2023 was a rough year. Major burnout from my day-job cuddled up with what turned out to be ADHD and it was a struggle to accomplish anything most of the time, especially anything creative. There were good things too, but the ennui was persistent and draining. On a positive note, some things have changed that I hope will help me exit burnoutville, so I’m starting 2024 cautiously optimistic. Hey, I wrote a “Favorite Things” blog, albeit a late one, which I haven’t been able to do since April so fingers crossed.
MOVIES
Godzilla Minus One
This was my most surprising 2023 favorite. Yes, it’s a giant monster movie with all the inherent silliness that comes with the genre, but the story takes place in Tokyo immediately after the end of WWII and devotes a huge amount of it’s run time to the story of a Kamikaze pilot’s survivor’s guilt, PTSD, and attempts to rebuild his life. I was so invested in the characters I kept forgetting about Godzilla.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
While this Spider-Verse installment didn’t grip me quite as strongly as the first one, I still enjoyed it quite a bit. The animation is gorgeous and pushed even further this time around. It’s a bummer that the animators were apparently crunched and overworked in the process.
Teenage Mutant Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
A fun Turtle adventure with a super charming voice cast and excellent animation.
Orlando, My Political Biography
A documentary about trans and non-binary identity, a personal essay, and a loose interpretation of Virginia Woolf’s book Orlando, a Biography, filled with joy, intelligence, and humor.
RRR
A gloriously over-the-top Indian action epic about two fictionalized freedom fighters teaming up against colonialist British forces. Good to view with a critical eye since there are elements of propaganda and other political nuances that I’m not well versed in, but on face value as a cinematic spectacle, RRR was so much fun to see in a theater.
Stop Making Sense
Weirdly, one of the films that stuck with me the most this year was the 40th-anniversary re-release of the renowned Talking Heads concert film. I’ve generally always liked Talking Heads, but the energy and creativity in Stop Making Sense is extraordinary and it made me appreciate their work a lot more.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
Suzume
Barbie
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
TV SHOWS
Our Flag Means Death
OFMD Season 2 took everything that was good about the first season, doubled down on it, and made it even better (and gayer). There were great character arcs, especially for Izzy, and the finale was super satisfying. I’m sad that HBO cancelled the show, but at least we got the wonderful seasons that we did. [Max]
One Piece
I randomly binged the entire first season the live-action One Piece over a weekend and liked it way more than expected. The show definitely has the “everything feels like a soundstage” vibe that you get with some Netflix originals, but it’s delightfully stupid and cartoony, everyone in the cast is gorgeous and charming, and the story of pirate adventure is fun. [Netflix]
Dimension 20
If you haven’t heard of Dimension 20, it’s one of those “funny people play D&D together” shows, and it’s probably what I watched the most of in 2023. In particular The Sleeping City series, set in a modern-fantasy New York, with a charming cast and some great characters (Stephen Sondheim and Santa show up to save the day more than once). Most of the show is only available if you subscribe to Dropout, but the first season of Sleeping City is on youtube and a podcast. [Dropout.tv]
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Loki Season 2 [most of the season didn’t click with me but I loved the finale]
What We Do In The Shadows [still very funny, but I had less patience for a show about assholes this year]
BOOKS
FICTION
Psalm for the Wild-Built & A Prayer for the Crown Shy by Becky Chambers
This beautiful duology about a traveling monk and a curious robot finding their place in a utopic society is one of those series that I immediately went out and bought physical copies of just so I could share them with other people. Highly recommend. [Sci-Fi/Fantasy]
Scattered Showers by Rainbow Rowell
A collection of charming, mostly romance-themed short stories. One story in particular took place in the dorm that was down the street from my actual college dorm and the nostalgia that it stirred up was intense. [Contemporary]
Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree
An orcish warrior retires from adventuring to start her own coffee shop. A warm, cozy fantasy about found family and baked goods. [Fantasy]
Paladin’s Faith by T. Kingfisher
[You are now entering the obligatory T. Kingfisher section] A new installment in probably my favorite current book series about a bunch of paladins having adventures (and falling in love) after their god mysteriously dies. This time around our stoic paladin is escorting a spy-master on a mission that goes awry. [Romantic Fantasy]
Thornhedge by T Kingfisher
A reimagining of Sleeping Beauty from the point of view of Toadling, the fairy who is responsible for maintaining the sleeping curse. [Fantasy Novella]
A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher
A woman returns to her childhood home and find things are very wrong - there are vultures gathering on the roof, a jar of teeth is buried in the backyard, and something is strangely off about her mother. [Gothic Horror]
GRAPHIC NOVELS
Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton
A beautifully illustrated, deeply personal, and occasionally harrowing graphic memoir chronicling the author’s time working in the Canadian oil sands. [Autobiography]
Shuna’s Journey by Hayao Miyazaki
This beautiful early work by Hayao Miyazaki follows a prince in search of a magical grain and is filled with so many of the great images and themes that show up in his later animation work. [Fantasy]
Heartstopper Vol 5 by Alice Oseman
Volume 5 of Oseman’s YA romance series introduces sex and hormones into the equation as teens Nick and Charlie try to maintain their relationship amid college searches and looming future decisions. [YA Contemporary]
The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen
