My Monthly Wrap-Up | June 2020

Posted on by Lashaan Balasingam @ Roars and Echoes

Hello ladies & gentlemen,

The month has come to an end and it’s time to do a quick wrap-up of what has been done.

Reading Breakdown.

Novels read: 3 (—).
Comic books read: 23 (↑17).
Manga volumes read: 8 (↑1).

BOOK REVIEWS.

The Burning White by Brent Weeks.
The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson.

COMIC BOOK REVIEWS.

The Joker: 80 Years of the Clown Prince of Crime.
Strayed by Carlos Giffoni.
Superman (Vol. 3): The Truth Revealed by Brian Michael Bendis.
Batman/Superman (Vol. 1): Who are the Secret Six? by Joshua Williamson.
Black Hammer/Justice League: Hammer of Justice! by Jeff Lemire.
Kingdom Come by Mark Waid.
Batman Eternal (Vol. 1) by Scott Snyder.
Justice League (Vol. 4): The Sixth Dimension by Scott Snyder.
Justice League (Vol. 5): Justice/Doom War by Scott Snyder.

TV SERIES/MOVIE REVIEWS.

Steel (1997).

MISCELLANEOUS POSTS.

Audiobooks: Are They For You?

TOP BOOK.

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I can only reiterate the greatness of this series. This was a ride to remember and one that I’ll likely revisit throughout my life. If you’re looking for your next huge epic fantasy series, look no further.

Check out my review for more on my thoughts!

LEAST FAVOURITE BOOK.

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I’m going through the final huge story-arc within this classic manga series and it’s been going downhill pretty quickly (currently at volume 69 out of 74). I honestly can’t wait for it to end before it gets any worse and ruins the whole franchise for me!

TOP TV SERIES/MOVIES.

Awakenings (1990) - IMDb

Awakenings is a beautiful tale that emphasizes the importance of living your life at its fullest no matter what you believe. With phenomenal performances by Robert De Niro and Robin Williams, the movie is sprinkled with heartwarming sequences that make you adore the life lessons exposed throughout the tale. It does have a couple of flaws in terms of transition and pacing but it ultimately delivers a thought-provoking story worth visiting. It’s based on Oliver Sacks’s 1973 memoir of the same name, for the curious ones out there.

 4 stars outta 5.

These are all the movies I watched/rewatched this month.

Feel free to share your thoughts on them!

Regina King in Watchmen (2019)

Special mention to Watchmen (2019), a limited-series that came to a conclusion with season 1 and aired on HBO. While the creator only looked to create one season (because that’s what his story was meant to be), he’s left the series in the hands of any other director out there who wishes to take the series and tell the next story. To be seen if anyone will dare attempt a second season.

This series, however, took the original graphic novel’s idea and offered us a sequel set 34 years after the original story. It heavily respects the source material while offering a unique spin to it where racial tension and vigilante policing (how timely, right?) are the at the heart of the narrative while educating fans on the infamous Tulsa Massacre. I heavily recommend this to fans of the original graphic novel by Alan Moore or Zack Snyder’s movie adaptation. I’ll see if I’ll write up a full review for it in the very near future (a vote from you could make the difference).

5 stars outta 5.

CURRENTLY READING.

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Currently reading this brand-new fantasy series and it has been quite interesting so far!  

PERSONAL LIFE.

As you might have noticed, I devoured a lot of comic books this month and it’s all due to my recent digital access to a variety of stories through my library. If I keep up this pacing, I’ll end up breaking personal records by the end of the year and something about this is just so exciting! I mean, think about it, instead of feeling like there’s too many books and too little time, I now feel like I could read everything! 😛

I’ve been wondering, however, how I could share these reads with you guys since I don’t exactly do digital reviews on my blog. I was thinking of maybe creating a new feature that I would occasionally publish to blitz-share a bunch of them in one post with short thoughts on them. Or just create shorter, individual reviews for them? Then the focus won’t be spread out on multiple titles… I’m not sure what format you guys would prefer (at least those who are interested in finding out). Do let me know if you have a recommendation, I’ll take it into consideration, especially if it’s not time-consuming.

The month in itself flew by as well as it did feel like time flew by extra quick. Maybe the sudden re-opening of stores, the first true taste of summer, and the freedom to manage your time at your own pace helped in making it feel like it was a calm yet quick month. I’ve also discovered a brand-new digital workplace application thanks to my girlfriend (who always ends up dragging me into things I’d never really look for heheh) that pretty much allows me to do and have everything I need in one place and to manage my life better. I might end up sharing it with you guys at some point when I’ll have mastered its features but so far it has been magical!

