These are the essay collections, memoirs, and nonfiction reads that we absolutely loved in 2016. (Ranked in no particular order.)
BuzzFeed News
The 18 Best Nonfiction Books Of 2016
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An Adorable 2-Year-Old Totally Won Over This Entire Hockey Arena
“Can they do this at every game?”
His father, Tony Becker, told BuzzFeed News that the outpouring of support for Mason happened suddenly.
"It grew and grew and grew. It went from just our little section, to the whole stadium. It was very quick," he said.
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A Woman Was Captured Yelling A Tirade Of Racial Slurs At A Customer For Cutting In Line
Officials are trying to identify the woman in the Facebook video, that’s quickly gone viral, to ban her permanently from the Louisville mall.
On Tuesday, a video posted by Louisville, Kentucky resident, Renee Buckner, showed a woman standing in line at a store in the mall berating another customer for cutting the line. According to Buckner, the woman was set off after another woman added a few items to her friend's transaction instead of getting in line herself.
Buckner wrote on Facebook, "This Hispanic lady was purchasing items and the transaction was almost complete, then her friend brings up some shirts to be added to her purchase instead of getting in line."
She explained that this is what set the woman, seen in the blue-ish/gray sweater in the video, off.
BuzzFeed News has reached out to Buckner to learn more.
The video, taken in a JC Penney at the local Jefferson Mall, showed the woman quickly devolving into a tirade of racist remarks. "Go back to wherever the f*ck you came from," she's heard yelling.
She then turns to the cashier, and asks him, "Tell them to go back to where they belong."
The woman is seen and heard shouting a slew of racially-charged statements at the customers at the register, including making an assumption they're on welfare.
"Prey[ing] on welfare," she said. "The taxpayers probably paid for all that stuff."
Jefferson Mall has released a statement to NBC-affiliate WAVE 3 News that they're currently looking to identify the woman in the video, "and once identified, she will be permanently banned" from the mall.
"We are aware of the video posted online today from inside JCPenney," officials wrote. "Jefferson Mall strives to create a comfortable and convenient experience for all of our guests and we absolutely do not condone this type of behavior."
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This Russian Fisherman’s Deep-Sea Discoveries Are The Stuff Of Nightmares
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This Guy Found A Hack To Stop His iPhone AirPods From Falling Out
Through his stretched earlobe piercing.
In September Apple introduced AirPods – a pair of wireless earbuds.
Nicole Nguyen / BuzzFeed / Via buzzfeed.com
He's not the only person to come up with creative solutions to the AirPod conundrum. Designer Each Jewels invented earrings that AirPods can be clipped into.
eachjewels / Via eachjewels.com
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17 Albums We Needed The Most In 2016
Swan songs for civilization.
BuzzFeed News
In no particular order.
Rihanna - Anti
Anti, no more easy to pin down than its divinely self-assured creator, found Rihanna playing to each of her disparate strengths: savage sex symbol ("Needed Me," "Sex With Me"), hopeless romantic ("Love On The Brain"), boundlessly inventive vocal stylist ("Consideration.") In "Work," it gave us an instantly iconic pop love song perfectly attuned to its time — emotionally and psychically punctured, but still bobbing upstream.
Play This Now: "Consideration"
Westbury Road
Frank Ocean - Blonde
Ocean's long-awaited and dazzlingly layered return to music plays like a series of interrelated, impressionistic sketches on the profound and the profane. The preternaturally gifted songwriter uses ethereal organs, dreamy guitar, and a drawer-full of voice effects to conjure ghosts of longing and alienation — from his peers, from his romantic partners, and from his God. On Blonde's soulful highlights including "Ivy," "Pink + White," and "Self-Control," he's an unflinching excavator of his own conflicting emotions, turning the rawest of materials into luminous mosaics.
Play This Now: "Self Control"
Frank Ocean
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A Couple Received Letters Meant For Santa, So They Started Answering Them
Make way for small miracles.
Meet Jim Glaub and Dylan Parker.
John Heil
Several years ago, the couple lived together on 22nd Street in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood. Their address was special. Really, really special...
...because it's the home of Santa Claus!
CW
Okay, not really, but for some reason, a bunch of kids started mailing their letters to da Claus to Dylan and Jim's address.
At first, Jim told BuzzFeed, they'd receive only a few letters each year. But then, "we started to receive these letters by the dozens! Every day a new batch of 25 to 30 letters would appear in our mailbox. It was so strange." Neither is really sure how or why, but apparently the address has been receiving mail for Santa for more than a decade.
