When the pandemic began, I started logging all the media I consumed: movies and TV shows watched, books read, and audiobooks listened to. I have continued this every year since. For the movies, it is just an extension of collecting movie tickets for many years. As for everything else, it was the thing to do since I was logging my movies. What do I do with the lists? I use it to make my top 10 movies of the year, but the three other lists are just a time capsule of that year. Not anymore.

Here are the rules I laid down for myself. The TV shows must have aired this year, but the books and audiobooks can be from whenever because I am so backlogged on them that the odds of one being from the current year are slim.

Audiobooks

3) Cautionary Tales: Stephen Tobolowsky is an incredible storyteller. I have read this book, but to hear him read these stories was much better. You should also check out The Tobolowsky Files podcast if you want to hear more of his stories.

2) Mythos: The reason why I write is rooted in Greek mythology, and Stephen Fry's retellings of the Greek myths are one of the most entertaining ways to hear or, in my case, revisit them.

1) The Sandman Volume III: Neil Gaiman's The Sandman series is widely considered one of the greatest graphic novels ever written. This full-cast dramatization is so well done, and the cast is stacked.

Books

5) Sweet, Young, and Worried/Ephemera: This is a bit of a cheat. These two collections of poems written by Blythe Baird and Serria DeMulder, respectively, are full of heartbreak and joy.

4) The Song of Achilles: Written by Madeline Miller, this is the story of the Trojan War as told by Patroclus, a childhood friend and lover of Achilles. This book is so beautifully written, and the story is so compelling that this was one of the most leisurely reads for me this year.

3) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin: I read many graphic novels this year, but "The Last Ronin" by Kevin Eastman and Tom Waltz was, far and away, the best. Shredder has won, and New York City is under his control. Michelangelo, the last of the Turtles, reemerges after years in hiding to get revenge for the deaths of his brothers and Master Splinter. If your only exposure to the Turtles is the cartoons, you owe it to yourself to read this. It is incredible.

2) Working On A Song: To say I love the musical "Hadestown" is an understatement. I am obsessed. It was the best one I saw this past year. When I found out that Anaïs Mitchell released a book that detailed the evolution of the musical, of course, I was going to read it. The book presents the lyrics to the final version of the song. Then Mitchell goes through the changes (if any) the song had in the various productions that led up to its Broadway run.

1) Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow: I was recommended Gabrielle Zevin's book by two family members, and it did not disappoint. The book follows three friends as they create a successful video game company and the trials and tribulations along the way. If there is one book on this list that everyone should read, it is this one.

TV Shows

5) Silo Season 1: I have not read the books yet (see the previously mentioned backlog), but this first season of the show made them a priority. In the future, people live in an underground silo because the surface has become uninhabitable.

This show has a lot of mystery surrounding the world, including how the world came to be. The first season explores a conspiracy that mechanic-turned-sheriff Juliet (Rebecca Ferguson) investigates. She challenges those in power and questions the rules and norms that have been established. There is a lot I like about this first season. It harkens back to a show like "Lost," a show that blended mystery and characters.

4) The Fall of the House of Usher: I have been a huge Mike Flannigan fan since "The Haunting of Hill House," and this show does nothing to change that. Using the stories of Edgar Allen Poe, Flannigan tells the story of Rodrick Usher (Bruce Greenwood), his rise to power, and his fall as each family member meets an untimely death.

Full of great performances and inventive death scenes, this show had me riveted for its entire eight episodes. Flannigan has a knack for weaving stories and characters together in intriguing ways. I would not say this is the best of Flannigan's shows; that honor goes to "Hill House" or "Midnight Mass," but it is still better than many other shows.

3) The Bear Season 2: I watched both seasons of "The Bear" this year and was blown away. The second season has two of the greatest episodes of television; "Fishes" and "Forks." Those alone are reason enough for this show to get the praise it has received.

The show centers on Carmine (Jeremy Allen White) working to open a restaurant. The show is tense and chaotic, but at its core are the relationships between the staff. The episode "Forks" focuses on Richie (Edon Moss-Bachrach). He is a character I hated. He is the loud, combative "cousin" of Carmie, and I felt the performance was just "guy being an asshole." "Forks" is the episode that completely changed my opinion. Richie goes through so much growth in this episode; he goes from a guy just getting by to someone who cares and takes pride in his job. That episode and what he does in the finale make his arc over the two seasons something truly incredible.

2) Doom Patrol Season 4: This was the last season for this show and a fitting end to the weirdest, most heartwarming show in television history. To begin to describe this show would break your brain, so just know: The Doom Patrol is a group of misfits trying to be superheroes.

In the final episode, the big bad of the season is defeated in the first 10 minutes by a hoard of zombie butts (see what I mean about weird?) The rest of the episode is spent giving our heroes their happy endings. I would argue it is a better ending than the show I put at number one.

1) Succession Season 4: I binged the entire series this year, and it was worth it. Watching the final season in real time, reading articles, and listening to podcasts about it was as much a part of the series as the characters and story.

The show was the best-acted, best-written, and best-shot show on TV. It absolutely lived up to the hype. Unlike The Doom Patrol, the Roy children were never going to get their happy endings, but they each got the ending they deserved.