The annual accounts of what I've read, watched and played in 2023, in rough order of preference. Links below go to Goodreads and Letterboxd, which I update meticulously and obsessively throughout the year.
Books
At the beginning of the year I joked that in 2023 I'll be reading Russian literature, science fiction and erotica. I've stuck to that in a roundabout way, managing to get Brothers Karamazov under my belt, sampling some more Samuel R. Delany, William Gibson and John Crowley, and getting through a heap of D.H. Lawrence (although my favourite naughty novel was actually James Salter's crisp A Sport and a Pastime). I got so bored of A Theory of Justice over the summer that I fell back in love with comics, starting with some hefty Vertigo rereads and discovering some great new creators, notably Zoe Thorogood, Maria Llovet and Andrew MacLean. My biggest discovery was actually an old creator: Sergio Toppi, who made comics from the early 70s until his death in 2012, and inspired all the dudes like Dave McKean and Bill Sienkiewicz who revolutionised anglophone comics art in the 80s and 90s.
Tim Bale - The Conservative Party After Brexit: Turmoil and Transformation [link]
Frank Kermode - Lawrence [link]
Peter Pomerantsev - Nothing is True and Everything is Possible: Adventures in Modern Russia [link]
John Rawls - A Theory of Justice [link]
Peter Pomerantsev - Nothing is True and Everything is Possible: Adventures in Modern Russia [link]
John Rawls - A Theory of Justice [link]
Mark Fisher - Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative? [link]
Rachel Cusk - Coventry: Essays [link]
Rachel Cusk - Coventry: Essays [link]
James Salter - A Sport and a Pastime [link]
D.H. Lawrence - The Rainbow [link]
D.H. Lawrence - Women in Love [link]
D.H. Lawrence - Lady Chatterley's Lover [link]
D.H. Lawrence - Women in Love [link]
D.H. Lawrence - Lady Chatterley's Lover [link]
D.H. Lawrence - Selected Poems [link]
D.H. Lawrence - Selected Short Stories [link]
John Crowley - Engine Summer [link]
Sally Rooney - Normal People [link]
Shusako Endo - Foreign Studies [link]
William Shakespeare - The Two Gentlemen of Verona [link]
Christopher Marlowe - Doctor Faustus [link]
Tom Stoppard - Rosencrantz and Guidenstern Are Dead [link]
Zoe Thorogood - It's Lonely at the Centre of the Earth [link]
Tom Stoppard - Rosencrantz and Guidenstern Are Dead [link]
Zoe Thorogood - It's Lonely at the Centre of the Earth [link]
Alejandro Jodorowsky / Milo Manara - The Borgias [link]
Sergio Toppi - Collected Toppi vols. 1, 5 & 7 [link] [link] [link]
Mike Carey / various artists - Lucifer vols. 1-8 [link] [link] [link] [link] [link] [link]
Jamie Delano / various artists - Hellblazer [link] [link] [link] [link] [link]
Mike Carey / various artists - Lucifer vols. 1-8 [link] [link] [link] [link] [link] [link]
Jamie Delano / various artists - Hellblazer [link] [link] [link] [link] [link]
Andrew MacLean - Head Lopper vols. 1 & 3 [link]
Maria Llovet - Eros/Psyche [link]
Maria Llovet - Heartbeat [link]
Dave McKean - Raptor: A Sokol Graphic Novel
Go Nagai - Devilman: The Classic Collection vol. 1 [link]
Atsushi Kaneko - Bambi and her Pink Gun vol. 1 [link]
Masaki Segawa - Basilisk vols. 1 & 2 [link] [link]
Tatsuki Fujimoto - Chainsaw Man vols. 1 & 2 [link] [link]
Warren Ellis / Jason Howard - Cemetary Beach [link]
Ram V / Filipe Andrade - The Many Deaths of Laila Star [link]Tillie Walden - On A Sunbeam [link]
Christophe Arleston / Didier Tarquin - Magohamoth's Ivory [link]
Juan Díaz Canales / Juanjo Guarnido - Blacksad [link]
Rokurou Ogaki - Crazy Food Truck vols. 1 & 2Eldo Yoshimizu - Ryuko vol. 1
Hiro Mashima - Fairy Tail vol. 1
Films
My daughter is now old enough to go to the cinema, which has meant the only new things I've seen this year have been kids films. They are overpolished and manipulative and for some reason I weep at them regardless. I watched After Hours at the Prince Charles and The Wicker Man at the Southbank and both were great. With Licorice Pizza I've concluded rather boringly that PT Anderson is probably my favourite director currently making movies.
Cal Brunker - PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie [link]
Chris Buck, Fawn Veerasunthorn - Wish [link]
Paul Thomas Anderson - Licorice Pizza [link]
Shunya Itō - Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion [link]
Robin Hardy - The Wicker Man [link]
John Milius - Conan the Barbarian [link]
Alan J. Pakula - All The President's Men [link]
Alfred Hitchcock- Rear Window [link]
Tim Burton - Batman [link]
Games
This year I've mostly beeing playing Baldur's Gate 2 in fits and starts on the 20-minute train journey to and from work – I know the game so well and the fights are so short that it's actually quite snackable for a giant and ancient CRPG. I'm on Throne of Bhaal now which isn't very good but I've never played it before and want to see how the story ends. I probably won't play the Larian game for another 10 years, but think it's awesome that so many people are into it. At home I've been poking at Hollow Knight, which has its frustrations but is ultimately a rewarding and beautiful platformer.
Bioware / Beamdog - Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn [link]
Valve - Half-Life 2 [link]
Team Cherry - Hollow Knight
Sierra - Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers
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