I'll lower my goal to 45. I don't want to rush through a book again.

Did a marathon of reading 5 books in 2 weeks to complete my 50 book goal.

46) Batman: Noel – A Christmas Carol retelling, with Batman as The Scrooge, Jason Todd as the Marley ghost, Catwoman as Christmas Past, Superman as Christmas Present and Joker as Christmas Yet To Come. Other than being set during Christmas, the holiday itself plays no role in the story, which is about an angry Batman confronting his very black/white view on crime. The narration is overdone, but the story itself is nice. The stylized realistic artwork by writer Lee Bermejo is great and worth going through the narration.

47) Riddler: Year One – a prequel comic to “The Batman”, with Riddler actor Paul Dano as the writer. It shows how Edward was mentally beaten down throughout his life and how this drove him to be the Riddler. The movie has this mostly in the background during Batman’s investigations at the end. The horror style artwork by Steven Subic really sells Edward’s deteriorating mental state. The best example is the fifth issue which is Edward’s conspiracy notebook with unhinged notes, bizarre doodles, and bits of Bat-hero worship. Halfway through the comic, though, most of the initial story is lost in favor of setting up the plot of the movie.

48) The Pram – A creepy novella by Joe Hill about a young couple moving to a new farmhouse after dealing with a miscarriage. The husband then comes across a baby carriage and uses it as a grocery cart while dealing with the pain of not being a father. It is creepy by the end, though I didn’t care for the ending, as the psychological horror was more than enough.

49) Cyberpunk 2077: No Coincidence - A semi tie-in novel set in Night City like in the game but it has no relation to the game’s main story and characters. The audiobook has the added benefit of being narrated by Cherami Leigh, the voice actress for V in the game. The book is about an amateur team pulling off a heist and trying to live in the hellhole that is Night City. It isn’t terrible, with the ending not unexpected, given the genre and how the game and Edgerunners anime ended. Leigh does a great job voicing a dozen main characters and side characters; it was clear which character was speaking.

50) Other Birds - A young woman goes to her late mother’s home island off the coast of South Carolina and comes across ghosts and eccentric neighbors. This was a very pleasant read, reminded me of some Studio Ghibli movies, although more subtle on the magic elements. The ghosts’ life stories were almost the best part of the book, besides the cozy neighbor interactions. Nice book to cap off the year.

Not quite, if their press release is correct.

The Atlantic City Boardwalk has plenty of these shirts.

Wanna a shirt with a picture of Ariel or Spongebob high as fuck? They're there.

Speaking of Sonic Adventure 2, the Knuckles part of the final level was terrible for young me.

Never realized until years later that a re-breather device for Knuckles was basically required. I tried finding a way to use the few air bubbles in the level but it was impossible.

The numbers are a bit fudged since I let my nieces play on my Xbox.

By the end of the main campaign, I was tired of playing. The endings for the main story went on for too long.

I stopped altogether while playing the Siege of Paris DLC.

44) The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus – I recently found out that an old Christmas special I liked as a kid was based on a book by L. Frank Baum, the writer of the Land of Oz books. The book is about Claus being raised in an enchanted forest by nymphs and venturing to the world of mankind to bring happiness to children. Being an origin story of Santa Claus written for children, not much happens except for the 2 brief chapters where monsters try to stop Santa from delivering toys led to a very short, massive mythical battle which sadly did not include Santa fighting. Seriously, the build-up to the battle was reaching LOTR levels. Otherwise, it is Claus making toys and delivering them to the kids for most of the book, which I should have expected.

45) Harley Quinn: Reckoning – A YA reimagined origin story of Harley Quinn, which has her as a queer STEM student who leads a feminist group against several sexist professors at the college. Very much influenced by the MeToo movement, the book oddly has the unexpected origin story of Bernie, the stuffed beaver that Harley has in the recent comics. It is a decent enough read, even though its connection to the larger DC universe is very loose, as in there being a single Batman name drop in the entire book. The chapter where Harleen meets the Joker is very out of place and feels tacked on, with no impact on the main plot.

Maybe Civilization Revolution 2 for smartphones

Fans didn't like it because it was very watered down compared to the numbered entries and the first CivRev.

Still spend hours on it. Even when my phone was less than 5%.

42) Forbidden Hollywood: The Pre-Code Era 1930-1934 – A short Hollywood history book by Turner Classic Movies about the Hays Code, which was the main censorship guidelines for Hollywood films from the 30s up to the early 60s. The book covers the Code’s ineffective early years in the 1930s and the reluctance for filmmakers to adhere to the Code, plus featuring dozens of photos and stills from the era.

It is almost quaint on what the censors disapproved of; the nudity, violence, and loose morals, I understand, but getting unnerved by women sitting on an armrest is almost comedic. This was also the time where all the states and major cities have their own censor boards, so there were multiple instances of films getting different scenes cut in each state, continuity be damned. There are even some brief reviews on some of the movies; people were downright frightened of Frankenstein and disgusted by a film featuring a white woman kissing a Chinese man’s hand 🫨.

