We Present Our TENTH Best of List

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It’s been a year, folks. And for the tenth year in a row, we crowd-sourced our editing team for our “Best Of” finds and experiences for 2024. We proudly present to you, dear readers, our TENTH (how?! but it’s true!) annual Best Of list. Thanks for reading, subscribing, sharing, and keeping this all-volunteer run ship afloat.

 

Favorite book:

 

Kristin: Two come to mind. First, Andrea Levy’s prize-winning novel Small Island (2004), about a post-war Jamaican couple who travels to the UK in search of a better life and collides with a white British couple, exposing the complicated nature of race and immigration in twentieth-century England. Second, Max Liboiron’s brief but powerful Pollution is Colonialism (2021), a critical exploration of scientific research methods and their incorporation (or exclusion) of Indigenous practices and knowledge.

Minji: Amy Stanley’s Stranger in the Shogun’s City (2020). I love fact-based fiction and I am proud of myself reading a book not directly related to my research ( somehow related to my teaching though).

Averill: Sarah Handley, Marissa Rhodes, Elizabeth Masarik and I wrote and published a BEAUTIFUL book together this year! Spiritualism’s Place: Reformers, Seekers, and Seances in Lily Dale is, if I do say so myself, rich, compelling, fascinating history, but also a lot more personal than your typical academic work. It’s building on the Dig brand, so get a copy and gift it for your celebration of Jolabokaflod this year! Re: fiction, it’s a toss-up between Yangsze Choo’s The Fox Wife and Victoria E. Schwab’s The Fragile Threads of Power. I love Choo’s ability to weave Chinese mythology and folklore into beautiful stories of love, loss, and adventure. And Schwab’s London-based multiverse (which is, I think, one way to describe the worlds she has created) sucks me in immediately. Magic, violence, a bit of sex, political machinations, friendship… she’s got it all. But speaking of sex, if you’re just in it for the smut, I really enjoyed Kate Meader’s Rebel Rookies series. I didn’t think hockey rom-coms were for me, but she changed my mind.

Lizzie: Shred Sisters, by Betsy Lerner. Full disclosure: We went to summer camp and high school together. But I can still be objective! Even the NYT said this is one of the year’s best books! Here’s what I wrote for Goodreads:

Betsy Lerner has the rare ability to write about complex ethical issues (in this case, watching the effects on a family of an older sister’s struggles with bipolar disorder) in a way that also makes you laugh. In Shred Sisters, the laughs come from the younger sister, Amy’s, perspective, as she grows up while watching her older sister, Ollie, shred the family, despite their desperate attempts to help her. Amy is dealing with her own issues, which aren’t nearly as chaotic and unhinged as Ollie’s but are compelling nonetheless. I loved the evolving relationship between the two sisters (and their parents) and the parallel interplay between their psychologies and the broader family dynamics. Lerner has an exquisite eye for detail and an ear for dialogue; every character in this book is exactly right. She fuses the novel’s minor and major tragedies with her dry wit, judgment, and humor as Amy navigates her life decisions on her path to a balanced adulthood.

Vicki: I love to read or listen to books that align with my travels. This year’s drive through the Southwest was accompanied by Willa Cather’s Death Comes for the Archbishop. The picture it painted of the landscape was a lovely accompaniment to the view out the window (even if her perspectives on Catholic colonization were extremely dated). I also picked up Andrés Reséndez’s The Other Slavery: The Uncovered Story of Indian Enslavement in America, which was beautifully written.

Diana: Four books come to mind: Nima Bassiri’s Madness and Enterprise (2024), a comprehensive social history if you want to know more about the relationship between capital, entrepreneurship, and medicine at the turn of the century. Han Suyin’s Winter Love (1962), a long forgotten lesbian love story from post-World War II England, which recently got republished with McNally. Phillip DeLoria’s Becoming Mary Sully (2019) reclaiming the unknown Native American artist Mary Sully, his relative and an exquisite draughtswoman working in the first half of the 20th century. Also Ice by Anna Kavan (1967). Dystopia, fairytale, and sci-fi all in one, plus awfully prescient of political and ecological collapse and women’s roles in it.

