The ‘Bestest’ of 2018

There’s something beautiful about the last days of the year. All that looking back, the pondering… Our 2018 long story short: we’re here, we’re growing, we’re proud of our little victories.

Some of those little victories include a new record number of events –more than 200 this year– thanks, in most part, to series like Kids in the Cliff, our kids storytelling time hosted by Lanie DeLay on Sunday mornings, Inner Moonlight, our poetry reading series hosted by Logen Cure every second Wednesday, and our book clubs, the English one hosted by John Bradley, and the Spanish one hosted by Ana Campoy.

Also we continue exploring our topic driven series, such as the controversial Gentrified Dallas in March, curated by Mark Lamster and Lauren Smart, which discussed the challenges that our city is facing due to its fast development, or the 3rd edition of Women Galore last May, programmed and arranged also by Lauren Smart and a team of over 60 women, which brought to Dallas authors such as Leni Zumas or Ijeoma Oluo.

This year we’ve furthered our communication efforts. We want you to know with little effort what we’re doing, what’s happening in the shop, which books we’d like you to read… We’ve recently started Wild Books, a YouTube series in which Kelsey Capps, our reader in residence, we’ll go monthly over our book picks and upcoming events.

Also, our friends at Dieste, haven’t stopped coming up with brilliant and funny ideas to promote our space: check out their hilarious take on our current president’s love for books. Sarcasm intended.

A huge victory this year was hosting the first installment in the US of the renown international festival of ideas, Hay Festival. We were lucky to count with some of the young rising stars in LatAm literature –Juan Cárdenas, Lola Copacabana, Gabriela Jáuregui, Brenda Lozano Emiliano Monge, Eduardo Rabasa and Daniel Saldaña París, besides translator Christina MacSweeney– all included in the recent anthology Bogotá 39. We hope everyone who came had the chance to widen their world a bit and had a great time, we certainly did (proof).

In music news, what we started last year with Damien Jurado has now become a series of intimate shows in our backyard. This year legends such as Lloyd Cole and Bill Callahan have visited us to perform very personal shows. More to come in 2019! For starters, Damien Jurado returns for two consecutive nights in March!

And now that we’re talking about the future, let us tell you that we have a lot of new surprises awaiting up our sleeve for 2019: The Wild Detectives is turning 5 next year and we’re certainly planning to make it special.

Ok, we think we got it all down. Now, let’s move on to another tradition of ours. Our friends and also the people that contributed this year to shape WD, have spoken. Here are The Wild Detectives family highlights of the year.

 

The winners:

Books:
Beautiful Country Burn Again – Ben Fountain
My Year of Rest and Relaxation – Otessa Moshfegh
Educated: A Memoir – Tara Westover

Albums:
God’s Favorite Customer – Father John Misty
Church of Scars – Bishop Briggs
For Ever – Jungle
Superorganism – Superorganism

Movies:
Black Panther – Ryan Coogler
A Star is Born – Bradley Cooper

Series:
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel – Amy Sherman-Palladino
Atlanta – Donald Glover
Succession – Jesse Armstrong

 

At The Wild Detectives:

 

Jean Paul Caron

Best Book:
My Year of Rest and Relaxation – Otessa Moshfegh

Best Album:
Wrong Creatures – Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

Best Movie:
Creed 2 – Steven Caple Jr.

Best Series:
Kidding – Dave Holstein, Michel Gondry, Jim Carrey

 

Andrés de la Casa Huertas

Best Book:
God – Reza Aslan (Non-Fiction)
The Carrying – Ada Limón (Poetry)
Bilbao-New York-Bilbao – Kirmen Uribe (Spanish)

Best Album:
The Horizon Just Laughed – Damien Jurado (Best Album)
Are We Good? – Eleanor Friedberger (Best Song)

Best Movie:
Hostiles – Scott Cooper
Won’t You Be My Neighbor – Morgan Neville (Documentary)

Best Series:
The Kominsky Method – Chuck Lorre

 

José Garay Boszeta

Best Book:
Red Clocks – Leni Zumas
Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk – Ben Fountain

Best Album:
Antisocialites – Alvvays

Best Movie:
The Other Side of the Wind – Orson Welles

Best Series:
Maniac – Cary Joji Fukunaga

 

