Hello, all you people out there! As always, I hope you’re all doing well. And hey, Happy New Year!
How is it already 2024? Feels like 2023 barely had time to breathe. But alas, here we are, in a brand-new year with plenty to look forward to. Before all of that, though, we obviously have to take a look back and recap some of the big highlights of 2023, starting with a proper rewind for the month of December!
The December Recap
As opposed to my December 2022 recap, this one should actually be fairly straightforward. There were, of course, the usual Christmas and New Year’s antics. Although, the former was almost derailed again due to COVID in the family (what a pain), but we thankfully just rescheduled our gathering to the Saturday after, so all was well in the end. And as a last hurrah to a year full of wonderful shows, my friends and I got to jam together at a Knuckle Puck concert—it was about time I properly knocked them off my list of bands I need to see live.
More importantly, though, right before Christmas, I finally got to share with all of you the fourth Blood Sisters tale, “The Mirror.” If you haven’t already, be sure to go check it out here on the site! This one largely came together during NaNoWriMo (November), as I spent a lot of time writing it in the early stages of the month. December afforded me plenty of time, then, to rewrite and edit the story so I could properly deliver on what might actually be my favorite of the bunch so far.
As I’m also now trying to move forward with the Blood Sisters novel, I challenged myself to write “The Mirror” both as a contained short story and as a novel chapter. I think I succeeded in that regard. That said, I’ve already imagined and jotted down a handful of changes for the novel that will then require some serious rewrites for the existing short stories, but that’s to be expected. Hell, I was already taking care of some of that during NaNoWriMo. Nevertheless, I’m excited to keep chipping away at this story. With luck, I just might have a full first draft done by the end of 2024. We’ll have to wait and see.
In the meantime, I think that actually just about covers all the meaty bits from December. For the last month of the year, it was fairly tame, all things considered. Except for the Friday before Christmas—I should have done nothing that day at work, but instead I was doing everything. What’s up with that?
So, that all being said, how about we jump into my obligatory “Best of 2023” bits? Cool? Cool. Wasting no time with this one.
Best of 2023
Favorite Book
Yeah, I’m slightly ashamed to admit that I was horrible with keeping up with my regular reading during 2023. I was doing pretty well at the beginning of the year, catching and keeping up with a handful of Marvel comics. But as the year went on, I kept dwindling, and all the other novels I still have sitting on my shelf waiting to be read were left untouched. Very unfortunate, but I aim to rectify this problem this year. First on my list of things to get through is Kith and Kin by Marieke Nijkamp, a novel detailing the early adventures of Critical Role’s Vex and Vax. And yes, Lord of the Rings is still in my sights (you know who you are, stop yammering to me about it).
If anyone has any other good reading recommendations for 2024, please let me know!
Favorite Album
As opposed to my reading habits, I kept up very well with my music in 2023. And oh boy, were there so many fucking gems. Beartooth’s The Surface, Blink-182’s One More Time, and The Amity Affliction’s Not Without My Ghosts are only a few of the strong standouts for me. The real powerhouses came courtesy of Silent Planet, Invent Animate, and Sleep Token, though. Respectively, these guys dropped Superbloom, Heavener, and Take Me Back to Eden, each of which were masterful in their own ways.
My Spotify Wrapped would tell you that I maybe placed Sleep Token’s album and tunes at the top of the food chain. But no. For me, it was a very close call between Superbloom and Heavener. Both albums took me completely by surprise, and I’ve been listening to them both nonstop. They’re impeccably well-rounded, with hard-hitting lyrics and instrumentals to keep you enthralled all the way through. Overall, though, Silent Planet’s Superbloom won out, as it struck a perfect balance between being straight up face-melting and downright moving.
Some honorable mentions must go to The Midnight, as they’re one of my new music obsessions, and Kid Cudi, who’s Entergalactic album carried me through the summer. I’m branching out from metal, everyone, can you believe it? Also, I have to give a quick shout out about the Across the Spider-Verse and Oppenheimer soundtracks. Masterclass cinema music writing right there.
And one final note for my favorite songs of the year (this was another tough choice, so I’m listing a few). In no particular order: “Elysium” and “Heavener” by Invent Animate, “Euclid” by Sleep Token, “Antimatter” and “Superbloom” by Silent Planet, and “Show Me Your God” by The Amity Affliction.
Favorite Movie
Oh my god, 2023 turned out to be a great year for cinema, especially since it feels like Hollywood has been taking a goddamn nosedive as of late. If you’ve read some of my recent reviews, you might be able to guess what my favorite of the bunch was. If you guessed Across the Spider-Verse, however, you’d be wrong. No, for me, Oppenheimer absolutely stole the show. This movie was everything I wanted it to be and more. It is an uncontested masterpiece and might honestly be Christopher Nolan’s best.
But that’s not to discredit the beauty of Across the Spider-Verse. What a ride this film was. On subsequent rewatches, this one has definitely grown on me more than it did initially, as I’ve been able to absorb everything it was trying to do more fully. I’ve had to reexamine the question of whether it’s better than Into the Spider-Verse or not—I still don’t think it is, but the margin is much shorter now.
Some other bangers from this year include James Gunn’s MCU magnum opus, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. I also hope everyone had a chance to see Godzilla: Minus One, which came as a completely unexpected win. And of course, I can’t forget what could be Scorsese’s final film, Killers of the Flower Moon. A few other strong titles to note: Dumb Money, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, A Haunting in Venice, Nimona, and The Creator. And hell, there’s plenty more I either haven’t mentioned or didn’t get to see (no, I still haven’t seen Barbie; I’m getting to that one soon). All in all, though, 2023 has left me feeling a hopeful that we can keep looking forward to great films in 2024.
Favorite Video Game
Baldur’s Gate 3. No contest. Masterpiece. 10/10. 100/100. Five stars. Yes, better than Spider-Man 2 on PS5. End of story.
Seriously, if you haven’t already, please go play this game.
Also, shout out to Lethal Company for all the memes.
Farewell 2023
Damn, 2023. What a time to be alive. Lots to be thankful for, and plenty still to look forward to. Granted, it wasn’t all peaches and cream. Were it not for all the nice, flashy things we have to appreciate, life might look a lot grimmer. But even with what doom and gloom remains in the world, I still maintain my hope that everything will get better. They say tomorrow isn’t guaranteed, but hey, we can all do our best to get there together. This is me trying to sound more philosophical and prolific than I actually am. Really, though, I just want everyone to be able to look forward to the new year.
I know it’s not easy sometimes (believe me, I had my fair share of tough times throughout 2023), but that’s what the new year is for—it’s a new beginning of sorts. Yes, on the surface, time goes by, same as usual, but there’s certainly something psychologically satisfying about jumping into a new year. It’s a chance to do something new and exciting. Make a change in your life. Reconnect with an old friend. Start a new work venture. Crack open that book on the shelf that’s been staring at you for way too long. Whatever you do, just go for it.
Okay, that’s enough platitudes out of me. I promise, that wasn’t planned, I just kind of let the stream of consciousness take hold for a bit. Yes, it’s abundantly cheesy and horribly ham-fisted, but I’m sticking with it. Nice to go out with something along the lines of a positive note for 2023, right?
So, here at the end of this little blog post, I wish you all a Happy New Year and hope for all the best in 2024. And until next time, peace!
