For the third year in a row, I present my “Year in Review” in which I only consider the movies I watched and books I read.  For the record, I read about the same number of books this year as in the previous two, but I saw many more movies.

I saw 61 movies in 2009, about two-thirds of them on DVD and the rest in theaters.  Again, the genres ranged from animated to documentary; some were based on true stories or adapted from novels; there were comedies and tragedies, fantasy and science fiction, musicals and thrillers. Here are my top 6, in alphabetical order:

• Frozen River
• Gran Torino
• Last King of Scotland
• Milk
• Nashville
• Waltz with Bashir

I read 44 books in 2009, of which 25 were fiction — mysteries and detective stories, a short story collection, a Western, experimental novels and classics — and 19 non-fiction, with subjects ranging from history and biography to natural history and travel. Here are my top 5, in alphabetical order:

• Austerlitz – W G Sebald
• Bridge of San Luis Rey – Thornton Wilder
• David Copperfield – Charles Dickens
• On the Wing – Alan Tennant
• Truman – David McCullough

If you’d like to see the complete lists, email me or leave me a comment, and I’ll either send the document to you privately or link it to this post.

For the second year in a row, I present my “Year in Review” in which I only consider the movies I watched and books I read.

I saw 43 movies in 2008, mostly on DVD and a few in theaters. The genres ranged from animated to documentary; some were based on true stories or adapted from novels; there were comedies and tragedies, fantasy and science fiction, musicals and thrillers. Here are my top 6, in alphabetical order:

• Battle of Algiers
• Gone Baby Gone
• Kite Runner
• Lives of Others
• Persepolis
• There Will Be Blood

I read 39 books in 2008, of which 22 were fiction — mysteries and detective stories, poetry, fantasy, and modern novels — and 17 non-fiction, with subjects ranging from science and medicine to history and biography. Here are my top 5, in alphabetical order:

• Aeneid – Virgil
• Dreams From My Father – Barack Obama
• Last Life – Claire Messud
• Omnivore’s Dilemma – Michael Pollan
• Three Junes – Julia Glass

I won’t post the complete lists; if you’re interested, please leave me a comment and I’ll either email you or create a link.