Favorite Books, Films, Places in 2021
2021 has been full of quality entertainment.
2021 was the year I told myself I was going to be a boss babe. During the pandemic I had started hustling and picking up more internships and work because I realized that despite the tragedy the pandemic caused, this new online world played completely into my strengths. I wrote my resolutions and said I’d write twenty-five poems in a year. Well, during the last four months, I wrote fifty poems alone. And that’s not even including my prose and journalism work.
I also started this blog in April of 2021, and I didn’t decide to turn it into something more until the end of August 2021. I transitioned from making it into a thought-dump into a place where I stash book, movie, and travel diaries, which, at the end of the day, isn’t just for the world to see. It’s for me. I find that I retain information and memories so much easier when I do this, so the added perks are, well, added perks at the end of the day. One day I’ll finally hire a website designer to help me out with the layout, but, until then, reader you’re stuck with the somewhat clunky DIY design I’ve made.
Besides that, I also started writing for Movie Web and maybe (fingers crossed) will be starting for Screen Rant at the beginning of next year. We hit 3,000 unique visits and over 6,500 hits—so thank you all for reading and visiting! My 2022 goals are ambitious, but there’s one constant that will be with them for sure: I’m going to keep watching and reading everything I get my hands on. Without further ado, here are the best things I’ve read, watched, and visited in 2021.
2021 in books.
My Goodreads challenge for the year was 100 books. Well, I read double that, and yes I’m slightly insane for doing that. When I read a book I tend not to read it for fun. I read for entertainment and to study what’s been published in the world. Going through books, I highlight almost everything and break down sentence structures and formatting in order to see how I could apply that to my own work. Do I want to incorporate this effect, or try a sentence like this? Experimenting is the way to go for a writer, and I think I’ve nailed that down at this point. But when I do come across a book I really enjoy, I enjoy it. Here are the books I really loved this year.
Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
I’ve been a massive Michelle Zauner fan for years. Japanese Breakfast has been one of my favorite bands, so when I found out she was expanding upon her New Yorker essay “Crying in H Mart” and turning it into a full-length memoir, I knew I had order it immediately. And so I did and now I own a signed copy of the memoir. Crying in H Mart is a food lover’s dream, but also a story that is pretty universal. Zauner doesn’t shy away from the nitty-gritty parts of her mother’s cancer, nor does she back off when things get ugly. Full of well-done prose, I think this book has gotten the hype it deserves. And it gives me more Japanese Breakfast content because of how the world loves her now—I’m a happy fan because of that.
Tastes Like War by Grace M. Cho
Tastes Like War is the academic cousin of Crying in H Mart. Cho’s mother suffered from severe mental illness and she, too, ended up dying quite young. But what’s interesting about Cho’s novel was the fact that her mother was also a prostitute during the era immediately after the Korean War, and she actually goes and breaks down the racism of her father and the people she grew up with. Cho uses the foundations of sociology and history to turn food and memory into something that can be pinpointed in history, which appealed to me more than Crying in H Mart because of how my interests align with this more.
The Business of Being a Writer by Jane Friedman
I don’t have anything intellectual to say about Friedman’s book because it’s pretty straightforward. As a writer taking a gap year before graduate school, I wanted to figure out the business side of things and how I could turn my brand into profit. It ended up working, even if I’m not making a lot of money right now, so I can say that the advice in this book is pretty solid. If you want to make money off of being a writer, you need to understand it takes a lot more than just actually writing your little poems and stories. They never teach you this in art school—you need to turn yourself into a marketing and business person to get yourself out there. This is a must-have book for any writer in my opinion.
Carefree Black Girls by Zeba Blay
I found out about Blay through another writer that I greatly admire, Fariha Roisin. They both did the Critics Academy with the NYFF in the same cohort I believe (don’t come at me if I’m wrong) and ended up starting a podcast together. Blay is best known for her film criticism about race and cinema, but she also came up with the hashtag Carefree Black Girl. This book is a series of essays about being a Black woman in film and popular culture then analyzing the role of Black women in entertainment history. This was a really fascinating book to break down and mull over, which is why it’s one of my favorite reads.
Lonely Castle in the Mirror by Mizuki Tsujimura
Lonely Castle in the Mirror isn’t something that I expected to really enjoy, but I did. It’s about a girl that’s bullied in a Japanese school, and one day she’s brought in this alternate universe in the mirror with a bunch of other children her age. They are then given the task of solving a big puzzle, but if they stay in the castle after a certain time, they’ll be eaten by the wolves. They all find out they’re bullied and learn to find solace within each other, making this book both heartbreaking and heartwarming to read. If you’re into fairytales and coming-of-age stories, then this is the novel for you.
2021 in films / television.
I work in arts/entertainment journalism, which means that I watch a ridiculous amount of television and films. I’m way deeper into the film side of things—in the second half of 2021 alone, I ended up watching 170 movies. This was also the year that I bought a MUBI subscription using my sister’s college email, began using Criterion on and off, and then bought AMC A List to see movies whenever it was safe enough to go into a theatre (aka: the off hours). I’ve never been so on top of cinema in my life, but it’s really paid off. The movies I’m listing here aren’t necessarily 2021 releases, but things I watched throughout the year and were absolutely blown away by.
