The murders of Black women, men and children at the hands of those paid to protect and serve them, immigrant families torn apart, children dying in detention centers, the blatant white supremacy of 45, the threat of a coup, and of course, The Corona. Plus, the passing of a beloved furry friend — all contributed to the overwhelming melancholy I felt during the last nine months. Yes, I still have hope, but some days… I have to really dig to find it.
And where reading would normally provide me with a few hours’ escape, for the first time in my entire life, I found it almost impossible to start anything new. But not just books. Movies, TV shows, business projects, personal writing projects, home projects — if it wasn’t something I’d done before, I literally could not make myself do it. Everything except jigsaw puzzles. For the first time in over 20 years, I reclaimed this hobby I used to love so much. The process of sorting, organizing and piecing together a puzzle seemed to reset my brain in a way that allowed me to (at least) make progress on the business front aka what pays the bills.
Since this post is a multi-month wrap-up, and I will be posting my 2020 Top 5 lists soon, I’m simply going to highlight what I most enjoyed reading and watching over the last nine months.
Spoiler alert: My favorite book read in 2020 is included above.
(Like people out there waiting on the edge of their seats, wondering what I will select as my favorite book of 2020. 🤣)
Of the six books I most enjoyed from April – December 2020, there’s a true crime biography, American Predator, about a serial killer most of us have never heard of, which is CRAZY once you find out how many people he murdered.
There’s also two retellings of myths (Silver in the Wood) and fairy tales (Burning Roses) — in which queer characters and women of color are centered. Bonus: Burning Roses features kickass queer middle-aged women of color, one of whom is trans, the other cis.
Small rant: There’s not nearly enough older women (45+ years old) in SFF, if you ask me. It’s like, do publishers think, for our entire lives, we only want to read about kids, teens and twenty-somethings? Or that younglings cannot appreciate an older character on a quest or journey? 🙄
I did a lot of re-watching in 2020. (Mostly comedies, and my beloved X-Files and 10th Kingdom.) In a typical year, I watch somewhere between 250-300 new-to-me titles. In 2020, there were only 146. Of those 146 titles, above are six I enjoyed watching during April – December 2020. Included are The Old Guard, Project Power, The Lovebirds, Bill & Ted Face the Music (the couples therapy!!), The Invisible Man, and Yasamayanlar aka Immortals, a Turkish vampire TV series (Mia+Numel!!).
Now, there are WAY more than six I enjoyed (and downright loved), but I’ll save that deep dive for my 2020 Top 5 post, coming soon.
2020 was a challenge for many of us. One good thing did happen for me–good Internet connection finally came to my little corner of the world.
So glad to know you’re still blogging!