In 2022, I've consumed a lot of media. It was mostly books and tv shows.
This post is to pick out a few of my favorites. I did this type of post last year too.
Books
I've read a lot of books in 2022. As of this posting, I've completed 45 books in 2022 alone. It's really hard to pick a favorite. I've read a lot of good books. I've also read a few stinkers. But I think I've got it narrowed down to a favorite and runner up.
Favorite
My favorite book this year was Leviathan Falls by James S.A. Corey. Leviathan Falls was the final book in The Expanse series. I've written about the series before. I really enjoyed how this book wrapped up the series.
The Expanse series was a slow burn (for me), but well worth the trip.
This entire series was written by James S.A. Corey, but that's actually two people. James S.A. Corey is a pen name for Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck. Daniel released a new book called Age of Ash earlier this year, and I'm currently reading that now.
Runner up
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles was an unexpected delight for me.
The book was recommended to me by a soccer parent. We were on the sideline during the game and chatting about books. She recommended A Gentleman in Moscow to me. I didn't think much about it until a few days later when I saw someone (online) recommend A Gentleman in Moscow and Towles's other books. A few days after that, I saw another recommendation for A Gentleman in Moscow.
I decided that I had to read the book. I was not disappointed. It was excellent. There wasn't a lot of action or drama. But the relationships built in the book were fascinating.
I've started reading another book by Amor Towles called Rules of Civility.
Movies
I didn't watch a lot of movies in 2022. Most of the ones I did watch were not memorable. This category was tough. My favorite was a 2021 movie (that I watched in 2022) and my runner up was a movie I watched last week.
Favorite
The Matrix Resurrections was released in 2021, but I watched it in early 2022. I wrote about this movie and the other Matrix movies earlier this year.
This movie wasn't as good as the original Matrix movie. The original is one of my favorites.
I really should watch this again.
Runner up
Last week, I watched Thor: Love and Thunder. It was great. The first two Thor movies weren't the best. But this movie and Thor: Ragnarok were really good.
I think that Taika Waititi (as Korg) made an excellent addition to the team. Taika also directed the last two Thor movies. I think his direction may have made these movies better too. But I can't be sure.
This has been the best Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) movie since Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: Far From Home. The Disney+ TV shows have been good, but I haven't loved the movies. I have been a fan of the Infinity Gauntlet and Infinity War comics since I was younger.
TV Shows
We watched a lot of TV shows in 2022. I've got an entire list of shows that I really liked. My favorites came down to Severance, Andor and Welcome to Wrexham. But I had to narrow it down to a favorite and a runner up. So here we are.
Favorite
My favorite show of the year is Severance on Apple TV+.
At first, I wasn't sure what was happening in the show. But the show really grew on me and by the time the season was over, I wanted more.
This scene above is from my favorite scene of the entire season. It's one of my favorite scenes from any TV show. Every time I see it, I smile a little and do a little dance in my seat.
The show ended on such a great cliffhanger too. I cannot wait for the next season.
Runner up
My runner up is a Star Wars show. Of course it was. 🙂 But Andor really was a good show.
Andor was a very close runner up. I wrote about Andor earlier this year. I'm not going to say too much about it here. But I loved this show.
Video Games
I didn't play a lot of games this year. I think I played more games this year than in the last few years. There were three new (to me) games that I played this year that I really loved. Those games were Ori and the Will of the Wisps, Metroid: Samus Returns, and Stray. Just like the TV shows, I narrowed it down to a favorite and a runner up, but it was really close.
Favorite
My favorite game of 2022 is Ori and the Will of the Wisps. The game is from 2020, but I finally played it this year. I also wrote about Ori and the Will of the Wisps earlier this year.
I played this game prior to the first game in the series Ori and the Blind Forrest. I recently bought the first game (on sale) and will probably be playing through sometime soon. 🤞
Runner up
This was a hard choice. I ended up going with Stray, simply because it was from this year. Stray is also the freshest game in my mind. I finished it last week. It was a really beautiful game.
2023
2023 is approaching quickly. I can't believe it, but its almost here.
I've got a list of Books, TV shows, and video games that I plan on consuming. I hope to watch a few more movies. But only time will tell.