Happy New Year! To ring in the New Year, I like to make Pop Culture New Year’s Resolutions. I’m not a fan of typical New Year’s Resolutions, so I like to make resolutions that relate to my hobbies or the things I’m interested in. It makes resolutions much more fun. I will start by highlighting some of the resolutions I had in 2024 and then conclude with my resolutions for this year.
2024 New Year’s Resolutions
Colored Contacts – I did it! I made several appointments with my eye doctor and I have a pair of green colored contacts that I still haven’t used yet. I plan on wearing them for my Keyleth cosplay sometime throughout the year.
Paint my Malifeaux Minis – Nope! I still want to do this though. They have been sitting in the box for far too long. I don’t own any paint, so I have to go buy paint first. I might look up tutorials before I get started, so I don’t mess them up.
Halfway through Mighty Nein – Nope! I’m on episode #45 now and halfway through the campaign would be episode #71. It took me a bit to get into The Mighty Nein since it’s very different from Vox Machina. Now that I have gotten to the pirate arc, I have been flying through episodes. I do want to finish Mighty Nein this year.
Travel to 1 State or Country that I haven’t been to before – I did it! I went to New Mexico and Wyoming for the first time, so I crossed two states off my list.
Play 4 Different Console or PC Games – I did it! I played more PC games than Console games which is rare for me.
Here are my resolutions for 2025.
Finish The Mighty Nein
Okay, enough is enough. I am committing to finishing Critical Role’s second campaign. I fell behind in their third campaign, so I want to catch up with that one too. My primary focus will be on The Mighty Nein. It’s been helpful being a Beacon member because everything is available on their streaming service. Will I see the day when I have watched everything Critical Role has ever released? I hope so.
Golf at least 3 Times This Summer
This is probably the resolution that feels the most random to include on this list. I picked up golf a few years ago when my husband wanted to go more often. I have my own set of left-handed clubs because I was annoyed at not finding them at courses we would golf at. I like golfing! It’s a great way to be outside during summer and I find it to be an activity that keeps me moving. Every summer, we always say that we want to go golfing, but it ends up not happening. I want to make golfing more of a priority when the weather is nicer.
Travel to 1 State or Country I haven’t been to before
This will always be a constant resolution for me. I like to travel and go to new places. I’m hoping to go on an international trip this year, so I’m leaning towards achieving this goal by going to a new country versus a new state. We shall see.
Play 4 Different Console or PC Games
Similar to the traveling resolution, this will be another resolution I will always include every year. Gaming is a hobby I want to keep, so by having this as a resolution, I feel it keeps it at the top of my mind.
I decided to keep my list resolution list smaller compared to previous years. I am looking forward to what’s to come in the new year.
2024 was a pretty solid year. It was a quieter year which was honestly kind of nice. I didn’t travel as much as I have previously, so I felt I had plenty of time to spend with friends and family, getting back into cosplay, and attending conventions. If I had to describe this year with one word, I think it would be stability. I made the time for things that made me happy and my husband has been working on various house projects. The projects have been small, but our home is becoming more like ours with each project. 2024 was a great year for me.
Movies I Watched
Barbie (2023)
Anyone but You (2023)
Doctor Who: The Church on Ruby Road
No Hard Feelings (2023)
How to Be Single (2016)
The Predator (1987)
Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)
The Polar Express
Without a doubt, the movie of 2024 was Deadpool & Wolverine. This movie was a callback to the early superhero movies of the 2000s. I loved all the cameos and Channing Tatum knocked it out of the park as Gambit. The fact that we probably won’t see a Gambit movie is sad. I liked the opening with Deadpool killing people and dancing to “Bye Bye Bye” by NSYNC. It’s no wonder that “Bye Bye Bye” was a top song I listened to this year.
The two other movies on this list that stood out to me were Anyone but You and No Hard Feelings. Anyone but You was the romantic comedy starring Sydney Sweeney and Glenn Powell. Their chemistry was undeniable. In No Hard Feelings, Jennifer Lawrence made her comedy debut. Jennifer Lawrence is funny and I’d love to see her in more comedies.
I didn’t watch a lot of movies this year. I don’t go to the movie theater much anymore. With the decline of superhero movies, this could be a factor, but also, going to see a movie is more expensive and if it’s not a movie I really want to see, I don’t bother.
TV Shows I Watched
Star Wars Rebels
X-Men The Animated Series
The Kardashians
Jersey Shore Vacation
The Acolyte
What We Do In The Shadows
Hunters
Hunters was the show I most recently finished watching and I loved every episode. It usually takes me a bit to finish a show, but with Hunters, I was watching at least 5-6 episodes in one sitting. I liked the comic book feel of the show along with how this show had some historical accuracy to it.
