully
   Everything from Thich Nhat Hanh to Amanda Palmer, Meg Jay and Krista Tippet, Mark Manson, Oliver Sacks, Jonathan Franzen and The School of Life– all teaching lessons in being a better human.
3. Novels and Histories
   Harry Potter and Team of Rivals are both dramatic books that focus on leadership, challenges and overcoming dark times.

Process
I keep notes on all the books I read and always write a few sentence takeaway for each one in the Google Sheets file I keep. For the books full of great ideas and insights, I keep a separate folder with one doc for each book. As I read I take notes or highlight the ideas and transcribe them at the end into the doc.

And for those asking how I read 30+ books a year, here are a few things that might help. First, I have a running list of all the books I want to read and who recommended it to me and when. I try and get to the books recommended to me within 6 months, otherwise the relevance tends to diminish over time. Second, about once a quarter, I log into my library’s overdrive platform (audiobooks. libraries. get into it.) and search for books on my list, books that are popular, and through various keywords that I’ve been thinking about at that time. I request about 10–15 books that keeps me busy for a few months. I also try and have one physical book next to my bed and in the bathroom at all times. Much more engaging and productive than flipping through social media.

MOVIES AND TV I WATCHED IN 2016

Top Movies and TV of 2016

13th
Alive Inside
The Big Short
Black Mirror (S3)
He Named Me Malala
The OA (S1)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Pt 2
The Martian
Spotlight
Transparent (S3)
The True Cost

11.22.63 (S1 E1–3)
2001: A Space Odyssey
30Rock (S2)
Amy
Audrie&Daisy
Black Mass
Broad City (S3)
Brooklyn
Casablanca
Changeling
Daddy’s Home
Dead Poets Society
Deadpool
Don’t Think Twice
Dumbo
Finding Dory
Ghostbusters-2016
Hologram for the King
Home Alone
House of Cards (S4 E1–4)
Inside Out
Knock Knock It’s Tig Notaro
LOST (S1, S4, S5, S6)
Louis CK Live at The Comedy Store
Mad Max Fury Road
Making A Murderer (S1)
Michael Che Matters
Michael Moore in Trumpland
Mozart in the Jungle (S1 E1)
Naz and Maalik
Now You See Me
One Night Only
Orange is the New Black (S4)
Room Sleeping With Other People
Star Wars: A New Hope
Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back
Star Wars: Return of the Jedi
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Stranger Things
Tallulah
The Affair (S1, S2)
The Danish Girl
The Fundamentals of Caring
The Good Dinosaur
The Last 5 Years
The Last Man On Earth (S1)
The League (S7)
The Mask We Live In
The Notebook
The Office (S2, S3, S4, S5, S6, S7, S8, S9)
The Peanuts Movie
The Princess Bride
The Revenant
The Town
The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (S2)
Water for Elephants
When Harry Met Sally
Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
Who Took Johnny?
Workaholics (S5)
Zoolander 2
Zootopia

Evaluating
While the top choices of the year are similar qualities of the books– that the idea or story stuck with me long beyond the last frame, I also chose media that told unique and important stories in interesting ways.

This year, I did re-watched old favorites. It was a year of catching up and nostalgia. Also a pretty interesting mix of sci-fi surrealism, real human stories, and documentaries about social issues. I think rewatching tends to be a sign of comfort in knowing what’s going to happen. And considering this year for me was much more of an uncertain year (taking the plunge into engagement and marriage, changing jobs, moving apartments…), it makes sense that I would go back to old favorites.

I haven’t updated it in a while, but I kept some of my lists at LosAngelists.com. If you’re interested in starting your own lists or want to share your experiences in documentation, QS, or data collection, I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments. Happy tracking in 2017.