Best of 2015

Hi everyone - somehow this scheduled post didn't work. It was meant to come out New Years Eve, as you'll probably notice in the next paragraph! I'm posting this now from my phone though, so hopefully its not too far into January that this post has become irrelevant!

Happy New Year's Eve everyone!  I hope this year has been joyful and fulfilling for each and every one of you.  Today I thought I would make a few lists of things that I loved this year.  In the end, I've decided on three categories: movies, TV shows and, of course, books.

For some reason or another, I am a lot harsher on movies than I am on books when it comes to giving star ratings.  There's not many movies that I love enough to give 5 stars to.  For example, I only gave 5 stars to 3 movies out of 110 that I watched this year - and they're 3 of my all time favourite movies ever (and therefore rewatches).  I did however give a lot of 4 and 4.5 stars.  Here's the movies I rated 4 stars or more, or gave a 'heart' to on Letterboxd (even if it was a rewatch) (also images will link to the movie's Letterboxd page, not IMDB like I usually do):

Mary Poppins (5 stars)

The Emperor's New Groove (5 stars)

Stardust (5 stars)

Avengers: Age of Ultron (4.5 stars)

Saving Mr. Banks (4.5 stars)

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (4.5 stars)

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (4.5 stars)

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (4.5 stars)

The Proposal (4.5 stars)

Edge of Tomorrow (4.5 stars)

Spy (4 stars)
The Grinch (4 stars)
The Game (4 stars)
Notting Hill (4 stars)
The Sixth Sense (4 stars)
Sky High (4 stars)
Primal Fear (4 stars)
Office Space (4 stars)
The Italian Job (4 stars)
Inside Out (4 stars)

Good Will Hunting (4 stars)

Big Hero 6 (4 stars)

The Help (4 stars)

Iron Man 3 (4 stars)

A Cinderella Story (4 stars)

Odd Thomas (4 stars)

The Transporter (4 stars)

Inception (3.5 stars)

Kingsman: The Secret Service (3.5 stars)

In Her Shoes (3.5 stars)

See No Evil, Hear No Evil (3.5 stars)

Point Break (3.5 stars)

So as you can see, there was still a whole bunch of movies that I watched this year and enjoyed.  It's hard to say which were my favourites, because with movies it really depends on how I feel at the time.

Well, it's safe to say that I didn't watch as many TV shows as I watched movies, but I'm sure I watched a tonne more episodes!  For this category, I'm counting show that I watched new-to-me episodes this year.  The pictures are linked to their Trackt TV page.

Smallville

Gotham

Revenge

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D

How To Get Away With Murder

Arrow

Parks and Recreation

The Flash

It's harder for me to say if a TV show is a favourite of mine (as opposed to movies) because they are constantly changing when new episodes come out.  For example, I feel weird if I say Arrow is a favourite show of mine because it's not finished and there have been some episodes that I didn't love.  At the same time though, I can say that HTGAWM is a favourite, because I can't recall an episode that didn't have me on the edge of my seat.  As for the shows that have finished, Parks and Recreation and Smallville are definitely on my all time favourites list (and I've started rewatching them already) and Revenge is one that I still love despite it not being a solid favourite.

Now for the category you've all been waiting for ;)  Of course I take my favourite books of the year a lot more seriously than movies or TV shows.  After all, I take the time to review them and run a blog devoted to them.  So here you'll find the books that I've rated 4.5 or 5 stars and/or added to my favourites shelf (even if they had some flaws that bothered me), including rereads.

Nimona by Noelle Stevenson (5 stars)

Simon VS. The Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli (5 stars)

The Accident Season by Moira Fowley-Doyle (4.5 stars)

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones (5 stars)

Wonder by R. J. Palacio (5 stars)

Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater (5 stars)

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff (5 stars)

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater (5 stars)

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo (5 stars)

Angelfall by Susan Ee (5 stars)

World After by Susan Ee (5 stars)
End of Days by Susan Ee (5 stars)
Every Move by Ellie Marney (5 stars)
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (5 stars)
The Inventors by Alexander Gordon Smith and Jamie Webb (5 stars)
Attachments by Rainbow Rowell (5 stars)
The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton (5 stars)
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan (5 stars)
Unwind by Neal Shusterman (4 stars)
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz (4.5 stars)

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas (4 stars)

Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas (4 stars)

Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo (4 stars)

Lips Touch: Three Times by Laini Taylor (4 stars)

Uprooted by Naomi Novik (4 stars)

So, not quite as many favourite books as favourite movies, but it came close!  I'm hoping next year will bring just as many, if not more, favourite books.


As you can clearly see from all the categories above, I've had a great (fictional) year!  I hope you all have had a great year too and that 2016 is also fantastic.

What were your favourites this year?  See you in 2016!