Sarah: I honestly read mostly for escapism, so this year – as every other year – my Goodreads is almost entirely romances. HEA or GTFO. But this year, I also read two thoughtful and important new books: Elle Reeve’s Black Pill: How I Witnessed the Darkest Corners of the Internet Come to Life, Poison Society, and Capture American Politics and Jesselyn Cook’s The Quiet Damage: QAnon and the Destruction of the American Family. I’ve been a huge fan of Elle Reeve’s work since her reporting at the Charlottesville Unite the Right rally in 2017, and this book was the deep dive into that world that I’d long hoped she’d produce. Nursing Clio readers might be particularly interested in her exploration of women in far right and white supremacist groups, which she analyzes with the help of Andrea Dworkin’s classic Right Wing Women. Jesselyn Cook is deeply empathetic to her subjects, many of whom found themselves embedded in QAnon conspiracy or lost loved ones to the delusion. Neither are particularly happy reads, but they both helped me to better understand the worlds of the far right.

Udo: My Friends by Hisham Matar. A powerful work of historical fiction that tells the story of 3 Libyan friends living in London as exiles.

Favorite album or song:

Kristin: I’ve had Tyla’s self-named album on repeat all year long. In fact, I’m listening to it as I write this…

Minji: Rosé & Bruno Mars’ APT!

Averill: The students in my first-year seminar at St. Olaf College – Love in History – had to pick out love songs from the 1920s, 1950s, 1980s, and last 10 years so that we could examine these as artifacts of their time, and discuss how the language, tone, euphemism, etc. of love songs has or hasn’t changed in 100 years. Then, unprompted, they made a Spotify playlist out of the songs! And that was what we listened to the day after the election, when we were all feeling too many feelings to have productive conversations. So I share our Songs of Love with you.

Lizzie: Noah Kahan’s, Stick Season, calls me every time. I love all the songs.

Vicki: My mind is too chaotic to ever listen to just one thing but I did jump on the Chappelle Roan train.

Courtney: I jumped on the Chappell Roan train with Vicki, but otherwise I am a basic bitch (i.e., a Swiftie).

Sarah: My girls and I sang in the car to a lot of Olivia Rodrigo, Noah Kahan, and Chapelle Roan, but it was Taylor Swift’s Tortured Poets Department that resonated deeply with me. What woman in academia hasn’t had to say to herself, “I can do it with a broken heart?”

Udo: my favorite album this year was metamorphosis by infinity song. The band is composed of 4 siblings and as a lover of indie and alternative rock, it makes me so happy to see greater visibility of Black artists in this space.

Favorite TV show, movie, or live performance:

Averill: Yo, Heretic and Blink Twice were both intense and very good horror films. 10/10. I also really enjoyed watching Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt in The Fall Guy. For TV, House of the Dragon season 2 did not disappoint, and though Abbott Elementary has been as good as always this year (yay for interoffice romance!), The English Teacher is probably my favorite comedy right now. It’s absurd and very funny.

Kristin: The End We Start From (2023). After London floods sometime in the future, a mother and her baby navigate the English countryside as climate refugees. I watched it on an international flight this summer, and it left me speechless.

Lizzie: Somebody Somewhere on Max is amazing. Each episode covers so much emotional territory! I’m so sad that this is the last season.

Vicki: Binge-watching is my go-to form of relaxation so there are many shows to name! Most recently, I enjoyed the return of the rom-com in Nobody Wants This. At the movies, I enjoyed the slow drama, cinematography, and acting of Conclave.

Diana: Interview with a Vampire, seasons 1 and 2, on AMC+ (and Netflix too, I believe). Lux vampires in turn of the century New Orleans and postWWII Paris. The writing and settings are so detailed and lush, I could live in this world forever. Also, an unexpectedly pointed look at grief and shame. Honorable mention to The Newsreader (seasons 1 and 2). Never expected to feel so much about 1980s Australian public broadcasting!

Courtney: Dune 2 stan checking in! Also, while I have watched a lot of new television (and old—I rewatched every single Mike Flanagan series) over the past year, what I’ve most enjoyed has been watching the 1950s series Perry Mason for the first time. While it is as problematic as any cultural product of the time, it is a charming and surprisingly addictive watch. This one started as my husband’s thing, and now I’ve been sucked in. You can watch all 271 episodes on Paramount Plus.

Sarah: I get to very few movies these days, but there’s always time for binging! My house was obsessed with Agatha, All Along, though the end made me cry my eyes out. (Now we sing The Witches Road constantly!) Like Vicki, I loved Nobody Wants This, which got me through election week.

Udo: I don’t watch much TV but I got really into Yellowjackets this year. Think Lord of the Flies, but instead it’s a girls high school soccer team stranded in the Canadian wilderness.

Favorite podcast:

Averill: Well obviously Dig: A History Podcast, but I say that every year, so instead, and I should probably be embarrassed, but looking back on the things I listened to this year (I should say so far… there are still 4 weeks of December!), my favorite was the one that made me laugh the most, and that was by far Murder on Sex Island: A Luella Van Horn Mystery by Jo Firestone. And I definitely recommend listening – it’s a free podcast version of a book, and the way Jo delivers her own writing is too perfect to pass up. Please have a listen if you need a laugh.

