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End of the year picspam time! This post ended up way too large, so I'm posting it in two parts! This part is books and movies (plus a fandom/TV meme), and Part 2 is shows and ships.
TOP BOOKS OF 2013
Last year I couldn't narrow my choices down past 40, and the year before I was only at 30; this year I settled on 35. I definitely read a lot of good books this year (and I think fewer bad books than last year), but I also think I gave way fewer 5 star books this year; there were only a handful that really stood out as great to me. It was also hard for me to narrow this down because I read so many romance series this year, and all of them started blending together for me, but I tried to highlight my favorites of each of those series. Anyways, in no particular order:
(You can find reviews for many of these on my goodreads, but feel free to ask me for specific thoughts on any of them!)
And a meme:
The last book you finished this year: World After by Susan Ee. It's the sequel to Angelfall, which was one of my favorite books from last year. It's a paranormal romance series about angels which, if I only heard that description, I would turn running, but it's actually really well done, and I don't know that it can really be classified as a paranormal romance just because the romance takes a backseat to everything else going on. I'd say the main character's relationship with her sister is actually more important than the main relationship overall. I didn't love the sequel quite as much as the first book, but I did really enjoy it, and I'm looking forward for the 3rd book already.
The first book you will finish in the new year: I don't actually know! I haven't been reading much. I only read 1 book in November, and the only reason I read 5 books this month was to get to 100 for the year. I haven't been in a huge reading mood recently. Fury of the Demon, the 6th book in the Kara Gillian series by Diana Rowland, is out on like 1/7, and it's the earliest release I'm looking forward to, and the 5th book in the series was the first book I read this year, so there's a good chance it might be that. Maybe Vicious by Victoria Schwab or All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill since I've been meaning to read both of them for the past few months.
Your favorite "classic" you read this year: I read zero classics this year! I vaguely considered rereading Jane Eyre and Emma, but I didn't even do that. The oldest book I read this year came out in 2000, I believe.
The book series you read the most volumes of this year: The Bridgertons series by Julia Quinn, since there are 8 of them. Although, if you count rereads, it would be the Toby Daye series by Seanan McGuire because that series is like... comfort food to me? I reread the 6 books in the series in the spring, and then, after reading the 7th when it came out in the fall, I reread books 3-7, so that would be a total of 12 volumes, counting rereads.
The genre you read the most this year: It's hard for me to categorize a lot of the stuff I read into genres, but it looks like I read about 22 contemporary romances. Historical romance came super close with 21, and I also had 15 YA contemporary romances, so basically over half of what I read this year was primarily romance. I definitely read a lot less fantasy this year; in past years, it was most of what I read, but this year only like a quarter of what I read could be classified as fantasy. And then the remainder was a mix of sci fi/dystopian/post-apocalyptic/horror stuff.
The book that disappointed you: There were a lot of books I read this year that I wanted to like more than I did, so I guess all of those disappointed me to some extent. The ones that disappointed me the most would include The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (after how most people seemed to react to this book, I expected to be bawling by the end of it, but instead I ended up not caring about anything that happened at all), The Nightmare Affair by Mindee Arnett (it was a book I had heard about sometime in 2012 and had on my to-read list for ages because it sounded so interesting, and then when it finally came out, it was so completely mediocre that I barely finished it), Suddenly Royal by Nichole Chase (it's basically The Princess Diaries set in college rather than high school and it should've been fun and delightful, but the writing was really bad and none of the scenes felt genuine), Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry (a lot of people seem to REALLY love this, and I couldn't get into the characters or the ship at all. So much about this book really bugged me), For Nick by Taylor Dean (marriages of convenience is one of my favorite tropes!!! This book looked like it could be so enjoyable!!! Instead it completely wasted the trope and relied on a series of ridiculously melodramatic plot twists and included a [Spoilers, if anyone cares]surprise storyline about a child with cancer which I did not sign up for), Cold Magic by Kate Elliott (lots of people love this series! It looked like it would be completely relevant to my interests! Instead it was super long and boring and I couldn't get into it at all), and Allegiant by Veronica Roth (there is not enough time in the world to go into all the many ways in which this book failed).
The book you liked better than you expected to: The Raven Boys and The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater would be the most major example. I had read one book by Maggie Stiefvater previously and everyone had raved about it, but I really didn't care for it, and the summary for The Raven Boys didn't look like something I'd be into, and it turned out to be one of my favorite books of the year (and then The Dream Thieves was even better). Omens by Kelley Armstrong was one that I went into with very little expectations, and I know it didn't work for a lot of people, but for me, somewhere along the way it completely sucked me in, and I fell completely in love with it. There were a bunch others that I didn't have much expectation for that I ended up liking a lot, but none to the extent of those books.
