a vintage year for scoundrels

First of all, from the department of corrections and clarifications: I can't believe I forgot MURDERBOT in my last post, absolutely one of the joys of last year. (I didn't realise until it was happening what a delight it would be to have a show with an aroace autistic lead or how much it would mean. People like me don't get to be the main character!)

It has also occurred to me that most of the Pluribus I have watched was technically THIS year, so it doesn't entirely belong in a 2025 round up, but listen, time is weird, whomst amongst us is not fallible etc etc

I did make a bingo card for this year! I haven't decided yet if I want to share it here, but maybe. It's mostly household things, plus a few creative endeavours - I'm wary of putting too many of those on there in case it turns them into chores, but I'm hoping the bingo card format takes some of the pressure off.

Also, turns out I do want to talk about my year in books a bit. I read 149 books last year, the upper end of average for me, but although I read some absolute BANGERS, I feel like overall I read more books I felt three stars and below about than four stars and above - not necessarily a reflection on their quality, but on how much I personally enjoyed them. I don't do reading goals, because I find the freedom to read whatever whenever more motivating, but I think maybe this year I should DNF more.

I'm also pondering whether I want to do more awards-shortlist reading this year. I nominate and vote in the Hugos, but there's usually at least one or two things on the shortlist I don't end up reading (for 2025 it was Someone You Can Build a Nest In, because a romance where people get eaten is basically my banishing circle, and Alien Clay, because from the reviews I read I couldn't tell whether I'd like it enough to make up for the body horror), and I don't plan to force myself to read stuff I don't, at least on some level, want to. Other awards on my radar:

- The Le Guin! I'd read about half the shortlist when it came out last year, so decided to read the rest; I almost managed it and had a great time - I loved a lot of things on it and didn't regret reading any of them. (The only one I didn't read was because the ebook was FIFTEEN POUNDS and I simply could not. All in favour of authors getting paid, but FIFTEEN POUNDS for an EBOOK, come ON.)

- The Clarke! I never quite line up with this shortlist like I want to, but I'm always interested in what's on it.

- The Ignytes! I read one thing off the novel shortlist last year and really loved it, would have read a second if it wasn't for the FIFTEEN POUNDS issue mentioned above. I like that this one also has a novella shortlist (I've read three of last year's). And more categories, but I'm less into short fiction, YA and MG, so I'll keep an eye on them, but I'm not committing to reading them.

I haven't run the numbers, but based on vibes I think I am reading more older stuff than I have been (ie more than two years old). This is a good thing for me personally, I think, because when I was struggling to find things I was excited to read a few years ago, part of the way I got myself enthused was by keeping up more with the buzz around what was New! and Exciting!, and while I'm still enjoying that, it's nice to feel like I need it less.

And finally, my top ten books read last year, five published last year, five from earlier (not on purpose, it just worked out that way):

Metal From Heaven - august clarke
Menewood - Nicola Griffith
The City in Glass- Nghi Vo
The West Passage - Jared Pechaček
Rakesfall - Vajra Chandrasekera
The Breath of the Sun - Isaac Fellman
The River Has Roots - Amal El-Mohtar
City of All Seasons - Oliver K Langmead and Aliya Whiteley
Some Body Like Me - Lucy Lapinska
The Everlasting - Alix E Harrow

(Honorable mention to Iona Datt Sharma's Wish You Were Here, which came out in 2025 but which I read in 2024, just.)