I have been craving for a good long vacation away from everything during this month too but the pandemic has been quite an obstacle. I imagine everyone feels the same. To be teleported away from all the non-sense that continues to spread everyday as we slowly enter the infamous second-wave in certain regions of the world. Hopefully the books I pick up will allow me to escape the doo-doo around me! 🙂

Teleporting GIFs - Get the best GIF on GIPHY

Thank you all for checking out my monthly wrap-up and don’t forget to check out any posts that might interest you or that you might have missed out on!

Stay tuned for my Monthly Anticipation post coming out soon. 😉

So what’s going on with y’all? What have you discovered this month? What are your thoughts on the books/TV series/movies I’ve checked out?

Yours truly,

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Published by Lashaan Balasingam @ Roars and Echoes

Reader. Reviewer. Researcher. Criminology Ph.D. Candidate. Montreal, Quebec (Canada). Want to know more? Connect with him!

49 thoughts on “My Monthly Wrap-Up | June 2020”

  1. I enjoyed Awakenings, all those years ago 🙂 And I’m interested in Watchmen, though I had burned myself somewhat badly on prequels, so I’m hesitant 😉 Maybe I’ll just wait for your full review, Lashaan! 😀
    As for short reviews/batches, I can only repeat the advice Bookstooge gave me – bundling more than one review into a post messes up the tag system quite a lot 😉 So far, I have opted for a mini-review system, or just a whole-series per a review system, which worked for me earlier, but the first one I only tried on GR as of yet and I’m not sure if I should incorporate it on the blog as well.
    Have a great July, Lashaan!

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    1. It sure makes me miss Robin Williams’s movies now. So many of his stuff were a huge part of my childhood too.

      I completely understand for those prequels hahaha I got my hands on them for a while now and just need to sit down and binge through the disaster myself now. 😛 But, in all honesty, I think it’s safe for me to recommend the show to you, knowing your love for the original graphic novel. Your vote is noted though, I’ll try and squeeze that review into my schedule somewhere. 😀

      That’s a good point for the whole tag system. I think the thing that sort of makes the difference here is that reviews in a post full of mini-reviews wouldn’t necessarily mean that I wouldn’t do a full review for a specific one in the future. I think that’s where I might be able to escape the whole tag system problem too. Thank you a lot for your input on this though, I appreciate it a lot!

      Have a fantastic month of July too, Ola! 😀

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      1. I’ll be looking forward to your review, then 😀
        And for your solution to the mini-review problem! I’m still on the fence about this one, I’m quite fond of my lengthy ruminations! 😉

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  3. Do you know, I’ve never seen Awakenings so I really should get on that! Glad you enjoyed Watchmen, I think it fell apart a little towards the end but overall I was pretty impressed…wonder if a second season will ever happen as it feels like there are more stories to tell in that world.

    So you’ve opened the digital can of worms then…it’s a blessing and a curse, you’ll find yourself reading things you might not have otherwise done but end up lost in all the choice and end up with an endless backlog (like me haha).

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    1. I can definitely recommend it. It had similar vibes to Good Will Hunting, but Good Will Hunting got all give stars for me and is a masterpiece to my eyes hahah

      It did feel like there were a couple of ideas that didn’t hit as hard as they should’ve but I was quite impressed by what they ultimately achieved with the TV series. I’d be really curious to see what anyone would dare do with a season 2, if ever. There’s definitely potential for a mini-universe within that series, especially a True Detective/Fargo type of series where each season has a different cast!

      Hahahahahah I can already relate. It’s insane how much digital reading I can get done. I’m mostly doing digitals for things that I have little chance of actually paying for and it helps a lot in reading some of the average-to-better series that I could never get myself to pay for! 😛

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  4. You’re one of the few people who are actually active in Letterboxd! Love to see more of the movies you watched, I have been rubbish lately at watching more movies. Curious to read your thoughts on The Final Empire (going over to your blog post right after this) since it’s been in my TBR for a while and I’m contemplating on buying the trilogy soon 😀

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    1. Letterboxd has been magical for me in terms of tracking what I watch and as a cinephile, it has also allowed me to get some wonderful recommendations through it too! You can add me on it if you want (my name on it is Punjabi1337). Ohhh, I can only recommend The Final Empire to everyone who enjoys fantasy. It’s a milestone type of book in fantasy literature! 😛

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  5. Does Bleach end at that volume? Or just that particular story arc? Either way, kudos to you for reading so long. As much as I want to hope it stays good for you, the reality is that manga lasts as long as it keeps producing money. And most long running series are running on momentum :-/

    As for reviewing digital stuff, think about it in the long term, if you care. If you ever want to link to a specific title, or even a series, having a post with 5+ little blurbs is a killer. But if your goal is to simply get a few words out there, then a post like that works great. Also, writing up 5 little posts can be much more time consuming than writing up 1 bigger post. At some point the writing tries to take over and you have to rein it in. Personally, I’m all for little posts focused on an individual volume or series. But it IS a lot more work too.