The hardest book you read this year (topic or writing style): Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie was pretty tough because it alternates chapters between the past and present, and in the past, the protagonist was a space ship with like 27 different bodies, so in those chapters I found it tough to figure out everyone she was and also who the other characters were and what their roles were. It was also tough because in the language of the main character, they don't mark gender and have trouble figuring out someone's gender when they meet them because cultural norms vary from place to place, so the book uses "she" through the protagonist's inner monologue, and you can only tell if a character is male if another character refers to that character as a male, which doesn't happen really frequently. It was an interesting choice, but it did take getting used to.
Funniest book you read this year: Probably Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh (although a lot of the humor is mixed with some more serious topics as well). I would also say that the Bridgertons series by Julia Quinn and the Bedwyn series by Mary Balogh had a lot of really funny moments even if there isn't a single book in either that I'd really point to as the funniest book I read this year.
The saddest book you read this year: I don't think there are any books I read that had really tragic endings because I tend to seek books with happy endings. Where the Stars Still Shine by Trish Dollar would probably count since it made me tear up a lot when I was reading it. (I was also sad about how awful Allegiant was, but that's a different kind of sadness.)
The shortest book you read this year: On a Red Station, Drifting by Aliette de Bodard, which was actually a novella.
The longest book you read this year: The Diviners by Libba Bray.
A book that you discovered this year that you will definitely read again: Definitely The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater, Written in Red by Anne Bishop, and Chimes at Midnight by Seanan McGuire since I read all of them twice this year already. Also The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater (I'm probably going to reread that sometime this week, actually), Omens by Kelley Armstrong, World After by Susan Ee, and Touch of the Demon by Kara Gillian. And I would probably reread any of the Chocolate series by Laura Florand, Pink Carnation series by Lauren Willig, FBI/US Attorney series by Julie James, Bedwyn series by Mary Balogh, and Bridgerton series by Julia Quinn if I ever felt like I needed a happy romance book. And pretty much anything I gave a 4.5+ on GoodReads.
A book that you never want to read again: Allegiant by Veronica Roth, The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, and For Nick by Taylor Dean. (I think I covered my displeasure with all of them above, so I won't get into it again here.)
A favorite new author you discovered this year: Laura Florand, Marissa Meyer, Julie James, Julia Quinn, Mary Balogh, Kasie West, and Allison Parr were all authors who were new to me this year and from whom I read more than 1 book that I really enjoyed this year, so I would definitely read more stuff by all of them.
A book that was out of your comfort zone or was a new genre for you: I really didn't read much outside my comfort genres, which I would consider to be sci fi/fantasy and romance (both YA and adult). I think the closest would be The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo. It was a historical fantasy which isn't super out of my comfort zone (although I do read less historical fantasy than contemporary fantasy typically), but it was set in Malaysia, and I definitely haven't read anything set in that setting or time period before, so it was pretty markedly different from anything else I read this year.
And finally, make a New Year's Resolution: I was pretty doubtful I would get to 100 books this year, but I managed to again! So I'm hoping to get to 100 again this year. And this is the first year in forever that I actually managed to read at least one book a month, so I'm hoping I can do that again as well. I'd also really like to get to 100 movies for the year because I actually think I could have gotten there this year if I had put more effort into it, but I haven't gotten to 100 in a year for the past few years, so I'll stick to 50 movies, and if I manage to do better than that, then yay!
TOP MOVIES OF 2013
(By top movies of 2013, I meant in general movies I watched in 2013, not only ones that came out this year!)
And, finally, a fandom/TV meme (which I wanted to include in the shows/ships post but that made it too long. I probably should have stuck to top 10s because I didn't have this problem last year!!!):
Which TV shows did you start watching in 2013?
In terms of brand new shows (and not including shows I only watched a couple episodes of and then gave up on), The Americans (…although I never watched the last like 5 episodes. But I will! Someday!), My Mad Fat Diary, Hannibal, Orphan Black, Orange Is the New Black, House of Cards, The Fosters, Sleepy Hollow, Masters of Sex, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine. In terms of old shows that were new to me, Girls, Hart of Dixie, The X-Files, Bob's Burgers, The Sopranos, Arrow, and Louie.
Which TV shows did you let go of in 2013?
