My favorite books, music, and movies of 2025.

My favorite books, music, and movies of 2024.

Here are my picks for the best movies, books, and albums of 2022.

Here are my 10 favorite songs from Poor Bishop Hooper’s EveryPsalm project, which set all 150 biblical psalms to music.

My annual recap of favorite movies, TV shows, albums, and books. 2021 edition.

If you enjoy Advent and Christmas music, take some time to watch these TGC concert presentations.

March 11 was only the beginning of a stretch of anxious weeks when I would return, almost daily, to the words of Psalm 46 and their reminder of our ever-present help in trouble.

A 75-song playlist with songs inspired by each of the six levels of the Wisdom Pyramid.

I love how Poor Bishop Hooper’s take on Psalm 1 puts a musical accent on the joy of those whose “delight is in the law of the Lord.” To meditate on God’s Word, to trust it and obey it, is not a legalistic chore. It’s a joy.

As we close the book on 2019 and as I prepare to create a blank 2020 Google document in a few days, here’s a look at what I appreciated most this year.

Hipster coffeeshops are not playing the hipster music of today. They are playing the hipster music from 10-20 years ago. Why?

There is a massive amount of great music being made today (and plenty of mediocre music), so one person’s list surely only scratches the surface. But for whatever it’s worth, here are the 2018-released albums, songs, and cover songs (in our overwhelming and confusing musical present, the past has become an important inspiration) I enjoyed the most.

A collection of some of my publications (movie reviews, essays, book excerpts, year-end lists, etc.) from August to December, 2017.

I maintain a Google document going each year that keeps track of the best music, movies, books, and TV I've enjoyed that year. Sometimes I even take note of best restaurants and food experiences. As we close the book on 2017 and as I prepare to create a blank 2018 Google document in a few days, here's a look at what made the cut in my favorites of 2017.

A few months ago I noticed that every hipster bar, coffeeshop and eatery I entered was playing a very specific type of music: songs that were good between 1995-2010. Hipster music and pop hits of the recent past. Early Arcade Fire. TLC's "No Scrubs." The Fugees. "Ghetto Superstar." Radiohead's "In Rainbows." I never heard any current music being played. It's as if the proliferation of good music in the Spotify Age has rendered it exhausting to even try to filter through the glut

“I Saw Christ Crying in Hermès.” That’s the name of the new single from little-known indie artist, Slow Dakota (real name: PJ Sauerteig), a Fort Wayne, Indiana-based singer/songwriter who often explores themes of religion in his lyrics. Listen to the song here. If you haven’t heard of Slow Dakota or if his style isn’t particularly palatable to you, that’s OK. It’s sort of the point actually.

It seems that every year there is more and more good music; perhaps even too much good music. I don’t know the reason for it, but I’m not complaining. Well, one complaint: Narrowing down favorites is harder than ever! The following is my somewhat arbitrary (likely to change) ranking of my favorite 25 albums and favorite 25 songs of 2015.

In the Christianity of my childhood, Easter Sunday was Cadbury eggs, brunch and celebratory church services full of rollicking hymns like “Up from the grave He arose.” In my adolescence and twenty-something years I became fond of celebrating Good Friday, a part of Easter weekend largely bypassed in my childhood. With its mournful tone and quieter focus on the cross, Good Friday was almost more compelling to my melancholy self than the joy of Easter.

For the past few years on this blog I have spent much of the month of December compiling best-of lists of various genres (books, movies, music, food). This year I've decided to list all my favorites of the year in one place. In addition to simply being a fun activity for me to reflect back on the year, I hope the following also serves the purpose of putting some good recommendations on your radar. Below are, in order, my favorite books, films, documentaries, TV shows, albums, songs and food experiences of 2014. What were your favorites of 2014?