Good morning. Today, your highly personal, hyperspecific best-ofs of the year.
Our favorite thingsIt’s that time of year when things wind down, when people start putting things off until after the holidays, until January, until next year. I find this comforting, like 2024 is full, we’re buttoning it up and packing it away. We couldn’t possibly squeeze in another project or plan. I’ve lost count of the number of conversations and lunch dates and meetings I’ve committed to “when we’re all back.” Can January even contain all the planning we’ve flung in its direction? Not for us to figure out today, Dec. 21, the shortest day of the year. Winter arrived in the Northern Hemisphere at 4:20 Eastern this morning, and if you slept in, it may already feel as if the sun is setting. I’m so grateful to all the readers of The Morning who sent in their highly specific, personal best-of lists for the year. I’ll be filling time, dark and light, with so many of these favorites over the holidays. (See previous years’ reader best-ofs here and here.) Some highlights of my own: The best book I read was “All Fours,” by Miranda July. The most mind-rattling magic show I saw was Joshua Jay’s “Look Closer.” The best sandwich I had was the result of my yearlong effort to reconstruct one I loved in college, the Roma from the long-shuttered Cafe Europa in Charlottesville, Va.: cucumber, mozzarella, alfalfa sprouts, artichoke hearts, balsamic vinegar and olive oil on fresh baguette. (I still don’t have the proportions down.) The theatrical performance during which I cried the most was “Illinoise” at the Park Avenue Armory. The least “me” beverage I started drinking regularly was hot mint tea. The best song I found for relieving a foul mood was “Blame Brett” by The Beaches. The most reliable music I found for wallowing in a blue mood was the oeuvre of Charlotte Cornfield. The best stuff you didThe best event that Elaina Kane of Goshen, Ind., hosted was an open mic night in the yard with friends. Why aren’t we all doing this? The best weekend luxury, according to Shelby Yuan of Chicago, is the “post-breakfast nap.” Grayson Hester of Atlanta’s best realization was finally accepting that his current city isn’t for him, and that a move would make him happier. “The rumors are true,” Sarah McKetta of New York reports: The best kitchen upgrade is an induction stove. The best phone call that Ruby Swafford of Virginia Beach made this year was an international call to her dance teacher. “She told me that she is proud of me and that I deserve to choose happiness in this life,” Ruby wrote, “while I cried to her and told her that I was finally going to try to come out to my parents.” And the best drink that Jennifer Phipps of Orlando, Fla., discovered this year was a glass of moscato with an Amarena cherry and syrup dropped in. “It’s like a little celebration you can throw for yourself,” she reports. Your best in cultureSo many cultural artifacts came up over and over in readers’ favorites of 2024. You’re wild for the shows “Somebody Somewhere,” “The Diplomat,” “Shrinking” and, for the second year running, “Slow Horses.” The movies “Conclave” and “Perfect Days” were favorites. The books “James,” by Percival Everett; “The Women, by Kristin Hannah; and “Orbital,” by Samantha Harvey came up repeatedly. For music, the most-mentioned were Chappell Roan, Taylor Swift, Beyoncé and Hozier. A bunch of you cited “Oh, Mary!” as the best theater they saw this year. Best rediscovered song that I completely forgot about: “Catch,” by the Cure — Alfred Sainato, Metuchen, N.J. Best line from Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem “Frost at Midnight”: “Quietly shining to the quiet Moon.” I want that line on my tombstone. — James Berkman, Boston Best way to avoid spiraling into despair: Get really into the show “9-1-1” and live text your friends about it. — M. Flanders, Philadelphia Best song to belt on a warm day at sunset: “Pink Skies” by Zach Bryan. — Jenna Wolfenson Foster, Chicago Best old music rediscovered: REO Speedwagon. — Mattea S., Seattle Best use of airline miles: PHL to DUB for the Eras Tour. — Chloe Wynn, Wayne, Pa. Your best changes to routinesThe best new tradition that Pedro San Antonio in Ann Arbor, Mich., started was listening to an album a day. The best thing Kaydie Milks of Brooklyn did for herself was to record at least one positive thing each day on her “Tell Me Something Good List” while struggling with depression. “Over time, it became easier to find the positives,” she wrote, “and now I’ve got a record of so many small memories that would’ve otherwise been forgotten.” Pam Francis of Southlake, Texas, has been working on self-care, too. She made all her passwords “words of affirmation” and set up a monthly flower delivery to herself. And the best way to attain a gratitude perspective, wrote Lucia Boyd of Chicago, is to imagine you’re an extraterrestrial, “observing the wonders of the world (cats, wind, pizza) with new curiosity.” Even more bestsBest rediscovered time of day: Dawn. — Nancy Minerva, Escondido, Calif. Best chair: An elegant, wooden-frame dining chair at a shop in Edinburgh, upholstered with a plush geometric velvet fabric. — Colin Long, Berkeley, Calif. Best thing I can say about my worst enemy: He’s not a twin. — Mark Johns, Austin, Texas. Best compliment: Praised for my immaculate colon during a colonoscopy. — Mona Zutshi Opubor, Lagos, Nigeria Best overheard conversation: “Not this time, Henry.” — Woman to dog trying to pull her toward the Petco entrance at 86th and Lex. — Charlotte Choinski, New York Best new thing to learn about your mom: That she once caught a hummingbird in her hands that was trapped indoors and let it go outside. — Abra Star McNair, Portland, Ore. Best bug: Oakworm moth. — Skylar Rutledge, Memphis Best surprise: Rekindling my relationship with my sister. — Daniel Fitzgerald, Washington, D.C. Best road rage cure: Sandhill cranes on the side of the highway. — Marcella Kearns, Milwaukee
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