2013: My Top 5 Movies, TV Shows + Books

I love reading end of year lists. I love seeing the popular opinion on top movies, books, fashion, etc. and how it compares with what I think. Last year I shared my top 10 movies of 2012. I planned to do my top 10 movies of 2013, but as I was looking back I honestly couldn’t find 10 movies that I would want on my list. (yikes!) So I decided to shorten it and add a few of my other tops from this year as well.

Enjoy! Let me know what your favorites were this year!
xo xo

M O V I E S 

5. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Catching Fire was my favorite book of the series, so they had a lot to live up to, and they did. 10 times better than the first movie and of course Jennifer Lawrence is flawless.

4. Mud
Skeptical at first going into this movie since I didn’t know a thing about it, I walked out in awe at how much I enjoyed it. Maybe because I can semi-relate to the rural Arkansas lifestyle or because Matthew McConaughey had his best performance I’ve seen. Either way, you need to see it.

3. The Spectacular Now
This is the best indie movie since Garden State. It’s beautiful, it’s touching, it’s heart-wrenching. You will fall in love with Shailene Woodley and newcomer Miles Teller and reminisce about your first love.

2. Rush
What a RUSH! Bad pun, I know, but I absolutely loved this movie. It made something I wasn’t interested in (racing) very interesting and you were hooked until the last second.

1. Gravity
There literally are no words that can describe this movie. I didn’t think I was breathing the entire movie. Even after the movie I was unsure. Outstanding.

(Note: I’m still dying to see the following – The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Wolf of Wall St., Inside Llewelyn Davis, Dallas Buyers Club, Saving Mr. Banks)

T E L E V I S I O N  S H O W S

5. Parks and Recreation
Somehow I’ve gone several years without seeing this show and I’m kicking myself for it. However, binge-watching this over the summer might have been more fun. I love Tom Haverford … and Leslie Knope … and Andy Dwyer … and Ron Swanson … I love them all!

4. House of Cards
The second season starts streaming on Netflix Feb. 14. No lie, all I want for Valentine’s Day is just to make dinner and binge-watch it with Husband. That’s saying something!!

3. The Walking Dead
Yes, this is a great show, but maybe I’ve loved it this year more because we’ve started watching it every Sunday night with a group of friends and that makes everything better. (Husband will definitely be mad at me for not putting this first … but I just adore Mindy Lahiri and Olivia Pope more than zombies!)

2. The Mindy Project
This has by far been the best sitcom of the year. The first season was shaky, but this season has been hilarious. The addition of Peter and Cliff to the series has been brilliant.

1. Scandal
Somehow this show just keeps getting better and better and better. I never know what to expect each episode, except for glamorous Miss Pope and her big glass of vino. #Olitz4Eva

B O O K S 

5. Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg
Practical, honest and smart, this book opened my eyes and gave me the power and perspective I needed to continue in my life and career.

4. The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer
A grown-up version of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, this was an easy book to read, but with more depth and wit than you’d expect. 

3. 7 – An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess by Jen Hatmaker
This book has changed the way I think about everything. Read it and challenge yourself. Learn about my challenge here.

2. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Intrigue, suspense, love, drama and it’s currently in works to be a movie starring Ben Affleck. I could not put this book down.

1. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? And Other Concerns by Mindy Kaling
I love Mindy Kaling. I love her writing style. I love her humor. I love her personality. Enough said. (Have I said how much I love her?)