Dan's Favorite Things of 2011! (He's just like Oprah.)

 FAVORITE ALBUMS OF 2011

I totally helped Dan do this.

(I cannot believe he didn’t include the members-only fan clup EP that Hanson released.)

Honorable Mentions: The First Day of Spring, Noah and the Whale; The Whole Love, Wilco; Bon Iver, Bon Iver; Rome, Danger Mouse and Danielle Luppi; A Creature I Don’t Know, Laura Marling

10. Pickin’ Up The Pieces, Fitz + The Tantrums

9. So Beautiful Or So What, Paul Simon

8. Whokill, tUnE-yArDs

7. The Harrow + The Harvest, Gillian Welch

6. I Am Very Far, Okkervil River

5. Strange Mercy, St. Vincent

4. Let England Shake, PJ Harvey

3. Barton Hollow, The Civil Wars

2. Father, Son, Holy Ghost, Girls

1. Helplessness Blues, The Fleet Foxes (“We couldn’t get enough of these guys.”)

FAVORITE MOVIES OF 2011 (In Dan's Words)

Time for @UffishL’s + my 2nd annual top 10 films of 2011. (Actually not our 2nd list of 2011—our 2nd annual list. But I bet you knew that.)

Our strict criteria: We had to really really like the films. If we didn’t agree, @UffishL threatened me. Anyway, the list: Honorable mention: Martha Marcy May Marlene; Midnight in Paris; The Way; Weekend; Young Adult

10. Buck 

9. The Trip

8. The Double Hour (La Doppia Ora)

7. Certified Copy

6. Hugo

5. Win Win

4. Higher Ground

3. The Artist

2. Project Nim. 

And our favorite movie of 2011; 1. Tree of Life. (Editor's note: Kelly concurs!) 

It had Sean Penn, Brad Pitt, dinosaurs—and the meaning of life!

FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2011 (In Dan's Words) 

My #top10books is my fave list from 2011, so @julieklam + I have saved for last the list of books that captured our hearts, etc this year:
 

Honorable mention: 1861, by Adam Goodheart; Helvetica and the New York City Subway System, by Paul Shaw; State of Wonder, by Ann Patchett; The Tiger’s Wife, by Téa Obreht; Wonderstruck, by Brian Selznick

10. In the Garden of Beasts, by Erik Larson
 

9. Mr. Fox, by Helen Oyeyemi
 

8. The Wilder Years, by Wendy McClure
 

7. The Psychopath Test, by Jon Ronson

6. The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern
 

5. The Tragedy of Arthur, by Arthur Phillips 

4. Starting From Happy, by Max Patty
 

3. Turn of Mind, by Alice LaPlante
 

2. Zone One, by Colson Whitehead
 

1. Say Her Name, by Francisco Goldman (Editor's note: KELLY CONCURS AGAIN! READ THIS NOW!)