Before I get to my top ten lists, let me just state the obvious…that I didn’t get around to reading, watching or listening to everything I’d intended to in 2003. Much slipped past me, probably more than I know. I meant to finish reading Quicksilver (a tome so heavy it could easily be used as a doorstop…for Notre Dame’s front doors). In America, 28 Days Later, and Spellbound were all on my “to see” list. And I wanted to hear more of British Sea Power and Singapore Sling, among others. Was going to play catch-up on that last bit, but the little man chose to kick off the new year by thoroughly destroying my headphones. He told me not to worry, that I could fix it later…but I really don’t think that I can. At least he only got his hands on my el cheapo Radio Shack set, rather than the husband’s spendy Sennheiser’s. But I digress. Without further adieu, the 1st Annual Sharyn Morrow Awards for Outstanding Acheivements in the Field of Excellence in 2003.
Books first. Honorable mentions, and somewhat guilty pleasures: The Dresden Files, books 1 - 5, by Jim Butcher and The Last Hot Time by John M. Ford
10: Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds
09: Pawn’s Dream by Eric S. Nylund
08: In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez
07: Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier
06: A Series of Unfortunate Events, books 1-10, by Lemony Snicket
05: The Dazzle of Day by Molly Gloss
04: His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman
03: Ilium by Dan Simmons
02: Atlas of the Human Heart by Ariel Gore
01: The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
Ah, movies. Didn’t get out to as many as I would have liked, and cancelled our Netflix subscription halfway through the year. But I saw a few I quite enjoyed. Honorable mentions: A Mighty Wind, 2LDK and Wild Zero
10: Pirates of the Carribbean directed by Gore Verbinski
09: Bubba Ho-tep directed by Don Coscarelli
08: School of Rock directed by Richard Linklater
07: The Guru directed by Daisy von Scherler Mayer
06: Bend it Like Beckham directed by Gurinder Chadha
05: The Return of the King directed by Peter Jackson
04: Lost in Translation directed by Sofia Coppola
03: Samurai Fiction directed by Hiroyuki Nakano
02: Monsoon Wedding directed by Mira Nair
01: Someone Like Hodder directed by Henrik Ruben Genz
And finally, the rock, sweet rock. Well, the music section, at any rate.
10: Dressy Bessy - Dressy Bessy
09: Summer Sun - Yo La Tengo
08: Give Up - The Postal Service
07: Castaways & Cutouts - The Decemberists
06: Soundtrack to Monsoon Wedding
05: Folklore - Signal to Trust
04: Electric Version - New Pornographers
03: Her Majesty The Decemberists - The Decemberists
02: Up in Flames - Manitoba
01: Hearts of Oak - Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
