books and movies 2013

   In 2012 I got into the habit of making a list of all of the books I read and movies I see. Otherwise how would I keep track? How would I know when to ease off on the Disney and/or murder mysteries? It would be a hard knock life and no mistake. Anyways it is the New Year and in honour of Janus (not actually in honour of Janus) I recommend you make two Word documents or two notes on your phone and title them "Movies 2014" and "Books 2014" respectively and then you too can make a post in the New Year extolling your virtues and/or apologizing for the lack of intelligent content. However, if you don't mind if your media intake is somewhat mindless then no need to apologize! Carry on your merry way.

   As a bonus: keeping these lists has made me more humble about my movie choices. I can't snootily say that I only watch movies from the 1950s and earlier when clearly I don't. And even when I do they are often screwball comedies (a pinnacle of hilarity, let me tell you) and really, just as good as the movies we make now.

   On to the lists. Here it is, friends: all the books I read in 2014 in the order I read them. (A disclaimer: I don't recommend every book and movie on these lists. Some were excellent, some were not. I'm posting these without commentary but feel free to ask me about them! I love to talk about stories.)

An * means I've read/watched it before.

1. Siddhartha / Hermann Hesse
2. The Kitchen Counter Cooking School / Kathleen Flinn
3. 1984 / George Orwell
4. Batman : Noel / Lee Bermejo
5. Gotham Central v. 4 / Greg Rucka and Ed Brubaker
6. *Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone / J.K. Rowling
7. The Perks of Being a Wallflower / Stephen Chbosky
8. French Milk / Lucy Knisley
9. Under the Banner of Heaven / John Krakauer
10. Anne of Green Gables / L.M. Montgomery
11. *Till We Have Faces / C.S. Lewis
12. Batwoman : Hydrology / J.H. Williams III, W. Haden Blackman
13. The Tipping Point / Malcolm Gladwell (abridged)
14. Bossypants / Tina Fey
15. The Invincible Ironman : Extremis / Warren Ellis, Adi Granov
16. Blink / Malcolm Gladwell
17. This Book is Overdue! / Marilyn Johnson
18. Redskull : Incarnate / Greg Pak, Mirko Colak
19. Thirteen Reasons Why / Jay Asher
20. Anne of Avonlea /  L.M. Montgomery
21. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? / Mindy Kaling
22. The Summer is Ended and We Are Not Yet Saved / Joey Comeau
23. Beasts of Burden : Animal Rites / Evan Dorkin, Jill Thompson
24. Nurtureshock / Po Bronson, Amy Merryman
25. Enough Room For Joy / Bill Clarke
26. Saga v. 1-2 / Brian K Vaughn, Fiona Staples
27. Anne of the Island / L.M. Montgomery
28. Foundation / Isaac Asimov
29. Slaughterhouse-Five / Kurt Vonnegut
30. *Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets / J.K. Rowling
31. A Grief Observed / C.S. Lewis
32. Adventure Time v. 1 / Ryan North, Shelli Paroline, Braden Lamb
33. The Poisoner's Handbook / Deborah Blum
34. The Drunken Botanist / Amy Stewart
35. Tolstoy and the Purple Chair / Nina Sankovitch
36. I Am Malala / Malala Yousafzai, Christina Lamb
37. Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children / Ransom Riggs
38. Alone on the Ice / David Roberts
39. Sparkling Cyanide / Agatha Christie
40. The Book Thief / Markus Zusak

 And the movies! Keep in mind that I wouldn't tell everyone to watch all of these movies. Some were good, some were not good, some people would enjoy some of them and not others. Some stories will click with you and some won't and the whys and wherefores of it all are a bit of a mystery. Also: I am not 100% sure I have every single movie I watched on this list. Sometimes I watch a movie and then completely forget about it.

1. *Hunger Games (12)
2. *Megamind (10)
3. *The Dark Knight Rises (12)
4. Looper (12)
5. Life of Pi (12)
6. Les Miserables (12)(x2)
7. About a Boy (02)
8. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (05)
9. *The Fountain (06)
10. Sherlock Season 2 (12)
11. The More the Merrier (43)
12. *Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (07)
13. Argo (12)
14. Mirror Mirror (12)
15. *Cat Ballou (65)
16. It Might Get Loud (08)
17. *The Scarlet Pimpernel (82)
18. *Pitch Perfect (12)
19. *Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows pt. 2 (11)
20. *Monsters Inc (01)
21.  Oblivion (13)
22. Shutter Island (10)
23. Gangs of New York (02)
24. *Sabrina (54)
25. *17 Again (09)
26. Mission Impossible (96)
27. The Great Gatsby (13)(x2)
28. The Talk of the Town (42)
29. Mission Impossible : Ghost Protocol (11)
30. Now You See Me (13)
31. *Get Smart (08)
32. Minority Report (02)
33. To Catch a Thief (53)
34. *Notorious (46)
35. *The Big Lebowski (98)
36. Red 2 (13)
37. The Last Stand (13)
38. *Hercules (97)
39. *Meet the Robinsons (07)
40. *I Capture the Castle
41. *Under the Greenwood Tree (05)
42. Top Gun (86)
43. Anchorman (04)
44. The X-Files (98)
45. *Boondock Saints (99)
46. Oceans 13 (07)
47. *Cinderella (97)(live action)
48. *Princess Diaries 2 (04)
49. *Batman Begins (05)
50. *Atlantis (01)
51. *Treasure Planet (02)
52. *Ironman 2 (10)
53. Monster's University (13)
54. *The Importance of Being Earnest (02)
55. *One Night With the King (06)
56. My Man Godfrey (36)
57. Benny and Joon (93)
58. The Phantom of the Opera (04)
59. *The Hunchback of Notre Dame (96)
60. Sinbad : Legend of the Seven Seas (03)
61. Catching Fire (13)
62. Holiday Inn (42)

