April Media
According to Goodreads, I read 29 books in April. Also according to Goodreads, I currently stand at 195 books for 2017. According to my own record keeping, of those 29 books, 15 were books I was reading for the first time. My ratio remains pretty stable at roughly half new. Of those 15 first-reads, 1 was a graphic novel; 6 were Doctor Who related; 4 were Discworld related.
Of the 14 rereads, 5 were Animorphs; 4 were The Baby-Sitters Club; 4 were The Saddle Club.
According to my records, I watched 175 episodes of television in April, which is a slight but noticeable drop from March's 224. 64 of those episodes were new to me. There were 3 new-to-me series, consisting of 25 episodes, almost half of March's 47. About 36% of my TV consumption was new material, with about 14% being completely new.
I watched 1 new-to-me movie and rewatched 3.
According to last.fm's 30-day tracker, I listened to 436 tracks in April, an average of 14 tracks per day. The top artist was Glen Hansard with 70 scrobbles, followed by Come From Away* (55), Dropkick Murphys (27), The Pogues making a return with 26, and Taylor Swift (16). A total of 94 artists and 21 albums, with the original Broadway cast recording of Come From Away being the most-played album (104 scrobbles), and the most-played track being a 20-way tie of various songs from the same album.
Away from things that last.fm track, I still am not caught up on all the Hamilton audios I acquired back in February. It was a lot of audios, okay. I'm making progress.
Individual thoughts:
Books:
Everyone should read The Hork-Bajir Chronicles at least once in their lives. I have now read it approximately seven hundred times. (I have no idea how many times I've read it. A lot.)
My Doctor Who Target readthrough is closing in on the end of the First Doctor's era, and I'm going to miss my favorite Doctor. I've just said goodbye to Steven in The Savages, and will soon say goodbye to Dodo; both highly underrated companions. Especially Dodo, who hardly anyone cares about. I'll do a whole retrospective when I finish with One, so, again, I'm not going to spend much time talking about it here. (Why is The Gunfighters so well-regarded on Goodreads, I don't understand, the novelization is cringeworthy.)
I don't know if I've mentioned it or not and can not be bothered to check, but my primary method of picking what non-Scholastic/non-Target book to read next on my Kindle right now is simply to work my way down my 'unread' list in alphabetical order by title. I spent this month in the 'D' portion of the list, which mainly meant tackling some Discworld-adjacent titles I hadn't read yet -- specifically, three of the "Science Of Discworld" books and also "The Wit And Wisdom". The latter is just a collection of quotes and there's not much to say about it. The Science books, on the other hand, start out quite well and then get increasingly lackluster with each release. The last one (Judgement Day) was a lengthy exercise in "yes, I agree with your basic point, will you please stop condescending to me and move on to saying something interesting instead of continually repeating the fact that the Earth is round like all of your readers disagree with you". It was frustrating. I don't expect Discworld to frustrate me in that particular way, which may well have contributed to making the frustrating worse.
I also read Terry Pratchett's Dodger, which was very enjoyable but probably not something I'll reread often. It's pure wish-fulfilment, and that's not a criticism, it's a lot of fun to read.
While the alphabetical method is my main method, I do break from it whenever there's something else that I want to read now, usually because I've just gotten it. Amazon's Kindle First program gave me Paper Boats by Dee Lestari, which was also a very enjoyable read, although I found the ending oddly frustrating for reasons that I have difficulty explaining. Something about the way the secondary characters reacted to the big reveal? I don't know. It's a good book, it's just the ending didn't ring quite true to me.
I also picked up Witches, Spies And Stockholm Syndrome: Life In Medieval Ireland by Finbar Dwyer. Dwyer is also responsible for the Irish History Podcast, which I've been listening to for quite a while now and enjoy very much, and I'd been meaning to get around to buying and reading his books; I finally got around to this one. It's an easy and not very in-depth read, but it's also very informative. There's not much in the way of primary sources for the period and area Dwyer was writing about, but he made the most of what he had and (something I appreciated) always acknowledged in the text when he was making deductive leaps from little evidence. He also writes like he talks, and as a listener of the podcast it amused me how much I could hear his voice in the text.
