Mid-Year Wrap-Up

a somewhat underwhelming first half

This has been a really long year, but at least we are halfway through. I did one of these last year, but the format is going to be a little different this time around since I didn’t get to read or watch a lot of stuff. Instead of picking my top 5 in every category, I’m going to rank things from best to worst. Without further ado, let’s begin!

Books.

1. The Beginning Place by Ursula K. Le Guin

2. Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

3. Dubliners by James Joyce

4. The Wilful Princess and the Piebald Prince by Robin Hobb

5. Los Dias del Venado by Liliana Bodoc

6. Eles Eram Muitos Cavalos by Luiz Ruffato

7. Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-joo

8. Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

I got hit with the nastiest reading slump of my life; it’s never been more over. My reading goals? Yeah, not happening. I think I’ll focus on reading fantasy and horror the next couple of months; maybe going back into my comfort zone will help me get back on track. I want to focus on my ASOIAF re-read and finish at least a couple series from my TBR before 2026. Let’s see if I can make it.

Manga.

1. Haikyuu!! by Haruichi Furudate

2. Kagurabachi by Takeru Hozakono

3. To Strip the Flesh by Oto Toda

4. Fragments of Horror by Junji Ito

5. Spacewalking With You by Inuhiko Doronoda

6. Go For It, Nakamura-kun! by Syundei

Besides these, I’m keeping up with One Piece, The Summer Hikaru Died, Witch Hat Atelier, and Skip and Loafer, which have been amazing this year. Skip and Loafer, in particular, has been delightful. I think this current arc is my favorite so far (probably because I’m extremely in love with Shima’s character). I’m waiting for this arc to end so I can write a piece about it and how the series handles parent-child relationships.

I really want to go back to reading comics, so I’m making that a priority for this second half.

Shows.

1. Haikyuu!!

2. Ascendance of a Bookworm

3. Re: Zero — Starting Life in Another World (season 3)

4. Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun

5. The Apothecary Diaries (season 2)

6. Honey Lemon Soda

I know, it’s unfair to put Haikyuu at the top in two different lists, but it’s genuinely the best thing that has happened to me this year. It kind of became my entire personality.

I haven’t watched any non-anime shows this year. I’ll catch up with The Bear, and then I’ll work through my list, starting with Succession.

Movies.

1. Sinners dir. by Ryan Coogler

2. Festen dir. by Thomas Vinterberg

3. The Fall dir. by Tarsem Singh

4. Conclave dir. by Edward Berger

5. Mickey 17 dir. by Bong Joon-ho

6. Perfect Days dir. by Wim Wenders

7. Nosferatu dir. by Robert Eggers

Most of the movies on this list are things I watched in theaters, which is rare for me. I never keep up with new releases, but I’m trying to change that. Unfortunately, that means it’s harder to make time for the older stuff on my backlog.

What Worked & What Didn’t.

This year I started doing more listicles, which has been fun. Something that I realized with my hiatus is that I probably need to be more realistic with what I can put out, and I think that making more diverse content is a good way to avoid overworking myself. I still want to post weekly, and now that things have calmed down, I shouldn’t have trouble with that.

I tried a few things this year that didn’t work out. The Anime Club, for example, was something I probably wasn’t ready to organize, but I still like the idea and would like to revisit that in the future if anyone is interested. The same goes for the chat feature. I kept trying to find something that made the paid subscriptions worth it, but for now I think that I’ll focus on writing and keep the paid option for those of you that want to support me and my work. I hope to offer more in return at some point.

All in all, I’m glad I can put this first half behind me, and I’m looking forward to the rest of 2025. Once more, thank you for all the patience these last couple of months.

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Next week: A Sonny Boy Analysis, part 2—Sunflowers, Dandelions and Talking Dogs. You can check out part 1 here.