halfcactus

Book recap bc I managed (barely!) to fulfill my goal of finishing 12 books this year. Goodreads tells me I read 4,000 pages with an average book length of 300 pages and an average rating of 3.7/5, which is... not bad for someone who hasn't really been feeling books. Most of what I read this year were by authors I haven't previously read, and most are some kind of Asian. Read 0 books/comics in Chinese (but not for lack of trying).

Also read a bunch of webtoons and indie oneshots (from Shortbox), but those are harder to quantify, so:
( the 12 books of 2025 )

Technically this should be a "top 2" because only Fallen Angels and Leonor Will Never Die made me feel connected from start to finish (Spider-Man: AtSV was also a 4.5/5 movie for me, but took a while to reel me in).
( 2023 movies, books, TV )

Tools used:

Letterboxd Wrapped (3rd party year-in-review generator)

Lastboxd (3rd party collage generator)

StoryGraph Wrapped

Last.FM Playback

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( 2023 in journal pages )

In collage format, with thanks to phone technology and listography (next time I'll make horizontal versions just for Dreamwidth 😂):







( lists in text format )

In summary

Most of the shows/movies I watched were groupwatches—our most successful one being SOUL MATE (2016 movie), because the twists and foreboding silence of the people who had already seen it sparked fear, tears, and fun discussions. 5/5, would recommend


TV:
Personal favorite of the year for me was THE IMPERIAL CORONER because I rarely get to see political dramas that have such consistent character writing, character-driven humor, and organic ensemble chemistry? Pacing was dicey towards the last act, but tied up satisfyingly. Plot is just ok, with rifts in the spots where they overextended some of the mysteries. The political intrigue was (to me) merely secondary to the four main characters being chaotically married to each other and the female lead 🔥braising the dead🔥 for science. (This is more of a character/ensemble-centric drama than a serious political drama, though the factions and behaviors of the older generation were more dynamic than expected. It's very fun!)

GAMES:
I still have not beaten HADES the game, but I’ve beaten Hades the character and I’m tired 😂


BOOKS:

And I never knew survival
was like that. If you live,
you look back and beg
for it again, the hazardous
bliss before you know
what you would miss.

Mostly poetry and short fiction, I can’t process novels anymore 😭 My favs were Ada Limón’s BRIGHT DEAD THINGS (poetry collection with themes of loss and illness), and Nghi Vo’s WHEN THE TIGER CAME DOWN THE MOUNTAIN (novella: about stories and storytelling). Ilya Kaminsky’s DEAF REPUBLIC was objectively brilliant but the subject matter was too difficult for me.


MUSIC:
I am a Zhang Xincheng stan, I cannot deny. I spent NYE translating/subbing his Vogue short film. 😂 His impact. 😂 Fervently hoping he doesn't turn out to be a terrible person. 😂

Currently:

WATCHING:

WHO’S THE MURDERER S1: but there are no English subs so I’m feeling very gatekept from shenanigans.

LEVERAGE REDEMPTION: extremely fun, but actually requires attention and brain cells, which I do not have.

TOKUSATSU GAGAGA: jdrama about finding fandom friends as a working adult!

READING:

THE PRIORY OF THE ORANGE TREE: a high fantasy novel with a f/f main couple, more aesthetic than chemistry—but the aesthetic is very attractive.

I SHIP MY ADVERSARY X ME manhua: updates every Saturday

And occasionally 我五行缺你, a 100-chapter webnovel about fengshui boyfriends and folk horrors and underground supernatural tournaments.

LISTENING:
100 variations of 曾經我也想過一了百了 because Big Mood, I also feel like the expired candy in the drawer and the abandoned bike that can’t find its way home. (The imagery and lyrical progression in the Hokkien version are especially crushing and moving, with an emotional thread that punctures you then pulls you back together. I read the lyrics in Mandarin, lol.)