media update: December

GOOD FUCKING RIDDANCE to 2019, which was like a Russian nesting doll filled with diarrhea, cockroaches, and puke.  I was unemployed all year (though this was not entirely awful), I broke my hand, good friends suffered terrible losses, I got the flu (yes, I had gotten a flu shot two months prior), and worst of all for me and my family, my dad's health took a sharp decline.  I am praying that 2020 holds an excellent job for me and, most of all, a miracle for my dad.

Considering I've been unemployed all year, I'm legitimately shocked that my final 2019 numbers are much lower than last year's, with the exception of nonfiction (the exact same number!) and manga/graphic novels.  I know it's still a respectable amount, but I'm not sure why it's lower when I was home all day!

Asterisks denote something I particularly enjoyed or found especially worthy of my time; double asterisks are reserved for the creme de la creme.  As always, your mileage may vary.

FICTION

1. Unspeakable Things by Jess Lourey:  In a small town in Minnesota, local boys start to go missing, and when they return, they're not the same.  Young Cass is determined to find out the truth, even if it leads to something she's not prepared to face.

2019 total: 62  (last year: 108)


NONFICTION

1. The Gilded Razor by Sam Lansky:  An addiction/recovery memoir that irritated the fuck out of me.

2. If You Tell by Gregg Olsen:  Shelly Knotek's charm and beauty hid a very ugly secret: she was an abusive mother whose sadism eventually began to claim victims outside her family as well.  Riveting but extremely disturbing; I read a big chunk of it during a flight and my seatmate asked if I was okay because I was squirming in horror.

3. Know My Name* by Chanel Miller:  The author became known as "Emily Doe" during the rape trial of Brock Turner, who sexually assaulted her when she was passed out, and this memoir details the aftermath of the crime.  Beautifully written, which shouldn't surprise anyone who read her powerful victim impact statement after it went viral online.  Brock Turner should be forced to listen to someone read this book to him every day for the rest of his miserable fucking life.

2019 total: 30  (last year: 30)


MANGA/GRAPHIC NOVELS

1. Ao Haru Ride vol. 8 by Io Sakisaka

2. Coyote by Ranmaru Zariya

3. Rin-Ne vol. 31 by Rumiko Takahashi

4. Our Dreams at Dusk vol. 4 (final volume) by Shimanami Tasogare

5. The Way of the House Husband by Kousuke Oono

2019 total: 51 volumes of manga and 27 graphic novels  (last year: 45 and 15)


MOVIES

1. Teen Titans Go vs. Teen Titans:  All of the versions of the Teen Titans from across the universe gather to defeat a common enemy.  Surprisingly fun.

2. Crawl:  When a major hurricane hits Florida, Haley (Kaya Scodelario) ignores the evacuation orders and goes to her father's home.  They get trapped in the rapidly flooding basement, which would be bad enough on its own, but a couple of huge alligators have found their way inside too.  A delightfully tense creature feature.

3. Annabelle Comes Home:  It's a testament to my love of Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, and schlocky horror movies that I keep watching the Annabelle movies, even though they're merely decent at best and downright shitty at worst.  This one fell on the decent side of the spectrum.  It wasn't scary at all (jump scares notwithstanding), and Vera and Patrick were hardly in it, but it was kind of fun.

4. Good Boys:  After accidentally breaking his dad's drone, Max and his friends Thor and Lucas skip school to find a new one, but they keep running into snags along the way.  Sort of a tween version of Superbad; it's not nearly as funny as that movie, but it has a few decent laughs and a couple of sidesplitters.

5. Ready Or Not*:  A new bride (Samara Weaving, not Margot Robbie as I originally thought when I saw the trailer) learns on her wedding day that her in-laws have an unusual way of inducting her into the family.  Gory and funny.

2019 total: 88 (last year: 110!)