Today, your highly personal, hyperspecific best-ofs of 2024.
It’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 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.
