A few years ago, I started doing my own ‘wrapped’ with some of my favorite 2023 moments and media. I haven’t done it in a couple years, but I think it’s time to start again!
Books
Anyone who knows me knows I love a good book. I got back into reading last year after a long college hiatus, and I started doing a reading challenge. It’s a great motivator for a competitive person. All that is to say, I’ve read 50 books so far this year (54 if you count plays)! A handful of these were rereads and some throwbacks, but a book is a book. Here’s a list, in order, of all my five-star reads of 2023 that I read for the first time this year!!
Favorite Books
Iris Kelly Doesn’t Date by Ashley Herring Blake (romance)
The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen (graphic novel, technically middle grade)
Yellowface by R.F. Kuang (fiction)
A Study In Drowning by Ava Reid (fantasy, YA)
John Proctor is the Villain by Kimberly Belflower (play)
For a person who feels like she only reads romance and very specific types of books, this list is very diverse in genre and age range. A good reminder to reach out of my comfort zone when reading. But I looked at the stats of my most-read authors, and it’s a majority white people. I’d like to read more books by racially and ethnically diverse authors in 2024!
Favorite ReReads
As far as rereads go, here are my five-star books:
The Hunger Games (the entire series, but not The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, sorry) (dystopian, YA)
Heartstopper Vol. 1 (graphic novel, YA)
Heartstopper Vol. 3 (graphic novel, YA)
For the record, I had a handful of 4.75 ratings, but I’m trying to be stingy with those 5 stars. This year I started using Storygraph to track my reading instead of Goodreads. I’ve seen a lot of Storygraph hate lately, and I’m here to tell you it’s all false! Overall, it’s much more comprehensive than Goodreads with the only downside being that there aren’t as many people reviewing as there are on Goodreads. And that is a very easy fix if you all just download it and start using it! This isn’t an ad, I’m just a fan. Goodreads is owned by Amazon (and also, I’ve been using Goodreads since 2012 and the interface still looks and works exactly the same [it sucks]), so Goodreads is over and you can quote me on that.
TV
Unfortunately, my interest in books has led me to consume less digital media. I haven’t watched a TV show all the way through probably since the beginning of the year. However, I did watch XO, Kitty, which is a masterpiece! If you like silly little romances with some heavy twists, you gotta watch this show. I’ve never felt such relief as when I saw it was renewed for season two. Brief summary: A “sequel” to the beloved To All the Boys I Loved Before, writer Jenny Han takes on the youngest Covey sister’s journey to a high school in Seoul to pursue her love. But it’s so complicated!! There’s drama, there’s intrigue, there’s gay people! It’s a perfect series. Truly no notes. It can be a little cringy to start, but frankly, all of my favorite shows start off with some element of cringe. You grow accustomed.
I’m returning to this post because a month ago I was in the shower and felt a chill down my spine. I didn’t include Heartstopper season two on this list!! Heartstopper season two was such a delight. Apparently, I only watch little shows about sweet gay high schoolers now.
Movies
I moved in next to an AMC theater over the summer and got that sweet, sweet AMC membership. I’ve been trying to see more movies, but somehow life still gets in the way. I also didn’t keep track of the movies I’ve seen, which is something I plan to change next year. I’m very picky about movies and genre, so a handful of things I know I won’t like, I don’t go to see. I’ve been doing a better job of trying new things, but I think I have more hater in me than desirable for standard filmgoing. I feel like books and TV are frequently more progressive than Hollywood, so I often get disappointed by current releases (I know there’s non-blockbusters out there, I just haven’t started seeking them out yet. Hopefully that will also change next year). From what I’ve seen this year, here are my favorites (generally new releases, but also one not new release) in order!!
Favorite Films
Shiva, Baby (i have not been the same since watching this. i think about it every day.)
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
Bottoms
Theatre Camp
Barbie
Oppenheimer
Trolls Band Together (what can I say, when a movie makes you chuckle this much, it’s got to be on the list) (also I’ve always been a trolls stan. I come from a family of trolls stans, shout out my sisters)
The Color Purple movie comes out on Christmas, and I am certain it will be on this list. I love The Color Purple so much, and I’m so glad it got to be a part of the ‘book → movie → musical → movie musical’ fad.
Music
Something I also want to do more in 2024 is branch out with music. I love music and am constantly listening. My minutes listened in a year has not been under 80k probably ever. But I feel like I listen to primarily k-pop and usa-pop, and I’d love to explore more in terms of language and genre of music.
Of course, most of what I listen to is BTS in some capacity or another. This was a big BTS year, with 4 out of 7 members releasing their solo albums. I’m a bit biased towards those of course, but I still think it’s worth it to list out some of my favorite songs and albums of the year. I’m not going to bother figuring out when each of these came out, so these weren’t all released this year, they’re just things I enjoyed this year. I’m separating albums and songs because I think there’s something different from appreciating an entire album as a piece of art versus a song as a piece of art! Not ranked in order btw (I can’t decide, sue me).
Favorite Albums:
Face - Jimin
Eat Your Young - Hozier
D-Day - Suga
I’ve Loved You for So Long - The Aces
Guts - Olivia Rodrigo
The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess - Chappell Roan
Get Up - NewJeans
hopeless fountain kingdom - Halsey
Favorite Songs:
Going to note that lots of the songs I’m about to list have great music videos and I think that factors into why I appreciate the songs! Also not in order. And yes, I did make a playlist with all of these songs for your listening pleasure despite the fact that if you’ve seen me at all in the last few months, you’ve probably heard half of these already.
