In 2011, the director Steven Soderbergh made a list of everything that he read or watched for the entire year. This year, I’m doing the same thing. Compilation began on my 26th birthday, October 23rd 2013, and, barring any unforeseen interruptions, the list will be completed on my 27th birthday, October 23rd 2014. The notation key is included below. I fully endorse everything on this list with my whole entire heart.
BPoFD ’13-’14 Consumption List Notation Key
All caps, bold: MOVIE
All caps: TV SERIES
Italics: Book
Quotation Marks: “Play”
Italics, Quotation Marks: “Short Story”
BPoFD ’13-’14 Consumption List
10/23: “The Bear Came Over the Mountain,” Alice Munro
10/24: BROOKLYN NINE-NINE (1), NEW GIRL (1), PARENTHOOD (1)
10/26: REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER (1), 12 YEARS A SLAVE, GREENBERG
10/27: THE LAST DAYS OF DISCO, MANHATTAN, THE HUNGER GAMES, “Samsa in Love,” Haruki Murakami
10/28: “Weight Watchers,” Thomas McGuane
10/29: “Scenes of the Crime,” Cormac McCarthy, “Meet the President,” Zadie Smith
10/31: Bleeding Edge, Thomas Pynchon, THE RETURNED (1)
11/02: REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER (1), HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER (1), LIFE ACCORDING TO SAM, THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS, MOONRISE KINGDOM
11/03: AND EVERYTHING IS GOING FINE, Catching Fire, Suzanne Collins, BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR
11/04: SLEEPY HOLLOW (1), Eastbound & Down (1)
11/06: AZIZ ANSARI: BURIED ALIVE, Eastbound & Down (1)
11/07: First as Tragedy, Then as Farce, Slavoj Zizek, Parenthood (2)
11/08: FLIGHT
11/09: REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER (1), BROOKLYN NINE NINE (1)
11/10: NEW GIRL (1), THE RETURNED (1)
11/11: “Find the Bad Guy,” Jeffery Eugenides, The Orphan Master’s Son, Adam Johnson, SLEEPY HOLLOW (1), HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER (1)
11/12: BLACK MIRROR (1)
11/13: BROOKLYN NINE-NINE (1), NEW GIRL (1), “Find the Bad Guy,” Jeffery Eugenides, “Going for a Beer,” Robert Coover
11/14: PARENTHOOD (1)
11/16: PARKS & RECREATION (2), REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER (1), The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving, Jonathan Evison, NEBRASKA
11/17: THE RETURNED (1)
11/18: SLEEPY HOLLOW (1)
11/19: HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER (1)
11/20: “Marlinspike,” Tom Paine, BLACK MIRROR (1)
11/21: BROOKLYN NINE-NINE (1), NEW GIRL (1), PARENTHOOD (1)
11/23: REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER (1), THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE
11/24: THE RETURNED (1), EASTBOUND & DOWN (1), FRANCIS HA
11/25: The Moviegoer, Walker Percy, HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER (1), “The TV,” Ben Loory, BEING JOHN MALKOVICH
11/26: BROOKLYN NINE-NINE (1)
11/27: “Costello,” Jim Gavin
11/28: MASTERS OF SEX (4), MAN OF STEEL, Noble Hustle, Colson Whitehead
11/29: MASTERS OF SEX (3)
11/30: SKYFALL, WHAT MAISIE KNEW
12/1: “The Late Novels of Gene Hackman,” Rivka Galchen
12/2: THE RETURNED (1)
12/3: A Multitude of Sins, Richard Ford
12/4: The Faraway Nearby, Rebecca Solnit
