When I got engaged last summer, I was hit with a million suggestions at once. Everyone in my life had a venue to suggest, a caterer to use, or a DJ to hire. When my best friend Alyssa suggested a graphic novel about getting married, I filed the suggestion away with the others.

When I finally got around to reading the book, I kicked myself for not immediately running to the bookstore when Alyssa initially suggested it. By far, "Something New" is the best book I read in 2016. (I know a lot of people don't consider graphic novels books, but they're so wrong!)

"Something New" is artist Lucy Knisley's engagement/wedding memoir. She tells the backstory of her romance with her husband, their engagement and the ensuing months of wedding planning. There's no real plot here. In the wrong hands, this could have been a structural disaster. Instead, Knisley expertly weaves together cute stories, wedding planning advice and her opinions on the modern wedding industrial complex.

I've only read a handful of graphic novels, but Knisley's work is quite different from most others I've read. Structure - or lack thereof - has something to do with it. Even Knisley's fictional work has a meandering quality that I love. 
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But part of why "Something New" succeeds is because Knisley allows readers into such an intimate part of her life. She candidly the expresses existential angst I think most of us experience when faced with an eternity spent with just one person. To see one's own anxieties on page, in full color, is refreshing. The world feels less lonely when I read Lucy Knisley's stuff.

I'm not art critic, but her drawings can't be undervalued in such a visual medium. The bright, fun images are incredibly engaging and say so much without having to spell things out for the viewer. Reading her stuff this year has really turned me into a fangirl - follow her on Instagram, she's a treasure. 

Successful art in any form makes people feel things. I knew I loved this book when I found myself crying over Knisley's wedding as if it were my own. And though I've got another nine months to go before mine, I feel like "Something New" was a wonderful preview of all the exciting, funny, insane times ahead of me. 

I don't think I know a single person IRL who is watching this show, and it's a damn shame. Because "Insecure" is easily one of my favorite television shows. And with just eight half hour episodes in its first season, there's really no excuse not to binge it in one sitting.
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"Insecure" has been described as the black "Girls," and I get the comparison. Sort of. Both shows follow millenial women struggling with work, friendships and their love lives. But the comparison mostly ends there.

"Insecure" is set in LA, with the main character working at a non-profit rather than...what does Lena Dunham's character even do besides fight with her friends? Anyway, Issa's apartment could be any one of my friends' places. Her boyfriend works at Best Buy as he job hunts. The show is much more grounded in reality than "Girls" ever was or will be. The writing is better and doesn't try as hard to convince you of its politics. The cast of "Insecure" is inherently more likable, too. You root for them more.

Of course, that doesn't mean Issa is any less complicated than Hannah Horvath - she's just not as clueless. Issa's main story line this season revolves around her relationship with her long-term boyfriend. He's working hard - but failing - to find a steady job. And she loves him, unquestionably, but is a bit bored and frustrated with the relationship - and she's all too willing to get close to another man. It's a story that manages to feel fresh despite of its familiarity. 

The acting on this show is fantastic, too. There's a scene about halfway through the season where Issa is privately celebrating a hookup with the "one that got away" when she sees a soap dispenser that reminds her of her boyfriend - the one she just cheated on. The look on her face says a million things all at once. A less talented actress might have made this feel hokey, but I just wanted to hug her. There are so many wonderful little moments that make this show stick with you long after you've marathoned the entire season.

The friendships in "Insecure" are the best part (well, the soundtrack is pretty solid, too - Solange Knowles served as a music consultant) of the show. Molly, Issa's best friend, is the kind of nuanced character Lena Dunham probably wishes Marnie could be. 

Molly is a successful attorney, a great friend, beautiful, but can't seem to hold down a date. As the episodes progress, we learn why. This is no Kate Hudson rom com about an unbelievably gorgeous woman struggling to find someone to date her. This is a multilayered look at why some people are so, so picky - and what made them that way.

HBO is a generally pretty white channel, and some might see "Insecure" as niche TV. But the show is more about friendship between women than it is about black culture. That's not to say that "Insecure" downplays the blackness of its characters. Instead, it offers an authentic portrayal of a young black woman - and her race is just one aspect of her identity. So if you're a white person worried that this show isn't "for you," relax. Just because the main character doesn't look like you doesn't mean "Insecure" isn't relatable. And so, so good.

​I'm not one for family relationship dramas. Shows like Brothers and Sisters, Parenthood and The Fosters are just too melodramatic for my tastes. I'll take Malcolm in Middle or Arrested Development any day. I only got into Gilmore Girls for the ridiculousness of characters like Paris and Kirk. So This is Us was never a show I planned on watching.

But I consume mass amounts of television, have followed Mandy Moore since "Candy" and am solidly, forever #teamjess, so I figured I'd give the pilot a shot. It turned out to be one of the most absorbing hours of television I watched in 2016.

Promos for This is Us showcased several apparently disparate sets of people: a couple expecting their first child, a businessman looking for his biological father, an overweight woman searching for love. And the first episode fills in some of the blanks - Mandy Moore is pregnant with triplets, not just one baby. The businessman was adopted by a supportive family, but he always felt like an outsider. The overweight woman has a twin brother. Somehow, I failed to see the show's big twist until it was happening.

Obviously, in writing about the pilot for This is Us, I have to write about spoilers. Because the twist is what makes the episode such a stand out in my mind. If you haven't watched it by now, I'm gonna assume you're not going to care about being spoiled.

Turns out, Mandy Moore and Milo Ventimiglia aren't just wearing hipster outfits, they're living in the 1970's. Viewers were watching two separate time periods (I should've known something was amiss in Westworld!).  Mandy gives birth to two of the three main characters - and when her third baby is stillborn, the couple adopts a third child. 

On their own, none of these story lines are especially interesting. Again, I'm not into melodrama. But the twist had me riveted. Perhaps it's because shows like this rarely feature such unique formats, I didn't see the big twist coming at all. The pilot stands beautifully on its own, a near perfect short film I'd recommend to everyone.

Future episodes of the show haven't grabbed me like the pilot, though. The alternating past and present story lines started feeling gimmicky after the second episode. I'm not sure how the season has fared, since I lost interest relatively quickly. Still, though, This is Us deserves commendation for breaking the mold and creating one of the best hours of television this year.

​I'm a Survivor superfan, but in the 400 hours of my life I've spent watching the show (dear God, someone stop me), I don't think I've ever shed a tear over it. That changed a few weeks ago, during the finale of Survivor's 33rd season. Survivor: Millenials vs. Gen X was full of fun characters, controversial strategy and of course, drama. Drama is pretty much a requirement for reality TV. And while I maintain that Survivor is one of the reality shows with the least manufactured drama, there's no denying producers do all they can to heighten tension.

Adam's win, though, was perhaps the realest moment I've ever seen on television. The 25-year-old homeless shelter manager played an imperfect game, but his victory will go down in reality TV's hall of fame. 

Adam originally went out for the show with his mom, hoping to earn spots on the Blood vs. Water themed season a few years back. When she was diagnosed with lung cancer, though, he was emboldened to play alone, as a morale booster for his family. A fan since childhood, playing - and winning - was a dream come true. His mom, though, passed an hour after he returned home. 

Watching a person's highest and lowest moments unfold on live television was almost too much to handle.