2015 Wrap

This was a great year of reading for me. I'm separating my list into a few different categories since I like a lot of stuff. Books, music, movies, YouTubers, all that jazz. Without further ado, my favorites from this year in no real order:

Books
Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas--I think this book actually was my favorite. It was everything I wanted. My heart swells with joy when I remember all the anxiety it put me through. Where will this series go next year? I cannot wait to find out!

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell--This book was just really really cute. I think the only issue I have with it is that there won't be more. If I could get an entire book about Simon and Baz, I'd jump out the window from pure excitement. But year, except for that, everything is good.

Winter by Marissa Meyer--I made a whole review on things I liked about this book, and things I didn't like. I complained in the review a lot more than how I actually feel about it. It truly was a magnificent conclusion to the series.

Eve: The Awakening by Jenna Moreci--aye, I talk about her just a little bit later in this wrap up under the YouTubers section. She's great, her book is great, it's the best new-adult-science-fiction you'll ever read. Eagerly awaiting the sequel.

The Martian by Andy Weir--I was skeptical at first, since there was so much hype built around it. I wasn't disappointed though, it was the most humorous science fiction I've read. I grew to love the science-y aspects as well as Watney's charismatic personality. The movie was grand, too.

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins--I read this forever ago, it was one of the first books I read this year so I don't really remember it. But I really enjoyed it. This whole series in general just blew me away with cuteness. Wow, I'll probably regret that sentence.

The Chosen by Chaim Potok--This book was really important to me, I learned so much about people from it. I enjoyed the characters, the story, it made me feel a lot of different emotions, which I think is good.

Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson--Holy crap is Sanderson good at world building. And I really tried to get into the second book, but I'm finding it hard without *spoilers* my favorite character. That ending just drained me.

Some honorable mentions! I liked these books a lot, but I didn't entirely think they were my favorites.
Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson
1984 by George Orwell (I also just reread Animal Farm, which was great)
A Court of Thrones and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

*I did alright in terms of my 2015 reading goals. I read 7.5 of the books on my list. It's not as great as I'd have liked, but I'm honestly proud of even doing that much. In my goals for next year, I'll address the issue of my growing TBR...

Music
Hamilton: The Musical (It's genius, really. I can't. It's show-tune rap about ALEXANDER HAMILTON.)
No Mythologies to Follow by MO (I've listened to it countless times. Best thing ever.
Oh Wonder's album is up there, it was another good summer jam
Blurryface (Twenty One Pilots--so good. Excited to see these two beans in concert)
Misterwive's Our Own House was spectacular and great to listen to in the summer
I listened to the HTTYD scores more than I should have probably.
The new Star War's "March of the Resistance" is definitely a jam, oops.
My love for Bleacher's Strange Desire exceeds all limits
BORNS is amazing. They were on the Old Navy playlist so much it hurts. I also love the acoustic versions.
Dotan, my man
Elvis Presley, my king
Halsey makes this list, of course. Her album Badlands is mind blowing.
Honorable mention songs: Howl's Moving Castle theme, Make Up Sex by G-Easy, and Virtual Insanity by Jamiroquai


Movies

Saw, Mockingjay Part II, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Jurassic World, Paper Towns, Kingdom of Heaven. I don't want to explain each one and why I liked it and why it made the list. Saw II was also good, but nothing beats the original. These aren't in any order. Don't overthink it. They're just books I liked.

*An honorable mention to the TV show The 100. I didn't watch a lot of TV shows this year, so I didn't want to make a whole section for shows (because it would be about 1 or 2 long, oops). The 100 was a fantastically enjoyable show with a great plot and cast of characters. I look forward to the new season next month.

YouTubers
Jenna Moreci is just a fantastic human being cyborg! Her vlogs on writing are hilarious and I read her debut book Eve: The Awakening which was absolutely gripping.

Doddleoddle was someone I discovered only a few days ago. Dodie has the sweetest voice, and I really enjoy the videos of her singing to her ukulele (especially her duets!). I will definitely be watching her videos well into the new year.

Savannah Brown has some really beautiful slam poetry and some nice views on stuff. Her channel feels nice and fresh. Throwing much love her way.

For Booktube this year, I really enjoyed watching Ariel Bissett's videos (once she finally came back from her study abroad!) and Peruse Project (I've grown to respect her opinions and recommendations as if she were someone I know, maybe that's weird).

Sorry if I'm forgetting anyone I really love!

To recap, I read 34 books, 13000 pages, with an average book length of 390 pages. Of course, my AP US history textbook really skewed these numbers, but that's APUSH for ya, messing everything up.

I'll have a 2016 Reading Goals post up in a few days. I'm not quite sure what it'll talk about, but I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

I'm rambling. I'm tired.

2015 out *peace sign emoji*

Movies I Grew Up On

There are certain films I watched more than others as a child. I distinctly remember viewing them over and over again on long car rides with my siblings and parents in the back seat, entertaining me for hours even though I'd seen them hundreds of times before. In my opinion, these films are a crucial piece of who I am today, as they're partially responsible for my psychological development. Some of these movies stand out more than others:

The Princess Bride is among my favorite movies today. From when my parents first showed it to me and my siblings, to watching it years later with friends at sleepovers, I feel that I can quote nearly the entire movie. One particular year, my family went through a phase where we all read the book (by William Golding, which was really well written). Last month as my friends got together to watch Saw, Cary Elwes's character was not named for his name (which I obviously can't remember) but he was called Westley, or the Dread Pirate Roberts, by all. 

Hairspray: The reboot with Zac Efron was about the only musical I watched for two years. Because of this, I have its music committed to memory permanently. I don't think I'll ever forget the words to "Without Love" or "You Can't Stop The Beat" for as long as I live. 

Christmas with the Kranks was on tonight, and I realized I had to add it to this list. I feel like it was tradition, watching this movie every year with my family in our basement. We don't even own it, but we'd always find a way to rent it. And tonight, with Kendra finally home and Brad not locked away on his gaming websites, it was nice to finally relive this old memory. 

Perhaps my favorite Disney movie of my childhood was Mulan. I feel that it holds some very important pearls of wisdom regarding life, as it deals with important and relevant topics. I'll never stop loving this movie, and I'll never stop singing "I'll Make a Man Out of You."

The Parent Trap with Lindsey Lohan is a strange guilty pleasure. Something about the time the twins spend at camp, plotting their parent's reunion never ceases to amuse me. I've watched it more times than I'd like to count, usually on sick days when I'm stuck on the couch with only the movies saved on our DVR. 

Pirates of the Caribbean is probably the most significant of the movies I grew up on. A short while ago, I learned some of my friends had never seen it, and I was appalled. I'd assumed my whole life that kids of my age were being exposed to the same wonders of the world, one of them being Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom in pirate get-up. And the fact that not every little girl looked up to Kiera Knightly as I did just confused me. If only everyone had watched this movie as religiously as I did. But then, perhaps, it probably wouldn't have been as special to me. 

These movies are ones I never got sick of. I'd watch them again in a heartbeat. I'd marathon them with friends, I'd watch them alone, I'd watch them with family. I can't be the only one who finds these kinds of movies important?