Dune (2021)
Dune was something I did not expect to like at all. Dune can be problematic, especially the movie, because of how it uses Islamic aesthetics and stereotypes while not actually employing any individuals from MENA. I think criticism towards it in regards to that is extremely valid and justified, especially after reading the books. But Dune on a big screen in a movie theater is a love letter to cinema. It’s absolutely gorgeous, from the character’s outfits and designs to the actual world building of location. I think that Dune is a strong contender for some Oscars, especially Best Director, because you can tell Denis truly loved the books and put a lot of heart into this movie.
Yi Yi (2000) by Edward Yang
I’m insane for having not watched Yi Yi up until now, but, in my excuse, I didn’t have a Criterion account. I knew this is a movie that needs to be seen in high quality, and I was right, so I think I’m justified in having waited all this time. Yi Yi is a masterpiece and was Edward Yang’s final movie before dying quite young. Yang ended up winning Best Director at Cannes which is no surprise—the movie is just absolutely gorgeous and has so many complex layers to the storyline and cinematography.
Center Stage (1991) by Stanley Kwok
Center Stage is another one of my Criterion finds. It had its subtitled premiere on Criterion around the time I picked up a subscription for the first time, so when I actually sat down and watched it, I was completely blown away. It stars a young Maggie Cheung as the doomed Chinese silent actress Ruan Lingyu. Ruan is a fascinating figure in Chinese film history because she represents how the media can tear you apart; she ended up killing herself due to depression and the media exploiting the fact that she had an abusive relationship. Center Stage takes this smoky story and makes her more human by combining acted footage, interviews with people who knew Ruan, and actual footage from Ruan’s films.
My Love Don’t Cross that River (2013) by Jin Mo-young
This was one of the first things I watched when I picked up my MUBI subscription. Which, if you don’t have MUBI, get it. It’s the best thing that ever happened to me movie-wise. My Love Don’t Cross that River is a documentary about a Korean couple in the countryside who’ve been together for about seventy-ish years. The husband is slowly dying (he’s almost fifteen years old and is 98 at the start of the film) and this is juxtaposed with the loving moments they have left. It’s absolutely heartbreaking but teaches the viewers to cherish the moments they have left.
Belfast (2021)
I saw Belfast on chance with my AMC A List, and my god I’m so happy I did because this was my top release of 2021 in the English-speaking film world. I was also the only person under the age of sixty in the theatre, which clued me into the core audience of the film, but I absolutely loved it. It frames the Northern Irish Troubles under the lens of nine-year-old Buddy and his family’s experience in Belfast, but we see it through the eyes of an innocent child. Shot in black and white, I genuinely think the Everlasting Love dance sequence towards the end of the film was something beautiful, a release from all of the tension.
Arcane (2021)
This is the sole television release I was completely enamored with. It’s not because I mained Vi and Jinx when I used to play League, but because the storyline was absolutely gorgeous along with the animation. Arcane is only like eight episodes, but it really packs a punch in those episodes. You learn to love both Vi and Jinx and desperately wish to see them reunite, but because time has been cruel to them both, that may never truly happen.
2021 in places.
During the pandemic, my family really began to enjoy visiting outdoor places. After going to Maine in 2020, we continued this theme by going to Tennessee for our big family trip, which was an eight-hour drive from Maryland. We also started up a new tradition in which we visited somewhere local once a month on a Sunday, which was a lovely way to see things that we’d never known were around us. Here are my favorite places visited!
Hillwood Estate — Washington D.C.
The Hillwood Estate is tucked away in a part of Washington D.C. near the embassies—it’s actually right next to the Dutch embassy. It’s a private establishment you have to pay to enter, but it was the D.C. home of Majorie Merriweather Post of the cereal fortune. It has a bunch of lush gardens in the summer and spring you can walk through, but the main attraction is the home itself. She collected Romanov art during her lifetime, many of which were stolen by the Soviets and sold to her, and so if you’re into, say finding the Tsar’s egg collection gifted to his wife, you’ll find it her. Which is to say I absolutely loved this because I’m a big Romanov buff.
Gatlinburg, Tennessee
We technically went to Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg for our family vacation this year, but Pigeon Forge was extremely touristy and honestly gave me anxiety. Gatlinburg is closer to the Smoky Mountains National Park and is like a massive strip of stores, restaurants, and people, but it was much less anxiety-inducing that Pigeon Forge was. Being able to see the Smoky Mountains wherever you went in the town was very idyllic and scenic, which I enjoyed very much.
New York City
I’m going to be real—I’m not a big fan of New York City. As someone very conscious about money and spending, NYC was one of the worst places I could have ever lived in with a frugal mentality. It’s a place that also makes me very anxious, although I do enjoy just sitting on the subway for an hour. My suggestion for people like is visit but don’t live there—almost everything revolves around money in the city. I went for ten days to work at the theatre I work at and basically focused on eating my way through the city, which was a great time. I also saw Hadestown, which is the best musical I’ve ever seen. Absolutely beautiful use of the stage and set—it was theatre at its finest.
Harpers Ferry, West Virginia
I’ve been to Harpers Ferry National Park multiple times, but this was the first time I went in the fall. It was absolutely beautiful with the changing leaves! Harpers Ferry is famous because of how it was the location of the start of the American Civil War, and there’s a lot of mini-museums you can wander in and out of. Unfortunately, the majority of the town was destroyed by consistent flooding from the 1860s to 1930s, so there are no original structures really left. In the church, though, they have some of the originals like the organ and whatnot.