My new-series number up there in stats is misleading. Two-thirds were Amazon's pilot season. So, you know, one episode of each. (They were Budding Prospects and The New VIPs, neither of which I had any interest in continuing after the first episode, even if more episodes had existed. So.) I also started binge-watching The Great British Baking Show (original title The Great British Bake-Off) on Netflix because it's oddly soothing. I've looked up and figured out why it was renamed in the US but I have not yet figured out why Netflix only has three seasons up and they're all numbered wrong.
I also made use of the end of my free BritBox trial and watched all of Red Dwarf season eleven (finally, I've been meaning to forever) and a handful of classic Who (because of course I did). Unfortunately my trial has now ended and I cannot afford to continue feeding my addiction to low-budget British SFF. Alas.
Speaking of Doctor Who it FINALLY came back, BLESS. And I've been posting episode reviews, so if you want to know how much I love Bill Potts (SPOILER: a lot) and for some reason are reading this but haven't been reading those, you've got things the wrong way around. (I'm so glad Who is back, please don't leave like that again).
The Magicians wrapped up their second season and made some narrative choices I neither understand nor agree with, but there was more to love than not, and the cliffhanger into season three was brilliant.
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic is back for season seven and I don't think I'm invested enough in Starlight to care very much about this season so far. It's not bad, it's just...largely focused on a character I'm not invested in.
Once Upon A Time is a mess, I don't know why I'm still watching. The rumors are it's either going to get canceled after this season or soft-rebooted with a small number of the main cast, and either one of those might be the kick I need to finally drop it.
Elementary is possibly the most consistent show I'm watching first-run. It just consistently turns in an interesting, engaging, not-super-innovative episode. At least when CBS allows it to air. But I'm not bitter about the scheduling shenanigans or anything.
And then there's the DC shows. Powerless has been quietly canceled, which wasn't surprising but is disappointing; it was finally starting to find its footing. The Arrowverse shows are all...well, they're the Arrowverse. I've run out of things to say about it. But I'm still watching.
(I think one of the reasons I feel so blah about the currently-running Arrowverse shows right now, to be fair, is because I finally bought the Constantine series on DVD and therefore rewatched it in its entirety. It's so much better than the DC shows that have survived. I'm not bitter, it's fine.)
Last month I couldn't resist pointing out that Doctor Who would be back soon; now I can't resist pointing out that American Gods officially started airing last night. (I watched it in the early hours of this morning, so my thoughts on the show will go into next month's media post unless I suddenly get the energy to start doing reaction posts for that as well as Doctor Who.) You should be watching it if you're not. One episode in and it's BRILLIANT.
Movies:
Only one new-to-me movie this month; I watched Justice League Dark after marathoning Constantine (see above) because Matt Ryan is the perfect John Constantine and I miss him. And that's pretty much all I have to say about the movie: Matt Ryan is the perfect John Constantine and I miss him. (The CW is doing an animated spinoff of the series on one of their apps with Matt doing John's voice and I'm very pleased and excited about this news but afaik they haven't even given an estimated release date yet so it's not exactly satisfying my craving.)
This month I also picked up Rogue One and the original Disney Beauty and the Beast on Blu-Ray and immediately rewatched them. Both excellent movies. Both mean a lot to me. I also rewatched Moana with my nephews, who hadn't seen it yet.
The cast recording of Come From Away was released and I'm a little obsessed with it. (Also, Tony nominations tomorrow. I'm rooting for so many different shows and performers to get nods it's going to be very difficult to completely disappoint me, but I'm worried they might figure out a way to do it.)
I preordered Flogging Molly's new album, Life Is Good, and so far they've released three songs off it. One, The Hand Of John L. Sullivan, had already been released as a single previously; of the other two, Reptiles (We Woke Up) is my favorite, though The Guns Of Jericho is also very good. (I'm starved for new Flogging Molly music, all right?)
Endway also surprise-dropped a single, Miracle, and when I was hitting up iTunes for that I found out that they'd also silently dropped a single, Do My Thing, over a year ago and didn't tell me for some reason. So I had two new Endway songs to listen to. (And now I'm looking at their page on iTunes because reasons and apparently there's ANOTHER single that I didn't know existed and therefore don't have. BRB, buying that now.) Guys, I follow you on Twitter specifically because I want to know when you release new music, why didn't you tell me about this? Thanks for telling me about Miracle, at least, I guess.
