Books
Sam Bates
I read “The Moonstone” by Wilkie Collins this year for a mystery fiction class, and I loved it! If you love the mystery genre, this book pretty much started half the classic tropes of the genre!
Owen Noble
“God Bless You Mr. Rosewater” by Kurt Vonnegut. Kurt’s witty writing style makes me happy 🙂 He’s also a Carnegie Mellon alum! If you hate rich people, you might like this book.
Lily Stern
“Giovanni’s Room” by James Baldwin. I don’t read for fun anymore, because all I do for school is read, and read, and read so much more. That being said, this was a book I was glad to devote brain space to — devastating and hopeful in equal measure, and a true modern classic.
Sofia Johnson
“The Song of Achilles” by Madeline Miller. It’s an absolutely gorgeous book with gorgeous writing. I cried (like, ugly cried) twice while reading it.
Hailey Cohen
“Half of a Yellow Sun” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. It’s a harrowing, intimate, beautiful picture of life during the Biafran War in 1960s Nigeria. Adichie captures themes of familial love, romantic love, and the strains of those bonds in wartime as well as the political transition from a colony to an independent state. Each character is so unique and compelling, and having read this after watching the movie, I felt like my perception was enriched because I could better visualize the setting. I truly felt immersed while reading this book, which is what I am always seeking from my books.
Emma Rogers
“Lady of Darkness” by Melissa K. Roehrich. I don’t read deep books. Sue me. But this one had some of the best characters and world-building I’d seen in a while for a romantic fantasy book, so much so that I read the entire series (yes, even the 650-page book four and 750-page book five) during finals week last spring. Was that possibly the worst time to start a series that’s over 3,000 pages long? Yes, but I still passed my classes, so it’s fine.
Savannah Milam
“Viewpoint” by Jon M Chu. This book is a memoir by Jon Chu, who directed movies like Crazy Rich Asians, In the Heights, and Wicked. It gave me so much insight into the film industry and what it takes to make a movie. There are so many kernels of wisdom on directing and storytelling that I couldn’t help but highlight while I was reading. I highly recommend it if you’re interested in filmmaking or just want to be inspired by someone so passionate about what they do.
Anna Cappella
My favorite book I read this year was “Carrie” by Stephen King. I saw the musical last year and was inspired to read the book. I thought it was so much better than the musical, and I loved all the gory details in it. I loved the way he tried to make her superpower scientific, the use of religion in horror, and the part at the end where the live electrical wires on the ground electrocute people. (I didn’t love that people died, obviously, I just thought it was a creative addition to the hellish last scene.)
Haley Williams
“The Wrath and the Dawn,” Renée Ahdieh. Three words: Enemies to lovers.
Jennifer Bortner
“The Hunger of Women” by Marosia Castaldi, translated by Jamie Richards, is one of the weirdest, most enrapturing books I’ve ever read. Rosa, a middle-aged widow, moves from Naples to the Italian Lombardy province, where she opens a restaurant. Adjusting to her new life, Rosa’s mind wanders through loneliness, various pleasures, and the particular complexities of relationships between women. The novel is also completely devoid of punctuation, enhancing a prose style that is deliciously overwhelming.
Holly Wang
“Simple Passion” by Annie Ernaux. Like the title, this book is quite simple. It’s a first-person confession of a woman’s love and desire for someone she has a passion for. It reveals the most raw emotions that usually belong to one’s private sphere. But I think it’s a powerful exposé, if you will. This is the most human and honest experience I have had on paper.
Courtney VanAuken
“Committed: On Meaning and Madwomen” by Suzanne Scanlon. I got to read this book over the summer. I got it from the library after having been on the waitlist to check it out. I have never waited on a waitlist for a book, but as I read through the memoir, I understood why people were trying to get their hands on the book, and I worked through it as quickly as possible to ensure that more people would be able to get the book in their hands as quickly as possible. It’s an emotional reflection on Scanlon’s experience with the New York State Psychiatric Institute having been committed as a student at college. It’s brilliant and easily the best memoir to have been released in 2024.
TV/Movies
Sam Bates
“Clue” (1985). It was wonderful.
Owen Noble
“I Saw the TV Glow” by Jane Schoenbrun; For context my name is Owen, I worked a part-time job at a movie theater, and I got really into movies after a family member had a serious health issue. This movie is about this kid named Owen, who worked a part-time job at a movie theater, and got really into movies after a family member had a serious health issue. I feel like I’ve been spied on.
Lily Stern
“Grey’s Anatomy.” Before I get strange looks, it is not because I think all 20.5 released seasons are high-quality. I can probably only say the first six to 10, depending on who you ask, are good, and all of my favorite characters are long gone. But there is just so much of this show, and it’s eaten my brain for the past several months, and I unfortunately don’t stop thinking about it.
Sofia Johnson
“Bottoms.” I think it’s genuinely one of the funniest and campiest movies I’ve ever seen. Also, Ayo Edebiri is amazing.
Natalie Koch
My favorite movie from 2024 was “Saturday Night!” I’m a loyal SNL fan and I think they did such a great job with this film.
Emma Rogers
“Young Royals.” An iconic Netflix show out of Sweden, “Young Royals” is about a prince finding love at his all-boys boarding school and dealing with the implications of being thrust into the crown. I binged the first season my senior year of high school and here I am binging Season 3 my senior year of college. It’s such a classic coming-of-age story but in a new form, I just had to give it a shoutout.
Savannah Milam
“The Umbrellas of Cherbourg.” This movie literally changed my life. The music, the story, the visuals, everything was just next level and has inspired me so much as someone who wants to make movie musicals.
Anna Cappella
This year, I watched “Sex and the City.” Nothing has ever been so important or added to the culture of my life in such a significant way. I remember as a kid hearing that my mom and my super cool aunt would watch it and it always seemed so off-limits to me. Getting to watch it on my own felt like a true coming-of-age, and it made me reflect so much on relationships from my life (and from my friends’ lives) as well as my relationship with being a woman. Fabulous, fabulous, fabulous piece of media, which reminded me why I love being alive.
Haley Williams
“Deadpool and Wolverine.” Don’t let anyone lie to you — this is a rom-com. It’s delightful the whole way through, and just so much fun.
Holly Wang
“Girls.” I randomly started this show and have since recruited my friend and boyfriend to watch it together. This show is a lot of things, and I think however I decide to describe it will do it injustice. A rare glimpse into realistic and flawed real humans’ lives.
Courtney VanAuken
“The Graduate” is easily my most rewatched movie of 2024. Dustin Hoffman’s eyes carry such sadness and melancholy envelops his soul. Each time I rewatch I am torn between whether I am more of a Benjamin or an Elaine, why not both? Let’s not look into it too much.
Zachary Gelman
I re-watched “Fargo” Season 2 with some good friends of mine and had a great time. I highly recommend it.
Madison Kwo
“10 Things I Hate About You.” One of my friends has been trying to get me to watch this movie for four or five years, and I wish I’d gotten around to it sooner. I was so delighted by any scene with dialogue obviously pulled directly from “The Taming of the Shrew.” It’s the perfect 1990s romcom, and my new life aspiration is to become Kat Stratford. No notes.
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