2011 Best Of

My twin brother, Tucker, and I have been making lists for a long, long time. And so we present to you our shared "2011 Best Of" list, noting notables in the world of music, literature, and film.

Best Albums of 2011

The Whole Love--Wilco

Helplessness Blues--The Fleet Foxes

Bon Iver--Bon Iver

The Magic Place--Julianna Barwick

Summer Echoes--Sin Fang

Love & War & The Sea In Between--Josh Garrels

The King of Limbs--Radiohead

The kids know all the words to most every song on Helplessness Blues, as we played it all summer (thank you, Mark Wright!). "Calgary" by Bon Iver is perhaps the best song I've heard in 10 years. Numerous bands caught our attention at least for a little bit (our honorable mention)--The Head and the Heart, Florence + the Machine, Eleanor Friedberger, and The Weeknd).

Best Movies of 2011

Melancholia, 13 Assassins, Ip Man 2

Pretty much the only truly interesting movies I saw in 2011. In fact, I maybe saw only three movies over the course of the year--pathetic (not my movie-going tendencies, but the number of movies that look even mildly interesting). I do desire to see Hugo, The Descendants, Tree of Life, Muppets, and Midnight in Paris.

Best Books of 2011

Union with Christ: Reframing Theology and Ministry for the Church by J. Todd Billings

Iron War by Matt Fitzgerald

King's Cross by Timothy Keller

Most of my time was spent reading very large, dense, and older books by N.T. Wright, Moshe Halbertal & Avishai Margalit, Dorothy Sayers, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, C.S. Lewis, and G.K. Chesterton.