    I don’t care about Watchmen, so I’ll gladly cast a negative vote 😀

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    1. The final story arc (Thousand Year Blood War) began with volume 55 and ends at volume 74. The longest one of the whole series and by far the most over-stretched one with the most flaws too. You can tell that he was rushing his way to the end. I heard that he regrets it too and that doesn’t surprise me. Back in high school, I never got around to finishing this manga and it’s why I decided to re-read it ever since my whole rekindling with manga last year hahaha I’ll definitely share my overall thoughts on the manga, sort of like I did with Death Note, once I’m done. It’s really sad that it’s going downhill, to be honest.

      I definitely appreciate the input on what structure I should try to go for. I think the main purpose I want for these posts is to share quick thoughts on them rather than fully-scrutinize the story. Since I don’t own them physically, I feel less inclined to go in detail for them. I also think that if I feature them in these “smaller digital reviews” then it won’t necessarily mean they won’t show up in a “full physical review” in the future, especially if I end up loving it so much that I want to own the book hahah

      Not surprised for Watchmen. Hahahahaha

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  6. Wow! If you hold the Lightbringer series in such high regard, I think I’ll give it another try. I started with the first book a few years back, but just couldn’t get into it. Now, it’s definitely on my shortlist for the next big fantasy series along with Michael J Sullivan’s 6-part ‘The Legends of the First Empire’ series.

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    2. Oh man, I heard a couple of people struggle with the first book but I was just so mesmerized by the characters and the magic system that I just wanted to see where things would possibly go and it didn’t disappoint me hahaha I do hope you have a good time with it when you give it a 2nd chance!

      I have Sullivan’s series ready to be read too! It always sounded soooo good and I can’t wait to find out more about it! Happy reading! 😀

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    1. Thanks, Nicki! Oh my goodness, that is unfair! 😛 I wasn’t born yet though, so I can’t complain too much but to be able to watch Robin Williams and De Niro on the big screen like that is wayyyy too cool. 😛

      Hahahah thanks for your input on those digital reviews. I’m definitely starting to have a better idea of how I want to structure those! 😀

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  8. Ooh I’ve never heard of Awakenings but that sounds like my kind of movie!

    Re. your potential digital reviews… hmm.. I quite like the sound of a post of mini reviews. I’ve seen other people do that and I always think it’s a pretty fun and effective way of doing things – especially when you’ve read so many!

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  11. Wow, you read many comic books. I would like to read 3-5 mini reviews of those digital books.
    I agree everyone feel like needing vacation. We are thinking to fly back to my hometown. Cases are increasing a lot here and government might announce lock down again in city I live. Hospitals are worst here. It will be better at my parents’ home, at least as we have docs in family who will know what to do in case anything happened.

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    1. Hahahah I didn’t even realize till I had to count them too. 😛 Duly noted for the format proposition. Thanks, Yesha! 🙂
      Oh man, that sounds like a nightmare. I hope you’re taking care of yourself and your loved ones and staying away from all that chaos as much as you can, Yesha. Stay safe!

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  12. Awakenings, I’d forgotten all about that movie. I remember very much enjoying it. Robin Williams really had some great moments. And Kiki’s was a lot of fun. I’ve always enjoyed Miyazaki. I’ve read different reviews of We Ride the Storm, so I’m curious to hear your take on it. I’d enjoy hearing your take on the different comic series you read, but not sure I care much what format you choose. Doing one for an entire run, kind of what would eventually be collected into a trade paperback format, might be a way to review an entire storyline (of sorts). If you manage to get a vacation I certainly hope it’s a good one! 🙂

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    1. Movies like those make me miss Robin Williams, especially in his more “serious” roles. He was a phenomenal actor and unfortunate loss.

      Kiki was such a delightful movie! I loved how much heart it had, how it showed us the kindness in the world and went for such an innocent coming of age story. Another great Ghibli movie.