Hart of Dixie (Kind of. I'm keeping up with what's happening, and if the show does good stuff with Zoe/Wade and doesn't put Zoe and George together, then I see me getting sucked back in), Teen Wolf (probably. I watched the first couple episodes this season, and I enjoyed them well enough, but I think I'm just tired of its existence as a show), Dexter (Technically, I guess? I got like 5 episodes behind and was going to catch up until I found out what happened in the finale, and now there's no chance I'm going to bother with the rest of the season), and a bunch of shows in the fall that I watched the first couple episodes of (SHIELD, Trophy Wife, Back in the Game, The Michael J. Fox Show).
Which TV shows did you mean to get into but didn't in 2013? Why?
Usually if I REALLY feel like checking out a show, I will, no matter how busy I am, so there really isn't a lot? There are shows that are on my list of things to watch someday, but I feel like I have to be in the right mood for them, so they stick around year after year, and this year I actually did a better job of checking stuff out! Like The Sopranos and the first couple seasons of The X-Files, for example. I think the only show I really planned to watch in 2013 was The X-Files, which… success! Well, success in starting it. And I'll definitely get back to it in 2014. But I can't think of anything that I started the year saying "YES, THIS WILL BE THE YEAR I WATCH THIS!!!" and then it didn't happen.
Which TV shows do you intend on checking out in 2014?
I still plan on finishing Six Feet Under someday (I got up to 4.09 a couple years ago and then had to stop because I was moving from school back home, and… I never got back to it), and I'm also thinking about checking out Reign, Southland, The Walking Dead, Rectify, The Shield, Les revenants, Broadchurch, Top of the Lake, and maybe Boardwalk Empire. Plus the rest of The X-Files. It's highly unlikely I'll get to all of those shows, but that's what I'm thinking of checking out at least. The only thing that's for sure is watching more of The X-Files.
Which TV show impressed you least in 2013?
I think I did better this year with TV shows than last year! I feel like there weren't any shows that I was really upset with? There were shows I was frustrated with at times, but nothing to the extent I was upset with like Gossip Girl and Fringe and stuff in the past. I guess some of the new shows this season, like SHIELD, could be considered pretty unimpressive. The couple of episodes of Homeland I watched this season were pretty unimpressive, but I haven't felt enthusiastic towards that show since mid-season 2, so my expectations weren't super high.
Which TV show do you think you might let go of in 2014 unless things significantly improve?
I feel like I've actually been doing a better job than I used to about letting go of shows. I mean, the thing is, I'm way more likely to want to get rid of a show I find boring, and since I was working for the first half of the year, I really could only keep up with shows that I absolutely loved because I didn't have the time or attention span for anything else. But these days, I actually don't mind keeping around shows I'm less enthusiastic about just because I like putting something on in the background when I'm doing homework or writing an essay or whatever (part of my issue with getting stuff done is just starting, so if I can put on something I'm not super into, it like... distracts the part of my brain that wants to procrastinate and be entertained, and then I can start actually doing some work), so I haven't felt the need to really drop anything. The show that I watch that's the worst qualitatively is Glee, but I'm pretty much never going to stop watching it despite how awful it is for various reasons. I might not watch season 3 of Girls or the next season of Louie (if it airs a new season next year; I'm not sure how the scheduling for that show works out) because I'm not really into either show, but they're also shows that I feel like I should watch just so I can have an opinion on them, if that makes any sense at all??? idk, it'll just kind of depend on what mood I'm in, I guess. I also probably won't watch season 2 of House of Cards because I didn't really care much for season 1. I also don't know if I'll ever be motivated enough to finish this season of Homeland.
Which TV shows do you think you'll never let go of no matter how crappy they get? Why?
Glee. I don't even know why. I can't even justify it. But even though I know it's awful, I still manage to get a certain enjoyment out of it? It's ridiculous and I judge myself for it. Other than that… probably Doctor Who, just because even if a season is awful, I'll always feel like I can wait until the next showrunner (please let's get a new one soon) or new Doctor or new companion and the show will be reset enough that there'll be a chance it'll work for me.
Your main fandom of the year?
I haven't really had one main one. I'm a multi-fandom gal. Parks and Rec is always present for me, even if I'm not as big on it as I once was. I feel like I have to split the year up in half, because there was stuff I was super into in January that I barely think about now. So, for the first half of the year: The Lizzie Bennett Diaries, New Girl (I'm still into it, but it was way bigger for me back then), Elementary (I still love it, but I feel like I was more into it last season). For the second half of the year, Sleepy Hollow, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Good Wife (…well, I don't really talk about it very much, but it feels like a primary fandom for me in my head?), Breaking Bad (also a show I didn't discuss a lot, but it was definitely a huge part of the end of the summer for me), and Arrow. And then The Mindy Project kind of on and off for the year (basically whenever there's a Mindy/Danny-heavy episode).