Javier García del Moral

Best Book:
Öræfi: The Wasteland – Ófeigur Sigurðsson (Fiction)
Beautiful Country Burn Again – Ben Fountain (Non Fiction)
Pajarito – Claudia Ulloa (Spanish)

Best Album:
Foto Aérea – Ibon Errazkin

Best Movie:
First Reformed – Paul Schrader

Best Series:
Forever – Alan Yang and Matt Hubbard 

 

Michal Johnson

Best Book:
The Unbearable Lightness of Being – Milan Kundera

Best Album:
Transience – Shylmagoghnar
Vide Noir – Lord Huron
Loved to Death – Dance with the Dead

Best Movie:
Black Panther – Ryan Coogler

Best Series:
A Series of Unfortunate Events – Mark Hudis & Barry Sonnenfeld

 

Víctor Rimach Jr.

Best Book:
Los Estratos – Juan Cárdenas (Spanish)

Best Album:
La Llorona – Lhasa de Sela

Best Movie:
The Other Side of the Wind – Orson Welles

Best Series:
Babylon Berlin – Tom Tykwer, Achim von Borries and Henk Handloegten

 

Paco Vique

Best Book:
Conversations with Friends – Sally Rooney (Fiction)
The Line Becomes a River – Francisco Cantú (Non Fiction)

Best Album:
Future Me Hates Me – The Beths
Warm – Jeff Tweedy

Best Movie:
Cold War – Ryan Coogler
Burning – Paweł Pawlikowski

 

 

Our collaborators:

 

Safaa Alaradah
Check Safaa’s article on our website here

Best Book:
Pillow Thoughts II – Courtney Peppernell

Best Album:
Lukas Graham (The Purple Album) – Lukas Graham

Best Movie:
Venom – Ruben Fleischer

Best Series:
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend – Rachel Bloom and Aline Brosh McKenna

 

Luis Borges
Check Luis’ articles on our website here and here

Best Book:
Volver al oscuro valle – Santiago Gamboa (Spanish)

Best Album:
Encanto Tropical – Monsieur Periné

Best Movie:
Song of the Sea – Tomm Moore

Best Series:
Trollhunters – Guillermo del Toro

 

John M. Bradley
John is the host of our Wild Detectives’ Book Club

Best Book:
Empty Set – Verónica Gerber Bicecci

Best Album:
Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino – The Arctic Monkeys

Best Movie:
Mandy – Panos Cosmatos

Best Series:
The NBA Playoffs

 

Ana Campoy
Ana is the host of our Book Club in Spanish

Best Book:
Los Estratos – Juan Cárdenas (Spanish)

Best Album:
How I Remember Now I Remember How – Lukas Lauermann

Best Movie:
Roma – Alfonso Cuarón

Best Series:
Salt Fat Acid Heat – Samin Nosrat

 

Kelsey Capps
Our Reader in Residence and host of our video series: Wild Books

Best Book:
Educated: A Memoir – Tara Westover

Best Album:
Dermot Kennedy

Best Movie:
Disobedience – Sebastián Lelio

Best Series:
I’m Sorry – Andrea Savage

 

Sara Ellis Cardona
Artist responsible for our Christmas ceiling intervention

Best Book:
The Sympathizer – Viet Thanh Nguyen
The King is Always above the People – Daniel Alarcón

Best Album:
God’s Favorite Customer – Father John Misty
Sepulcros de Miel – Omar Rodríguez López

Best Movie:
Roma – Alfonso Cuarón

Best Series:
Babylon Berlin – Tom Tykwer, Achim von Borries and Henk Handloegten

 

Marina Cuesta
Part of the creative team at Dieste, producing our funniest campaign so far

Best Book:
The Adventures of Phoebe Fogg in Around The World in 80 Days – SheQuel

Best Album:
Musas, Vol. 2 – Natalia Lafourcade

Best Movie:
First Man – Damien Chazelle
Isle of Dogs – Wes Anderson

Best Series:
Mindhunter – Joe Penhall
Disenchantment – Matt Groening

 