A young boy (afraid of coming out to his family) and his Vietnamese mom (missing the family she was separated from), find connection through their shared love of fairy tales. [YA Contemporary/Fantasy]
A Guest in the House by Emily Carroll
The thoroughly creepy, gorgeously illustrated story of a young woman who marries an older widower and is haunted by the specter of his former wife. I can’t say I exactly understood it all, particularly the end, but the vibes and atmosphere are so strong that it didn’t really matter. [Horror]
American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
Three seemingly separate stories - a young boy dealing with being the only Chinese-American student at his new school, the fable of the Monkey King, and a satirical sitcom starring the personification of every negative Chinese stereotype - are woven together in this very personal story. [YA Contemporary/Fantasy]
YA
Deephaven by Ethan M Aldridge
Young non-binary teen Nev travels to the mysterious boarding school Deephaven Academy to escape their traumatic home-life, and gets pulled into a mystery involving magic, conniving students, and a shadowy creature lurking in the closed off east wing. [Gothic Horror Mystery]
Spell Bound by F.T. Lukens
Two sorcerers apprentices - one with a lot of magic and one without any at all - are thrown together when their teachers are imprisoned by the burocratic and untrustworthy Magical Consortium. [Urban Fantasy Romance]
A Starlet’s Secret to a Sensational Afterlife by Kendall Kulper
A paranormal YA adventure set in 30s Hollywood that follows a young starlet (who can speak to ghosts) and a stunt-man (who can’t be injured) who are paired up to sell a fake relationship to the tabloids and end up getting embroiled in a murderous mystery. [Supernatural Mystery Romance]
ROMANCE (tldr, it’s all queer)
A Rival Most Vial by R.K. Ashwick
One of those rare times when a “since you bought that, you might like this” impulse purchase ended well. A charismatic newbie potion maker sets up shop across the street from an aloof established pro; professional rivalry becomes an angry feud becomes an unexpected romance as the two learn from each other and fall in love. [Fantasy / Not Spicy]
Diamond Ring by K.D. Casey
A second-chance romance about two baseball players who fell in love as rookies, broke apart after a dramatic World Series loss, and find their way back to each other years later. Lots of drama and pining, with characters that I enjoyed spending time with. Not sure why I started with the third book in the series, but it stood alone just fine. [Contemporary Sports / Pretty Spicy]
We Could Be So Good by Cat Sebastian
A scrappy reporter and the son of a newspaper-tycoon form an unlikely friendship (and eventual romance) when they start working in the same 1950s NYC newsroom. While it’s still a “happy-ending romance” that is more about vibes than conflict, the book adresses the homophobia and danger of the time more than most. [Period Romance / Medium Spice]
A Novel Arrangement and A Thief and a Gentleman by Arden Powell
The fifth and sixth books in Powell’s 1920s-with-a-bit-of-magic series Flos Magicae. ANA focuses on a charming love-triangle between a dressmaker (and secret romance novelist), her war-veteran fiancé, and her fiancé’s prickly best friend, a notorious artist known for shocking polite society. ATAAG follows a jaded jewel thief who is dared to seduce a cold, rules-following gentleman (that was secretly his childhood friend). [Fantasy / Medium Spice]
Rattling Bone by Jordan L. Hawk
YouTube ghost hunter and actual spirit medium Oscar and his nerdy parapsychologist boyfriend Nigel return to Oscar’s home town and find themselves investigating a ghostly family mystery at an abandoned distillery. Hawk writes the most bingeable stories and I can’t wait for the next one. [Horror Paranormal with Trans MC / Mild Spice]
The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen by K.J. Charles
Another charming period romance from KJ Charles about a misguided gentry orphan falling in love with a handsome rakish criminal. Charles excels with this type of pairing and I devour every new book she writes. [Period Romance / Fairly Spicy]
Heart, Haunt, Havoc by Freydis Moon
An exorcist goes to a haunted house to help the owner clear out a frankly alarming number of spirits. Not a ton of time for character development, but super spooky atmosphere and good non-binary leads. It’s hard to describe exactly, but Moon’s writing style is different than a lot of other books I read in this genre, which was exciting to discover. [Contemporary Horror Paranormal Novella with Trans/NB MCs / Some Spice]
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Liar City by Allie Therin [Urban Fantasy with a whiff of romance]
A Thief in the Night by KJ Charles [Historical Romance novella with a dash of highway robbery]
The Stars Did Wander Darkling by Colin Meloy [YA kids-on-bikes-in-the-80s horror adventure - loved the vibe, didn’t love the ending]
Fake Dates and Mooncakes by Sher Lee [Contemporary YA Romance with cooking and meddling families]
Luke and Billy Finally Get a Clue by Cat Sebastian [50s Cozy Historical baseball romance novella with a snow storm and pining]
The Last Sun by KD Edwards [Queer Urban Fantasy with found family and social politics - a little dense for me but cool worldbuilding]
Freaking Romance Volume One by Snailords [Romance manga/graphic novel with a sad KPop boy and a chaotic cat girl]
GAMES
Dredge
Part fishing game, part adventure story, and part Eldritch horror, where you guide a small boat across the vast open ocean, catching increasingly strange fish and running errands for various unsettling townspeople.
Spider-Man 2
Charming characters, super fun gameplay and traversal, and a well-written story that made me cry. One of those games that you can’t put down.
Unpacking
A small indie game where you literally just unpack moving boxes and put things away that somehow made me extremely emotional by the end.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Final Fantasy 16 [a lot of fun but the ending didn’t gel with me]
Lies of P [also fun, but I hit a difficulty spike 2/3 of the way through that I could not overcome]
ART
Wish I could have made more and not in love with all of it, but that’s what you get with burnout. Still really happy with the Moira piece. :)