Your favorite film watched this year? In terms of 2013 films, I'd say it's a tie between Before Midnight and 12 Years a Slave, with Inside Llewyn Davis and Nebraska coming up right behind them (this has been a really great year for movies, and I still have a lot to see!). In terms of pre-2013 films that were new to me this year, Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, Fanny and Alexander, and Dog Day Afternoon would be at the very top.
Your favorite album or song to listen to this year? I'm so bad at checking out music these days, it's pretty sad (especially since when I was in high school, music was a bigger deal to me than TV/movies/film), and I'll tend to just listen to a couple songs and not entire albums. The stuff I listened to most would be Pentatonix (just got really into them the past few weeks and I'm completely obsessed), Bastille, "Fare Thee Well" (from the Inside Llewyn Davis soundtrack), Demi Lovato's new album, Fall Out Boy's new album, "San Francisco" (the Mowglis), "Cups" (Anna Kendrick), and various songs from Glee (I know).
Your best new fandom discovery of the year? My Mad Fat Diary, Orphan Black, and Orange Is the New Black were all pretty great discoveries. I don't really know what counts as a discovery, because like... Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Sleepy Hollow were also great new shows I started watching, but they don't really feel like discoveries since I started watching them from the pilot? Orange Is the New Black probably doesn't really count either, for that matter.
Your TV boyfriend of the year? Nick Miller, Danny Castellano, Ben Wyatt, Finn Nelson (...although I think I'm getting to the age where I feel creepy listing a high school aged character as a TV boyfriend), Dan Egan (I know he's a giant asshole, but... that's sometimes kind of my type), Jesse Pinkman (although... I don't think I want to be his girlfriend considering what happens to most of his girlfriends), Oliver Queen, Ichabod Crane. (I guess that's it??? I feel like I should have more, but for some reason I'm always pickier when it comes to male characters than female characters.)
Your TV girlfriend of the year? Amy Santiago, Abbie Mills, Jess Day, Leslie Knope, April Ludgate, Felicity Smoak, Alicia Florrick, Mindy Lahiri, Fiona Gallagher, Sarah Manning, Cosima Niehaus, Amy Brookheimer, Peggy Olsen, Skyler White, Joan Watson, Santana Lopez.
Your biggest squee moment of the year? Everything in My Mad Fat Diary between Rae and Finn. Pretty much every interaction between Mindy and Danny on the Mindy Project, but, in particular, all of Santa Fe, the fake dating episode, the season 1 finale, the season 2 premiere, and the Christmas episode. Pretty much everything between Nick and Jess in season 2 of New Girl, but Cooler most of all, and also random moments this season like the one where Jess accidentally started talking about when they get married. Ichabod referring to Abbie by her first name on Sleepy Hollow (plus hugging and handholding!!!). Sherlock proposing Joan keep working with him on Elementary. All of Pemberley on The Lizzie Bennet Diaries plus Lizzie and Darcy finally kissing. Everything between Felicity and Oliver in season 2 of Arrow, but, most of all, that time he told her he couldn't be with anyone he might care about.
The most missed of your old fandoms? I don't think I have any? I'm trying to think, but... there really hasn't been anything. I miss when Homeland was better, but it was never one of my absolute favorite shows, and my love for it was pretty brief. I also miss that time when The Lizzie Bennet Diaries could do no wrong in my eyes. OH, AND THE HOUR!!!!!!!!!! HOW COULD I FORGET ABOUT THAT????? I was even just thinking a week or two ago how we could've been getting season 3 of The Hour right now (well, theoretically. I have no idea when season 3 would have actually aired) and I was so upset about it. Season 2 of The Hour is legitimately one of the most perfect seasons of television I have ever seen. UGH, I'M SAD ALL OVER AGAIN ABOUT IT.
Your biggest fan anticipations for the New Year? I'M REALLY GOING TO NEED MINDY AND DANNY TO MAKE OUT BEFORE THE MINDY PROJECT GETS CANCELLED. Also Felicity and Oliver to continue at the same pace with their relationship as they are now because it's working for me so well and I'm enjoying the slow burn. Same goes for Santiago/Peralta and Abbie/Ichabod. I'm super excited for My Mad Fat Diary to come back and for Rae and Finn to finally kiss!!! There's probably more than that, but that's the main stuff on my mind right now.