Another show I adored was Star Wars Rebels. I’d argue that I enjoyed Rebels more than Clone Wars which sounds like a controversial opinion to have. I liked the group of characters and the friendships they had with each other. Unlike Clone Wars, I felt with Rebels, Lothal was the home planet that centered the group and motivated them to fight The Empire. In the next year, I do want to continue watching the rest of the Star Wars shows. I have Bad Batch, The Mandalorian season #3, Ahsoka, and Star Wars: Skeleton Crew.
Speaking of Star Wars, I wanted to end with a few thoughts on The Acolyte. I watched The Acolyte and didn’t think it was bad. There were a few moments from the show that shocked me including some of the lightsaber fights. I liked the angle the show took in showing the Jedi in a different light. With that said, The Acolyte was my least favorite show I watched this year. I’m glad I watched it and appreciate Star Wars creating content in a different period. The Acolyte did not deserve to be review bombed by fans and the cast did not deserve all the hatred they got.
Video Games I Played
Nancy Drew: & The Silent Spy
Nancy Drew: Sea of Darkness
Jedi: Survivor
Zodicats
Hidden Through Time 2
Hidden Through Time 2: Discovery
Nancy Drew Midnight in Salem
I may have mentioned this somewhere, but I didn’t play a lot of video games this year. It took me six months to finish Jedi: Survivor. The game is good, but the difficulty was a bit much. Jedi: Survivor is great if you’re a fan of Dark Souls or Elden Ring, but that’s not the game I want to play. I don’t have time to grind through tough video games anymore. Halfway through Jedi: Survivor, I changed the difficulty and it was a much more enjoyable game.
If I had to choose my favorite game I played this year it would be Hidden Through Time 2. I played the first game during Covid and I love the art style. It’s a game I would play after work and the sequel was no different. I quickly played through the expansion they released shortly after finishing the second game.
Ixalan Pre-Release Decks – Pirates of the Caribbean – I won a game!!!! Ah.
Vampire: the Masquerade – One Shot at Badwolf Adventure Studios
Vampire: the Masquerade – Campaign Bi-Weekly Fridays
Kingdom Death
Candela Obscura – mini-campaign
Bloomburrow Pre-Release Decks
While I didn’t play as many video games, I had a strong gaming year. One memorable moment was opening Queen by Midnight the game I picked up at Gen Con last year. I bought it on a whim without knowing anything about the game. Our gaming group had a blast! I loved the accessories to the game including the 3D clocktower shown above. I have only played the game once, but I look forward to bringing it to future board game days.
As far as TTRPGs, I am in three campaigns. The weekly game I’m in is Dungeons & Dragons and that’s been ongoing for a year and a half. I picked up a bi-weekly Vampire: The Masquerade game which I love! I haven’t had a chance to play Vampire beyond one-shots. With each session, I feel I’m learning more about Olivia, my vampire, and how she’s navigating her clan and the political scene. The last campaign I’m in is a mini Candela Obscura campaign that one of the players in my Vampire: group is running. I was planning on writing more about this in a future post, so I won’t say much more now. I feel fortunate to be a part of so many groups as I struggled for a few years to find a group to play with.
Graphic Novels / Comics I Read This Year
Blade #1 & #2 Hill, Casagrande, Poggi, and Bellaire.
Captain Marvel #1 & #2 Wong, Bazaldua, and Valenza
Teen Titans #1, #2, #4, and #5 Taylor, Scott, and Kwok
This list isn’t too accurate because I ended up losing count of what comics and graphic novels I read this year. I didn’t take as many trips to my local comic book store and when I did go to conventions, I didn’t buy many comics like I usually do. In 2025, I plan on doing a huge cleanout of all the graphic novels I own. From there, I plan on keeping a note on my phone of all the series I want to own along with volumes I still need to purchase. This way when I’m at a convention, I know what I’m looking for.
I listen to podcasts primarily while I’m at work although I have been listening more while I drive and when I get ready in the morning. When I compiled this list, I was surprised at how many different podcasts I listened to this year. If there’s a pattern, you may notice that there are various Vampire: The Masquerade podcasts which should come as no surprise. Blood and Syrup and Canada By Night are produced by Dumb-Dumbs & Dice. It’s been challenging to find a Vampire: live play podcast that’s still making episodes, so Canada By Night is the exception. When I started my Vampire: campaign, I found the podcast Lore By Night to be helpful! Lore By Night is a podcast that delves into the lore behind all of the World of Darkness games. It’s helped me roleplay my character more effectively, but also understand more of the terminology within Vampire.
