Year-end lists and some

One random morning, C asked me details (specifically the title and the author) about a certain spy book she read a while back while staying at our place. I replied that I could only recall the title (World's Greatest Spies and Spymasters) but the author's name evaded me. Okay my love, she said. Later that day, I would discover the purpose for her query. The title was to be part of her yearly post chronicling all the books she finished during the course of one year (I still owe C, the author's name, by the way). Year-end categorized listings. Hmm, a good idea for a blog post, I thought.

Here then are various stuff that I thoroughly enjoyed for the past year. Lists are in no particular order.

Movies, TV Series, and Anime:

1. Frozen - Best movie I watched this year. Brought back lots of childhood Disney memories. Props to C for the recommendation.
2. Arrested Development Season 4 - Bluth family! Hilarious as always. Can't wait for the movie.
3. Game of Thrones Season 3 - Episode 9: The Red Wedding says it all. Should start reading the books, too!
4. Shingeki No Kyojin Season 1 - Gore. Blood. Titans. Captain Levi. Got me hooked back into anime.
5. World War Z - Hordes of zombies for our first movie date. Intense especially the wall-crawling scene!
6. The Walking Dead Season 4 - More zombies! Expecting more chaos next season now that the group is outside the prison walls. Oh, and is the Governor still alive?!
7. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy - Movie nights at home over Coke and leftover nachos. And spy movies are always cool.
8. It Takes A Man And A Woman - One of only two Pinoy movies I watched this year (the other one being, The Healing). Enjoyable, light-hearted John Lloyd flick. Heh.
9. Les Miserables - Not a big fan of musicals but surprisingly hummed to the soundtrack of this movie.
10. The Internship - Satisfied the Google fan inside me. Plus, they used the blender question.
11. Fight Club - Should've watched this a loooooong time ago. Brad Pitt and Edward Norton. Win!
12. Godfather 1 and 2 - Classic movies. Interest in the mafia world bumped up after watching these two.
13. Parks and Recreation Season 6 - I <3 Rashida Jones! Unfortunately, she's off the show already. :( I still have Ron Swanson and that Ben Wyatt troll face though, so still a yay!
14. Modern Family Season 5 - Phil and Luke Dunphy are seriously two of the funniest TV characters ever.
15. Diamond No Ace Season 1 - Late addition to the list but baseball + anime is a must for me. Superbly funny and the baseball fan in me rejoices in the use of baseball terms in the show. Nerd.

Books and Manga:

1. Cloud Atlas - Several stories intricately related to each other via a single detail. Unique style of storytelling too.
2. Battle Royale - Japanese-flavored Hunger Games. Shinjiiiii!
3. Mockingjay - The fitting conclusion to the American adaptation of Battle Royale. Heh.
4. The Hunt For Red October - C introducing me to the world of Tom Clancy. Submarines and spies.
5. Blind Man's Bluff - The perfect non-fiction companion for Red October.
6. Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Titan's Curse - Watched the first two movies in the series then started reading this third installment. Creative recreation of Greek mythology shrouded in a modern era setting.
7. Are You Smart Enough to Work at Google? - Nice read about Google's history and insights on its work environment. And no, I am not smart enough.
8. The Fault In Our Stars - I'm a sucker for cheesy romantic stories. Augustus and Hazel. The feels!
9. World War Z and Zombie Survival Guide - Pure genius writing an imaginary guide on how to repel zombie attacks. For future use.
10. The Big Three (Naruto, Bleach, One Piece) - Uchiha Madara pulling Naruto out of the Kyuubi, Renji's new (?) Bankai, and the fighter at Block D all fainting.
11. Claymore - Finally caught up with the latest chapter of this old favorite and the action's intense and thrilling as ever. Priscilla. Raki. Clare!

Music (but mostly pop-punk):

1. The Greatest Generation by The Wonder Years - The band's greatest effort to date. Much mature sound but still retaining the raw passion reminiscent of their past works.
2. Paramore by Paramore - "Still Into You" is the catchiest song of the year.
3. Save Rock and Roll by Fall Out Boy - Band makes a big comeback with the release of a fantastic album. Album title proved true.
4. Southern Air by Yellowcard - As soon as I heard that violin solo from "Always Summer", I knew I would fall in love with this album.
5. Masterpiece Theatre by Marianas Trench - Discovered this album through C. Fell in love with its tracks. Fell in love with C more. Eeeehh.
6. Golden Record by The Dangerous Summer - My go-to source for witty one-liners and catchphrases.
7. Ocean Avenue Acoustic by Yellowcard - A different take on a modern classic. Killer album as always.
8. The 20/20 Experience by Justin Timberlake - The only non pop-punk music here. JT is damn good at making music. Fabulous return to the music scene.
9. This Year by Moonstar88 - I <3 Mayshie so there. That voice. *kiliiiig*
10. Frozen Soundtrack - Do you want to build a snowman? Yes!

Liked anything on the list? :)
 

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