Logen Cure
Curator and host of our monthly poetry series: Inner Moonlight

Best Book:
Gutter – Lauren Brazeal

Best Album:
Church of Scars – Bishop Briggs

Best Movie:
Dumplin’ – Anne Fletcher (based on the young adult novel by North Texas author Julie Murphy)

Best Series:
Homecoming – Eli Horowitz and Micah Bloomberg

 

Austin Dupree
Austin was part of the Women Galore team

Best Book:
No One Tells You This – Glynnis MacNicol

Best Album:
Argonauta – Aisha Burns

Best Series:
The Deuce – David Simon and George Pelecanos

 

Katy Dycus
Katy is a prolific writer, check her articles on our website here, here, here, here, here and here

Best Book:
The Ensemble – Aja Gabel
The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: A New History of a Lost World – Steve Brusatte

Best Album:
Hollywood Africans – Jon Batiste

Best Movie:
First Man – Damien Chazelle

 

Frank Garrett
Check Luis’ articles on our website here

Best Book:
The Magician of Vienna – Sergio Pitol

Best Album:
Fool’s Paradise – Cold Specks

Best Movie:
A Fantastic Woman – Sebastián Lelio

Best Series:
EastSiders – Kit Williamson

 

Melanie Gibson
Melanie very gracefully volunteered at our ESL reading comprehension workshops we had this summer

Best Book:
Circe – Madeline Miller
Speak – Louisa Hall

Best Movie:
First Reformed – Paul Schrader
Won’t You Be My Neighbor – Morgan Neville

Best Series:
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel – Amy Sherman-Palladino

 

Matías Jaramillo
Part of the creative team at Dieste, producing our funniest campaign so far

Best Book:
New Power – Jeremy Heimans and Henry Timms

Best Album:
Against All Logic – 2012 – 2017

Best Movie:
Black Panther – Ryan Coogler

Best Series:
Mindhunter – Joe Penhall

 

Janielle Kastner
Co-creator of Movies that Should Be Musicals, a cabaret like reinterpretation of pop-culture gems

Best Book:
Your Art Will Save Your Life – Beth Pickens

Best Album:
You Don’t Own Me Anymore – Secret Sisters

Best Movie:
Eighth Grade – Bo Burnham

Best Series:
Schitt’s Creek– Eugene and Daniel Levy

 

Ernesto Martínez
Part of the creative team at Dieste, producing our funniest campaign so far

Best Book:
I Hope You Find Me: The Love Poems of Craigslist’s Missed Connections – Alan Feuer

Best Album:
For Ever – Jungle

Best Movie:
Won’t You Be my Neighbor – Morgan Neville
BlacKKKlansman – Spike Lee

Best Series:
Better Call Saul –Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould

 

Ernesto Montiel
Ernesto is the master mind behind the curation of our record crates, and also the usual Dj at our Boosktore Disco sessions

Best Book:
Vertical Motion – Can Xue
Henning Christiansen: Freedom Is Around the Corner – Lawrence Kumpf, Joe Buccero and Mark Harwood (Editors)

Best Album:
Green Ways – Áine O’Dwyer and Graham Lambkin
Simple Affections – Simple Affections
L’inertie – Clara de Asís and Bruno Duplant
Al Di Lá – Simone Fort

Best Movie:
La Soledad – Jorge Thielen Armand
Milford Graves Full Mantis – Jake Meginsky and Neil Young

 

Brigham Mosley
Co-creator of Movies that Should Be Musicals, a cabaret like reinterpretation of pop-culture gems

Best Book:
The Argonauts – Maggie Nelson

Best Album:
By the Way, I Forgive You – Brandi Carlile

Best Movie:
A Star is Born – Bradley Cooper

Best Series:
Ru Paul’s Drag Race – Nick Murray

 

Domingo Palma
Part of the creative team at Dieste, producing our funniest campaign so far

Best Book:
Educated: A Memoir – Tara Westover

Best Album:
Superorganism – Superorganism

Best Movie:
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs – The Cohen Brothers

Best Series:
Get Shorty – Davey Holmes

 

David Piorno
David curates the playlist we shared most Mondays (on Fridays, later on) on Facebook, and he was our anniversary party guest Dj last April.