Of the 14 rereads, 5 were Animorphs; 4 were The Baby-Sitters Club; 4 were The Saddle Club.
According to my records, I watched 175 episodes of television in April, which is a slight but noticeable drop from March's 224. 64 of those episodes were new to me. There were 3 new-to-me series, consisting of 25 episodes, almost half of March's 47. About 36% of my TV consumption was new material, with about 14% being completely new.
I watched 1 new-to-me movie and rewatched 3.
According to last.fm's 30-day tracker, I listened to 436 tracks in April, an average of 14 tracks per day. The top artist was Glen Hansard with 70 scrobbles, followed by Come From Away* (55), Dropkick Murphys (27), The Pogues making a return with 26, and Taylor Swift (16). A total of 94 artists and 21 albums, with the original Broadway cast recording of Come From Away being the most-played album (104 scrobbles), and the most-played track being a 20-way tie of various songs from the same album.
Away from things that last.fm track, I still am not caught up on all the Hamilton audios I acquired back in February. It was a lot of audios, okay. I'm making progress.
Individual thoughts:
Books:
Everyone should read The Hork-Bajir Chronicles at least once in their lives. I have now read it approximately seven hundred times. (I have no idea how many times I've read it. A lot.)
My Doctor Who Target readthrough is closing in on the end of the First Doctor's era, and I'm going to miss my favorite Doctor. I've just said goodbye to Steven in The Savages, and will soon say goodbye to Dodo; both highly underrated companions. Especially Dodo, who hardly anyone cares about. I'll do a whole retrospective when I finish with One, so, again, I'm not going to spend much time talking about it here. (Why is The Gunfighters so well-regarded on Goodreads, I don't understand, the novelization is cringeworthy.)
I don't know if I've mentioned it or not and can not be bothered to check, but my primary method of picking what non-Scholastic/non-Target book to read next on my Kindle right now is simply to work my way down my 'unread' list in alphabetical order by title. I spent this month in the 'D' portion of the list, which mainly meant tackling some Discworld-adjacent titles I hadn't read yet -- specifically, three of the "Science Of Discworld" books and also "The Wit And Wisdom". The latter is just a collection of quotes and there's not much to say about it. The Science books, on the other hand, start out quite well and then get increasingly lackluster with each release. The last one (Judgement Day) was a lengthy exercise in "yes, I agree with your basic point, will you please stop condescending to me and move on to saying something interesting instead of continually repeating the fact that the Earth is round like all of your readers disagree with you". It was frustrating. I don't expect Discworld to frustrate me in that particular way, which may well have contributed to making the frustrating worse.
I also read Terry Pratchett's Dodger, which was very enjoyable but probably not something I'll reread often. It's pure wish-fulfilment, and that's not a criticism, it's a lot of fun to read.
While the alphabetical method is my main method, I do break from it whenever there's something else that I want to read now, usually because I've just gotten it. Amazon's Kindle First program gave me Paper Boats by Dee Lestari, which was also a very enjoyable read, although I found the ending oddly frustrating for reasons that I have difficulty explaining. Something about the way the secondary characters reacted to the big reveal? I don't know. It's a good book, it's just the ending didn't ring quite true to me.
I also picked up Witches, Spies And Stockholm Syndrome: Life In Medieval Ireland by Finbar Dwyer. Dwyer is also responsible for the Irish History Podcast, which I've been listening to for quite a while now and enjoy very much, and I'd been meaning to get around to buying and reading his books; I finally got around to this one. It's an easy and not very in-depth read, but it's also very informative. There's not much in the way of primary sources for the period and area Dwyer was writing about, but he made the most of what he had and (something I appreciated) always acknowledged in the text when he was making deductive leaps from little evidence. He also writes like he talks, and as a listener of the podcast it amused me how much I could hear his voice in the text.
