I’m not very good at keeping this list up… but I will try.

Books

Harry Potter 1, 2, 3, 4, J. K. Rowling

Enrique said this was the last read he inherently enjoyed. I totally can see why. This makes me stay past my bed time to read, and that’s a big deal. I must say it’s an interesting experience reading this as an adult. The social aspects of an imagined wizard society stands out more, while I am a lot less tolerant of the teenager tantrums. It was hard reading through some of Harrys’ tantrum, if I’m being honest… but the plot twist at the end was always worth it.

Kafka On The Shore, Haruki Murakami

My second magical realism book from Murakami, after 1Q84 (a super long story). Still haven’t reached the end of the book yet, and I must say the style is a getting predictable now. Still a very interesting coming-of-age story (a little too much sex for my liking but what did I expect from Murakami…), with reckonings on how one could choose to live despite the burden of one’s root.

The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared, Jonas Jonasson

What a fun satire of world history to read. It’s nothing like what I’ve read before, thoroughly enjoyable and witty. Highly recommend.

Siddhartha, Hermann Hesse

An interesting retelling of a Buddhist story from a white person. A gentle reminder of what matters in life and how one finds meanings. I picked it up when spontaneously visiting the Boulder bookstore with a few friends and we all decided to have a reading afternoon

Monk and Robot (2 books)

Such a pleasant reflection, in the form of a sci-fi story between a robot that meets a monk tired of the routineness of life, on what it means to lead a human life. A touch of annihilism in its best form, prompting anyone to slow down a little and think of the big questions.

Movies & Series

The Notebook

Late but better than never! I thought I would not enjoy the cliché but turns out it was a well written movie script, and young Ryan Gosling was totally worth seeing.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer Stone (movie in concert)

If you have a chance, go to any symphony movie in concert. It just makes the experience 10 times better. Plus it was fun to see people cheering for their favorite characters.

Lion King in concert at Chicago Symphony

The true introduction into movies in concert. Much as we knew full well what would happen in the movie, it still made us cry - that’s how powerful it was.

Ted Lasso

My favorite series ever at this moment, and season 4 is coming! This show just touched me at all the right spots: it shows that everybody has a complicated story. Even the hero had his weakness, and as anybody else, he was just working through it to become better. The show shows compassion and human vulnerability in the most moving way without being cringy, a balance very hard to achieve in any fictive work of art. Perhaps the beautiful mix of comedy and drama made it so easy to love. It also has probably the best character arcs I’ve ever seen in any series/movies, with so many characters having their own full stories, not just a few main characters.

Silo

Very interesting premise of a sci-fi, where a society of humans found themselves in a 147-floor tall silo, with no memory of how they became to be that way. I really want to read the book now!

Modern Family

Still watching on and off, surpassing Friends and The Big Bang Theory for me so far

Daisy Jones and the Six

Quite an unusual show compared to my usual go-tos. Based on a book from Taylor Jenkins Reid, an author I quite like, it portrays romance in a very complex and vulnerable way. Also produced by Reese Witherspoon, who’s also got an inspiring story to share about the industry.

The Pitt

Finally a medical drama that focuses on the actual hospital!

Writings

• Atlantic: The End of Reading Is Here

Concerts/Albums

• Couch! My favorite concert
• Olivia Dean, very close runner up. This concert gave me the chance to listen to her music up close, and being a singer-songwriter, hearing her explain her songs in the concert gave them a whole new meaning. Plus I went with a very dear friend :)
• Cory Wong: never thought I would love an instrumental show so much! Every musician was so talented and showed real mastery of their instruments
• Joe Hisaishi: so funny to see so many people fangirling/fanboying a classical-music-ish composer! Hearing the music live was as moving as expected, and seeing the legend himself was quite special.