2021 Favorites

 

It’s almost December 31st. And, as 2021 winds down, it’s also time to talk about all of my favorite things from the year. 

Movies & TV Shows…

Surprisingly, I didn’t watch too many movies or try as many new shows as I thought I would have. I mainly rewatched old favorites when I happened to catch them. What I have, in terms of first time viewing, isn’t enough for it to get its own posts. So…

Some movies: F9, Poltergeist (1982), Nightbooks, Red Notice, Birds of Prey, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Venome: Let There Be Carnage.

Some TV shows: Discovery of Witches season 2, SurrealEstate, Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Gone For Good, Lost in Space season 2.

Books And Short Stories…

Generally, I liked most of what I read this year. I focused more on nonfiction as well as backlist titles and sequels that I’ve wanted to read. I didn’t get to all of them this year, but that just means I’m going into the New Year with a good-sized TBR list to keep me preoccupied. So, here are my favorite books from 2021.

Nonfiction...

• To The Greatest Heights by Vanessa O'Brien
• Aristocracy by William Doyle 
• She Memes Well by Quinta Brunson
• The Heartbeat of Trees by Peter Wohlleben, translated by Jane Billinghurst
• Fire & Ice by Natalie Starkey 
• Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake

Fiction...

• Exit Strategy , Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells
• We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal
• Tales from the Hinterland by Melissa Albert
• The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King by J. R.R. Tolkien
• The Case Study of Vanitas vol. 6, vol. #7 & vol. 8 by Jun Mochizuki
• Jelly by Clare Rees
• The Album of Dr. Moreau by Daryl Gregory 
• The Return of the Sorceress, Velvet Was the Night by Silvia Moreno Garcia 
• Small Town Monsters by Diana Rodriguez-Wallach
• What Lives in the Woods by Lindsay Currie
• Mine by Delilah S. Dawson
• You Can Never Tell by Sarah Warburton 
• Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim
• The Brilliant Abyss by Helen Scales
• Your Favorite Band Cannot Save You by Scotto Moore
• Dark Waters by Katherine Arden
• Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
• A Swift and Savage Tide by Chloe Neill
• A Murder Yule Regret by Winnie Archer 
• Hollywood Heroine by Sarah Kuhn 
• It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Murder by Maria DiRico

The short stories...

• The Karyōbinga Sings To Jiro by Riyu Ando (Strange Horizons; Issue: 11 January 2021) Note: there is a podcast version of the story available from Strange Horizons
  
• Your Own Undoing by P H Lee (Apex Magazine, January 19, 2021)
• #Selfcare by Annalee Newitz (Tor.com, January 19, 2021)
• Judge Dee and The Three Deaths of Count Werdenfels by Lavie Tidhar (Tor.com, February 10, 2021)
  
• A Serpent For Each Year by Tamara Jeree (Strange Horizons, Issue 1 February 2021)
• Las Girlfriends Guide to Subversive Eating by Sabrina Vourvoulias (Apex Magazine; Issue 122, March 2021)
• Mouth by Sasha Lapointe (Strange Horizons; Issue: 1 March 2021)
• Masquerade Season by ‘Pemi Aguda (Tor.com; March 24, 2021)
• Mysteries of Visiocherries/Misteri Visciceri by Rio Johan (Strange Horizons; Issue: April 26 2021)
• Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory by Martha Wells (Tor.com, April 19, 2021)
• The Angel of Khan el-Khalili by P. Djèlí Clark (Tor.com, April 28, 2021)
• The Life & Death of Mia Fremont: An Interview with a Killer by A.K. Hudson (Apex Magazine; May 4, 2021)
• Eilam is Forever by Beth Dawkins (Apex Magazine, July 6, 2021)
• Data Migration by Melanie Harding-Shaw (Strange Horizons; Issue: 12 July 2021)
• Survival, After by Nicole J. LeBoeuf (Apex Magazine, August 3, 2021)
• What Cacti Read by Mary Soon Lee (Strange Horizons; Issue; 26 July 2021) 
• Cocoon by H. Pueyo (Strange Horizons; Issue: 2 August 2021)
• Judge Dee and the Poisoner of Montmartre by Lavie Tidhar (Tor.com; September 15, 2021)
• Thread Count by Cynthia Gómez (Strange Horizons; Issue: Fund Drive 2021)
• Bespoke Nightmares by Carolina Valentine (Strange Horizons; Issue: 18 October 2021)

Music…

2021 was a great year for music. It seemed like most of my favorite artists had new music coming out, and I discovered a few new bands and groups I want to follow. Below is a list of all my favorite albums and EPs I listened to in 2021. There is no particular order.