Best Book:
My Dark Places – James Ellroy

Best Album:
Knock Knock – Dj Koze

Best Movie:
Cold War – Pawel Pawlikowski

Best Series:
Vergüenza – Cavestany y Fernández Armero

 

Anthony Robinson
Check Anthony’s poem on our website here

Best Book:
A Time of Gifts – Patrick Leigh Fermor

Best Album:
Both Directions at Once – John Coltrane

Best Movie:
First Reformed – Paul Schrader

Best Series:
Ray Donovan – Ann Biderman

 

Vicky Sanz
Moderator in most of our Spanish events. Also part of the Women Galore team.

Best Book:
El complot de los románticos – Carmen Boullosa (Spanish)

Best Album:
For Ever – Jungle

Best Movie:
Roma – Alfonso Cuarón

Best Series:
Man in the High Castle – Frank Spotnitz

 

Lauren Smart
Lauren is responsible for the Women Galore and Gentrified Dallas events programmed in our store this year

Best Book:
Motherhood – Sheila Heti

Best Album:
Blood – Rhyne

Best Movie:
A Star Is Born – Bradley Cooper

Best Series:
Succession – Jesse Armstrong

 

Patty Sisco
Check Patty’s piece on our website here

Best Book:
Educated: A Memoir – Tara Westover

Best Movie:
A Star is Born – Bradley Cooper

Best Series:
A Handmaid’s Tale – Bruce Miller

 

Daniel Vicente
Part of the creative team at Dieste, producing our funniest campaign so far

Best Book:
Creative Quest – Quest Love
Damned – Chuck Palaniuk
Creativity Inc – Ed Catmull

Best Album:
God’s Favorite Customer – Father John Misty

Best Movie:
Sorry to Bother You – Boots Riley

Best Series:
Atlanta – Donald Glover

 

Amy Walton
Host of Address Me, the annual letters writing workshop happening in our backyard

Best Book:
God Save Texas – Lawrence Wright
Neon Palm of Madame Melançon – Will Clark
Mudbound – Hillary Jordan

Best Movie:
Eighth Grade – Bo Burnham
BlacKKKlansman – Spike Lee
Isle of Dogs – Wes Anderson

Best Series:
The Assesination of Gianni Versace – Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski
Trust – Simon Beaufoy
Barry – Alec Berg and Bill Hader

 

Gustavo Zapata
Part of the creative team at Dieste, producing our funniest campaign so far

Best Book:
Nueva Ilustración Radical – Marina Gracés

Best Album:
You Were Never Really Here (O.S.) – Johnny Greenwood

Best Movie:
Hereditary – Ari Aster

Best Series:
Money Heist – Álex Pina

 

 

Our friends:

 

Anna Badkhen
Author

Best Book:
Beautiful Country Burn Again – Ben Fountain (Non Fiction)
American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin – Terrance Hayes (Poetry)
Mourning – Eduardo Halfón (Fiction)

Best Album:
The Optimist – Ryan Porter

Best Movie:
Skate Kitchen – Crystal Moselle

 

Will Clarke
Author

Best Book:
Cherry – Nico Walker

Best Album:
Dirty Computer – Janielle Monae

Best Movie:
Private Life – Tamara Jenkins

Best Series:
The Good Place – Michael Schur

 

Lola Copacabana
Author, part of Hay Festival, the literary festival we hosted last September

Best Book:
Motherhood – Sheila Heti
Trip – Tao Lin

Best Album:
El mal querer – Rosalía

Best Movie:
RBG – Betsy West and Julie Cohen

Best Series:
Bojack Horseman – Raphael Bob-Waksberg

 

Jeremy Ellis
Marketing and Communications Manager at MPIBA

Best Book:
My Year of Rest and Relaxation – Otessa Moshfegh

Best Movie:
Game Night – John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein

Best Series:
Maniac – Cary Joji Fukunaga

 

Barak Epstein
Director at Texas Theater, Top Ten Records and co-founder of the Oak Cliff Film Festival

Best Book Magazine:
Fangoria Vol.2 Issue 1

Best Album:
Mandy (O.S.) – Johan Johansson

Best Movie:
Mandy – Panos Cosmatos

Best Series:
Succession – Jesse Armstrong

 