12/5: “Ever Since,” Donald Antrim, “The State of Grace,” Harold Brodkey, ExISTENz
12/6: INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS
12/8: MAD MEN (1), SOMM
12/9: HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER (2), “Coming Soon,” Steven Millhauser
12/10: “Flying Carpets,” Stephen Millhauser
12/11: “Good People,” David Foster Wallace
12/12: PARENTHOOD (1)
12/14: MASTERS OF SEX (2), House of Holes, Nicholson Baker
12/15: AMERICAN HUSTLE, MAD MEN (2)
12/16: HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER (1), THE SOUND OF MUSIC LIVE, “The Invasion from Outer Space,” Steven Millhauser
12/17: “The Christmas Miracle,” Rebecca Curtis, BEFORE MIDNIGHT
12/18: TOP OF THE LAKE (1)
12/19: TOP OF THE LAKE (1)
12/21: TOP OF THE LAKE (2)
12/22: HER, TOP OF THE LAKE (3)
12/23: THE RETURNED (2)
12/24: MASTERS OF SEX (1)
12/26: THE GREAT BEAUTY, Butcher’s Crossing, John Williams
12/27: “The Knocking,” David Means
12/28: MAD MEN (2), THE WOLF OF WALL STREET
12/29: Saga: Volume 1, Brian K. Vaughn, MAD MEN (2), “Empathy,” J.D. Daniels, “Magic and Dread,” Jenny Offill
12/30: “First Husband,” Antonya Nelson
1/1: THE RETURNED (2), MAD MEN (4), THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES
1/2: PARENTHOOD (1)
1/4: MAD MEN (3), DALLAS BUYERS CLUB
1/5: BLACKFISH, Eleanor & Park, Rainbow Rowell
1/6: “The Paper Revolution,” Dinaw Mengestu, THE BACHELOR (1), MAD MEN (2)
1/7: BROOKLYN NINE-NINE (1), NEW GIRL (1)
1/9: PARENTHOOD (1), PARKS & RECREATION (1), THE SPOILS OF BABYLON (1)
1/11: Autobiography of Red, Anne Carson, “In the Penal Colony,” Franz Kafka
1/12: MAD MEN (2), THE BACHELOR (1), TRUE DETECTIVE (1), GIRLS (2)
1/13: THE BACHELOR (1), SLEEPY HOLLOW (1), HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER (1)
1/14: NEW GIRL (1), BROOKLYN NINE-NINE (1)
1/16: PARENTHOOD (1)
1/17: PARKS & RECREATION (1), SPOILS OF BABYLON (1)
1/18: REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER (1), OBLIVION, THE GAME, ABDUCTION
1/19: FLOWERS IN THE ATTIC, Little Failure, Gary Shytengart, TRUE DETECTIVE (1), GIRLS (1), LOOKING (1)
1/20: “The Frog Prince,” Robert Coover, “The Colonel’s Daughter,” Robert Coover, THE BACHELOR (1), SLEEPY HOLLOW (1)
1/21: Weetzie Bat, Francesca Lia Black, “The Frog Prince,” Robert Coover
1/22: BROOKLYN NINE-NINE (1), NEW GIRL (1), “A Good Problem to Have,” B.J. Novak
1/23: PARENTHOOD (1)
1/24: REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER (1)
1/26: AFTER EARTH, SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK, TRUE DETECTIVE (1), GIRLS (1), LOOKING (1)
1/27: “The Emerald Light in the Air,” Donald Antrim, THE BACHELOR (2), HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER (1)
1/29: MAD MEN (1)
1/30: MAD MEN (1)
1/31: REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER (1)
2/1: GIRLS (1)
2/2: LOOKING (1)
2/3: THE BACHELOR (1), HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER (1)
2/4: The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P., Adelle Waldman
2/5: “Moonlit Landscape with Bridge,” Zadie Smith, “The Early Deaths of Lubeck, Brennan, Harp, and Carr,” Jesse Ball
