Read
I forget most of this book, actually. I was looking for something weird with a dash of magical realism, and this almost delivered, though not quite. It’s still a good book, though.
Amiable With Big Teeth by Claude McKay ***
This book is about the struggle to prevent the Communists from hijacking Black activists’ campaign to help Ethiopia against Italy in the 1920s. This book was interesting because I read it during the Democratic primary, and it gave context to Bernie Sanders’ continued failure to connect with minority groups.
Sacred Games by Vikram Chandra ***
This book clocks in at over 920 pages, but it’s a great read. It’s a police procedural and gangster story rolled up into one book. It’s fantastic.
Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel ***
I was in a rut during the pandemic, and, ironically, what got me out of it was reading about a fictional pandemic. St. John Mandel glosses over the actual pandemic part to get to the aftermath, where America has been reduced to scattered hamlets, and focuses on a traveling circus troupe that encounters a dangerous cult.
The Lost Man by Jane Harper ***
This was a surprise gift from a friend, and it was unlike any other mystery I’ve read. The book is about a mysterious death in the Australian outback, and the few families who are trying to figure out what happened. The denouement is phenomenal.
Homeland by Fernando Aramburu ***
This is a gut punch. It might be the very best book I read this year. The book is about a small town in the Basque region of Spain, and how terrorism destroys the lives of two close families. I cannot overstate how fantastic this book is.
Godshot by Chelsea Bieker **
A great debut novel about a once-fertile, remote agricultural town now in the throes of a charismatic Christian cult, and one young woman’s discovery and desperate escape. The Handmaid’s Tale on a very small, but no less terrifying, scale
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke ***
This book reminds me of all of the old adventure games I love to play, from MYST to The Room (not Wiseau), or Quern: Undying Thoughts. If you are familiar with those, you might start to get a hint of what’s happening here, but if not, the less you know about this book going in, the better. The twist, and ending, are both excellent.
Duma Key by Stephen King ***
I’ve been kinda disappointed with King lately, having grown tired of what I call “Dracula rewrites”, but Duma Key is a very original, fascinating King story with an unusually satisfying ending. It takes a long while to get to the horror part, but you can tell going in that there’s a heavy debt Freemantle (our main character) will have to pay. It ranks as one of my favorite King novels.
Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam ***
This
is a book about not knowing. Some apocalypse happens, but there is no
information whatsoever about what it is, or what anyone is doing
about it. In an instant, society ceases to exist.
After reading China Under Mao by Andrew Walder and Deng Xiaoping by Ezra Vogel last year, Harmonized is about China under Xi Jinping. Strittmatter describes how Xi is reviving the Mao cult, and, through rapid investment in digital surveillance technology and artificial intelligence, building the most complete panopticon the world has ever seen. Further, Strittmatter describes how the CCP has managed to erase even recent history in the public consciousness, and through reeducation, injected its children with a jingoism completely divorced from historical reality.
A Libertarian Walks into a Bear by Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling **
This is the true story of how libertarians destroyed the small town of Grafton, NH and got invaded by hyperaggressive bears. This book is on this list because the schadenfreude value is very high. I already hate libertarians, and I was laughing at their comeuppance in this book.
Played
Kentucky Route Zero ****
I’ve said quite enough about this one already. This game gets an extra star.
Yakuza 0, Kiwami 1, and Kiwami 2
*** for Y0, ** for K1 & K2
These games got me through the pandemic. Yakuza 0 is a masterpiece.
Hades ***
Supergiant’s best game to date, and one of the best roguelikes ever made. Their faithfulness to Greek mythology, while also reinterpreting it to modern audiences, has been praised elsewhere. The writing, and the art direction, are stellar, and the gameplay compels you to immediately restart after every death. Greek mythology is almost a perfect tableau for a roguelike, as the gods are both cyclical and infinite. Supergiant absolutely nailed it.
Paper Mario 64, Thousand Year Door, and the Origami King
PM64 ****, TTYD **, TOK ***
This is the first time I have ever played the original Paper Mario,
and I fell in love with it. It was delightful to play, and I was
laughing my ass off throughout. TTYD was a bit disappointing because
the writing wasn’t nearly as strong, but then Origami King returned
to form. While some of the boss battle designs were frustrating and
underwhelming (it’s not until one of the last bosses where you get
what can be considered a fair fight), the
game does an excellent job of causing you to forget your complaints
with almost more humor than the original. Every five minutes, I’m
shouting for my sister to come see what ridiculous thing the game is
doing, from FAX TRAVEL(!!!) to a giant fan rising up from the sea to
blow away fog. Paper Mario is always a good time. They also took the
“paper” of Paper Mario and just ran with it. I love it, even
though it was a bit frustrating.
