The very best of 2015 according to the people who make The Wild Detectives possible and some of our great friends.

The very best of 2015 according to the people who make The Wild Detectives possible and some of our great friends.
The very best of 2015 according to the people who make The Wild Detectives possible and some of our great friends.
2015, what a year, don’t you think? For us it’s been truly amazing, let us recall: we introduced our new menu this summer and our tostas have proven to be a substantial snack option; we put together Dallas Noir, the first Oak Cliff Literary Festival (thank y’all our good Noir friends); our cultural program has brought over 75 authors to read at the shop their fiction, non-fiction and poetry works; we’ve started to program readings in Spanish which have been a success in terms of audience; we’ve explored different music styles in our 8 Backyard Shows this year from Afrobeat to Hip Hop; we’ve also started this year to screen movies in our backyard (and more will come next year)… we even have done an olive oil tasting!
But nothing of the above would have been possible without the great and inestimable help of all those people who make The Wild Detectives what it is –from those who work at the shop to those who’ve been collaborating with us during the year– helping us achieve our main goal: to promote an enriched, enlightened and entertained lifestyle around culture. That’s why, as we were working on a piece to highlight the best of the year, we thought that the list wouldn’t be complete without those books, records and movies that have make their 2015 special culture-wise. Here are our and their answers. We hope you discover something amazing among all these titles.
At The Wild Detectives:
Lucas Buckels
Best Book:
The Martian –Andy Weir
Best Album:
I love you, Honeybear –Father John Misty
Best Movie (calling it now):
Star Wars: Episode VII | The Force Awakens –J. J. Abrams
Jean Paul Caron
Best Book:
Meat Smoking Manifesto –Aaron Franklin
Best Album:
Currents –Tame Impala
Best Movie:
Creed –Ryan Coogler
Andrés de la Casa Huertas
Best Book:
Speak –Louisa Hall
Best Album:
Echolocations: Canyon –Andrew Bird
Best Movie:
Inside Out –Pete Docter, Ronnie del Carmen (Pixar)
The End of the Tour –James Ponsoldt
Javier García del Moral
Best Book:
Local
Speak –Louisa Hall
English
Academy Street –Mary Costello
Spanish
Después del Invierno –Guadalupe Nettel
Best Album:
Pop/Rock
Songs to Play –Robert Forster
Experimental
Howl –Rival Consoles
Best Movie:
Fiction
Sicario –Denis Villeneuve
Documentary
Red Army –Gaby Polsky
Carlos Guajardo
Best Book:
The Story of my Teeth –Valeria Luiselli
Best Album:
Strange Trails –Lord Huron
Best Movie:
Entertainment –Rick Alverson
Brent Meador
Best Book:
Modern Romance –Aziz Andsari
Best Album:
Depression Cherry –Beach House
Best Movie:
Love and Mercy –Bill Pohlad
Sophie Massie
Best Book:
Between the World and Me –Ta-Nehisi Coates
Best Album:
L.P.1. aka 14 Year Old High School PC-Fascist Hype Lords Rip Off Devo for the Sake of Extorting $$$ from Helpless Impressionable Midwestern Internet Peoplepunks L.P. –The Coneheads
Best Movie:
The Buzzard –Joel Portycus
Sam Villavert
Best Book:
The First Bad Man –Miranda July
Best Album:
Currents –Tame Impala
Best Movie:
Mistress America –Noah Baumbach
Paco Vique
Best Book:
The Interior Circuit –Francisco Goldman
Best Album:
Short Movie –Laura Marling
Best Movie:
Cartel Land –Mathew Heineman
Timbuktu –Abderrahmane Sissako
Our collaborators:
John Bradley
Best Book:
Wind/Pinball: Two Novels –Haruki Murakami
Best Album:
What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World –The Decemberists
Best Movie:
Man from Reno –Dave Boyle
Kelsey Capps
Best Book:
A Little Life –Hanya Yanagihara
Best Album:
