The below was first posted on my personal FB page on December 22, 2023.
Have you procrastinated on buying a gift for your friend or significant other and jumped as you realized that Christmas is next week? Or perhaps your hand keeps creeping toward your phone because you have nothing else to do. You know that you shouldn’t be on your phone so much. After all, it really is a horrible, wormhole of a habit. It probably kills brain cells, and you learn nothing whatsoever despite the fact that you’re reading pages worth of material and watching countless clips.
But what else can possibly entertain you during the holidays?
Well, my friend, allow me to suggest a few good books and movies that make for great gifts as well as great entertainment. Barnes and Noble, Amazon, indie bookstores, Target, etc. are all open, probably right up to Christmas, so it’s not too late to go buy something. And if it’s for your own pleasure and you’ve spent an arm and a leg treating everyone but yourself for the holidays, the public library carries everything too, and it’s not too late to run to the location that has the item or even to place a hold in time to receive it before New Year’s Day.
The following books were some of my favorites from 2023:
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis (1950)
We’ll start with a Christmas book. Ya’ll know this title already, either because of the book or the movies, so no introduction is needed. But boy does Narnia make snow, fireplaces, streetlamps, and, above all, turkish delights sound oh-so-wonderful. And if you’re a Christian, it’s a great book to read to celebrate the coming of Christ on Christmas day. After all, His birth was always meant to end in his loving and sacrificial death, as portrayed by Aslan toward the end of the book.
Sourdough by Robin Sloan (2017)
Robin Sloan books in general are a must-read if you’ve ever lived in the Bay Area and/or you’re connected to the world of engineering. There are so many inside jokes that prod fun at engineers’ nerdiness and the Bay Area’s quirkiness. This book also reveals a bit of insider’s knowledge on how the farmer’s market culture works in the Bay. Feel-good, light-hearted, and interesting!
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemmingway (1952)
Not down for a full-size novel? Well, how about a novella? I first read this lightweight champion of the literary world in high school and many of the story’s details were permanently branded into my mind because of how well-written the story is. If you want to embark on a manly-man journey that fills your head with the scintillating beauty of the sea and a fiery will to go down fighting even if you lose in the end, this is your story.
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro (2021)
Perhaps you’d like to read something by a different Nobel Prize winner in literature, someone more contemporary than winners like Ernest Hemmingway. Look no further than Kazuo Ishiguro, a Japanese-British author who won the prestigious award in 2017. As expected of a Nobel Prize winner, Ishiguro writes with a firm message in mind but executes through abstractions. In my opinion, the book is an essay in story format that explores how the human race gives technology what power it does possess over us. Oh, and the story is written from the perspective of a robot in the far future. Pretty interesting.
The Art of Prophecy by Wesley Chu (2022)
Are deep meditations on the meaning of life and technology not your thing? Do you just want some fun - perhaps even “trashy” - genre fiction to take you on an adventure to fantastical places while following cool characters? Are you a fan of Asian period dramas and/or wuxia? Then Art of Prophecy might be your jam.
Maya Angelou: The Complete Poetry (2015)
Whenever I read anything by Maya Angelou, I always feel like she’s welcomed me into her small living room and offered me a drink before sitting down in her rocking chair and telling me all about her full and fascinating life. I feel like the magic of her writing - whether it’s her prose or her verse - is her power to be so articulately vulnerable. She bares her soul for the world to see and never acts like it could possibly be done any other way. Even if you’re not a poetry lover, her vulnerability and approachability make this book of poetry a page-turner.
And now the 2023 movie list:
Ikiru (1952)
Let’s start off the movies list with a Christmas-friendly pick too. Though this movie has nothing to do with Christmas, the black and white medium and the heart-warming messages give off strong “It’s a Wonderful Life” vibes that make for a cozy Christmas watch. Written and directed by the legendary Akira Kurosawa, this is not only a feel-good movie but a cinematic masterpiece that keeps you thinking long after the movie finishes. If you claim to be a film buff but have never watched this movie (or Kurosawa movies in general), it’s time to do your homework!