My new-series number up there in stats is misleading. Two-thirds were Amazon's pilot season. So, you know, one episode of each. (They were Budding Prospects and The New VIPs, neither of which I had any interest in continuing after the first episode, even if more episodes had existed. So.) I also started binge-watching The Great British Baking Show (original title The Great British Bake-Off) on Netflix because it's oddly soothing. I've looked up and figured out why it was renamed in the US but I have not yet figured out why Netflix only has three seasons up and they're all numbered wrong.
I also made use of the end of my free BritBox trial and watched all of Red Dwarf season eleven (finally, I've been meaning to forever) and a handful of classic Who (because of course I did). Unfortunately my trial has now ended and I cannot afford to continue feeding my addiction to low-budget British SFF. Alas.
Speaking of Doctor Who it FINALLY came back, BLESS. And I've been posting episode reviews, so if you want to know how much I love Bill Potts (SPOILER: a lot) and for some reason are reading this but haven't been reading those, you've got things the wrong way around. (I'm so glad Who is back, please don't leave like that again).
The Magicians wrapped up their second season and made some narrative choices I neither understand nor agree with, but there was more to love than not, and the cliffhanger into season three was brilliant.
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic is back for season seven and I don't think I'm invested enough in Starlight to care very much about this season so far. It's not bad, it's just...largely focused on a character I'm not invested in.
Once Upon A Time is a mess, I don't know why I'm still watching. The rumors are it's either going to get canceled after this season or soft-rebooted with a small number of the main cast, and either one of those might be the kick I need to finally drop it.
Elementary is possibly the most consistent show I'm watching first-run. It just consistently turns in an interesting, engaging, not-super-innovative episode. At least when CBS allows it to air. But I'm not bitter about the scheduling shenanigans or anything.
And then there's the DC shows. Powerless has been quietly canceled, which wasn't surprising but is disappointing; it was finally starting to find its footing. The Arrowverse shows are all...well, they're the Arrowverse. I've run out of things to say about it. But I'm still watching.
(I think one of the reasons I feel so blah about the currently-running Arrowverse shows right now, to be fair, is because I finally bought the Constantine series on DVD and therefore rewatched it in its entirety. It's so much better than the DC shows that have survived. I'm not bitter, it's fine.)
Last month I couldn't resist pointing out that Doctor Who would be back soon; now I can't resist pointing out that American Gods officially started airing last night. (I watched it in the early hours of this morning, so my thoughts on the show will go into next month's media post unless I suddenly get the energy to start doing reaction posts for that as well as Doctor Who.) You should be watching it if you're not. One episode in and it's BRILLIANT.
Movies:
Only one new-to-me movie this month; I watched Justice League Dark after marathoning Constantine (see above) because Matt Ryan is the perfect John Constantine and I miss him. And that's pretty much all I have to say about the movie: Matt Ryan is the perfect John Constantine and I miss him. (The CW is doing an animated spinoff of the series on one of their apps with Matt doing John's voice and I'm very pleased and excited about this news but afaik they haven't even given an estimated release date yet so it's not exactly satisfying my craving.)
This month I also picked up Rogue One and the original Disney Beauty and the Beast on Blu-Ray and immediately rewatched them. Both excellent movies. Both mean a lot to me. I also rewatched Moana with my nephews, who hadn't seen it yet.
The cast recording of Come From Away was released and I'm a little obsessed with it. (Also, Tony nominations tomorrow. I'm rooting for so many different shows and performers to get nods it's going to be very difficult to completely disappoint me, but I'm worried they might figure out a way to do it.)
I preordered Flogging Molly's new album, Life Is Good, and so far they've released three songs off it. One, The Hand Of John L. Sullivan, had already been released as a single previously; of the other two, Reptiles (We Woke Up) is my favorite, though The Guns Of Jericho is also very good. (I'm starved for new Flogging Molly music, all right?)
Endway also surprise-dropped a single, Miracle, and when I was hitting up iTunes for that I found out that they'd also silently dropped a single, Do My Thing, over a year ago and didn't tell me for some reason. So I had two new Endway songs to listen to. (And now I'm looking at their page on iTunes because reasons and apparently there's ANOTHER single that I didn't know existed and therefore don't have. BRB, buying that now.) Guys, I follow you on Twitter specifically because I want to know when you release new music, why didn't you tell me about this? Thanks for telling me about Miracle, at least, I guess.