In 2023, I wrote down everything that I read, watched, or played to completion. I’ve tracked books on Goodreads since 2017, and it’s nice to see my progress over time. Tracking books helped me to read more, because I was aware of how much I was reading and it gave me a little thrill to add them to my Goodreads account. Last year, though, I got a Hobonichi diary, which is a fancy Japanese brand of diary. The diary helped with my productivity and mental health immensely (more on that another time), but it also has a two page spread at the back entitled “My 100”. Upon seeing this, I thought it would be the perfect place to write down everything I finished in 2023, books and all (I ended up spilling into other pages, for a total of 108 things finished in 2023). In this post, I’ll go through my favourite media that I finished. Not all of these are from this year, so instead it’s more just my personal list from things I finished this year.

Book

I’m going to cheat slightly here and give my favourite book to a trilogy, that being The Three Body Problem trilogy. I read these in the first half of the year (numbers 9, 20, and 29), and they fast became my favourite books ever (the second book, Death’s End, captivated me unlike anything else). From Chinese author Liu Cixin, these books provided a new take on science fiction which I hadn’t previously experienced, having mainly read Sci Fi from British and American authors. The first book plays out like a mystery-thriller, and it is boosted by historical fiction elements with flashbacks to the Cultural Revolution. The trilogy as a whole deals with the prospect of an alien invasion, but by aliens who are far technologically superior to humans. It is a somewhat depressing read, because it feels realistic — potential humanity-saving decisions are prevented by bureaucracy or an overly judgmental public. The third book, Death’s End, has this dark, foreboding quality that felt like I was slowly choking as I read, and could only breathe again once I finished it. Fun fact, these books were such page-turners that I finished the third book in my car on a lunch break at work, because I couldn’t wait until the evening when I normally read. There’s a lot of good commentary on the nature of humanity which all good sci-fi should strive to achieve, and the translation is excellent. It has been adapted into a Netflix series coming later this year, which I am excited for, and if you like that, you should definitely read the books.

Film

I finished more films than anything else by far. There were lots of good movies this year, and if I’m being honest, very little separates them for me. There’s so many different genres that choosing a “favourite” or “best” seems incredibly difficult. Instead, I’m going to go for my favourite film experience this year, which was of course Barbenheimer (watching Barbie and Oppenheimer as a double feature). I did this friends, and it was a wonderful experience – the gritty darkness of Oppenheimer first contrasted nicely with the fun and colour-filled Barbie afterwards (with a brief break in-between for dinner). Thematically, the films worked together better than expected. They are both fundamentally about life and living, and although they express this in different ways (Oppenheimer through death, and Barbie through emotion), it ended up strengthening the film-watching experience. Having said that, I am not sure that I would be keen to do this again…

Game

I play far fewer games than I engage with anything else, and also modern games take so long to get through that even if I spend the same amount of time playing one as I do, say, reading a book, it will take many more months to finish a game than a book. I’ve been trying to get past a backlog of older games, so there is very little new stuff in here. So I can’t believe I’m saying this, but my favourite game I played this year was Dragon Quest I, this ancient (in technological terms) game that feels incredibly bare-bones. Yet, it was also really fun to play this relic. It felt like gaming in its purest form — a party of one, going to rescue the princess and defeat the Dragon Lord to save the Kingdom. It’s basic in every way, and yet that is precisely what made it so fun.

Show

I finally watched Andor this year, and it has to take my favourite show of the year award. Andor is Star Wars, a prequel to Rogue One, the spin-off about the Rebels who stole the Death Star plans. I personally think Rogue One was the best new Star Wars film, and this TV show was a nice surprise given everything else Star Wars which Disney has released recently. Unlike Dave Filoni’s Mando-verse, which embraces the fun and fan service of Star Wars with its big action set-pieces, returning characters and actors, and an overarching inter-connected plot, Andor is comparatively smaller-scale, focusing just on Cassian Andor, one of the main characters from Rogue One, and how he joined the Rebellion. The series is 12 episodes, and I saw advice online to watch 3 episodes as a set, and they form a mini-movie (based on the way the production was done for each block of episodes). Make no mistake, Andor is unlike Star Wars as we know it — it is uncharacteristically slow, giving an insight into Imperial bureaucracy, Coruscant politics, and prison life in the Star Wars universe. This contrast to traditional Star Wars, however, is what makes it so engaging as a piece of television. Each block is gorgeously-directed, with some shots which are simply too good to be Star Wars, and yet present they are. There’s lots of little easter eggs for eager-eyed Star Wars fans, but I think if you want something more mature in the Star Wars universe, then this is the show for you.

Did you finish any of these in 2023? Or what are you looking forward to this year? Let me know in the comments below.