Kristin: This fall, I excitedly revisited The Atlantic’s mini-series Floodlines when I had my students listen to an episode. The podcast tells the story of Hurricane Katrina largely from the perspective of New Orleans’s Black community. Host Vann R. Newkirk II really does an excellent job weaving together dozens of voices over eight insightful and beautifully written episodes.

Lizzie: I continue to love Esther Perel, Where Should We Begin? I even had to subscribe so I wouldn’t miss a single word she says!

Courtney: I am a huge fan of Too Scary, Didn’t Watch, as a horror movie fan who is (mostly) too scared to watch scary movies, this very funny recap podcast is perfect for me. Sometimes it even emboldens me to watch horror movies I thought I wouldn’t be able to handle! I also want to shout-out my previous favorite podcast, which ended its run last year: Muscialsplaining. I still re-listen frequently and mourn its passing.

Sarah: Dig, obviously. I listen to an absurd number of podcasts. I cannot recommend Murder on Sex Island enough – it is so hilarious it will lift your mood for days. I continue to be a policy wonk for Knowledge Fight. I’m devastated at the end of my favorite podcast of all time this year, Oh No Ross and Carrie. But probably my favorite new-to-me podcast is Annie Agar’s Offensive Line, which is a very cute and funny podcast about the NFL.

Favorite board, video, or online game:

Averill: I’ve played Wyrmspan, Frosthaven, and So Clover the most this year, and I expect they will continue to be favorites in the coming year!

Vicki: I still am up for a game of Wingspan, though my passion has waned slightly in recent months. Our family also returned to Carcassonne over the Thanksgiving holiday.

Kristin: I’ve gotten into an end-of-day unwinding routine that involves playing solitaire with physical cards while listening to a podcast episode. While it’s not a board game, it’s a puzzle game that’s calming with a small challenge, much needed after a long day of teaching, meetings, and writing.

Courtney: I am completely unashamed to say that my favorite video game of the year was Power Wash Simulator, the most soothing game for a not-soothing year. As for board games, I tried a lot of new ones this year, but my favorite was Mysterium, which might be described as playing Clue from the perspective of the murder victim, sending dreams to the other players to try to help them solve your murder. Best played with people you know very well—and you’ll learn a lot of new things about how their minds work, based on how they use the very abstract card set to shape and interpret dreams of a vengeful ghost.

The unexpected little things that brought you the most joy:

Minji: I started calligraphy again!

Vicki: Text chains with my work friends, trying new recipes (trés leches mashed potatoes were amazing!), and watching Duke basketball with my husband with the fireplace on blast!

Sarah: Reuniting with my best friends. Our trip to New Orleans for OAH and then our little book tour for Spiritualism’s Place are my most cherished memories from this year.

Averill: This ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Kristin: When we moved to St. Louis in August, we ended up in a townhome with a wood-burning fireplace (!). We used it for the first time the weekend after Thanksgiving, with our first snowfall. As the wood crackled, I sat on the couch with my hot tea and took in the scene: the decorated Christmas tree in the corner, a growing fire with kindling and two small logs, the lantern’s candle lit on the mantelpiece, and our twinkling lights out the window. It just made me feel so happy and whole despite everything else going on.

Udo: I got into the aerial arts this year and it has been quite exhilarating.

The charity or philanthropic organization you’re supporting this year:

Kristin: For a few years now, I’ve bought my holiday cards from UNICEF, a consistently top-rated UN charity that actually spends money the way they claim to do. This year, though, it seems like it’s even more important to donate to the organization, given the important public health and other local, on-the-ground work they’re doing in conflict and war zones like Gaza, Sudan, and Ukraine. So, I’m supporting UNICEF and the children and families they serve. (You can find their great locally made market here – for all occasions, not just the holidays!)

Averill: I’m planning to make cold weather kits to donate to a local shelter serving unhoused folks, and with it already hitting the teens in Minnesota this week, I think I’d better move sooner rather than later. As always I donate to the ACLU, Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas, and the Trevor Project.

Lizzie: Pregnancy Justice (defends the civil and human rights of pregnant people); Advocates for Trans Equality; Talia’s Voice: Projects for Patient Safety (works on changing the culture of medicine); interACT: Advocates for Intersex Youth; and Earthjustice will probably be my top ones this year.

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Featured image: “Best of 2024.” Created by Averill Earls