43) Life is Strange – Finally got around to reading the 6 Volume comic series of the game. The comic is set after the Leave Arcadia Bay ending of the game, and Max getting stuck between two timelines. The story is a much-needed emotional epilogue to that ending, but the comic went on for far too long. It takes a while for Max to be reunited with Chloe, but at least there is proper closure to the events of the game. The art is nice enough, though the faces are not emotive enough in most scenes.

Always had a soft spot for The Flintstones Christmas Carol.

I also enjoyed this 2000 animated special The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, which had him as a toymaking woodsman raised by fairies.

Alyx from Half Life

Technically, Rockstar promises a trailer tomorrow. But they never actually confirmed it will be for GTA6.

I really want them to use the GTA hype to announce Table Tennis 2.

I actually didn't mind the reboot. I did have a laugh at Abe's apology video attempts.

I think the issue was that the first series was a parody of all the 90s/early 00s teen drama grounded shows like Dawson's Creek and Party of Five.

Meanwhile, the popular teen dramas of today like Riverdale and Euphoria are way too nuts to be parodied so the second series is tame and bland by comparison.

40) Ace: What Asexuality Reveals About Desire, Identity, and the Meaning of Sex – So I had some long-standing questions about myself, and I sought out a book that could answer them. It is an interesting read; the book points out how society is revolved around romance and/or sex, from pop culture to legislation, which can be disorienting for asexuals and aromantics. The book also shows how asexuality is not as clear cut than I expected.

41) Interview With The Vampire – Wanted to read this for a while after seeing the movie, which follows a Colonial French vampire and his dealings with other vampire in New Orleans and Paris. And unlike the movie, the book has all kinds of gay subtext and overt text. It takes time to get used to the melodramatic text as the narrator loves to talk and gets very verbose. I probably won’t read the other Vampire Chronicles books because I don’t have time and I heard the other 17 books are not as good.

38) Hell House – Halloween time means reading some horror. The plot is reminiscent of Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House: a team of professors and mediums investigate a haunted mansion for paranormal activity.

It got tiring after a while that the two women in the team were repeatedly sexually assaulted by the house spirits, which apparently is par for the course in 1970s horror media. It’s why I couldn’t finish the book before Halloween like I originally planned. I didn't care for the ending, which heavily relied on the main evil spirit assuming the advancement of ghost technology decades before his death.

39) Dracula – Early in the year, I signed up for the Dracula Daily newsletter. Since the original book is a collection of faux diary entries and newspaper articles, the newsletter would email a chapter on the date of its relevant entry. The emails begin on May 3, when Jonathan Harker travels to Dracula’s castle.

Harker’s diary entries are a drag, with too much rambling. Luckily those stop on June 30, then the emails are about the better written diaries of Renfield’s doctor and Harker’s fiancée Mina, with a brief aside in August for a ship captain’s log. The October entries were heavy since a lot happens in multiple days, and the characters must write about it. Neat idea for a newsletter, though.

Oh, I already finished the first 2 books of the Stormlight Archive. I also got lucky and read Warbreaker before starting Book 2 without seeing any spoilers.

Will definitely read Oathbringer in 2024.

I have been reading some books for the Reading Challenge here.

Currently, I'm reading the fantasy book Mistborn: The Final Empire and a psych book about asexuality.

Probably going to listen the audiobook for Interview With The Vampire by the end of the month.

I would argue Warner Bros is having a worst centennial celebration than Disney.

All of the DC movies this year are flops or will be flops. Barbie lucked out with being a good movie and marketed by the Barbenheimer memes.

And they just cancelled their upcoming Acme v Wile E Coyote movie for a tax write off.

I honestly did like Elemental and Turning Red, and I was really expecting to hate both. I really connected with the family and immigration themes in both movies.

Kind of sad that we will never get that sci-fi Tetris trilogy that was planned a few years ago.

Turning Tetris into a Cold War drama is an unexpected bu welcome surprise.

One of the worst is Dead Rising 4.

Tried to please the fans by bringing back Frank West as the protagonist.

Then Capcom changed the voice actor and Frank's personality.

Game was enough of a flop to kill any plans for a Dead Rising 5, and shut down Capcom Vancouver.

I want to agree with you, but I've also played plenty of recent AAA games for hundreds of hours, so maybe I'm part of the problem.

As long as the gameplay is competent and/or the story is decent enough, I can overlook whatever.

But EA did take away TIME from you playing the game, and that is way more valuable than money.

35) White Sand – A three part graphic novel series, about sand masters living in a world where it is always sunny on their hemisphere. It is not very action heavy as I thought, and the focus is more diplomatic; the leader of the sand masters is trying to convince their council to not disband the masters.

The artwork is a hit and miss for me. One penciller drew 2/3 of the story; their style is appropriately kinetic for action scenes, but too chaotic for the many dialogue scenes. The last third of the story was drawn by a different artist and their style fits better. The story overall felt like it could have been better as a prose novel than a comic.