Part 2: Top Shows and Ships of 2013
TOP BOOKS OF 2013
Last year I couldn't narrow my choices down past 40, and the year before I was only at 30; this year I settled on 35. I definitely read a lot of good books this year (and I think fewer bad books than last year), but I also think I gave way fewer 5 star books this year; there were only a handful that really stood out as great to me. It was also hard for me to narrow this down because I read so many romance series this year, and all of them started blending together for me, but I tried to highlight my favorites of each of those series. Anyways, in no particular order:
(You can find reviews for many of these on my goodreads, but feel free to ask me for specific thoughts on any of them!)
And a meme:
The last book you finished this year: World After by Susan Ee. It's the sequel to Angelfall, which was one of my favorite books from last year. It's a paranormal romance series about angels which, if I only heard that description, I would turn running, but it's actually really well done, and I don't know that it can really be classified as a paranormal romance just because the romance takes a backseat to everything else going on. I'd say the main character's relationship with her sister is actually more important than the main relationship overall. I didn't love the sequel quite as much as the first book, but I did really enjoy it, and I'm looking forward for the 3rd book already.
The first book you will finish in the new year: I don't actually know! I haven't been reading much. I only read 1 book in November, and the only reason I read 5 books this month was to get to 100 for the year. I haven't been in a huge reading mood recently. Fury of the Demon, the 6th book in the Kara Gillian series by Diana Rowland, is out on like 1/7, and it's the earliest release I'm looking forward to, and the 5th book in the series was the first book I read this year, so there's a good chance it might be that. Maybe Vicious by Victoria Schwab or All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill since I've been meaning to read both of them for the past few months.
Your favorite "classic" you read this year: I read zero classics this year! I vaguely considered rereading Jane Eyre and Emma, but I didn't even do that. The oldest book I read this year came out in 2000, I believe.
The book series you read the most volumes of this year: The Bridgertons series by Julia Quinn, since there are 8 of them. Although, if you count rereads, it would be the Toby Daye series by Seanan McGuire because that series is like... comfort food to me? I reread the 6 books in the series in the spring, and then, after reading the 7th when it came out in the fall, I reread books 3-7, so that would be a total of 12 volumes, counting rereads.
The genre you read the most this year: It's hard for me to categorize a lot of the stuff I read into genres, but it looks like I read about 22 contemporary romances. Historical romance came super close with 21, and I also had 15 YA contemporary romances, so basically over half of what I read this year was primarily romance. I definitely read a lot less fantasy this year; in past years, it was most of what I read, but this year only like a quarter of what I read could be classified as fantasy. And then the remainder was a mix of sci fi/dystopian/post-apocalyptic/horror stuff.
The book that disappointed you: There were a lot of books I read this year that I wanted to like more than I did, so I guess all of those disappointed me to some extent. The ones that disappointed me the most would include The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (after how most people seemed to react to this book, I expected to be bawling by the end of it, but instead I ended up not caring about anything that happened at all), The Nightmare Affair by Mindee Arnett (it was a book I had heard about sometime in 2012 and had on my to-read list for ages because it sounded so interesting, and then when it finally came out, it was so completely mediocre that I barely finished it), Suddenly Royal by Nichole Chase (it's basically The Princess Diaries set in college rather than high school and it should've been fun and delightful, but the writing was really bad and none of the scenes felt genuine), Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry (a lot of people seem to REALLY love this, and I couldn't get into the characters or the ship at all. So much about this book really bugged me), For Nick by Taylor Dean (marriages of convenience is one of my favorite tropes!!! This book looked like it could be so enjoyable!!! Instead it completely wasted the trope and relied on a series of ridiculously melodramatic plot twists and included a [Spoilers, if anyone cares]surprise storyline about a child with cancer which I did not sign up for), Cold Magic by Kate Elliott (lots of people love this series! It looked like it would be completely relevant to my interests! Instead it was super long and boring and I couldn't get into it at all), and Allegiant by Veronica Roth (there is not enough time in the world to go into all the many ways in which this book failed).
The book you liked better than you expected to: The Raven Boys and The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater would be the most major example. I had read one book by Maggie Stiefvater previously and everyone had raved about it, but I really didn't care for it, and the summary for The Raven Boys didn't look like something I'd be into, and it turned out to be one of my favorite books of the year (and then The Dream Thieves was even better). Omens by Kelley Armstrong was one that I went into with very little expectations, and I know it didn't work for a lot of people, but for me, somewhere along the way it completely sucked me in, and I fell completely in love with it. There were a bunch others that I didn't have much expectation for that I ended up liking a lot, but none to the extent of those books.