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Endangered Snow Leopard Quadruplets Were Caught On Camera For The First Time
The remote video footage in Mongolia of the endangered snow leopard family is the first of its kind, the World Wildlife Fund announced.
Snow leopard quadruplets have been caught on film in the wild for the first time, a surprise find for researchers tracking the endangered species.
WWF / Via worldwildlife.org
There are only between 4,080 and 6,590 snow leopards left in the wild, according to the World Wildlife Foundation, which announced the footage Wednesday. And their numbers are falling.
Found in 12 countries, including China, Bhutan, Nepal, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Russia, and Mongolia, the leopards have evolved to live in some of the harshest environments on earth, but have fallen victim to habitat loss and so-called "revenge" hunting by farmers whose livestock can quickly become prey.
The footage of an adult snow leopard with her four cubs was recorded in Mongolia, the WFF said.
Three six-week-old snow leopard cubs are held by zookeepers in Hungary.
Zoltan Gergely Kelemen / AP
While litters of up to three cubs have been observed before, the quadruplets are a first, according to the WFF.
Fun fact: The snow leopard can leap six times the length of its body.
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10 Celebs Killin’ The Elf On The Shelf Game
These celebs are taking it to a new level.
Sarah Michelle Gellar, whose elves spent time in the workshop...
...and dressed in knitted mermaid tails.
Busy Phillips, who has notoriously ruled the game for the past few years...
...Who also created an Elf on the Shelf red carpet premiere for Rogue One.
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Celebrity Babies We Met In 2016
At least 2016 gave us these adorable little faces.
Luna Simone
Chrissy Teigen and John Legend's adorable child.
Boomer Phelps
Michael Phelps' little man with his wife Nicole Johnson.
Remington Alexander
Smiley little child to Kelly Clarkson and Brandon Blackstock.
Dream Kardashian
Spawn of Blac Chyna and Rob Kardashian.
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The 47 Most WTF Celebrity Moments Of 2016
If you thought 2016 was pretty WTF anyway, wait until you look back at this.
Taylor Swift started dating Tom Hiddleston straight after splitting from Calvin Harris, which was pretty WTF anyway. But then things moved insanely quickly. Here they are meeting Tom's mother after just NINE DAYS of dating.
Goff Photos / / /FameFlynet.uk.com
Then just over TWO WEEKS after they started going out, Tom declared his love for Taylor on a T-shirt for the world to see.
Ryan Turgeon / Ryan Turgeon / Splash News
Ryan Turgeon / Splash News
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Astronauts On The Space Station Did The Mannequin Challenge So Everyone Can Stop Now
Space: where no mannequin has gone before.
And the cast of Saturday Night Live.
These pets.
Blac Chyna in the delivery room.
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Take This Color Quiz To Find Out What Will Happen To You In 2017
Is it pleasant pink or tumultuous teal?
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21 Things To Do To Improve Your Mental Health In 2017
We’re guessing you need it after 2016.
Remove apps from your phone that might be stressing you out.
Seriously. I asked my coworkers at BuzzFeed for one thing they did this year that actually improved their mental health, and about half of them said removing Twitter and Facebook from their phones. Twitter and Facebook might not be your happiness-suck, but chances are, there's an app that is doing you more harm than good. Try going without it for awhile and see how you feel.
Nathan W. Pyle / BuzzFeed Comics
Give a name to your negative thoughts and then call them out on their bullshit.
The more you try to ignore negative thoughts, the more power they have over you — and the truer they feel. “Sadly, many people make the mistake of believing the negative things that their ‘inner voice’ tells them, often without even being aware of their right to question whether these things are accurate," Simon Rego, Psy.D., told BuzzFeed Health. "Catch, challenge, and change negative thoughts.”
And, honestly, treating that voice like a particularly annoying backseat driver or someone whose opinion you don't respect at all can really help with that.
NBC / Via pterodactylparadox.tumblr.com
Develop a morning routine that will set the mood for the whole day.
It'll look different for everyone, but find a routine that will center you and put you in a good mood before you have to face the day. Think: Exercising, meditating, writing out your to-do list, thinking about the things you're grateful for, even just taking time to actually eat breakfast, have your coffee, and listen to your favorite podcast.
These ways to make your mornings infinitely better might be a great place to start. Oh, and make your bed, because it will work miracles on your life.
@mathilde_have / Via instagram.com
And while you're at it, develop a before-bed routine, too.
Wash your face. Make some tea. Unplug and read. Do one of these before-bed activities that don't involve watching Netflix. Anything that you can do to unwind and put a positive cap on the day can help your headspace A LOT.
@iloveme2_84 / Via instagram.com
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26 Small Ways Representation In Hollywood Improved In 2016
Yes, there’s a lot of work to be done, but this past year wasn’t all bad.
