Here are the Very Best books, theatre, and film I consumed this year.

In each category, the list is in chronological order, with links to previous posts if relevant. Enjoy!

BOOKS

To tackle your creative fears and just do it, read The Flinch by Julien Smith [tiny and free – download here].

To find your inner goddess, travel the world, and discover new micro-pleasures to adore, read The Goddess Experience by Gisèle Scanlon.

For the courage to dare, or at least, to live vicariously through someone who does, read Psychovertical by Andy Kirkpatrick, one of the craziest and inspiring mountaineers ever, who happens to be an awesome writer.

For enjoying London aesthetically, consult London Style Guide: Eat Sleep Shop by Saska Graville.

Or, if you aren’t visiting London, get the Wallpaper* City Guide. I can vouch for the Boston and Seattle editions.

For a hilarious and heartfelt story of a clever daughter and a gone-crazy yet brilliant mother, read Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple.

For finding something to read that is exactly suited to your place in life, read The Novel Cure by Ella Berthoud and Susan Elderkin.

For fairy tale characters with a twist, read the comic series Fables, starting with Fables: Legends in Exile by Bill Willingham.

For assurance that you should keep going with your brilliant creative ideas because everyone has to start somewhere, read The Pixar Touch by David A. Price.

For appreciating genius children and entertainment that exercises your brain, read Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card.

THEATRE

For brilliant acting and an enjoyable look into recent British history, catch an encore screening of Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth II in The Audience.

For an exciting new play about China, America, history, politics, and especially journalism and stories, I hope Lucy Kirkwood’s Chimerica returns because it was awesome.

For complete immersion and magical brilliance, catch Punchdrunk’s The Drowned Man at Temple Studios [London]. Closes 23 February, 2014.

For a wowing, relevant, and hilarious show, watch Boston’s famous and ever-evolving Blue Man Group – the one show I would recommend to everybody.  

FILM

For a gorgeously exciting, and violent, break from reality, indulge in Gangster Squad.

For retro video game nostalgia combined with lovable and hilarious characters, catch one of Disney’s best, and certainly most underrated film, Wreck-It Ralph.

For the perfect balance of traditional and modern Shakespeare, set in director Joss Whedon’s own idyllic home, watch Much Ado About Nothing.

For a guilty glimpse into tainted luxury, watch The Bling Ring, and reflect on materialism and celebrity culture.

For characters that are so real and lovable that they’re more like friends than fiction, watch the hilarious The Way Way Back.

For a geek-themed underdog comedy, watch Owen Wilson and Vince Vaugn intern at Google in The Internship, what I see as the live-action version of Monsters University.

For the story behind a beloved story [Mary Poppins], watch the immensly enjoyable Saving Mr Banks, which dazzles with storybook magic and stars the more-lovable-than-ever duo, Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson.

P.S. Working on my reading and watching lists for 2014! What do you recommend?