The hardest book you read this year (topic or writing style): Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie was pretty tough because it alternates chapters between the past and present, and in the past, the protagonist was a space ship with like 27 different bodies, so in those chapters I found it tough to figure out everyone she was and also who the other characters were and what their roles were. It was also tough because in the language of the main character, they don't mark gender and have trouble figuring out someone's gender when they meet them because cultural norms vary from place to place, so the book uses "she" through the protagonist's inner monologue, and you can only tell if a character is male if another character refers to that character as a male, which doesn't happen really frequently. It was an interesting choice, but it did take getting used to.
Funniest book you read this year: Probably Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh (although a lot of the humor is mixed with some more serious topics as well). I would also say that the Bridgertons series by Julia Quinn and the Bedwyn series by Mary Balogh had a lot of really funny moments even if there isn't a single book in either that I'd really point to as the funniest book I read this year.
The saddest book you read this year: I don't think there are any books I read that had really tragic endings because I tend to seek books with happy endings. Where the Stars Still Shine by Trish Dollar would probably count since it made me tear up a lot when I was reading it. (I was also sad about how awful Allegiant was, but that's a different kind of sadness.)
The shortest book you read this year: On a Red Station, Drifting by Aliette de Bodard, which was actually a novella.
The longest book you read this year: The Diviners by Libba Bray.
A book that you discovered this year that you will definitely read again: Definitely The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater, Written in Red by Anne Bishop, and Chimes at Midnight by Seanan McGuire since I read all of them twice this year already. Also The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater (I'm probably going to reread that sometime this week, actually), Omens by Kelley Armstrong, World After by Susan Ee, and Touch of the Demon by Kara Gillian. And I would probably reread any of the Chocolate series by Laura Florand, Pink Carnation series by Lauren Willig, FBI/US Attorney series by Julie James, Bedwyn series by Mary Balogh, and Bridgerton series by Julia Quinn if I ever felt like I needed a happy romance book. And pretty much anything I gave a 4.5+ on GoodReads.
A book that you never want to read again: Allegiant by Veronica Roth, The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, and For Nick by Taylor Dean. (I think I covered my displeasure with all of them above, so I won't get into it again here.)
A favorite new author you discovered this year: Laura Florand, Marissa Meyer, Julie James, Julia Quinn, Mary Balogh, Kasie West, and Allison Parr were all authors who were new to me this year and from whom I read more than 1 book that I really enjoyed this year, so I would definitely read more stuff by all of them.
A book that was out of your comfort zone or was a new genre for you: I really didn't read much outside my comfort genres, which I would consider to be sci fi/fantasy and romance (both YA and adult). I think the closest would be The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo. It was a historical fantasy which isn't super out of my comfort zone (although I do read less historical fantasy than contemporary fantasy typically), but it was set in Malaysia, and I definitely haven't read anything set in that setting or time period before, so it was pretty markedly different from anything else I read this year.
And finally, make a New Year's Resolution: I was pretty doubtful I would get to 100 books this year, but I managed to again! So I'm hoping to get to 100 again this year. And this is the first year in forever that I actually managed to read at least one book a month, so I'm hoping I can do that again as well. I'd also really like to get to 100 movies for the year because I actually think I could have gotten there this year if I had put more effort into it, but I haven't gotten to 100 in a year for the past few years, so I'll stick to 50 movies, and if I manage to do better than that, then yay!
TOP MOVIES OF 2013
(By top movies of 2013, I meant in general movies I watched in 2013, not only ones that came out this year!)
And, finally, a fandom/TV meme (which I wanted to include in the shows/ships post but that made it too long. I probably should have stuck to top 10s because I didn't have this problem last year!!!):
Which TV shows did you start watching in 2013?
In terms of brand new shows (and not including shows I only watched a couple episodes of and then gave up on), The Americans (…although I never watched the last like 5 episodes. But I will! Someday!), My Mad Fat Diary, Hannibal, Orphan Black, Orange Is the New Black, House of Cards, The Fosters, Sleepy Hollow, Masters of Sex, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine. In terms of old shows that were new to me, Girls, Hart of Dixie, The X-Files, Bob's Burgers, The Sopranos, Arrow, and Louie.
Which TV shows did you let go of in 2013?