Besides Vampire: the Masquerade podcasts, I started listening to Call Her Daddy which is primarily a celebrity interview podcast. I listened to the Megan Fox episode which was really interesting. Another podcast I wanted to highlight is I Tried To Be Straight. The two hosts, Nate and Susie, grew up in the church and realized they weren’t straight. They will answer questions about their sexuality along with interviewing guests who talk about the relationship between their religion and sexuality. I like this podcast because it’s listening to something that’s not my lived experience. I never grew up religious and when I was in college, I met a few Christians who held the belief that if you weren’t straight, you were going to hell. With these experiences, it led me down a path to look at religion negatively. With Nate and Susie talking about their experiences, I feel it’s opened my eyes a bit to how religion can be comforting and how someone could balance both their faith and their sexuality.
Catchiest Song in 2024
HOT TO GO! wasn’t my most played song according to Spotify. With that said, I would blast HOT TO GO! while I was stuck in rush hour traffic and it instantly made me feel better.
Conventions I Attended in 2024
Planet Comic Con – March 8th, 2024
CONvergence – July 4th – July 7th 2024
Gen Con – Thursday, August 1st through Sunday, August 4th
MCBA Fallcon – October 13th
Twin Cities Con – November 8th through 10th
I went to five conventions in 2024 which seems to be my average. Planet Comic Con is one I attend most years and it usually kicks off the convention season. I didn’t attend C2E2 this year because it was right after my trip to New Mexico, so I wanted some time to be at home. CONvergence and Gen Con are two of my favorite conventions along with Twin Cities Con. I’m not sure if I will ever travel to any other conventions. I’d like to attend New York Comic Con or Dragon Con, but if I do, I probably wouldn’t attend Gen Con. The idea of missing Gen Con genuinely makes me sad, so I’m not sure if it’s worth it to not go. If I have time to attend other conventions next year, that would be great, but I’m not holding myself to it.
Before writing this, I read my “End of Year Book Survey” posts from 2023 and 2022. I like consistency in my posts, especially those I write every year. For these posts, I follow Perpetual Page Turner’s Book Survey questions. I love this blog tag and if you aren’t currently following Perpetual Page Turner, you should. Her blog tags always have a series of questions and I like to pick and choose which questions I want to respond to. I’m doing something new that I haven’t done in prior posts. I’m going to share my library savings. My library savings are the money saved by renting books and audiobooks from the library rather than buying physical copies. 2024 was a solid reading year for me and I can’t wait to dig into it in detail.
2024 Reading Stats
Number of Books Read: 73
Number of Re-Reads: 1
Genre You Read the Most From: Historical Fiction
Library Savings: $300
I read 73 books in 2024. This is my third-highest reading year according to Goodreads (In 2022, I read 104 books and in 2021, I read 99 books). I’m happy with how this reading year went. I only re-read one book this year which was Snotgirl Volume #1. I read the first issue of Snotgirl several years ago and discounted the series, but ended up giving it another chance. I’m glad I did because this series has grown on me. I think my number of re-reads next year will be higher as I have already pulled books off my shelf that I want to re-read.
It’s tough to say what my most-read genre is since Goodreads focuses on the number of books read. I have started utilizing StoryGraph which does provide more data than Goodreads does. However, I only started using this a month or two ago, so I can’t say much more than that. I decided to highlight Historical Fiction not because it was my most-read genre, but because it’s the genre I rediscovered this year. I’m not sure why I was sleeping on Historical Fiction, but what a waste. I have already added more Historical Fiction books to my TBR to read in the coming years.
Finally, I wanted to talk about my library savings. In 2024, I rented 20 books from the library. On average, the cost of a brand-new paperback book can be anywhere from $10 – $18, so I decided to go with a middle-ground cost of $15. I multiplied 20 books with $15 per book and came to a savings of $300. That’s a lot! My go-to was to always buy my books, but knowing I can save hundreds of dollars by using my local library, makes a difference. I’m going to calculate my library savings in future reading years.
Best In Books
Best Book You Read in 2024?
The best book I read in 2024 was How To Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin. This was Knives Out in book form. I loved the premise, the mystery, and the flashbacks. I liked how there was a partnership between the main character and the detective, but not a forced romance between them. This feels hypocritical of me to say since I love reading romance, but not everything has to be romantic. The second book in this series is set to be released next year and I cannot wait.
Best Series You Started in 2024
Stillhouse Lake by Rachel Caine is the book I chose for this prompt. I loved this book. I liked Gwen and how protective she was of her kids. I liked reading about the town Gwen moved to and all the people she met. I felt this book set up the second book perfectly and created enough suspense to make me look forward to continuing the series. This was a book I rented from the library, but now I plan on buying the physical copies instead.
Favorite New Author You Discovered in 2024?
Fiona Davis is the author I love right now. Her book, The Spectacular was the last book I read this year. It’s a Historical Fiction book taking place in New York City in the 1950s. Marion is a young woman who auditions for the Rockettes but gets involved in a police investigation after she’s a witness to a bombing at a theater. This book was an emotional read and gave me a lot to think about. I added more of Fiona Davis’s books to my TBR. I’m not sure why I haven’t read more Historical Fiction in previous reading years.
Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year?
Out of all the books I read this year, I chose Murder In The Family by Cara Hunter. This book was so addicting, it was on the back of my mind while I worked from home. I looked forward to reading this book each night and ended up reading close to 200 pages in one sitting. I stayed up way too late to figure out what was going on and it was worth it. This was unlike any book I have ever read and I would recommend this book to anyone who has struggled with reading in the past.
Most Thought-Provoking / Life Changing Book in 2024?
My Body by Emily Ratajkowski was an honest and refreshing take on women’s bodies. I appreciated how honest Emily was and how her body propelled her career. There were certain quotes from this book that were thought-provoking and beautifully written. I listened to My Body as an audiobook and I’m glad I did because I felt Emily’s voice to be soothing. In most audiobooks, the narrator doesn’t get emotional, but since Emily narrated her own book, I could hear her voice breaking at parts which felt authentic and real. This is a book I would want to own as a physical copy on my bookshelf.
OTP Of The Year (You will go down with this ship!)
OTP (stands for One True Pairing) is the couple who you’re most rooting for. This was an easy choice for me. Alexis and Daniel are the couple that will be together forever. Their chemistry was off the charts and I liked how this was an age gap with a woman being older than a man. I find that to be less common in romance books. It’s interesting because these two had great chemistry without having a lot of smut. I love smut, but if you don’t want to read about the two characters having graphic sex with each other, Part Of Your World by Abby Jimenez would be a good book for you.
Favorite Book You Read in 2024 From An Author You’ve Read Previously?
For several years, I have started my reading year by reading a book by Lucy Foley. It’s become a tradition now and one I plan on continuing. I read The Paris Apartment and as always, I loved it. I think Lucy does a great job at capturing suspense and I tend to finish her books quickly. I have another book of hers that I will read in January.
Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year?
The Serpent & The Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent was interesting from a world-building perspective. I liked reading about the different vampire houses and what the vampires looked like. It reminded me of The Raven Queen from Dungeons & Dragons lore. While it took me a bit to get through the book, the world that Carissa created kept me going. I hopefully will read the second book sometime next year.
Your Blogging / Bookish Life
Best Bookish Discover (book-related sites, book stores etc.)?
One of the most memorable book-related memories in 2024 was discovering Tropes & Trifles. Tropes & Trifles is primarily a romance-only bookstore in Minneapolis. Each section of the store is a different type of romance trope. There is a dark romance shelf, contemporary, and paranormal romance. Books have stickers on them if they feature an LGBTQIA+ romance which I think is an added bonus. I have taken several of my friends there. One of the easiest ways I can support a local business is to go to a local bookstore. Tropes & Trifles is a store I look forward to visiting.
Looking Ahead
One Book You Didn’t Get to in 2024?
This is a trick question. I read all my unread books in my “to be read” pile on my bookshelf. This might be the first year I have ever done that. I will have new books to read in 2024 that I purchased recently or books I received as presents from friends and family. I have been committed to not buying more books when I haven’t read what I already have.
Books You Are Most Anticipating For 2025?
I have so many! I saw Goodreads had a list of all anticipated 2025 book releases, so I added a bunch of them to my shelf. I’m going to create a list of all my 2025 book releases I’m waiting on
How To Seal Your Own Fate by Kristen Perrin.
The Stolen Queen by Fiona Davis
The Amalfi Curse by Sarah Penner
Critical Role: Tusk Love by Thea Guanzon
One Thing You Hope to Accomplish or Do In Your Reading / Blogging Life?
I have two things I want to accomplish. The first would be to continue listening to audiobooks. I want to listen to at least one audiobook in a month. The second would be to continually review my Goodreads TBR. My reading interests have changed a lot and some of the books I added back in 2019, I don’t see myself reading. I want my Goodreads TBR shelf to reflect all the books I want to read and I’d rather have fewer books on my shelf than have so many that I can’t keep track of them. I’m notorious for starting books and never continuing the series and I want to be better at committing to the book series I start.
This was a solid reading year for me. This was the year I rediscovered audiobooks and started renting books from the library regularly. I am looking forward to my reading year in 2025.
At the end of the year, there are two posts I always write. The first is my “End of Year Book Survey” where I review all the books, comics, manga, and graphic novels I read. The second is my “Pop Culture Year in Review” where I reflect on the shows and movies I watched and highlight fun moments throughout the year. I wanted to add another post to this end-of-year post series. This post will link to some of my favorite posts I wrote this year.