      I look forward to sharing my thoughts for We Ride the Storm. I’ve only seen people have extremely positive thoughts on it so far. Hopefully, it’s the beginning of another great fantasy series.

      I appreciate the input on the post format. Ultimately, I guess I’ll probably end up exploring multiple formats if something seems off and could be done better. One thing’s for sure, I’ve read some digital stuff that just needs some sharing! 😀

      Thanks for everything, Todd! Stay awesome and happy reading, good sir! 🙂

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  13. I quite like mini reviews, both reading and writing them. Normally, I collate a couple in one post, but that is due to convenience. Doing them separately works fine as well. And yes, I definitely wouldn’t be averse to a nice vacation, but let’s see how quickly the world will open up again. So far the situation doesn’t seem to be quite stable and things could change between booking the holiday and actually going.

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    1. Thanks for your input on the format. It helps to know how people feel when they come across those kinds of posts hahah

      I feel like almost everything re-opened over here and it’s only a matter of time before something breaks and Quarantine Part II begins. I do hope that things will get brighter and better before 2020 ends though! 😮

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  14. Dude!! Me too, yo! I want a nice, long vacation from everything. Maybe a vacation from 2020? Lol! But yeah, craving a vacay. I took some time off, but I’ll of course spend it at home 😦 I’d love to go the beach, but everyone’s going to the beach, ugh!
    Anyway, both formats for the comics sound good – bunches and individual. I do the bunched reviews sometimes especially if it’s on short work and the review might be quick/short-ish.

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    1. Hahahh I like the sound of a vacation from 2020. Someone needs to invent time-traveling already. I want to go somewhere with just trees and some kind of water source, amazing weather, and no worries in my head. It would make all the difference! 😮

      I’ll have to test out the bunched reviews myself. I feel like I might be tempted to say a lot sometimes and I’ll have to learn to tame myself hahaha

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      1. I was saying something similar to my cuz. I told her after all this is over (hopefully) we should go see the redwoods in California or something.

        Lol! That happens to me a lot, actually, and I’ll end up scrapping my bunched reviews plan. But, yea man, test it out and see 🙂

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  15. Looks like you had a good month! I agree that June didn’t seem to last as long as the last couple months have. And I vote for a post with a bunch of shorter reviews to share all your digital comics. I do something like that at the end of every month with all the books I didn’t formally review and it’s one of my most popular posts everything month. And I always like seeing them on other blogs too :-). I hope your July goes well!

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    1. Hopefully, July will feel more normal to us! Ohhhh, your Reviewing the Unreviewed! That’s really cool to hear. I’m leaning more and more towards doing something similar myself, making it a swift and easy post for you guys to learn about a couple of books and be tempted to pick them up afterward. 😀 Thanks for your input, Stephanie! 😀

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    1. I’m not much of a fan of Twitter, especially when most people I interact with are on WordPress rather than Twitter. I’ll probably have to try and be as concise as necessary. After all, if they get too lengthy, I’ll know I could do a full review or something for it hahah

      Welp. That sounds disappointing. Hopefully, we’ll be able to enjoy a good vacation in the upcoming months. Or next year…

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  18. I really need to to watch Kiki’s Delivery Service sometime. I love the other Studio Ghibli movies I’ve seen. ❤
    We recently watched the Watchmen series as well and were really impressed. It was so well done. And like you said, very timely indeed.

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    1. Ohhh, it’s such a light-hearted and beautiful story filled with gentle things that makes you all warm and fuzzy inside! So far, not a single Ghibli movie has disappointed me hahah

      I’m so glad to hear that you share my quick thoughts on Watchmen. It really did achieve the impossible by being creative with the Watchmen universe. 😀

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  19. You got that right — that books are really the only way to escape from all the doo-doo going on. The next best thing to traveling is reading. Take me away, Culligan Man (that was an ancient commercial for a water heater).

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  20. Oww good luck for finishing Bleach, Lashaan and I hope you’ll share the ending with me since I’m certainly not going to read the last awful volumes 😂😇
    Hahaha I’m sure your girlfriend is really happy you’re enjoying Notion that much and can’t wait to read whatever you want to write about it 😍
    And I think it’s a great idea to share short reviews of your digital books! 😊 I also totally agree with you about some long vacation far away from this world! Should we go together? 🥰

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    1. Oh yes, I don’t think I’d ever allow you to finish Bleach too. The final story arc has been truly disappointing to this point. Ahahahah thank YOU for making substitute the previous app for this one too. Notion makes everything else that exist seem so insignificant hahaha I wouldn’t go on a vacation without you anyway! 😛

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