Hart of Dixie (Kind of. I'm keeping up with what's happening, and if the show does good stuff with Zoe/Wade and doesn't put Zoe and George together, then I see me getting sucked back in), Teen Wolf (probably. I watched the first couple episodes this season, and I enjoyed them well enough, but I think I'm just tired of its existence as a show), Dexter (Technically, I guess? I got like 5 episodes behind and was going to catch up until I found out what happened in the finale, and now there's no chance I'm going to bother with the rest of the season), and a bunch of shows in the fall that I watched the first couple episodes of (SHIELD, Trophy Wife, Back in the Game, The Michael J. Fox Show).
Which TV shows did you mean to get into but didn't in 2013? Why?
Usually if I REALLY feel like checking out a show, I will, no matter how busy I am, so there really isn't a lot? There are shows that are on my list of things to watch someday, but I feel like I have to be in the right mood for them, so they stick around year after year, and this year I actually did a better job of checking stuff out! Like The Sopranos and the first couple seasons of The X-Files, for example. I think the only show I really planned to watch in 2013 was The X-Files, which… success! Well, success in starting it. And I'll definitely get back to it in 2014. But I can't think of anything that I started the year saying "YES, THIS WILL BE THE YEAR I WATCH THIS!!!" and then it didn't happen.
Which TV shows do you intend on checking out in 2014?
I still plan on finishing Six Feet Under someday (I got up to 4.09 a couple years ago and then had to stop because I was moving from school back home, and… I never got back to it), and I'm also thinking about checking out Reign, Southland, The Walking Dead, Rectify, The Shield, Les revenants, Broadchurch, Top of the Lake, and maybe Boardwalk Empire. Plus the rest of The X-Files. It's highly unlikely I'll get to all of those shows, but that's what I'm thinking of checking out at least. The only thing that's for sure is watching more of The X-Files.
Which TV show impressed you least in 2013?
I think I did better this year with TV shows than last year! I feel like there weren't any shows that I was really upset with? There were shows I was frustrated with at times, but nothing to the extent I was upset with like Gossip Girl and Fringe and stuff in the past. I guess some of the new shows this season, like SHIELD, could be considered pretty unimpressive. The couple of episodes of Homeland I watched this season were pretty unimpressive, but I haven't felt enthusiastic towards that show since mid-season 2, so my expectations weren't super high.
Which TV show do you think you might let go of in 2014 unless things significantly improve?
I feel like I've actually been doing a better job than I used to about letting go of shows. I mean, the thing is, I'm way more likely to want to get rid of a show I find boring, and since I was working for the first half of the year, I really could only keep up with shows that I absolutely loved because I didn't have the time or attention span for anything else. But these days, I actually don't mind keeping around shows I'm less enthusiastic about just because I like putting something on in the background when I'm doing homework or writing an essay or whatever (part of my issue with getting stuff done is just starting, so if I can put on something I'm not super into, it like... distracts the part of my brain that wants to procrastinate and be entertained, and then I can start actually doing some work), so I haven't felt the need to really drop anything. The show that I watch that's the worst qualitatively is Glee, but I'm pretty much never going to stop watching it despite how awful it is for various reasons. I might not watch season 3 of Girls or the next season of Louie (if it airs a new season next year; I'm not sure how the scheduling for that show works out) because I'm not really into either show, but they're also shows that I feel like I should watch just so I can have an opinion on them, if that makes any sense at all??? idk, it'll just kind of depend on what mood I'm in, I guess. I also probably won't watch season 2 of House of Cards because I didn't really care much for season 1. I also don't know if I'll ever be motivated enough to finish this season of Homeland.
Which TV shows do you think you'll never let go of no matter how crappy they get? Why?
Glee. I don't even know why. I can't even justify it. But even though I know it's awful, I still manage to get a certain enjoyment out of it? It's ridiculous and I judge myself for it. Other than that… probably Doctor Who, just because even if a season is awful, I'll always feel like I can wait until the next showrunner (please let's get a new one soon) or new Doctor or new companion and the show will be reset enough that there'll be a chance it'll work for me.
Your main fandom of the year?
I haven't really had one main one. I'm a multi-fandom gal. Parks and Rec is always present for me, even if I'm not as big on it as I once was. I feel like I have to split the year up in half, because there was stuff I was super into in January that I barely think about now. So, for the first half of the year: The Lizzie Bennett Diaries, New Girl (I'm still into it, but it was way bigger for me back then), Elementary (I still love it, but I feel like I was more into it last season). For the second half of the year, Sleepy Hollow, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Good Wife (…well, I don't really talk about it very much, but it feels like a primary fandom for me in my head?), Breaking Bad (also a show I didn't discuss a lot, but it was definitely a huge part of the end of the summer for me), and Arrow. And then The Mindy Project kind of on and off for the year (basically whenever there's a Mindy/Danny-heavy episode).
