1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
|
---
title: "Best of 2025"
date: 2026-01-01T12:00:00-06:00
---
A review of my favorite things from 2025.
<!--more-->
This year I made a lot of changes to the website. I added a [games](/games) section, and toyed around with a few games. I've been playing a bit with the Godot engine as well, which is fun, though I'm far from finished with anything. Personally, I got back into cycling and fishing. I started getting into Ham radio, which I am just starting out with.
## Best Fiction Book
### True Grit by Charles Portis
This year, I wanted to get into westerns. The one that stood out most was *True Grit*. As a huge fan of the Coen Brothers, I was familiar with the most recent movie adaptation of *True Grit*, but I had no idea how good the novel was. This is one of the best books I have ever read without a doubt. It is so great. You must read this book.
Honorable mentions: Lonesome Dove, Anna Karenina (I love the Levin plot), The Willows
## Best Non-Fiction Book
### The Victorian Internet by Tom Standage
This year, I started getting into amateur radio. I am very interested in what the Ham radio community calls "homebrew", which basically just means DIYing stuff. I find telegraphs neat since they are so simple to understand. I would like to build my own radio to do morse code (AKA CW) operation, which Hams still use today.
Honorable mentions: Catching the Big Fish
## Best Movie
### Mulholland Drive
I love *Twin Peaks* and *Blue Velvet*, both of which are directed by David Lynch. But the best Lynch project I've seen is certainly *Mulholland Drive*. This movie is really good, and everyone knows it. It makes me want to go back to rewatch *Twin Peaks*, which I haven't seen in many years.
## Best Video Game
### Blue Prince
*Blue Prince* is a roguelike game in which you explore a mansion, which changes layouts every day. The gameplay is very unique, as you play you discover more of the background to the mansion and the hidden rules to the game. While I "beat" the game, I probably only dug into 10% of what the game has to offer. This year I also found renewed fun in games I have played before, such as Dwarf Fortress and Team Fortress 2.
Honorable Mentions: KeeperRL, Streets of Rogue, Approaching Infinity
## Best Album
### The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society - The Kinks
This year I got really into the Kinks. They have a lot of albums that are really great, a lot more interesting than I expected as someone who only knew a few of their hits. *Muswell Hillbilly*, *Arthur*, and *Village Green* are some of my favorites.
Honorable Mentions: Another Green World by Brian Eno
## Best Graphic Novel
### Muybridge
This graphic novel came out this year, and tells the story of [Eadweard Muybridge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eadweard_Muybridge), who was the first person to photograph a horse in motion. This story is interesting, and he had a very crazy life. Important to me, is that I have been looking for the source of some posters I saw back in college in the hallway of the English building. The posters were of a man standing in front of redwood trees. I initially walked by these, but they stuck in my mind, and when I went back they were gone. However, I now know they were taken by Muybridge, and featured in this book.
|
