Random Thoughts

Reading
System Collapse - Martha Wells
A Power Unbound - Freya Marske
Ocean's Echo - Everina Maxwell
The Mimicking of Known Successes - Malka Older

Live Shows
The National and Fleet Foxes
Stardew Valley Symphony of Seasons
A Walk in the Skies: A Tribute to Joe Hisaishi

I also joined my local urban sketching group, which has been a heap of fun and I highly recommend it if you think drawing on location sounds interesting.

Not an especially productive year, but this list is definitely longer than last year's.

Edit: Just corrected the subject line from 2021 to 2020, marking probably the first time in life I've ever written the new year instead of the old year (and not the other way around).

Books
魔道祖师 | Mo Dao Zu Shi | The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation - 墨香铜臭 | Mo Xiang Tong Xiu
人渣反派自救系统 | The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System - 墨香铜臭 | Mo Xiang Tong Xiu
重生之朗朗星空 | Rebirth of a Movie Star - j112233
梦溪石 | Peerless - Meng Xi Shi
网恋翻车指南 | Guide on How to Fail at Online Dating - 酱子贝
Network Effect - Martha Wells
Edge of Nowhere - Felicia Davin
The Moonstone - Wilkie Collins (audio, read by Phoebe Judge)
The Leavenworth Case - Anna Katharine Green (audio, read by Phoebe Judge)
The Place Between - Kit Oliver
Red, White and Royal Blue - Casey McQuiston
Boyfriend Material - Alexis Hall
The Thief - Megan Whalen Turner
Sunshine - Robin McKinley
Conventionally Yours - Annabeth Albert
The Princess and the Fangirl - Ashley Poston

Comics/Manga/Graphic Novels
Tonari no Robot - Nishi Uko

Video Games
Completed games (to the end credits, not necessarily 100%) are marked with *
Stardew Valley*
Child of Light*
Animal Crossing: New Horizons*[1]
Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice*
Katamari Damarcy Reroll
Spiritfarer

Movies
封神榜 | League of Gods (2016)

TV
(At what point do I admit that I don't watch scripted serialised video content anymore and remove this heading from the list?)

Audio
(I only list narrative audio here)
The Far Meridian - Seasons 1 & 2

Music
Child of Light (OST) - Beatrice Martin / Coeur de Pirate

Live Events
Ha. Ha. Ha.

Recorded Theatre and Opera
Aida (Met Opera, 1984)
Hamlet (Globe)
Rigoletto (Met Opera, 2016?)
Jesus Christ Superstar (2012?)
Cats (1997)


[1]: Hey, it has end credits!

This is the first novel by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu, the author of Mo Dao Zu Shi/The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, which I talked about last week.

I really need to start compiling these thoughts as I go, so that I'm not trying to cobble it together from chat logs and the vague memories of feelings.

( Cut for length and spoilers. )

A lot of my free time last year was eaten up by study, or more accurately my anxiety preventing me from spending time not studying, and then I re-discovered video games again and that took up the rest of it.

In the hopes of giving myself some accountability and, honestly, giving myself a list to consult when I feel like trying something new, I've compiled some lists of things I intend to start this year.

These lists are not comprehensive and recommendations are welcome! (I like SF/Fantasy and mysteries, cannot handle grimdark, horror, extreme violence or gore, and prefer queer content.)

Books
There's nothing like compiling an annual wrap-up to realise how few books you've read in a year.

Some interesting-seeming books I own but haven't read yet:
Too Like the Lightning - Ada Palmer
Witchmark - C. L. Polk ✅
The Black Tides of Heaven - JY Yang
Sunshine - Robin McKinley ✅
All the Birds in the Sky - Charlie Jane Anders
The Murder at Sissingham Hall - Clara Benson
The Quantum Thief - Hannu Rajaniemi
A Darker Shade of Magic - V. E. Schwab
Deathless - Catherynne M. Valente
Every Heart a Doorway - Seanan MacGuire
The Tiger’s Daughter - K Arsenault Rivera
The Bedlam Stacks - Natasha Pulley
(You may recognise a number of these from the Tor monthly free books.)

