A Few of My Favorite Things, 2023 Edition
And during the second week of the new year, I take a moment to reflect on all the amazing entertainment that kept me company throughout an eventful 2023.
BOOKS
Invincible: Compendium One by Robert Kirkman
When one of my friends introduced me to the Invincible TV show in 2021, I was hooked. Season 1 of the show was phenomenal, and it made me want to read the comics. (It also greatly helped that the Invincible comics are mostly completed, so I was able to binge read them.) I’m not very knowledgeable of superhero comics, but the first compendium of Invincible was a great read. The plot, the art, the dialogue — all of it pulled me into the story. And I also like that the show seems to be following the comics fairly closely, too.
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
The moment my boyfriend Adam discovered that I had never read the Percy Jackson books, he made it his life’s mission to read them to me. (At the time of this blog post, we’ve only read the first two books, since we only read them when we’re together in-person.) I really enjoy Greek mythology, and I love Riordan’s take on various myths, as well as his creation of Camp Half-Blood. Adam and I are also watching the new TV show, which we both really enjoy.
Hunting Prince Dracula by Kerri Maniscalco
This is the second book in the completed Stalking Jack the Ripper series. While the first book is great, I think the second one is phenomenal. I love reading variations of Dracula lore, and Maniscalco did a great job of pulling in lore that I hadn’t heard of before. I also enjoyed reading about the budding romance between Audrey Rose and Thomas; their love story makes me swoon. Dark, dangerous, and morbid, I hope to read more books in the same vein as this one in 2024!
MUSIC ALBUMS
Midnights by Taylor Swift
While Midnights was released at the end of 2022, I religiously listened to this album on repeat for a majority of 2023. It has slow songs, it has fast songs. I really feel like this album has a song for almost every mood. I love it so much and just love listening to it while I’m driving or doing some creative work. I have also enjoyed following her Eras Tour via social media.
Favorite song from the album: “Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve”
HOPE by NF [“HOPE”]
I was ecstatic to learn that NF was putting out a new album in 2023. I really enjoy his music and was looking forward to what kind of message he would be putting out with his new album. While a lot of his music touches on dark topics, HOPE did give me a sense of hope.
Favorite song from the album: “HOPE”
So Much (for) Stardust by Fall Out Boy
I’ve loved Fall Out Boy for about a decade now, and I don’t know what it is about their music, but it just scratches a particular itch in my brain. I love the entire vibe of this new album, and I think it’s an overall fun album that you can listen to with friends, or while driving around, or just doing chores at home.
Favorite song from the album: “I Am My Own Muse”
PODCASTS
You're Wrong About, hosted by Sarah Marshall & Michael Hobbes
I was first introduced to this podcast in late 2022, but I practically binged the entire thing throughout 2023. I started by listening to all the episodes on topics I was interested in, and then I switched gears and started listening from episode 1, because I knew I could trust Mike and Sarah to keep me thoroughly interested in the entire episode. While every episode is superb in their own way, I want to highlight a few episodes that had a huge impact on me.
Flight 571: Survival in the Andes (released October 2022)
Before this episode, I had never heard of Flight 571 and their harrowing experience. I’m pretty sure I went through every human emotion while learning about this group of teenage boys surviving the Andes. If you want to feel both anguish and hope, this episode is for you.
The Princess Diana miniseries (released Sept. - Nov. 2021)
As an American, I don’t follow the British royal family closely, but everyone and their mother knows about Princess Diana. I really enjoyed Mike’s five episode miniseries as he explored the marriage, divorce, and death of Princess Diana. I wonder what the world would look like today if she was still here.
Beanie Babies (released Dec. 2022)
Yes, this podcast covers the bean bag filled stuffed animals of the 1990s, too! (And I can’t have all my episode suggestions be depressing.) I absolutely love this episode, since my mom collected Beanie Babies in their heyday, and we still have a couple of storage tubs full of them. This episode explores the wild — and sometimes dark — history of Beanie Babies that I think any person who likes stuffed animals will enjoy.
TV SHOWS
When the pandemic started in 2020, I watched a lot of animated TV shows — a majority of them kids shows. I needed something light in a time where it felt like the world was burning down. Turns out, a lot of kids TV is made with adults in mind, as certain themes and jokes would surface. In 2023, I watched a lot of animated TV, both for kids and adults, because sometimes I just need something cute and stupid and heartwarming and funny to combat the stress I was feeling over graduating college and looking for a full time job. Though most animated shows I watched left me tears — typically happy tears, but not always.
The Bad Batch (Season 2)
I watched Season 1 of The Bad Batch (a Star Wars show) in 2022, and I was excited to continue the show when the second season dropped. Found family, where a group of unlikely people become a family, is one of my favorite tropes in entertainment. I enjoy the schemes and scrapes that Clone Force 99 always seems to find themselves in. This season ended with a cliffhanger, and I bawled my eyes out. I’m eagerly awaiting the third season; hopefully it doesn’t take another year!
Gravity Falls
The only thing I’m mad about with Gravity Falls is that I hadn’t watched it sooner, because I know high school Lex would’ve adored this show when it first aired. The show follows 12-year-old twins Dipper and Mabel as they spend the summer with their Great Uncle Stan in Gravity Falls, Oregon. There’s something unusual about Gravity Falls, though, and Dipper is intent on discovering the town’s secrets. I love the various creatures that the twins interact with, and the overarching storyline is superb. I wish I could rewatch this show for the first time.
The Owl House
Disney really messed up when they canceled this show, because it’s golden. Another found family trope that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside. The story follows Luz, a human teenage girl who stumbles into the Demon Realm, where there is magic, witches, creatures, and the like. She meets Eda the Owl Lady and becomes her apprentice, training to be a witch. But something evil lurks beneath the Boiling Isles in the Demon Realm. Thankfully, after Disney canceled the show, the creators put together a three part ending so the show wasn’t left in a cliffhanger. Spoiler alert: I cried.
MOVIES
The 355
If there is one thing you should know about me, it’s that I love spy movies. I love the stories, the costumes, the gadgets, the fight scenes — just everything about them. The 355 was one of the first movies I watched in 2023. With a women-led ensemble cast, it was a fun movie that I thoroughly enjoyed. The plot revolves around several trained women operatives from around the world as they try to stop what could be World War 3 from unleashing. Cliché? Sure. Entertaining? Absolutely.
The Help
I didn’t have a huge interest in watching this movie, but my mom wanted to so I became her movie watching buddy. Well, I’m really glad I did, because it’s a really entertaining, funny, and moving film. Set during the Civil Rights Movement in Jackson, Mississippi, the story follows a white woman who writes a journalistic exposé about the African-American help in white households. This movie also has an amazing cast full of phenomenal actresses.
Barbie
Of course I had to add one of the biggest movie events of all time to this list. I’m so glad I could go see Barbie with my mom, both of us dressed in pink! I really enjoyed what this movie had to say about feminism, sexism, patriarchy, masculinity, and so many other topics and themes that probably went over my head. Everything Greta Gerwig creates is gold, and I wish I could rewatch Barbie for the first time again.
ART
An Autumn Scene, painted by Kevin Livingston Dolan, gifted to Lex Besecker