Life Lessons That I Will Take Into My 30s
Life Lessons That I Will Take Into My 30s is pretty self-explanatory. I took time to remember my 20s and what I have learned as I enter a new decade. This post is arguably one of the most vulnerable posts I have ever published. I have grown so much from when I was 20 to being a few months into being 30. I had this post in my drafts for several months and each week I would write a little bit and then move on to something else. It took me at least three months for a rough draft to be written, but it was well worth it. I find myself re-reading this post from time to time and every time, I’m proud of the post and how I have evolved into an even better person than I used to be.
Why I Choose “Pay to Play” for TTRPGs
Why I Choose “Pay to Play” for TTRPGs came out of harassment I received online. I like how I turned something that was initially negative into something positive. On top of that, I think the pay-to-play format is becoming more popular thanks to StartPlaying. I had a few people reach out to me privately asking for more information, so I’m glad my post came off as informative which was my original intent.
Favorite Moments of My 20s
Favorite Moments of My 20s sounds similar to my Life Lessons post, instead, I talked about memories that stood out to me throughout the past decade. I wrote about trips I took or major moments during this time of my life. When I wrote this post, I forgot how many trips I had been on. It’s funny how that works. When I had to pick and choose which trips I would highlight, I had a hard time narrowing down what I would write about. I feel fortunate to have been able to travel so much in my 20s. I want to continue traveling in my 30s, but it will feel different in the best way. I don’t enjoy being gone for more than a week as I find value in my day-to-day routine. I find a lot of joy in traveling for three full days even if it’s a quick trip for a weekend. I wrote about how I purchased my car and graduated from college. In my 30s, I probably won’t have those milestone moments, but I think that’s a part of finding stability in my life which is comforting.
How Natural 1s Furthered Vesper’s Story – Axis Campaign
How Natural 1s Furthered Vesper’s Story had to appear on this list. I don’t write a lot about the D&D campaign I’m in. I like having the privacy of my home game and part of the story isn’t for me to tell since it doesn’t revolve around my character. I would never want to tell a story that isn’t mine. With Vesper though, I was re-reading my notes from our sessions and those campaign moments stood out. It’s funny how they both revolved around rolling a natural one on a dice roll. My goal with this post is to put players at ease who may feel scared about lower rolls. While natural 20s are exciting, natural 1s can add to the story and I can speak from first hand experience as to how that’s the case.
Trying Out Colored Contacts in Cosplay
Trying Out Colored Contacts in Cosplay is another post I wanted to include, but not because of the post itself. It’s more about how I’m proud to have improved how I cosplay. I took a risk and tried something new which can be scary. Putting in contacts was something I was not good at, but the more I did it, the better I got. I would see cosplayers wearing colored contacts and didn’t know how they got started. I had to figure it out on my own to some degree and I’m glad I did. With colored contacts out of the way, maybe it’s time to figure out how to apply body paint.
Undergoing Genetic Testing
Undergoing Genetic Testing is the last post I wanted to promote. Before undergoing Genetic Testing, I didn’t know anyone else who had. I think it’s a topic that’s out of sight out of mind for most couples who are going to become parents. For us, it was a must to have Genetic Testing completed, but I would encourage anyone who is thinking about having children to get tested. I walked through how I started the process which I hope would be helpful to those who were thinking about it.
If you have a moment, I’d love a little extra love on some of these posts. If you haven’t liked or commented on these posts, I’d appreciate the sentiment! I am curious to see what I will write about in 2025.
I remember hearing about Hunters back when it aired on Amazon Prime in 2020. I thought the concept was interesting, I mean who doesn’t want to watch Nazis getting murdered by a vigilante group? I seemingly forgot about the show until recently. I was looking for a new show to watch and Hunters popped up on my radar. I went into watching Hunters with little to no expectations and I’m happy to say that Hunters is one of my favorite shows I watched this year.
Hunters opens with Jonah Heidelbaum (played by Logan Lerman) as he lives in New York with his grandmother, Ruth (played by Jeannie Berlin). In the middle of the night, Jonah goes downstairs and hears Ruth talking with someone and before Jonah can figure out who, Ruth is shot and killed. Jonah originally believes it was a robbery until after the funeral when he goes through Ruth’s personal belongings. It’s revealed that Ruth was partnering with a group of Nazi Hunters led by Meyer Offerman (played by Al Pacino). While Ruth wanted to protect Jonah from the Hunters, Jonah wants in. He’s quickly recruited and while he’s skeptical, he begins to realize that Nazis have been escaping justice for far too long.
I like how Hunters blends history with fiction. Simon Wiesenthal, who was an actual Nazi Hunter, appears in the show. The show references Operation Paperclip which was the secretive US government operation that brought German scientists and engineers to the US. I couldn’t imagine how difficult that would be to find out that the US recruited Nazis to work with them. It’s vile. These are war criminals who aided and abeded the Nazi party and they get a free pass to live in the US because they are smart? In the second season of Hunters, most of the season takes place in South America and when I looked up some of the Nazis that were brought to justice in history, a lot of them hid in South America.I thought it made the series more compelling that it pulled from actual history even though yes, a lot of this is still fictional.