36) Better Than Expected – Finally read a romance book after so many false starts this year. A novella that is a follow-up to a romance I read a while ago, about a newly single mother falling for her divorce lawyer. The new book is about the mother trying to figure out some level of independence after being in an abusive marriage and how serious her new relationship should be. I liked it, particularly the part where the girlfriend finally realizes her new parental role.

37) Batman: Beyond The White Knight – Part 3 of Sean Murphy's punk-ish Batman series, now set 12 years after Part 2 with Bruce Wayne in Jail, Harley's a single mom and a fascist police force taking over Gotham. It is a slight improvement over Part 2, with the story being heavily inspired by the Batman Beyond cartoon and the Arkham Knight game. I like the new character dynamics that only make sense in this series, like Bruce and Harley, but I’m not sure how I feel about the ending bringing in other DC characters.

Not just games, but movies too. The US military will try anything to make themselves look good and/or increase recruitment numbers.

America's Army

It's made by the US Army. There cannot be a more propaganda heavy game than that.

The Force Unleashed.

The game is fine for the most part, but near the end there was the much hyped section where Starkiller pulls a Stardestroyer. The on-screen instructions were useless, and I couldn't figure out how to complete it until I looked it up online.

After that, the last level was set in the Death Star and dozens of troopers are firing every which way. I didn't bother to complete the game.

33) The Passion According to Carmela – In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, I read a historical fiction novel about an idealistic woman getting involved with the Cuban Revolution and her slowly realizing that the Castro-led government is not so great. The book described itself as an “epic love saga”, but I was apparently misled yet again, third time this year about supposed romance books. The so-called “love saga” was out of focus most of the time, in favor of following the actions of the Cuban government, though oddly the Cuban Missile Crisis is completely ignored. Several real-life figures of the Revolution appear in the story, though I had to look them up since Castro and Che were the only ones I knew about.

The book was originally written in Spanish. While the English translation is readable, it seemed some nuance was lost in translation; the English text is more formal than it needed to be, and some sentences are awkwardly worded. Example: “Hot glass bridge” meaning “romantic connection”.

34) Star Wars: Infinities – A trio of What-If stories centered around points of divergent in the Original Trilogy, like Marvel’s What If? Comics. They are not terrible, but the stories moves way too fast, probably because the writers assume the readers are aware of what happened in the movies and each story has only 4 issues to tell a complete tale. Yoda hijacking the Death Star was a cool scene though.

The Collection also has an adaptation of George Lucas’ early rough drafts of Star Wars. It is weird to read because many of the names, personalities, and plot details changed by the time A New Hope was released. Being a rough draft, the convoluted story is not great, and it proves once again that Lucas cannot write a decent romance without outside help. The artwork is great but the character design for Annikin/the Proto-Luke is terrible; too surfer-looking.

Reminds me of the outage over the 90s game Night Trap. It led to congressional hearings and the creation of the game ratings system.

All because of PG-13 non-bloody slasher scenes.

31) George Lucas: A Life – Since the WGA/SAG strikes are still happening, I might as well read an unauthorized biography about one of the most anti-union filmmakers. It has the usual biography trappings: gifted kid with a disapproving parent, life-changing accident, etc. It doesn’t get interesting until Lucas meets Francis Ford Coppola, then the book briefly covers the rise of the New Hollywood era.

From what I gathered from the book Lucas preferred more abstract storytelling, disliked writing dialogue, hated being told what to do by the studios, believed he always had the right idea, and was very protective of his movies, and he was this way before Star Wars was even produced. Lucas comes off as a not-great director who doesn’t actively direct his actors while being very controlling of most Lucasfilm productions. He even directed parts of the long forgotten American Graffiti sequel and basically directed Return of the Jedi instead of the credited director. That all said, he is a decent enough producer and was key in developing ILM, Pixar, and Skywalker Sound.

For all the fan-bashing Disney’s Sequel Trilogy gets for not being connective enough and random plot points, it seemed Lucas also never planned that far in advance, like he started pre-production on The Phantom Menace without a script or had no idea what Episode 2 or 3 will be about in detail.

32) The City in the Middle of The Night – This Sci-Fi book was a bit clumsy in its worldbuilding and the pacing is off; it took a while to figure out it is set in the far future and featuring descendants from Earth on a distant planet that is inhabited by intelligent life. Not much of an overarching plot but it is not a series of random events. There are some interesting ideas about culture vs assimilation and the viewpoint from an alien's perspective is cool, even if the biology is hard to make sense. I do like that one of the main characters seems to be written as neurodivergent. Not a bad read overall.

Way back in 2009, a lot of PC gamers were mad that Modern Warfare 2 didn't have dedicated servers, and planned to boycott the game.

Then right at launch, the alleged boycotters ended up buying the game.

Really shaped how I view online boycotts.