MUSIC - AUGUST
MEA CULPA
Well shit, things got away from me, didn't they. I started my Doctor of Business Administration in July and this is probably why nice-to-haves like a monthly consumption diary fell by the wayside.
It's safe to say that the novel I drafted in the first half of 2022 has not been touched since. But it's still there, gestating. As soon as I have the right solution to the mysterious death the second draft will write itself.
I did start a short story in, like, October? Great idea. Impossible to execute... so far.
May 2023 be the year of insane productivity across all domains (paid work, study, creative endeavours, consumption of books, music and film/TV for joy and cataloguing said consumption).
MUSIC - SEPTEMBER
BOOKS
24 books over (almost) 5 months (I'll add any I read in the days of Dec as we go). No, I'm not going to write in-depth about each one. So sue me.
Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake (non-fiction, audiobook)
Finding the Mother Tree by Suzanne Simard (non-fiction, audiobook)
No One Writes to the Colonel and Other Stories by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (short stories, audiobook)
Vladimir by Julia May Jonas (novel, audiobook)
Less* and Less is Lost by Andrew Sean Greer (novels, audiobooks) - re-read the first in preparation for the sequel, which suffered from sequelitis.
The Netanyahus by Joshua Cohen (novel, audiobook) - good, often great, but strange. I think I appreciated the note at the end explaining the origin of the story, but it didn't quite excuse the abrupt end to the narrative which made it feel like half a novel.
Hummingbird Salamander by Jeff VanderMeer (novel, audiobook) - I will never read another book by JVM, sorry.
A Brief History of Equality by Thomas Piketty (non-fiction, audiobook) - could have been less brief, perhaps?
The Overstory by Richard Powers (novel, audiobook) - overlong.
Leviathan by Philip Hoare (non-fiction, audiobook)
MUSIC - OCTOBER
BOOKS, continued
I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jeanette McCurdy (non-fiction, audiobook) - tremendous.
Send Nudes by Saba Sams (short stories, audiobook) - if I didn't have the aid of my Libby and Audible histories, this is the book I would have the most trouble remembering to include on this list.
Gabriel's Bay by Catherine Robertson (novel, audiobook)
How to Loiter in a Turf War by Coco Solid (novel, audiobook)
Good Behaviour by Molly Keane (novel, audiobook)
Good Pop, Bad Pop by Jarvis Cocker (non-fiction, audiobook)
Let My People Go Surfing by Yvon Chouinard (non-fiction, audiobook)
Ngā Kete Mātauranga: Māori Scholarship at the research interface, Jacinta Ruru & Linda Waimarie (Eds)
The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka (novel, audiobook) - made me wish I chose to read Chinaman first.
Home Before Night by JP Pomare (novel, audiobook) - not his best work.
Liberation Day by George Saunders (short stories, audiobook) - might be his best work, though it suffers a bit from Murakamism (feels like the same stories, but retold better and weirder)
Wawata by Hinemoa Elder (non-fiction, audiobook)
Grand by Noelle McCarthy (non-fiction, audiobook) - v v v v good
Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh (novel, audiobook)
Either/Or by Elif Batuman (novel, audiobook).
MUSIC - NOVEMBER
NA - available via HR system 1.2FILM & TV
Hacks, Season 2
The White Lotus Season 2
House of the Dragon Season 1
The Rehearsal Season 1
Industry Seasons 1 & 2
Derry Girls Seasons 1-3
Taskmaster NZ Season 3 and UK Season 14
Mr Harrigan's Phone
I Came By
The Redeem Team
Plus: every piece of Sacramento Kings content I can... LIGHT THE BEAM!!
MUSIC - DECEMBER
