Can't remember when I was so anxious before to see another year end; 2020, for so so many of us, is that ultimate year. Friends and loved ones lost to a pandemic that, insanely, other friends and loved ones refused to acknowledge, only fanning the flames and hastening the deaths of so many more. People out of work, out of money, out of time, out of hope - and so much of it easily laid at the doorstep of the mentally unstable despot who wanted to turn one of the most powerful nations on earth into his own private lap-dance, even as he flipped the middle finger to us all (none more so than his own acolytes).
But 2021 has already promised a vaccine, an end to the cancer infesting 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, and a restoration - even if it takes time - of some level of sanity. But 2020 remains the year we couldn't focus, or even often handle reality ... and so some of us, when we needed to, did our best to escape into the world of books, films, TV, or whatever would engage our minds from the daily news that kept playing out like Stephen King's latest bestseller.
December was a much better reading month for me; I marveled at some beautiful Christmas picture books and a really cool variety of graphic novels, read my last J. K. Rowling for all time (The Ickabog), finished the first romance novel I have ever read that didn't make me want to gag or do eyerolls throughout (Teddy Spenser Isn't Looking for Love) and discovered a debut novel that awoke so many dormant childhood memories in me of being teased as a kid for being overweight, I think everyone on earth who has ever faced that issue needs to read it (I'll Be the One). Not bad that two of the eleven books I read in December made my Top 10 of 2020 list (scroll down to check out that post), either ... and YES, as usual am behind on reviews. Working on it - please keep checking back!
Similarly, of the four new films I watched in December, one - a very funny horror-comedy that feels sort of like The Goonies meets The Lost Boys - made my Top 10 Films of 2020 list, as well (Vampires vs. the Bronx). Overall 2020 wasn't a great year of movie-watching for me, I saw only 31 new ones, a number of which were disappointing, but am already working on that for 2021, getting squarely back on my 50 Films project ... for the fourteenth year in a row!
And lastly, if you are interested in hot/interesting upcoming 2021 new releases in fiction, you can chek out my Pinterest board HERE. And keep checking it out, in fact, as I am adding to it constantly. Some very good authors and very big titles are coming to a bookshelf, library, or Kindle near you.
Meanwhile, stay safe and sane and healthy in 2021; we've come much, must too far to blow it now!
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