Set Me Free Pt. 2 - Jimin
Smoke Sprite (feat. RM) - So!YoON!
AMYGDALA - Agust D
Dirty Dreams - Menna
Face-off - Jimin
PAYRI$E - Greta Isaac
Ditto - NewJeans
American Teenager - Ethel Cain
No.2 (with parkjiyoon) - RM
Standing Next to You - Jungkook
bad idea right? - Olivia Rodrigo
SDL - Agust D
Set Me Free - Twice
Bite Me - ENHYPEN
So Good - Halsey
Shatter - Maggie Rogers
Silk Chiffon - MUNA, Phoebe Bridgers
Francesca - Hozier
Eve, Psyche & the Bluebeard’s Wife - LE SSERAFIM, Rina Sawayama
Snow Angel - Reneé Rapp
Like Crazy - Jimin
teenage dream - Olivia Rodrigo
For Us - V
Femininomenon - Chappell Roan
Perfect Night - LE SSERAFIM
Teeth - 5 Seconds of Summer
ICKY - KARD
Hair Cut - Xdinary Heroes
Closer - RM, Paul Blanco, Mahalia
My Kink Is Karma - Chappell Roan
Live
As far as live entertainment goes, I didn’t see as much as I would’ve liked. Why is going outside so expensive now?! I would have loved to see more live theatre, but it all costs an arm and a leg, and I know that’s on me to seek out more local theatre. Can you say New Year’s resolution?
A lot of the live entertainment I experienced this year was in concert form. I’m also lucky that I got to see a handful of my favorite artists live in the first half of the year. So this is a mix of concerts, theatre, and just performances generally, but largely concerts.
Favorite Live Performances
Suga D-Day Tour - UBS Arena & Prudential Center
Jungkook Live in Times Square
Jungkook Live on Good Morning America
Halsey with Live String Ensemble - NJPAC
Twice Set Me Free Tour - Metlife Stadium
Paradise Fears Reunion Concert - Gramercy Theatre
boygenius with special guest MUNA - Madison Square Garden
Taylor Swift Era’s Tour - Metlife Stadium
How to Defend Yourself by Liliana Padilla - New York Theater Workshop
Sweeney Todd
Gutenberg! The Musical
Shucked
And if I may brag…
Queer Stories: An Evening of One Act Plays (featuring my play The Marriage Tree) - Seattle Pacific University
Sour Wires (my short play) - The Maker’s Ensemble
In Conclusion
It’s been a busy year! I started the year off living in Manhattan working at a nonprofit, and I’m ending the year living in New Brunswick, NJ working at a university. I finished a draft of my novel in February and have spent much of the year revising it (still revising, for the record). I visited a handful of different places. I got to spend a bunch of quality time with lovely friends and family.
But the fact of the matter is that I spent more of my time this year than I’m happy about applying to jobs and interviewing for jobs that were somewhat scam-y. I spent most of the early summer unpacking and getting used to living in a new apartment with Sean. I spent far too much time on NJ Transit and spent far too much money on the same wretched transportation service. My dog died! BTS got sent to the military! All this plus the fact that I spent a lot of this year feeling unsatisfied with my job, with my free time, with my creative output/writing, etc., etc.
I realized working full-time is a big issue for me. I’m not used to feeling like I’m living my life on the sidelines. All the things I love doing have to take place before or after work and that’s really difficult to adjust to. It’s especially hard as a creative, I’ve learned. I think this is largely because creativity, in my case, writing, is another form of work. We try not to think of it that way since it ruins the illusion, but it takes a lot of brain power and effort to make something from scratch. And a lot of people (me included) just don’t have that sort of energy at the end of a work day. I’ve been getting my morning routine back—waking up early and writing for an hour each morning before work—but I still feel stuck in a lot of ways. Like I’m squeezing my actual life into just a handful of hours before or after job time. I’m trying to reconcile what I want with my reality and it’s not easy.
I feel better about a lot of things now than I did at the beginning of this year, though. Frankly, I only started feeling better about a lot of these things in the past couple of months. I started therapy (win) and started a job that gives me a lot more flexibility with my time and schedule. My commute is less lengthy, and Sean and I signed a two-year lease, which means I am now more certain of my future living situation than I have been since high school. I feel a bit more settled than I have in awhile.
I think 2024 will be good. I wouldn’t dream of going into a new year and hoping for anything less. Wouldn’t want to jinx it. But I genuinely do believe 2024 will be good. I think there’s a lot to look forward to. Lots of love to be given, lots of love to accept, lots of books to read, TV shows to watch, movies to see, and music to listen to. At the very least, I can guarantee I’ll read a book that makes me cry and listen to a song that will become one of my new favorites. That much I’m sure of.
Art makes the world go round, baby.
Happy holidays and happy new year!!
“Art makes the world go round baby”
Wow what a big fun year!! I loved getting to read this it was so fun and I have already added your playlist to my Spotify (Face is def on my top albums of 2023 list too) I think 2024 will be great :’)