I love an end-of-year list. Give me your favorite books, songs, albums, movies, episodes, meals, whatever; I'll take 'em. So when December rolls around, I always ask the Porch Team to tell me their faves from the past 12 months. I tell them these can be anything, and they can sum up their picks as they see fit. I love the way we each take our own approach to this exercise. Hope you find something to explore below! —Susannah

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Katie: In September, I took a sabbatical to mark ten years with The Porch. For fourteen days, I walked the Camino de Santiago, an ancient pilgrimage route that winds through northern Spain. The Art of Pilgrimage: The Seeker's Guide to Making Travel Sacred by Phil Cousineau served as a companion before, during, and after my journey and was daily fodder for my Camino journal. Even now, I return to it—my notes and underlines remind me to seek meaning in experiences, pay attention to what lurks beneath the surface of places, and be intentional in crafting my days and ways.

If, as writers, our mentors live on our bookshelves, Liz Moore’s The God of the Woods was a master class in plot. In the early pages, a thirteen-year girl goes missing from a summer camp in the Adirondacks, August 1975. The plot thickens from there as the point of view of the various players winds in both past and present around the mystery (which is actually a whole pile of mysteries).  My friends, I could not put it down.

I suspect I’m late to the party, but I’ve been loving WMOT Roots Radio, 89.5. I came upon it by accident, scrolling through stations like we did in the old days. Now, it’s programmed in, and it seems like every time I push #5 on my radio dashboard, the song sings and zings for me. They’ve got my number.

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Susannah: For several weeks this summer I could not stop talking about the documentary Flipside, which is about a bunch of things: the challenge of pursuing creative practice while holding down a day job; record collecting; idiosyncrasy, the jazz photographer Herman Leonard, Ira Glass—I could go on. But the common denominator is passion. Also, it's funny. If you're a certain kind of Gen X person, you will fall head over heels for this film like I did. (If you are any other kind of person, I think you'll love it, anyway.) 

The best book I read this year, hands-down, was Kevin WIlson's Now Is Not the Time to Panic. I handed it off to my teenager and I'm happy to report she loved it as much as I did. The rush of creative process is at the heart of this story, and I love that it's set in Tennessee.

And in music, well, it was MJ Lenderman's year, for sure; I love Manning Fireworks, too. (That's kind of an MJL-fans inside joke.) But I can't not mention Neil Young. Though I've been listening to his music my entire life, 2024 was the year I officially became a Neil head.

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Halley:  This past year delivered a new album—Mahashmashana—from one of my long-time favorite music artists, Father John Misty. I've always been a sucker for FJM's lyrical style and vocals—who's better at delivering highly detailed, descriptive, borderline absurdist lyrics in a mournfully self-aware tone? (I aspire to it, though I should probably first work on learning to sing in any tone at all.)

And as a big fan of the color green and of musicals (with a special interest in the adaptation process), I have to put Wicked on the list. The Wizard of Oz has been a dear favorite of mine since childhood, and I was so lucky to see the Wicked stage show as a teen 18 years ago in NYC. I always relish the chance to dive deep into adaptational choices, even when I don't always agree with them, so this is the real Christmas for me -- and I love seeing so many people come out for a musical, even if it's not their usual thing. (Someday the masses will be converted.) If you don't have the time (or interest) to watch the 2hr40min (!!!) film, I still strongly recommend checking out this 22-minute video with the film's production designer Nathan Crowley -- you'll be amazed at how much thought, skill, and creativity was put into every landscape and set piece!

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Bonnie: 2024 challenged me in many unexpected ways, and I’m not sad to see it make its formal exit this December 31st. But fear not, fellow Porch Patrons, I used my positivity nunchucks to combat all that was 2024, and here are a few of my favorite things that made the year much more enjoyable.

Favorite Book: The Third Gilmore Girl: A Memoir

Favorite Children’s Book: If You Give a Mouse a Cookie

Favorite Bite: Yellowtail Yusheng at Choy

Favorite Artist: Shaboozey

Favorite Show: Shrinking

Favorite Sip: London Fog Latte at Edit

Nina: First up, music. For quite a few years, I’ve been listening to indie artist Waxahatchee. I was crazy about Saint Cloud (2020). My son and I listened to it all the way to New Mexico when I drove him out to school that spring, and I’m about to go back again and drive home to Nashville with him for the holidays. This time, we’ll be listening to Waxahatchee’s 2024 release, Tiger’s Blood, which I love just as much. I’ve also been listening to R&B artist Elmiene. His Light Work is on repeat with no sign of falling. 

Books: This year, I’ve been into Percival Everett’s work. Since I read the multi-faceted Erasure twice in a row over the summer, I’ve dabbled in the engaging first pages of James, which currently occupies the top of the throne that is my bedside bookstack. 

What else? Spice rec! Well, I’ve been cooking up new recipes with my favorite spice, cardamom. A sparkling cardamom-orange holiday ice cream made with candied orange peel is my spice rec. Enjoy! (edited) 

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Joe: Poet Bill Brown’s memorial event at the Southern Festival of Books. Bill was a beacon of creativity in Nashville for decades. In addition to his dozen plus books of poetry and pedagogy, he inspired several generations of writers as a teacher at Hume-Fogg and Vanderbilt. He taught Porch classes too, y’all. This guy was everywhere. The memorial featured poems, songs, and memories shared by Bill’s former students, friends, and collaborators. It was inspiring and humbling to hear accounts of his impact on individual writers and Nashville’s larger writing community. Bill had a big heart that made space for everyone. He kept showing up, day after day, for a lifetime. Everyone who knew him was forever changed. Check out his poems. You’ll be glad you did.

People watching at the Nashville Zoo. Every time I go to the Nashville Zoo, I see at least one child who is more excited about a squirrel than any of the majestic animals from the other side of the world. On our most recent visit, some of the more elusive animals were in full view. Three large tigers seemed like they were intentionally putting on a show the way they were pouncing and tumbling over each other only a few yards from a group of spectators. A young mother near me tried to make sure her son could see, but he was too preoccupied with a couple of ordinary box turtles that had perched on a rock. He kept yelling, “Look Mom, it’s Michelangelo!” Whether they’re inspired by tigers or turtles, it’s fun to be surrounded by people who are reconnecting with a sense of wonder.

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Yurina: My favorite book this year was See: Loss. See Also: Love by Yukiko Tominaga, a novel of interlinked stories following a Japanese woman grappling with grief, single-parenting, and that tricky word: love. It’s a masterful mix of whimsy and humor, even as it delves into serious themes, with an unforgettable Jewish mother-in-law to boot. 

For film, I adored Julio Torres’s Problemista—his surreal humor felt like a much-needed balm for the mind after a chaotic day. 

As for music, this was the year I picked up the electric bass and joined a neighborhood mom band! Playing Talking Heads’ “Psycho Killer” for our Halloween debut was a personal highlight, and I’ve had it on repeat ever since.

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