My sister has 705 hours in Animal Crossing. The game came out right as our governor issued the Stay at Home order, and I had gotten the game for my sister as a belated birthday present. She is still playing it. I played from May til the end of the summer, because watching her play it made me want to play it. I’m the kind of person who needs to be able to finish games, but I cannot deny that Animal Crossing is wonderfully constructed, and a perfect game for the existential dread of the pandemic.
In Other Waters ***
This fascinating, deceptively simple exploration game is rich in story, and it reminded me of a criminally underrated adventure game I played years ago called The Experiment 112. It’s hard to find games like this, so I get excited whenever I find one. It’s a great game to just chill out to.
Wolfenstein: The New Order/The Old Blood ***
I still think Wolf II was better, but in terms of quality, they are roughly the same. Play both, if you can.
The Coma 2: Vicious Sisters **
I really liked this one. I often don’t like being forced to hide from enemies with no way to fight back, but the main villain was only occasionally frustrating. I enjoyed it.
Resident Evil 3 **
The game is very short, which is a big knock against the $60 asking price, but I appreciated what they were going for. The game is trying to be a straight and simple horror film, with minimal exploration. Capcom just wants to get you from one setpiece to the next. The main issue I had with the game, aside from its length, is that Big Boy (my name for ol’ Nemmy) is never quite as scary inside of a boss fight as he is out of it.
Cyberpunk 2077 ***
To avoid spoilers, I will issue my opinion on the game
at a later date. Some people who will be reading this are still in
Night City.
I borrowed this from my neighbor, and I borrowed my sister’s PS4 to play it. I loved every minute of this game. It’s exhausting, terrifying, exhilarating, and devastating—all at the same time. Being forced to play as the “villain” forces you to reevaluate your sense of both characters, and it’s just excellent. It’s Naughty Dog’s best game.
I’m a big fan of exploration sidescrollers (Metroidvanias), and the second Ori game was among the best. One highlight of the game is the terrifying giant spider boss, which was a great challenge and a lot of fun to fight.
Saw
Three Colors Trilogy, dir. Krzysztof Kieslowski ***
I love French cinema, and these films are beautiful. They are, like some of my friends claim with Alien & Aliens, one long film. I watched all of them in a span of a week.
The Fly, dir. David Cronenberg ***
I’m already a fan of Cronemberg, but I had never seen The Fly until this year. The creature’s final form is a special effects marvel, and it’s absolutely worth watching Jeff Goldblum deteriorate as the movie goes on. You come to Cronenberg for one reason, and he never disappoints.
Possessor, dir. Brandon Cronenberg ***
And
neither did his son. This movie is just awesome. Criticism that he
doesn’t go far enough to explore the premise of the film is
correct, but as a first film, oh my god is it great. I definitely
want to see more.
I forgot I saw Coherence this year. Oh my god this movie is fantastic. The premise is basically a longer Twilight Zone episode, and the less you know going into it, the better. It’s got an 88% on Rotten Tomatoes, and it’s worth every minute of your time. I promise.
Contagion, dir. Stephen Soderberg ***
Very appropriate for what’s going on right now.
Borat 2, dir. Sacha Baron Cohen ***
There are a lot of hilarious and awkward moments in this brilliant and necessary sequel, but I swear to god that I was literally dying at the very end with the Running of the Americans. You are free to have your favorite part of this movie, but that one is mine. It is almost an overload of catharsis.
The Reflecting Skin, dir. Philip Ridley ***
This movie is all kinds of messed up. I can’t even begin to explain it, but it’s disturbing as anything and well worth watching. I was looking for something like David Lynch, and boy did I find it.
Listened to
- The
Lorelai soundtrack
by micAmic is on repeat, forever.
- I started listening to
Chvrches. Night Sky is an excellent track
- Hayley Williams’
solo album came out in May. I enjoyed it, but it doesn’t resonate
with me as much as After Laughter did
- I expanded my
vaporwave collection with Mori
by Aokigahara Online. I have been told that my chill music game is
very strong. This by Hong Kong Express (2015) is another vaporwave
highlight, specifically the track, “6
AM feat. V I R T U E”
The Octopath Traveler
Soundtrack will always be amazing.
Both Ori soundtracks are queued up on a regular basis.
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