Your favorite film watched this year? In terms of 2013 films, I'd say it's a tie between Before Midnight and 12 Years a Slave, with Inside Llewyn Davis and Nebraska coming up right behind them (this has been a really great year for movies, and I still have a lot to see!). In terms of pre-2013 films that were new to me this year, Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, Fanny and Alexander, and Dog Day Afternoon would be at the very top.
Your favorite album or song to listen to this year? I'm so bad at checking out music these days, it's pretty sad (especially since when I was in high school, music was a bigger deal to me than TV/movies/film), and I'll tend to just listen to a couple songs and not entire albums. The stuff I listened to most would be Pentatonix (just got really into them the past few weeks and I'm completely obsessed), Bastille, "Fare Thee Well" (from the Inside Llewyn Davis soundtrack), Demi Lovato's new album, Fall Out Boy's new album, "San Francisco" (the Mowglis), "Cups" (Anna Kendrick), and various songs from Glee (I know).
Your best new fandom discovery of the year? My Mad Fat Diary, Orphan Black, and Orange Is the New Black were all pretty great discoveries. I don't really know what counts as a discovery, because like... Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Sleepy Hollow were also great new shows I started watching, but they don't really feel like discoveries since I started watching them from the pilot? Orange Is the New Black probably doesn't really count either, for that matter.
Your TV boyfriend of the year? Nick Miller, Danny Castellano, Ben Wyatt, Finn Nelson (...although I think I'm getting to the age where I feel creepy listing a high school aged character as a TV boyfriend), Dan Egan (I know he's a giant asshole, but... that's sometimes kind of my type), Jesse Pinkman (although... I don't think I want to be his girlfriend considering what happens to most of his girlfriends), Oliver Queen, Ichabod Crane. (I guess that's it??? I feel like I should have more, but for some reason I'm always pickier when it comes to male characters than female characters.)
Your TV girlfriend of the year? Amy Santiago, Abbie Mills, Jess Day, Leslie Knope, April Ludgate, Felicity Smoak, Alicia Florrick, Mindy Lahiri, Fiona Gallagher, Sarah Manning, Cosima Niehaus, Amy Brookheimer, Peggy Olsen, Skyler White, Joan Watson, Santana Lopez.
Your biggest squee moment of the year? Everything in My Mad Fat Diary between Rae and Finn. Pretty much every interaction between Mindy and Danny on the Mindy Project, but, in particular, all of Santa Fe, the fake dating episode, the season 1 finale, the season 2 premiere, and the Christmas episode. Pretty much everything between Nick and Jess in season 2 of New Girl, but Cooler most of all, and also random moments this season like the one where Jess accidentally started talking about when they get married. Ichabod referring to Abbie by her first name on Sleepy Hollow (plus hugging and handholding!!!). Sherlock proposing Joan keep working with him on Elementary. All of Pemberley on The Lizzie Bennet Diaries plus Lizzie and Darcy finally kissing. Everything between Felicity and Oliver in season 2 of Arrow, but, most of all, that time he told her he couldn't be with anyone he might care about.
The most missed of your old fandoms? I don't think I have any? I'm trying to think, but... there really hasn't been anything. I miss when Homeland was better, but it was never one of my absolute favorite shows, and my love for it was pretty brief. I also miss that time when The Lizzie Bennet Diaries could do no wrong in my eyes. OH, AND THE HOUR!!!!!!!!!! HOW COULD I FORGET ABOUT THAT????? I was even just thinking a week or two ago how we could've been getting season 3 of The Hour right now (well, theoretically. I have no idea when season 3 would have actually aired) and I was so upset about it. Season 2 of The Hour is legitimately one of the most perfect seasons of television I have ever seen. UGH, I'M SAD ALL OVER AGAIN ABOUT IT.
Your biggest fan anticipations for the New Year? I'M REALLY GOING TO NEED MINDY AND DANNY TO MAKE OUT BEFORE THE MINDY PROJECT GETS CANCELLED. Also Felicity and Oliver to continue at the same pace with their relationship as they are now because it's working for me so well and I'm enjoying the slow burn. Same goes for Santiago/Peralta and Abbie/Ichabod. I'm super excited for My Mad Fat Diary to come back and for Rae and Finn to finally kiss!!! There's probably more than that, but that's the main stuff on my mind right now.
Part 2: Top Shows and Ships of 2013