Will Evans
Director at Deep Vellum Publishing

Best Book:
Death to the Bullshit Artists of South Texas – Fernando Flores
Night Moves – Jessica Hopper

Best Album:
Yob – Our Raw Heart

Best Movie:
Never Goin’ Back – Augustine Frizzell

Best Series:
Atlanta – Donald Glover
Mozart in the Jungle – Roman Coppola, Jason Schwartzman, Alex Timbers, and Paul Weitz

 

Sanderia Faye
Author

Best Book:
Meet behind Mars – Renee Simms
An American Marriage – Tayari Jones

Best Album:
Championships – Meek Mill

Best Movie:
Black Panther – Ryan Coogler

Best Series:
Queen Sugar – Ava DuVernay

 

Ben Fountain
Author

Best Book:
Waiting for Eden – Elliot Ackerman (Fiction)
Fisherman’s Blues – Anna Badkhen (Non Fiction)

Best Movie:
American Made – Doug Liman

Best Series:
The Deuce – David Simon and George Pelecanos

 

Suzanne Frank
Author

Best Book:
Divine Comedy – Dante Alighieri

Best Album:
Simulation Theory – Muse

Best Movie:
Black Panther – Ryan Coogler

Best Series:
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel – Amy Sherman-Palladino

 

Verónica Gerber Bicecci
Author

Best Book:
Mano de obra – Diamela Eltit (Spanish, Ficiton)
Cajas – Mario Montalbetti (Spanish, Non-Fiction)
Comunidad terapéutica – Iveth Luna Flores (Spanish, Poetry)

Best Movie:
The Quiet Earth – Geoff Murphy
A Ghost Story – David Lowery

Best Series Podcast:
Radio Ambulante
Las Raras

 

Kendra Greene
Author

Best Book:
Fear Icons – Kisha Llewelyn Schlegel
Mine: Essays – Sarah Viren

Best Movie:
Isle of Dogs – Wes Anderson

Best Series:
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel – Amy Sherman-Palladino

 

Louisa Hall
Author

Best Book:
Census – Jesse Ball
Flights – Olga Tocarczuk

Best Album:
Wanderer – Cat Power

Best Series:
The Crown – Peter Morgan

 

Bill Holston
Executive Director at Human Rights Initiative of North Texas

Best Book:
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking – Susan Cain

Best Album:
You Want it Darker – Leonard Cohen

Best Movie:
Won’t You Be my Neighbor – Morgan Neville

Best Series:
A Handmaid’s Tale – Bruce Miller

 

Jill Holston
FMJH Dyslexia Teacher

Best Book:
The List – Patricia Forde

Best Movie:
BlacKKKlansman – Spike Lee

Best Series:
The Romanoffs – Matthew Weiner

 

Harry Hunsicker
Author

Best Book:
She Rides Shotgun – Jordan Harper

Best Movie:
A Star is Born – Bradley Cooper

Best Series:
Succession – Jesse Armstrong

 

Kathleen Kent
Author

Best Book:
Circe – Madeline Miller

Best Album:
Church of Scars – Bishop Briggs

Best Movie:
The Guilty – Gustav Möller

Best Series:
Narcos: Mexico – Carlo Bernard and Doug Miro

 

Michelle Newby Lancaster
Editor at Lone Star Literary Life

Best Book:
Beautiful Country Burn Again – Ben Fountain (Non Fiction)
Oliver Loving – Stephan Merrill Block (Fiction

 

Christina MacSweeney
Translator, part of Hay Festival, the literary festival we hosted last September

Best Book:
Los Caídos – Carlos Manuel Álvarez (Spanish, Ficiton)
Blue – Maggie Nelson
Bogotá 39 – Anthology of the best LatAm writers below 39

Best Album Musical:
Hamilton – Lin-Manuel Miranda

Best Movie:
Kill Bill – Quentin Tarantino

 

Joe Milazzo
Author

Best Book:
Transparent City – Ondjaki (translated by Stephen Henighan, fiction)
City of the Future – Sesshu Foster (poetry)
Counter-Desecration: A Glossary for Writing Within the Anthropocene – Linda Russo and Marthe Reed (Non Fiction)

Best Album:
Pillars – Tyshawn Sorey
Ignite the Seven Cannons – Felt (reissue)

