The Best (and Worst) Media of 2019

It’s a new year, and I’m back from vacation! (For a bit, at least. I’ll be in Utah starting the end of next week . . .) And launching the new year off, I wanted to do a retrospective of my reading and watching last year. As always, I keep track of what I’ve consumed, media-wise, and I’m here to report in on all the best and worst things I came across. Ready? Let’s go.

Best Reading

In total, I watched 96 things over the course of the year. Some of those things were just movies. Some were entire seasons of television shows. (Still just counts as “1 thing” on my master chart.) Of those 96 “things,” the ones I gave a perfect 10/10 to were:

  • Groundhog Day (naturally)
  • The Americans (season 6)
  • Game of Thrones (season 1)
  • Chernobyl
  • Into the Spiderverse
  • Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
  • Pulp Fiction
  • Cold Comfort Farm

Movies or shows that got a 9.5/10 were:

  • When They See Us
  • The Rise of Skywalker

And items that got a 9 were:

  • The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (season 2)
  • Blackkklansman
  • The Sopranos (season 1)
  • Free Solo
  • Game of Thrones (season 7)
  • Avengers Endgame
  • The Good Place (season 3)
  • Various Game of Thrones episodes (I rewatched key episodes across many seasons
  • Deadpool 2
  • Game of Thrones (season 8)
  • Deadwood (season 2)
  • Mary Poppins Returns
  • Clue
  • Rogue One

There are some items on there that many people would disagree with me about. I don’t care. I’ve become increasingly tired of the nonsensical need to justify my tastes. As if the entire world has to decide what is “good” and what is “bad.” The Star Wars original series? Good. Prequels? Bad. Sequels? Tons of debate, and people take it as a personal affront if you disagree with them. I love social media and the way it helps bring people together, but I despise the backbiting and nitpicking that happens on it. I love the Hobbit movies. I thought the Game of Thrones finale was great. I don’t feel the need to write a thesis to defend that position, just as I won’t attack you if you say the Hobbit movies are terrible.

Make your own list. 🙂

What about the worst movies and TV I watched? As always, I only review something and give it an official rating if I finish it, and I don’t have a lot of time, so I typically don’t finish things I don’t like, which makes it seem like I like almost everything I review. That said, I still had a couple turkeys this year:

  • Good Omens got a 2/10
  • Murder Mystery (the Netflix Adam Sandler movie) got a 3/10
  • A Wrinkle in Time got a 2/10
  • The Phantom Menace got a 4/10

As for books, I made my goal of reading 52 for the year. Here are the perfect 10/10s:

  • The Reluctant Swordsman, by Dave Duncan
  • Les Miserables, by Victor Hugo
  • The Stepford Wives, by Ira Levin
  • The Broken Eye, by Brent Weeks
  • The Burning White, by Brent Weeks
  • Lord of the Flies, by William Golding

No book got a 9.5/10, but several got a 9/10:

  • Hello, Universe, by Erin Entrada Kelly
  • The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, by Michael Chabon
  • The First Book of Swords, by Fred Saberhagen
  • The Screwtape Letters, by CS Lewis
  • The Library at Mount Char, by Scott Hawkins
  • Starsight, by Brandon Sanderson

Did I read anything really bad this year? Well, I had two 4/10s, a 3/10, and a 2/10, but as is my typical approach, I will stay mum on which books got those ratings. Professional courtesy. That said, I will say the 2/10 was a book that’s won multiple awards and been on many “best of the year” lists, and it’s taken me quite a bit of willpower to not say why I disliked it so much.

Anyway. That sums things up for me. How did your reading and watching go this year?

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