2/6: BROOKLYN NINE-NINE (1), NEW GIRL (1), “The School,” Donald Barthelme, “Game,” Donald Barthelme
2/7: REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER (1)
2/8: THE COUNSELOR, THE SPECTACULAR NOW, TRANSPARENT (1), MOZART IN THE JUNGLE (1)
2/9: THE LEGO MOVIE, One More Thing, BJ Novak, TRUE DETECTIVE (1), GIRLS (1), LOOKING (1)
2/10: “Come Together,” Karl Ove Knausgaard, THE BACHELOR (1), HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER (2)
2/11: Our Aesthetic Categories, Sianne Ngai
2/13: PROPHETS OF SCIENCE FICTION (2), JOHN MULANEY: NEW IN TOWN
2/14: HOUSE OF CARDS (4), ENDLESS LOVE
2/15: HOUSE OF CARDS (5)
2/16: HOUSE OF CARDS (4), JOHN MULANEY: NEW IN TOWN, MY GIRLFRIEND’S BOYFRIEND, TRUE DETECTIVE (1), GIRLS (1), LOOKING (1)
2/17: THE BACHELOR (1)
2/18: AFTERNOON DELIGHT
2/19: NEW GIRL (1), BROOKLYN NINE-NINE (1)
2/20: THE MASTER, “I Am So Happy For You That You Are So Happy,” Elisa Albert
2/21: REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER (1)
2/23: THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY, TRUE DETECTIVE (1), GIRLS (1), LOOKING (1)
2/24: “The Largesse of the Sea Maiden,” Denis Johnson, THE BACHELOR (1), HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER (1)
2/25: THE BACHELOR (1)
2/26: NOW YOU SEE ME, FRAN LEBOWITZ: PUBLIC SPEAKING
2/28: PARENTHOOD (1)
3/2: TRUE DETECTIVE (1), GIRLS (1), LOOKING (1)
3/3: THE BACHELOR (1), HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER (1), “A Sheltered Woman,” Yiyun Li
3/6: PARENTHOOD (1)
3/7: MAGIC MIKE
3/8: The Portrait of a Lady, Henry James, ADAPTATION
3/9: THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL, TRUE DETECTIVE (1), GIRLS (1), LOOKING (1)
3/10: THE BACHELOR (1)
3/11: FROZEN, HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER (1)
3/12: THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL
3/13: “The Window Lion,” Bill Cotter, “Specimen Days,” Ben Lerner, “Miss Adele Amidst the Corsets,” Zadie Smith
3/16: The Elementary Particles, Michel Houllebecq, REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER (1), PARENTHOOD (1), GIRLS (1), VICE (1)
3/17: “Under the Sign of the Moon,” Tessa Hadley
3/18: HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER (1)
3/20: PARENTHOOD (1)
3/21: REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER (1), VICE (1), The Leftovers, Tom Perrotta
3/22: “Likely Lake,” Mary Robinson, “The Dinner Party,” Joshua Ferris
3/23: NYMPHOMANIAC VOL. 1, GIRLS (1), DOLL & EM (1)
3/24: “Coup de Foudre,” Ken Kalfus
3/25: “The Big Cat,” Louise Erdich
3/26: The Dept. of Speculation, Jenny Offill
3/27: PARENTHOOD (1)
3/28: BROOKLYN NINE NINE (1), NEW GIRL (1)
3/30: REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER (1), “Pending Vegan,” Jonathan Lethem
3/31: Sleep Donation, Karen Russell, MOONSTRUCK, HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER (1)
4/1: MAD MEN (6)
4/2: MAD MEN (6)
4/3: PARENTHOOD (1), PARKS & RECREATION (1)
4/4: REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER (1), VICE (1)
4/5: MOONRISE KINGDOM
4/6: Oh What A Paradise It Seems, John Cheever, ELYSIUM, NOAH, GAME OF THRONES (1), SILICON VALLEY (1), VEEP (1), “Boxed Sets,” Roddy Doyle, JIM HENSON’S CREATURE SHOP CHALLENGE (2)