Best Movie:
Filmworker – Tony Zierrra

Best Series:
Atlanta – Donald Glover

 

Sebastian H. Paramo
Poet

Best Book:
Ghost – Diana Khoi Nguyen

Best Album:
Superclean Vol. II – The Marias

Best Series:
The Good Place – Michael Schur

 

Beth Rankin
Food Editor at the Dallas Observer

Best Book:
My Year of Rest and Relaxation – Otessa Moshfegh

Best Album:
The Pool – Jazzanova

Best Movie:
Sorry to Bother You – Boots Riley

Best Series:
High Maintenance – Katja Blichfeld and Ben Sinclair
Insecure – Issa Rae and Larry Wilmore

 

Jason Reimer
Creative Director at Texas Theater

Best Book:
Beastie Boys Book – Adam Horovitz and Michael Diamond

Best Album:
A Laughing Death in Meatspace – Tropical Fuck Storm

Best Movie:
The Favourite – Yorgos Lanthimos

Best Series:
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina – Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa

 

Cristina Rodríguez
Book Operations at Deep Vellum Books

Best Book:
Immortal Soft Spoken – Robert Vivian (Fiction)
Vanishing Twins – Leah Dieterich (Non-Fiction)

Best Album:
Ex:Re – Ex:Re
Parlour Arcana – Black Taffy

Best Movie:
Never Goin’ Back – Augustine Frizzell

Best Series:
Slutever – Karley Sciortino

 

Tim Rogers
Editor at D Magazine

Best Book:
The Man Who Caught the Storm – Brantley Hargrove

Best Album:
Superorganism – Superorganism

Best Movie:
Solo: A Star Wars Story – Ron Howard

 

Víctor Saenz Diez
Operations at Pepitas de Calabaza

Best Book:
Ghosts of my Life – Mark Fisher

Best Album:
Desorden – La Plata

Best Movie:
Entre dos aguas – Isaki Lacuesta

Best Series:
Wild Wild Country – Chapan Way, Maclain Way and Mark Duplass

 

Racheal Small
Director of Publicity at Europa Editions

Best Book:
Disoriental – Négar Djavadi

Best Album:
Dirty Computer  – Janelle Monaé

Best Movie:
Roma – Alfonso Cuarón

Best Series:
Schitt’s Creek– Eugene and Daniel Levy

 

Eric Steele
Partner at Texas Theatre and co-founder of the Oak Cliff Film Festival

Best Book:
Marketing to the Entitled Consumer – Dave Frankland and Nick Worth

Best Album:
So you Wanna be an Outlaw – Steve Earle and the Dukes

Best Movie:
The Death of Stalin – Armando Iannucci

Best Series:
Frontline – David Fanning

 

Carlos Velázquez
Author

Best Book:
Paul McCartney: The Life – Philip Norman

Best Album:
All Nerve – The Breeders

Best Movie:
Isle of Dogs – Wes Anderson

Best Series:
The Deuce – David Simon and George Pelecanos

 

Tanya Wardell
Operations at Deep Vellum Publishing

Best Book:
Belly Up – Rita Bullwinkel
Beyoncé in Formation – Omise’eke Natasha Tinsley

Best Album:
They Might’ve Even Loved Me – NoMBe
Bienaventuranza – Chancha Vía Circuíto

Best Movie:
Private Life – Tamara Jenkins

Best Series:
The Haunting of Hill House – Mike Flanagan

 

Shay Youngblood
Author

Best Book:
American Marriage – Tayari Jones

Best Album:
Black Panther (O.S.) – Ludwig Göransson (Film Score) + Kendrick Lamar
A Star is Born (O.S.) – Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper
A Wrinkle in Time (O.S.) – Ramin Djawadi (Film Score) + Various Artists

Best Movie:
BlacKKKlansman – Spike Lee
Black Panther – Ryan Coogler
A Star is Born – Bradley Cooper

Best Series:
Children of Blood & Bone – Tomi Adeyemi

 

Leni Zumas
Author

Best Book:
Strawberry Fields – Hilary Plum

Best Album:
Vitrioli – Selofan

Best Movie:
Suspiria – Luca Guadagnino

Best Series:
The Terror – David Kajganich