ABC; Getty; Marvel; Disney; Netflix; Paramount; Lilly Wachowski; The CW
When Marvel Studios hired Ryan Coogler to direct Black Panther.
The 2018 movie is Marvel Studios’ first feature to star a black character, and Coogler is the first black director to helm a Marvel Studios feature. (Reporting by Adam B. Vary)
Jamie McCarthy / Getty Images; Marvel Studios
When Black-ish was open and honest about police brutality in America.
During an early 2016 episode, called "Hope," Dre (Anthony Anderson) and his wife Bow (Tracee Ellis Ross) get into a discussion about police brutality as the family waits to see if a police officer will be indicted for killing a black man who was unarmed. (By Michael Blackmon)
ABC
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Let's Talk About The Thing That Happened At The End Of "Sherlock"
OBVIOUS SPOILERS.
If you haven't seen "The Six Thatchers" yet...PLEASE BE AWARE OF THE SPOILERS BELOW.
This balloon is a 2/10 spoiler, so I am putting it at the top, try me.
BBC / Hatys
Until Mary was shot in the stomach from Ammo in front of her husband Watson.
BBC / Hartswood Films
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A CNN Anchor Got His Ear Pierced During The Live New Year's Eve Broadcast
It’s been a weird year.
So if you've ever imagined what Don Lemon would look like getting his ear pierced, here you go.
"MOTHER..."
CNN
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32 Behind-The-Scenes Looks At TV Shows, Movies, Theater, And Fandoms From 2016
From Disney princesses to the end of Idol and the fandoms of Harry Potter and Star Trek, BuzzFeed Entertainment reported on what goes on in the worlds of your faves this past year.
A24; FX; Suzanne Tenner; The CW; Sony; Matthew Murphy; Amazon; STX
60 Days In
Seven law-abiding citizens volunteered to spend two months behind bars to help a frustrated sheriff fix his problematic prison, and every second was filmed for A&E’s hit docuseries. This is how they pulled it off. (By Jarett Wieselman)
A&E
American Crime
Creator John Ridley and stars Felicity Huffman, Connor Jessup, and Joey Pollari told BuzzFeed News how socially responsible storytelling turned the ABC drama into the most daring TV show in years. (By Jarett Wieselman)
Ryan Green / ABC
American Idol
Since 2002, American Idol has discovered unknown talented singers and offered them the chance to achieve superstar status. While not everyone has reached the heights of Kelly Clarkson or Jennifer Hudson, many have left indelible marks on the hearts and ears of the viewers who did “Dial Idol” for them. Before the series finale, BuzzFeed News asked past contestants to reflect upon how the show changed their lives. Within are their slightly edited responses. (By Jarett Wieselman)
Fox
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Mariah Carey Had A Rough Time With Her New Year's Eve Performance
But didn’t we all have issues in 2016?
Carey was out of sync with her backing track, at times not even mouthing the words in apparent frustration.
"We didn't have a sound check for this New Year's, baby," she said after missing about half the lyrics of her hit, "Emotion."
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22 People In TV, Film, And Music We Couldn’t Get Enough Of In 2016
From the man behind one of the biggest earworms of the year, to the woman we all wanted justice for in 2016, to, of course, Chris Pratt.
Kylie Bunbury
Late into the audition process for the lead of Pitch, 27-year-old Kylie Bunbury walked into co-creator Dan Fogelman’s office. “Sometimes you just know. Sometimes you see somebody and think, That’s what I had in my brain and I didn’t even know it. That’s how it was with Kylie,” he told BuzzFeed News. “When she walked in the door, that was it. I saw the television show.” (By Jarett Wieselman)
Fox
Jon M. Chu
“A hero that doesn’t look like you makes you want to be something else,” Chu told BuzzFeed News. The upcoming director of Crazy Rich Asians, who helmed the Now You See Me sequel in 2016, said, “These are characters who have never been seen on the big screen before: Some are totally immoral. Some are completely materialistic. Some are total assholes. Others are super kind. It just runs the gamut and shows there’s not one Asian.” (By Susan Cheng)
Bryan Dale for BuzzFeed News
Desus Nice and The Kid Mero
Desus Nice and The Kid Mero, two Twitter personalities, quietly broke ground on a staid platform — and they did it during the most insane few months in American political history. On other networks, “it’d usually be like get a white guy, give him a suit, get an auditorium, get a band, get three guests, boom. Monologue, interviews, we out,” Desus told BuzzFeed News. At Viceland, Mero added, it all starts with them asking, “What do you want to do?” (By Marcus Jones)
Viceland
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