It’s that time of year where everyone–NO, Spotify, I am not 72!–makes, shares, and reads endless Best of Lists. Over the next few weeks, you’ll see more of our Best of Lists, serving up our choices for best books published in 20205.

Today, though, I thought I’d share a rather random lists of Best. These are things that, in an often challenging year, made my world a bit better. 

Best holiday gift: This year, I discovered personalized Christmas ornaments on Etsy and promptly gave them to many. I loved this, this, and this–these are gifts that show a bit of effort and yet are easy as pie to buy. 

Best beauty throwback: Back in the day, it seemed like everyone I know coveted a tube of Clinique’s Black Honey lipstick. (The current version just isn’t the same.) But, BeautyPie, my favorite source for makeup and skincare, has a stick that feels, to my aged brain, just like the stuff I slathered on forty years ago. I keep one in my car and in my bathroom and now, my lips are never chapped and I love the slight wash of color. 

Best TSTL moment on TV: In the exceedingly bingeable The Beast In Me, Clare Danes does any number of things that seem remarkably TSTL. The most nuts one comes in the last episode where she does what so many heroines of thrillers have done before: walk alone into danger rather than, you know, call the cops. I confess to having a great time yelling NOOOOOO at the screen.

Best Trader Joe’s find: I have become addicted to Hold the Cones. The peppermint ones are to die for. I allow myself two a day–I love the small size! They’re a Goldilocks dessert. 

Best Fiddler: I confess–I’d never thought much about fiddlers. I’m not, in general, an Americana listener. But friends of ours talked us into going to see Bronwyn Keith-Hynes and now I’m obsessed. My current faves of hers are Trip around the Sun and Angel Island. 

Best movie I thought I’d be bored by and was so not: I was late to the party for K-Pop Demon Hunters but my daughter in law (to be) loved it and so, a few weeks ago, while my husband was watching his beloved Wolverines play basketball, I streamed it on my computer. I adored it. It’s everything I think we need right now: hopeful, fun, full of female strength and friendship, and rife with music you nod your head to with a smile. 

Best quote from my favorite book of the year: I’ve raved here about Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy. I’ve come back to this line again and again this year.

But I also think of how my husband taught me something so deeply wrong I am stunned that I ever believed it: that in the face of the world’s end love should shrink. 

Best life goal knocked out: I’ve always wanted to see the Alhambra and, finally, this summer we did. It was everything I’d hoped it would be and its history is every bit as astonishing as the complex itself. It filled me with awe.

These are just a few of the things that gave me joy this year. What about you? What Bests stood out for you in 2025?