4/7: GAME OF THRONES (1), Housekeeping, Marilynne Robinson
4/8: JIM HENSON’S CREATURE SHOP (1)
4/10: PARENTHOOD (1), PARKS & RECREATION (1)
4/11: VICE (1)
4/13: REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER (1), GAME OF THRONES (1), MAD MEN (1), SILICON VALLEY (1), Hubcaps, Thomas McGuane
4/14: ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE, MAD MEN (1)
4/15: FARGO (1), JIM HENSON’S CREATURE SHOP CHALLENGE (1)
4/17: PARENTHOOD (1)
4/18: VICE (1)
4/20: SHARK TANK (4), MAD MEN (1). GAME OF THRONES (1), SILICON VALLEY (1)
4/21: VEEP (1), GAME OF THRONES (1)
4/22: JIM HENSON’S CREATURE SHOP CHALLENGE (1), FARGO (1)
4/23: The Goldfinch, Donna Tartt
4/24: PARKS AND RECREATION (1)
4/26: REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER (1), VICE (1)
4/27: GAME OF THRONES (1), MAD MEN (2), VEEP (1), SILICON VALLEY (1), LAST WEEK TONIGHT (1)
4/28: Battleborn, Claire Vaye Watkins
4/29: JIM HENSON’S CREATURE SHOP CHALLENGE (1)
5/1: SHORT TERM 12
5/3: The Woman Upstairs, Claire Messud
5/4: REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER (1), VICE (1), GAME OF THRONES (1), MAD MEN (1), LAST WEEK TONIGHT (1)
5/5: “Naturals,” Sam Lipsyte, Veep (1)
5/6: Twenty Grand, Rebecca Curtis
5/7: FARGO (1)
5/10: REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER (1), VICE (1), I Love Dick, Chris Kraus
5/11: MAD MEN (1), SILICON VALLEY (1)
5/12: GAME OF THRONES (1), LAST WEEK TONIGHT (1), VEEP (1), MAD MEN (1)
5/13: JIM HENSON’S CREATURE SHOP CHALLENGE (1), FARGO (1)
5/14: To Rise Again at a Decent Hour, Joshua Ferris
5/15: NEIGHBORS
5/16: REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER (1)
5/18: VICE (1), THE IMMIGRANT, GAME OF THRONES (1), MAD MEN (2), SILICON VALLEY (1)
5/19: VEEP (1), THE BACHELORETTE (1)
5/20: “Camilo,” Alejandro Zambra
5/21: Wonder, R.J. Palacio
5/22: Ask the Dust, John Fante
5/23: REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER (1), VICE (1)
5/24: X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST
5/25: MAD MEN (2)
5/26: The Assistant, Bernard Malamud
5/27: THE BACHELORETTE (1), HALT AND CATCH FIRE (1)
5/28: FARGO (1)
5/30: “When We Realize We Are Broke,” Manuel Gonzalez, “Bedtime Story,” Jamie Quattro
5/31: “Dark Meadow,” Adam Johnson
6/1: GAME OF THRONES (1), SILICON VALLEY (1), VEEP (1), LAST WEEK TONIGHT (1)
6/2: THE BACHELORETTE (1)
6/3: UNDER THE SKIN, & Sons, David Gilbert
6/4: FARGO (1)
6/6: ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK (2)
6/7: ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK (4)
6/8: GAME OF THRONES (1), VEEP (2), LAST WEEK TONIGHT (1)
6/9: OBVIOUS CHILD
6/10: We Are Not Ourselves, Matthew Thomas, Your Fathers, Where Are They? And The Prophets, Do They Live Forever, Dave Eggers
6/11: WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF
6/12: EDGE OF TOMORROW
6/13: ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK (3)
6/14: ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK (4)
6/15: REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER (1), VICE (1), LAST WEEK TONIGHT (1), GAME OF THRONES (1)
6/16: THE FAULT IN OUR STARS, THE BACHELORETTE (1)
6/18: IS THE MAN WHO IS TALL HAPPY?