New books coming out in 2020:
False Value - Ben Aaronovitch (February)
A Desolation Called Peace - Arkady Martine (March) 2021
Network Effect: A Murderbot Novel - Martha Wells (May) ✅

I also have it in my head that I could finally read some of these Chinese web novels which have translations available:
Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation ✅
Scum Villain's Self-Saving System ✅
Female General and Eldest Princess

Podcasts
The friending meme introduced me to a number of new narrative podcasts I'd like to try out, including:
The Far Meridian ✅
The Penumbra Podcast ✅
The Two Princes
The Love and Luck Podcast (Added 2020-01-06)

I also need to finish The Strange Case of Starship Iris, preferably before its new season starts, and Tides should hopefully be getting a new season next this year.

Television/Movies
Sadly, I think at this point it's too much to hope that I'll be able to sustain interest in these particular types of visual media (with apologies to all fans of the Untamed XD, but I might read the novel!).

Books
The Murderbot Diaries: Artificial Condition - Martha Wells

I really need to get back into the habit of reading books.

Audio
The Adventure Zone: Balance - the rest of it, including all the live and MaxFunDrive episodes (but not the bulk of the Suffering Game)
The Adventure Zone: Amnesty 1-5 - This was very cool, but I think I'll wait until the next arc is finished before continuing
The Adventure Zone: Elementary (AKA Four Sherlock Holmes and a Vampire [Who Is Also One of the Aforementioned Sherlock Holmes]) - this was Extremely Silly 😂

Television
Agatha Christie's Poirot 10x04-11x02 - I think I'm done with this - it was getting too dark and sordid for my tastes. I enjoyed much of the early seasons a lot though.
Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries 2x01-2x07
Rosemary & Thyme 1-9

This sounds like a lot of TV, but it's been a while since I logged my TV watching.

Books
Geekerella - Ashley Poston
The Bear and the Nightingale - Katherine Arden

Next:
The Obelisk Gate: The Broken Earth Series, Book 2 - N. K. Jemisin
Provenance - Ann Leckie
(Both of these library holds came in at the same time, hah.)

Television
Agatha Christie's Poirot 1x01-3x04

Hoping to get to the cinema to see Thor: Ragnarok sometime soon...

As always, feel free to ask me about any of these and I will try to distill my thoughts into something shareable.

Books
The Murderbot Diaries: All Systems Red - Martha Wells
The Golem and the Djinni - Helene Wecker
The Raven Boys, The Dream Thieves, Blue Lily, Lily Blue - Maggie Stiefvater (in audiobook)

Anime
Bodacious Space Pirates 1x04
The Royal Tutor 1x01-1x12

Live
Figure Skating: Winter Spectacular, featuring Jeremy Abbott and Yuka Sato
Cirque du Soleil: Kooza

No, I haven't seen Wonder Woman or Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 yet. Soon.

...with no plans to leave in the near future, which is a weird feeling. It's spring, and by my calculations the last spring I had in Australia was in 2008. I have allergies. How about that.

I've been taking the time to acclimatize, get over my jet lag, and not runs out and see all the people and do all the things like I have on my previous visits. It's nice.

Reading Log (Since June 22nd, 2016)
The Raven Boys - Maggie Stiefvater (Raven Cycle #1)
The Dream Thieves - Maggie Stiefvater (Raven Cycle #2)
Blue Lily, Lily Blue - Maggie Stiefvater (Raven Cycle #3)

In Progress
The Raven King - Maggie Stiefvater (Raven Cycle #4)

...after basically everybody talking about these books for a while, I discovered my old library had them available as ebook so I nabbed them all before they could realize I've moved and cut me off.

Audiobook
An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth: What Going to Space Taught Me About Ingenuity, Determination, and Being Prepared for Anything - Chris Hadfield (Read by Chris Hadfield)