• Alpha by CL
• Planet Her by Doja Cat
• Mini Mix vol. 1 and vol. 2, A Little Rhythm and a Wicked Feeling, and Mercurial World by Magdalena Bay
• Last Year Was Weird Vol. 3 by Tkay Maidza
• 1/f and Pink Noise by Laura Mvula
• If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power by Halsey
• Scaled and Icey by Twenty One Pilots
• 2000AND4EVA by Bree Runway
• The Bitter Truth by Evanescence
• Montero by Lil Nas X
• Harenchi by Chanmina

And that’s it. I hope everyone is having a great holiday season. I will see you all in the New Year!

Music Monday Christmas Edition: Baby Tate, Celtic Woman, The Whispers, Ahmari Lia, Nat King Cole

 Rules:

• Music Monday is a weekly meme hosted by Lauren Stoolfire at Always Me that asks you to share one or two songs that you've recently enjoyed. For the rules, visit the page HERE 

Breana: With our break from blogging and the end of the year approaching, it's time for the Christmas edition of Music Monday! Today, we're sharing more festive music.

My pick this week is another song from Baby Tate's XMAS. It's called Last Xmas. Honestly, it's one of my favorites from this particular album. 

My second pick is Ave Maria by Celtic Woman. Recently, I caught one of  the more recent Celtic Woman specials when it came on TV.  I used to really enjoy the ones that came on during the holiday season. So I was a feeling little nostalgic for some of their older music. This is one of my favorite versions of Ave Maria.

Adri: Here's some more Ahmari Lia, All I Ever Wanted (This Christmas). I'm also listening to Nat King Cole's King Of Christmas.

Andrea: I'm listening to Kiss Me It's Christmas by Leona Lewis featuring Neo and Happy Holidays to You by The Whispers.

  

Have an amazing, safe, and Merry Christmas!

What are you listening to this holiday season?

Break Notice

Well, it’s that time of year again. With the New Year right around the corner, it’s time for us to take our annual break from blogging. Any posts that appear after this one were scheduled at a prior date. We’ll still be around on social media (like twitter, goodreads, and Instagram), as well as to answer comments on the blog. Until then, we hope everyone has a great holiday season, and we’ll see you in the New Year. Happy reading!

Favorite Recipe: Homemade Soft Pretzels

 

It’s been a long time since I last talked about what I’ve been cooking or baking on the blog. However, I had to dust off the Favorite Recipe post graphic for this. I finally tried making homemade soft pretzels again, and I found a recipe that’s super simple and tastes great.

The recipe: Easy Homemade Soft Pretzels from Sally’s Baking Addiction

The first time I ever tried to make homemade soft pretzels, it didn’t turn out so great. It was years ago, and I was trying a different recipe that I don’t even remember now. The dough didn’t come out right, it was tough to shape, and something was off with the flavor and texture after the baking soda bath + baking.

Fast forward to the end of October 2021, and I had a craving for soft pretzels and wanted to try my hand at making them again. So I did some searching, and I came across the recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction. I gave it a try, and it was easy to make. Before writing up my experience making them, I did two batches on separate days. The first try, I didn’t get the process pictures. So of course I had to make them again!

It’s incredibly simple to make these—few ingredients, short resting time, clear measurements. The dough was simple to mix up and easily shaped. Nothing stuck when I moved on to the boiling, and they baked in 12 minutes once in the oven. They not only smelled like pretzels, but they tasted like them with the texture I was looking for.

I followed the recipe exactly, except for the type of salt I sprinkled on top before baking. I used table salt instead, because I didn’t have fine sea salt on hand. They still tasted great anyway. But you can definitely go with the coarse kind, since it’s standard for soft pretzels.

Overall, this is a great recipe, and I know I will make these again in the near future. Have you made homemade soft pretzels before?

[**Note: photos include (1) the dough after it rested for 10 minutes, (2) the shaped pretzels in the baking soda bath, (3) the pretzels after they were boiled and dusted with salt, and (4) the baked pretzels.**]

Music Monday (183): Baby Tate, Pentatonix, TLC, Boyz II Men & Brian McKnight, Ahmari Lia

 Rules:

• Music Monday is a weekly meme hosted by Lauren Stoolfire at Always Me that asks you to share one or two songs that you've recently enjoyed. For the rules, visit the page HERE 

Breana: I had no idea Baby Tate had a holiday album. I know her music best by her features with other artists like Bree Runway and Tkay Maidza. I've been listening to a lot more of her music lately, which is how I ended up finding XMAS. One of my favorite songs is Light Up The Tree featuring NoGum Hundo.

 

Adri: This week I'm listening to some more Christmas music, this time from a small artist. My picks are Last Christmas But it Hit's Different and Christmas is Here by Ahmari Lia.

Andrea: This week I'm listening to The Prayer by Pentatonix, Sleigh Ride by TLC & Let It Snow by Boyz II Men featuring Brian McKnight. 

Have an amazing week!

What songs are on your go-to holiday playlist?

**Note: Adri is starting her break from blogging early, so Andrea and I will be around to answer comments**