Another thing I liked about Hunters was it had this comic book feel to the show. The hunters feel like a superhero team even though they don’t have superpowers. The intro to the show shows the characters as action figures on a chessboard moving to get in front of the Nazis. I don’t normally look up interviews with the cast or the producers, but I found myself curious as to the inspiration behind the show. In an interview with creator, David Weil, he mentions being inspired by his grandmother being a holocaust survivor and the lack of representation of Jewish superheroes. When I think about this, I don’t know any superheroes who are Jewish in comics or if there are Jewish superheroes, this isn’t highlighted much. When I read this interview by David, I felt it made a lot of sense as to why Hunters was made the way it was.
You know when you watch a show and there’s a character who is awful and evil? I think Cersei from Game of Thrones comes to mind. In Hunters that character is Travis Leich (played by Greg Austin). Travis is a white supremacist who gets recruited into helping the Nazis in the US. He was THE WORST. He’s a Nazi, so this is a given, but everything he did, it sent a shiver down my spine. There were times where he was unhinged and some of the scenes that he was in were hard to watch. This show had a great cast and I found each hunter stood out to me with their own back story and what motivates them to hunt Nazis. The Markowitz’s (played by Saul Rubinek and Carol Kane) are a married couple in the Hunters and their back story episode, I was crying. For a show that only has 18 episodes, I felt it was easy to get attached to them.
Hunters was a show I was compelled to keep watching. I don’t normally watch multiple episodes of a show for hours on end, but Hunters was the exception. I’m sad that this show doesn’t have more seasons. Hunters can be streamed on Amazon Prime.
I didn’t write a TBR post for December. I decided that I wanted to read whatever I was in the mood for. I rented three books from the library that sounded interesting to me, who knows if I will get to them or not. The first book I rented was Murder in the Family by Cara Hunter. I didn’t know much about this book before renting it. Murder in the Family is like the “Hunt a Killer” boxes if the boxes were books instead.
Successful filmmaker, Guy Howard, was 10 when his step-father, Luke Ryder was murdered. The murder has gone unsolved for close to 20 years. Guy decides enough is enough and partners with a TV producer to launch a six-episode series reinvestigating the crime. Guy wants the truth, that’s all that matters to him. In six episodes, readers will become hyperfocused on the crime, the secrets, and who could gain from Luke’s death. Can you solve the crime or are you simply along for the ride?
This is unlike any book I have ever read. Throughout the book, there are images of newspaper clippings, emails, and text messages between several characters. Most of the story is told through the episode transcripts which highlight which characters are discussing what part of the story. That’s why I feel this is similar to the Hunt A Killer boxes because it feels less like a book and more like evidence being presented to the reader. I didn’t realize this when I rented the book and enjoyed this concept. I would read more thrillers from this author or more thrillers presented in this way.
When I began reading this book, I was immediately hooked. It’s not often that I stay up until midnight reading a book. I finished this book in a few days and towards the end of the day, I couldn’t wait to continue where I left off. Any book that feels addicting will automatically be a book that I rate highly even if I’m not a fan of how the story plays out.
With that said, I liked the first half of the story. The first reveal was jaw-dropping. I had to re-read it several times to make sure I fully realized what the reveal meant and how that changed the course of the investigation. I can’t say much more than this without spoiling the entire book, so I will leave it at that. While the book started strong, I felt the second half to be lackluster in comparison. I mentioned the similarity between this book and the Hunt A Killer boxes. I have completed some of the Hunt A Killer boxes where the killer reveal seems out of place and I’d put Murder in the Family in that category.
I’m glad I read this! The story could have been more refined, but it didn’t make me enjoy the book any less. I hope to see more books written in this format. I rated Murder in the Family four and a half stars on Goodreads.
Last year, I wrote about what characters I wanted to cosplay. My list was way too ambitious, but I liked having a plan of which characters I wanted to cosplay in the future. It helped set me up for success especially when the convention season began. I will make this an annual post at the end of each year where I list out characters I want to cosplay. I will keep this list shorter and only add 3 – 5 characters max. This way, I can plan out last-minute cosplays that pop up and won’t feel limited to only this list.
To start, here are all the characters I had on last year’s list:
Liliana Vess – Magic: The Gathering
Meren of Clan Nel Toth – Magic: The Gathering
Keyleth – Critical Role
Imogen Temult – Critical Role
Scarlet Witch – Marvel
Kraven – Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Doctor Aphra – Star Wars
Padme – Star Wars
Nightsister – Star Wars
I did complete a few of these most notably Keyleth and Padme. For Liliana and Meren, these would be fun cosplays but are a lower priority for me since I’m more of a casual Magic: player. I didn’t make Scarlet Witch or Kraven. I feel like I haven’t done a comic cosplay in a while. I always cosplay Harley Quinn and will probably cosplay Harley every year because I love her as a character. I’d like to go back to doing superhero cosplays since I did a lot of superhero cosplays when I first started cosplaying. Cosplaying as a Nightsister would be neat, but then I’d have to learn how to do body paint and I’m not sure I’m committed to doing that next year, but who knows.