John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023)
Not a touchy-feely person? John Wick: Chapter 4 is an action movie that’s sure to go down in cinematic history as one of the best action movies of the 2020s. I don’t fangirl over this franchise just because Keanu Reeves is hot or because there’s a lot of flashy action or because of the cool and cliche world building. I fangirl over John Wick because this franchise is as good as you can possibly get within the action genre. I was raised on action because of my dad, with whom I literally watched The Little Mermaid and Braveheart back to back as a toddler every week. So any old action is not going to impress me because by now, I’ve seen them all. But John Wick is insanely genius not only in how it tries to hammer in the details of the choreography with as much realism as possible, but the creativity in the action is just mind-blowing. From the notorious pencil trick, to how to murder a man in the library with a book, to insane dagger and tomahawk throwing sequences that just keep going and going when you would think it’s only possible to stop, everything. Everything is a work of action genius. Chapter 4, in particular, pushes the action creativity by drawing from what-if scenarios from real life. Anyone who has been to Paris has seen all the dumb tourists who risk their lives to run through the roundabout to the Arc de Triomphe. What if you added a few muscle cars, an assassin, and a dozen mercenaries into the mix? What would happen if you put said assassin on the bajillion stairs of Montmartre that every tourist has to walk up, and then paired that assassin with his blind friend, and they had to fight through mercenaries to get to the top? All the answers are shown in Chapter 4, which is both a love letter to Paris as well as the perfect climax to this franchise.
Death Note (2006-2007)
Looking for something to binge and not simply to watch? (Though you could consider binging all four John Wicks.) I’ve watched Death Note several times throughout the years, usually because I was bent on getting a loved one hooked on this anime so we can obsess over it together. And without fail, Death Note always got my loved ones hooked. Someone in a Youtube comment I read said that the writer of this anime was perpetually in “galaxy-mode” while creating the series, and I totally agree. If you’re looking for a I-need-to-find-out-what-happens, addicting plot and suspense-driven dark fantasy that plunges you into galaxy-mode cat and mouse games that will have you wondering how on earth a human being ever concocted such brilliant twists and turns, you’ve got to watch (or re-watch!) Death Note. Though it’s technically dark fantasy, it takes place in modern day, so don’t let the genre scare you off!
The Boy and the Heron (2023)
If I had to choose one Miyazaki film to call his best, it would be The Boy and the Heron. (Pro tip: watch it in IMAX.) However, it’s definitely not a movie that I would expect to have as much popular appeal as Totoro, Spirited Away, or even Princess Mononoke and Ponyo. Everything is only shown, and all the telling (ie exposition) depends on your active engagement and analysis of the film, which is, unfortunately, a tall order in today’s day and age of mindless watching. Combine that with the fact that a lot of symbolism, fantasy elements, and visual angles send the messages that you should understand, and you have a movie that is bound to have many people feeling that it was somewhat enjoyable and beautifully animated yet slow-paced and difficult to understand. However, if you are of the artsy-fartsy mould, or if you’re simply willing to think deeply about what you are shown, you will be sure to conclude that this movie is a great work of genius, not just in comparison to other Miyazaki movies but contemporary movies in general. The way the opening sequence succinctly establishes the themes of death, trauma, loss, grief, terror, loneliness, and hopelessness is so masterful. The movie then continues pulling the threads of all these stories to weave a surreal tale of how these terrible things can be overcome. The progression is also genius. Surreal sequences slowly move from an internal state to a dream-like state to a real fantasy and then back to the real world to create a journey that is just as much psychological as it is adventurous and visual. The movie transcends limiting death and despair only to war by exploring the loneliness and disgust with the outside world that anyone can fall into. The movie argues that there is hope to be had and that, though it is tempting to shut yourself away from the others who make up this horrible world, the only true salvation we can have from despair is in the love we can share with one another. A beautiful movie, both in execution and theme.
And there you have it. I hope you grab a cup of tea, the dog and/or the cat, snuggle up, and immerse yourself in some worthy entertainment!