school

   "Behold, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?"

   My textbooks and course materials arrived today, my excitement grows and grows. On January 1 I can begin submitting assignments and doing school proper.

• HIST 215 Europe: Ancient to Early Modern
• PHIL 252 Critical Thinking
• CMNS 301 Communication Theory and Analysis
• CMNS 302 Communication in History 

   Course materials include: How To Lie With Statistics, the 1938 broadcast of The War of the Worlds, readings on Charlemagne, and a documentary about Marshall McLuhan.

   I've hung a lamp above my desk. Space has been made for textbooks on my shelves. A chipped mug holds necessary writing utensils. Course pages are being bookmarked. I'm very much looking forward to being in school again.

   On December 23 I have my last shift at the Jubilee.

explore

   Here is a helpful hint for any conversation you might have with me: if you even vaguely mention something I am interested in and am currently reading about, I will talk your ear off without really meaning to. It is sometimes hard for me to fathom that Antarctic explorers aren't absolutely riveting to everyone I know.What do you mean you don't want to hear about Douglas Mawson? He survived a trek of hundreds of miles in the Antarctic! Alone! With very little food! He cut a sledge in half with a pocket knife! He's a hero is what he is. Let me tell you all about him and some of his expeditions, with some back story on Shackleton thrown in. This may or may not take over an hour.

   Needless to say, while I was reading Alone On The Ice /David Roberts, many of my friends and several members of my family were regaled with tales of the far, far South. Are they still my friends? Only time will tell. The book is based largely on Douglas Mawson's diary, and is one of the best reads on Antarctic exploration and survival that I have yet read.

   One of the best things about books like these is they provide endless fodder for internet research and reading. For example, Frank Hurley (photographer and adventurer) was on the AAE and later on the Endurance expedition with Shakleton. He took some truly amazing photos of Antarctica, including the one at the top of this post, and went on to be a war photographer in WWI. Trust me when I say that it is well worth your time to spend an afternoon reading up on Hurley, not to mention the rest of the men who figure in the book.

   As soon as I finished this book I wanted to pick up another Antarctica-focused tome, but in an effort to spare my remaining friends some exasperation, I've postponed my plans to read up on Shackleton (again).

travel

   Have you heard of Guy Delisle yet? He is a writer and cartoonist from Quebec who often lives and works in unstable countries and keeps a record of his time there in comic form. His latest book is about Jerusalem and I am half way through it and it just might be his best yet.

   Jerusalem : Chronicles From the Holy City is somewhat difficult to explain. Here's a book that gives space to playground visits with Deslisle's two children as well as a day-by-day account of the role of Doctors Without Borders in the 2008-2009 Gaza War, what it's like trying to access different religious sites in and around the city, and the traffic. It's a hefty 336 pages, and takes more time to read than your usual comic fare. There is a lot packed into Deslisle's drawing,  

peculiar

   If ever you are desiring to get out of a reading slump, there's not much better for it than YA fiction. Don't concern yourself about it being for youth. You can read it. It's okay. I promise. If you just can't bring yourself to delve into the wonderful world of imagination that YA offers, then I suppose you can grab a quick murder mystery and call it a day.

   Even if you aren't in a reading slump, I highly recommend the occasional foray into the gems offered up by YA fiction. I found one such treasure in reading Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs and I've been all agog with love for spooky/creepy stories since. Well, that's not entirely true; I've always been smitten with spooky/creepy stories. Multiple times while trying to sell a friend on a book, I've used the phrase "it was so creepy, I loved it." (The Phantom of the Opera / Gaston Leroux being the most notable of these. If you haven't read this book, you are messing up big time on an ongoing basis. I have two copies, come borrow one immediately.)

   If you are even slightly interested in vintage photography, time travel, adventure, or remote islands in Wales, grab yourself a copy of Miss Peregrine's Home and get reading.