Here are the cosplays I want to complete for next year:
Moonshine Cybin – Not Another DnD Podcast
Vexhalia – Critical Role
Imogen Temult – Critical Role
Zatanna – Zatanna & The Ripper
The first character on this list is Moonshine Cybin from Not Another DnD Podcast. I love NADDPOD and I don’t see many NADDPOD cosplays out there. For Moonshine, her look should be easy. I’d wear overalls, green tights, and a white short-sleeved crop top. There’s a lot of fan art out there, so I want to choose a photo and then create my cosplay from there.
I wanted to cosplay as Vexhalia this year, but there’s much to consider. There’s her bow and quiver which I don’t see any way to buy without spending hundreds of dollars. On top of that, which look would I cosplay? Do I go with her look from the Amazon series? or do I pick a piece of fan art and go from there? I think this cosplay will be expensive no matter what and I’d rather buy one piece of the cosplay at a time instead of paying hundreds of dollars at once.
For Imogen, I’m keeping her on this list because I think she will be an easier cosplay to create. It’s more gathering all the clothing items and then a purple wig. The final cosplay I have is Zatanna from the WEBTOON series Zatanna & The Ripper. I loved this webcomic and I liked Zatanna’s look. It’s cute, but not too over the top. I have a dark blue cloak that would work perfectly for this and it gives me another excuse to wear it.
I think having four characters on this list is plenty. Knowing me, I will come up with something on the fly like I always do. In the next week or so, I’m going to do more of a formal plan as to which conventions I plan on attending next year and that will help me figure out what cosplays I will create. This was a great cosplay year for me and I want to keep that momentum going in 2025.
2024 is coming to a close and I feel like I had a good reading year. I got caught up reading my physical books, started listening to audiobooks, and have been organizing my Goodreads shelves. I enjoyed getting back to writing TBR posts and have learned a lot about my reading habits and what works for me. I wanted to share what I took away from this year.
Picking Two Books to Read Versus Three
I wrote and published eight TBR posts (January, February, March, April, May, July, September, and November). Out of those eight months, there was only one month where I read all three books I picked out. I’m realizing that reading three physical books a month is ambitious. Reading isn’t my only hobby and along with working full-time, working out, and spending time with friends and family, I can’t commit to three books. Going forward, I will be picking two books a month to read. If I finish those two books before the end of the month, I will have a backup book ready. This could be a book to rent from the library or a book on my shelf that I have wanted to re-read.
I think this is going to work a lot better. I don’t want to feel rushed to read a book. When I tried to read three books in a month, it made reading not fun and more of a chore.
Regularly Listen to Audiobooks
I did not expect to love audiobooks as much as I do, but here we are. I listen to audiobooks when I clean or when I’m at work. Audiobooks work great when I’m on a long car ride because Libby doesn’t drain my phone battery as much as if I were watching YouTube videos. I tend to listen to Romance on audio because if my mind wanders, I don’t miss much versus if I were listening to Fantasy. I have been enjoying Memoirs and Non-Fiction as well.
I am going to aim to listen to one audiobook a month. I think that’s doable.
Emphasis on Graphic Novels
While I had a great reading year, I did not read nearly as many comics or graphic novels as in years past. I don’t have a good reason as to why. I will say, I haven’t been to my local comic book store regularly. With me and my husband focusing on our budget, I have cut out spending in certain areas including comics. One thing I want to do next year is reorganize my comics shelf. I want to start donating series I have no interest in completing. Additionally, I want to finish more comic series. I tend to read the first volume of a series and never return to it again. I would rather have fewer comics on my shelves but own the complete set versus a bunch of first volumes of so many series.
I want to get back into making regular comic book trips. I miss reading comics. It’s something I enjoyed and have gotten away from.
Keeping My Goodreads Shelf At 300 Books or Less
At one point, my Goodreads TBR shelf was at 600 books. That’s wild! There is no way I’m going to read 600 books. I have been going through this shelf and getting rid of books I may not have a high priority to read. My reading interests have changed over the past five or ten years, so I wanted to cater my shelf to books I am interested in. I think it’s good to have options, so keeping this number below 300 is a good idea.
2024 was a good reading year and I can’t wait to plan out the books I will read in 2025.