6/19: ENOUGH SAID
6/20: THE PURGE
6/21: REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER (1)
6/22: LAST WEEK TONIGHT (1)
6/23: “Madame Lazarus,” Maile Meloy
6/24: Role Models, John Waters
6/25: BROTHER V. BROTHER (1)
6/26: RECTIFY (2)
6/27: RECTIFY (4)
6/28: REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER (1)
6/29: THE LEFTOVERS (1), LAST WEEK TONIGHT (1)
6/30: The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and The Age of Amazon, Brad Stone
7/1: “The Pink House,” Rebecca Curtis
7/6: THE LEFTOVERS (1)
7/7: SNOWPIERCER
7/13: LAST WEEK TONIGHT (1)
7/14: “Wagner in the Desert,” Greg Jackson, DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES
7/19: REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER (1)
7/20: Fourth of July Creek, Smith Henderson
7/23: what.
7/27: LAST WEEK TONIGHT (1)
7/28: REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER (1), “Action,” Paul Theroux
7/29: NATHAN FOR YOU (1)
7/30: THE PURGE: ANARCHY
7/31: THE GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY
8/3: LUCY, LAST WEEK TONIGHT (1)
8/5: ABOUT SCHMIDT
8/6: My Brilliant Friend, Elena Ferrante, THE X-FILES (2)
8/7: BOYHOOD, THE X-FILES (2)
8/8: THE KNICK (1)
8/9: BANSHEE (1)
8/10: BANSHEE (2)
8/11: BANSHEE (1)
8/12: LAST WEEK TONIGHT (1), NATHAN FOR YOU (1)
8/13: The New World, Chris Adrian & Eli Horowitz
8/14: MOOD INDIGO
8/17: The People’s History of the United States, Howard Zinn, THE X-FILES (1)
8/18: LAST WEEK TONIGHT (1)
8/20: “One Saturday Morning,” Tessa Hadley, THE X-FILES (2)
8/21: The Sugar Frosted Nutsack, Mark Leyner, THE X-FILES (1)
8/22: YOU’RE THE WORST (4)
8/23: THE X-FILES (2)
8/24: On Becoming a Novelist, John Gardner, BANSHEE (2), THE X-FILES (1)
8/25: “The Referee,” Joseph O’Neill, BOjACK HORSEMAN (3), THE X-FILES (1)
8/27: BOjACK HORSEMAN (2)
8/28: BOjACK HORSEMAN (2)
8/29: BOjACK HORSEMAN (2)
8/30: BOjACK HORSEMAN (2)
8/31: BOjACK HORSEMAN (1)
9/1: BANSHEE (2)
9/2: BANSHEE (1)
9/3: THE X-FILES (1)
9/4: THE CONGRESS
9/5: Adam, Ariel Schrag
9/6: THE X-FILES (1)
9/7: The Unconsoled, Kazuo Ishiguro
9/8: THE X-FILES (1)
9/9: 10:04, Ben Lerner
9/10: Annihilation, Jeff VanderMeer
9/14: REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER (1), LAST WEEK TONIGHT (1)
9/15: THE X-FILES (1)
9/20: SWIMMING TO CAMBODIA
9/21: THE MAZE RUNNER
9/22: REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER (1), LAST WEEK TONIGHT (1)
9/26: TRANSPARENT (4)
9/27: REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER (1), TRANSPARENT (4)
9/28: TRANSPARENT (2)
9/29: LAST WEEK TONIGHT (1)
10/1: Boys of My Youth, Jo Ann Beard, “Story, With Bird,” Kevin Canty
10/2: GONE GIRL
10/4: REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER (1)
10/5: THE KNICK (1)
10/5: MULANEY (1)
10/6: A Girl is A Half-formed Thing, Eimear McBride
10/8: “Scheherazade,” Huraki Murakami
10/10: THE DOUBLE
10/11: SHARK TANK (1). THE APPRENTICE (5)
10/12: THE KNICK (1), MULANEY (1), THE AFFAIR (1)
10/13: THE PERVERT’S GUIDE TO IDEOLOGY
10/15: The Wallcreeper, Nell Zink
10/17: MEN, WOMEN, & CHILDREN
10/19: “Alan Bean Plus Four,” Tom Hanks
10/20: THE KNICK (1), LAST WEEK TONIGHT (1), REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER (1)
10/23: BIRDMAN
baby pictures of famous dictators 