Coming Home –Leon Bridges
Best Movie:
Sicario –Denis Villeneuve
Mihali Hadjiyianni
Best Book:
We Go to the Gallery: A Dung Beetle Learning Guide –Miriam Elia
Best Album:
Akö –Blick Bassy
Best Movie:
The Wedding Ringer –Jeremy Garelick
Ciaran Kennedy
Best Book:
Eggshels –Caitriona Lally
Best Album:
In Colour –Jamie XX
Ones and Sixes –Low
Best Movie:
Timbuktu –Abderrahmane Sissako
The Lobster –Yorgos Lanthimos
Michelle Newby
Best Book:
The Unraveling of Mercy Louis –Keija Parsinnen
Vicky Sanz
Best Book:
Colorless Tsukuru Takazi and his Years of Pilgrimage –Haruki Murakami
Best Album:
In Colour –Jamie XX
Best Movie:
The End of the Tour –James Ponsoldt
Inside Out –Pete Docter, Ronnie del Carmen (Pixar)
Our friends:
Katherine Bourne
Shakespeare in the Bar
Best Book:
Station 11 –Emily St. John Mandel
Best Album:
25 –Adele
Best Movie:
Inside Out –Pete Docter, Ronnie del Carmen (Pixar)
Jorge Chavez
Al Día Dallas
Best Album:
Coming Home –Leon Bridges
Fantastic Negrito (EP) –Fantastic Negrito
Best Movie:
Cartel Land –Mathew Heineman
Spotlight –Tom McCarthy
Barak Epstein
Texas Theater
Best Book:
Consumed –David Cronenberg
Best Album:
Lost Themes –John Carpenter
Best Movie:
Mad Max Fury Road –George Miller
Will Evans
Deep Vellum
Best Book:
Beauty is a Wound –Eka Kurniawan, translated by Annie Tucker
Best Album:
Children of the Night –Tribulation
Best Movie:
A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence –Roy Andresson
Ben Fountain
Author
Best Book:
Fiction
The Turner House –Angela Flournoy
Non Fiction
Walking with Abel –Anna Badkhen
Daniel J. Hale
Author
Best Book:
Daniel must abstain from singling out any book because he’s the General Awards Chair for the 2016 Edgar Awards
Best Album:
Carrie & Lowell –Sufjan Stevens
Best Movie:
Ex Machina –Alex Garland
Bill Holston
Humans Rights Initiative of North Texas
Best Book:
Tree of Smoke –Denis Johnson
Best Album:
Pale White Dove –Doug Burr
Best Movie:
Grand Zero –Kevin Oeser
Harry Hunsicker
Author
Best Book:
M Train –Patti Smith
Best Album:
Something more than Free –Jason Isbell
Best Movie:
Sicario –Denis Villeneuve
Juan Jaramillo
Al Día Dallas
Best Album:
Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats
Best Movie:
Spotlight –Tom McCarthy
Kathleen Kent
Author
Best Book:
Between the World and Me –Ta-Nehisi Coates
Best Album:
Coming Home –Leon Bridges
Best Movie:
Birdman –Alejandro González Iñárritu
Alex Macon
D Magazine
Best Book:
A Brief History of Seven Killings –Marlon James
Speak –Louisa Hall
Best Album:
Algiers –Algiers
Coming Home –Leon Bridges
Best Movie:
Mad Max Fury Road –George Miller
The Wolfpack –Crystal Moselle
Caroline North
Dallas Observer
Best Book:
Speak –Louisa Hall
Best Album:
Magnifique –Ratatat
Best Movie:
Amy –Asif Kapadia
Lauren Smart
Dallas Observer
Best Book:
The Argonauts –Maggie Nelson
Best Album:
Poison Season –Destroyer
Best Movie:
Heart of a Dog –Laurie Anderson
Tiney Ricciardi
Dallas Morning News
Best Book:
Modern Romance –Aziz Ansari
Best Album:
Coming Home –Leon Bridges
Best Movie Series:
True Detective –Nic Pizzolato (Yes Tiney, series count)
Eric Steele
Texas Theater
Best Book:
Go Set a Watchman –Harper Lee
Best Album:
Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I just Sit –Courtney Barnett
Best Movie:
Listen to me, Marlon –Stevan Railey
Merritt Tierce
Author
Best Book:
Killing and Dying –Adrien Tomine
Best Movie:
Mad Max Fury Road –George Miller
Magic Mike XXL –Gregory Jacobs
Chris Vognar
Dallas Morning News
Best Book:
The Sellout –Paul Beatty
Best Album:
In Colour –Jamie XX
Best Movie:
He hasn’t decided yet. Y’all can check Chris Vognar best film for the year list on December 20th.
Published on
The Wild Detectives is your local independent bookstore bar and venue in Oak Cliff. Serious Pleasures.
ALSO