January in Review

Books Acquired:
Irredeemable, Vol. 3 by Mark Waid
Irredeemable, Vol. 4 by Mark Waid
Ayoade on Ayoade by Richard Ayoade
The Photographer’s Eye by Michael Freeman

Books Read:
Morning Star by Pierce Brown
Fool’s Quest by Robin Hobb
Kaijumax, Season 1 by Zander Cannon
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark

It’s been a decent start to the year. A bit of a rough beginning, as I got ill immediately upon returning from holiday and spent a chunk of New Years Day in emergency, but it all turned out all right. The rest of the month was relaxed. Reading, hanging out, and taking some photos. Last month I bought a new camera, and I’m having fun learning and posting to Instagram. I picked up a copy of The Photographer’s Eye for some inspiration, as it comes highly recommended online as a good overview on composition.

The Photographer’s Eye and Ayoade on Ayoade, which I’ve been itching to buy for ages now, were both purchased with the winnings from the Back to the Classics 2016 challenge. I was lucky enough to win the draw of US$30, which is equivalent to winning the lottery jackpot with the current Canadian dollar. Thanks to Karen for hosting the challenge!

The two Irredeemable comics I picked up used. I started the series years ago and only got a couple of volumes in, despite really liking it. I saw these and thought I should get back into it.

Movies watched:
Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016) – I loved this. Sweet little movie out of New Zealand. Very funny with great actors. First movie I watched this year, and it’s already better than anything I watched last year.

Submarine (2010) – Another fantastic movie. Directed and written by Richard Ayoade. His style of comedy really shines through on this, and it’s filmed in a unique and fun way. The music is great too. Very reminiscent of Wes Anderson and Woody Allen.

TV watched:
Last Chance to See (2009) – Stephen Fry revisits the trip Douglas Adams took, with his original travelmate Mark Carwardine, to see what happened to those near-extinct animals they tracked. Great series. I’m always happy to watch Stephen Fry, of course, but Mark Carwardine really stole the show for me. He’s interesting and affable. I wish he’d continued on doing more nature programmes after this.

Games played:
Inside (2016) (PC) – Beautiful little game. Turned out to be much creepier and bizarre than I expected. Turns out the hype around this was well-warranted.

What have you been reading/watching/playing this month?