I haven’t played Magic: The Gathering in a long time. It’s not that I don’t enjoy it, but I consider myself a casual fan. I will play when the opportunity arises, but I won’t go out of my way to find a game to play. My uncle surprised our board game group with the Commander Decks from Bloomburrow, the Magic: set with a cute animal theme. I haven’t had a chance to play any cards out of Bloomburrow, so it was a nice surprise. I wanted to share my chosen Commander Deck and how the deck worked.
Honestly, I did not choose a deck based on that deck’s ability. I saw the Racoon on the box and snatched it before anyone else could claim it. The commander in this deck is “Bello, Bard of the Brambles”. He’s a 3/3 for 3 mana. His creature type is a Racoon Bard. Look at how adorable this card is! This trash panda is casting spells like nobody’s business. Bello’s ability allows players to turn their artifacts into indestructible elementals to swing at opponents. Another portion of this ability that I like is that it’s only on your turn. This is neat because it makes it difficult to target the stuff on my board since my artifacts are creatures at some point and flip back to artifacts. Certain cards in Magic: are written to target certain card types, so it made it more difficult for my opponents to destroy my stuff.
While I did not win this game, I had a blast. I had Bello out on the field including a vehicle that’s basically the Magic: version of a hamster ball. I would attack my opponents and create hamsters. It was awesome. I think I had close to 10 hamsters on my side of the board. I told everyone at the table that all I wanted to do was see my commander’s ability work and it definitely did.
I loved this deck! It’s been a while since I played a game of Commander where I had this much fun. I may try the other Bloomburrow decks, but this one will forever be my favorite.
The music video for Blurred Lines came out in 2013 when I was a freshman in college. This was a moment in my life where me and my friends would blast music as we went out. This song climbed the charts at the time, but thinking about the song ten years later, I don’t consider it a memorable song. This song has been dissected in our culture today because of how gross the lyrics are and what they represent. The Blurred Lines music video made waves as one of the models, Emily Ratajkowski, was topless and dancing to music. This sparked discussion in later years as Emily talked about feminism and how she didn’t regret making the music video. Emily wrote the book My Body where she discusses her relationship with her body throughout her life.
There’s so much I want to say about this book. There’s a story Emily details in which she took naked photographs with a photographer before the Blurred Lines music video was released. At the time, she agreed to the shoot knowing the photos would only be used for a magazine spread. Years later, the photographer sold several art books of Emily’s naked body. When Emily went to sue the photographer, her lawyers told her it was fruitless since the photos were already out there and it would cost a lot in legal fees. This whole situation is icky. If you agree to do something under certain circumstances and someone violates that, I think that’s awful. I want to be clear, if the situation were reversed (a man agreed to naked photos and a woman sold art books of a man’s body without his consent) I would think this is equally bad. Another thing Emily talks about is how an agent can sign off on release papers for photos without getting a signature from a model. How is that legal? While Emily’s book doesn’t focus on this, the modeling industry is corrupt and we should protect models of all genders from this situation. I listened to the audiobook of My Body versus reading the physical book. I loved the audiobook. When Emily describes the above story, I can hear her voice crack. My heart breaks for her.
Another focus of the book is victim blaming. Emily lists some of the comments she received from both men and women. They blamed her for this. “Don’t pose naked if you don’t want to be taken advantage of”. “Don’t be a model.” “You knew what you were signing up for.” I think that commentary is sad. Shouldn’t we be united on this? All work industries should have protections in place for employees, why is modeling different?
Emily’s honesty throughout the book puts her in a vulnerable place. She talks about using her body for male validation and the attention she got in doing so. She talks about what this did for her career both positive and negative. There’s a quote from the book that sits with me. “I so desperately craved men’s validation that I accepted it even when it came wrapped in disrespect”. Let that sink in. Several quotes from Emily’s book are going to stay with me.
I could go on and on about this book, but I will say one last thing. I think it’s fascinating how our culture treats nudity. The fact that women are demonized for being naked, who cares? Why are some women respected and some women aren’t? I think this topic is interesting for both men and women. Are men treated the same way if they were naked? In some ways, I’d say yes in others, I’d say no. The first thing I thought of when I thought about male nudity was the Sex in the City movie that came out in 2008. In the movie, Gilles Marini plays Samantha’s neighbor and has a full frontal scene. I looked up Gilles’s career and after the movie came out, he had been in several TV shows, but nothing I recognized. Did nudity impact his career? If so, why is that the case? I think our culture, specifically in the US, treats nudity with disdain and I don’t get it.
I’m glad I listened to this. I liked Emily’s writing more than I thought I would. This would be a book I’d want to re-read in the future because there are so many things to take away from Emily’s experience with modeling and how her body was used against her. I think it says a lot about the culture we live in and while women are equal to men in some aspects, societal norms and rules still put women on a different level. My Body is a book I’d re-read in the next few years because it still is relevant in the world we live in.
Bizarre Brunette 