My Monthly Anticipation | December 2020

Posted on by Lashaan Balasingam @ Roars and Echoes

Hello ladies & gentlemen,

Who doesn’t love the anticipation of new releases and things that they plan on doing? Every month there seems to be something new and exciting ready to hit the market for our consumption.

Being ready to embrace them with open arms is all we can really do.

To showcase this, I’ll be sharing my top 3 for each category of things that I look forward to this month right here, right now!

TO BE READ.

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Over the Woodward Wall by A. Deborah Baker;
Release Date: October 6th, 2020.

Time to finally finish this little one up this month and find out what it’s all about!

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Call of the Bone Ships by R.J. Barker;
Release Date: November 24th, 2020.

The first book of this new trilogy was a formidable and original tale filled with pirates and dragons. I can’t wait to see where this sequel will go next!

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Chaos by Iris Johansen;
Release Date: September 1st, 2020.

To mix things up a little, I’m going to dive into this mystery thriller; I’ve often seen this author’s name before but I never really had the chance to discover what she writes!

BOOK RELEASES.

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Hollow Empire by Sam Hawke;
Release Date: December 1st, 2020.

I read the first book, City of Lies, back when it was first released and haven’t really kept track of when its sequel was coming out and here we are.

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Lockdown Tales by Neal Asher;
Release Date: December 15th, 2020.

I’m featuring this latest collection of novella for my man Bookstooge who vouches for this series with his giant iron! I have been meaning to dive into the whole Polity universe in the near future but fans will surely rejoice in such an appropriately-titled new collection this month!

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Black Canary: Breaking Silence by Alexandra Monir;
Release Date: December 29th, 2020.

I haven’t ready a single one of the DC ICONS young adult stories that have been released so far but I thought I’d just put this one up here for some of y’all who’d like to visit the 5th book in this collection that gives readers a new origin story for the Black Canary!

COMIC BOOK RELEASES.

Batman / Catwoman #1
Issue #1 of Batman/Catwoman comes out on December 1st, 2020 over at DC Comics (Black Label).

Writer Tom King sure wasn’t done with Batman yet as he finally embarks on his Bat/Cat mini-series project alongside some the greatest artists/colourists in the game!

Justice League: Endless Winter #1
Issue #1 of Justice League: Endless Winter comes out on December 1st, 2020 over at DC Comics.

The latest crossover event begins now as the Frost King enters the DC Universe. While I’m not too excited about this, I’ll definitely keep an eye out on how this event evolves.

King in Black #1
Issue #1 of King in Black comes out on December 2nd, 2020 over at Marvel Comics.

The Knull marches towards Earth and he’s brought an army with him! This epic event puts Venom at the center of it all as he goes up against the God of the Abyss. Exciting stuff!

TV SHOW RELEASES.

Season 2 of Pennyworth premieres on December 13th, 2020 on Epix.

The second season of Pennyworth begins this month! I haven’t had the chance to give it a try yet but it looks far more promising than some other family-friendly DC superhero shows.

The Ripper premieres on December 16th, 2020 on Netflix.

Hard to ever say no to a docuseries about the infamous Ripper! 😉

The Stand premieres on December 17th, 2020 on CBS All Access.

One of Stephen King’s greatest novels gets a new series for fans to indulge! Almost feels like there’s always something King-related every year. 😛

MOVIE RELEASES.

Baby God premieres on December 2nd, 2020.

HBO continues to kill it with their documentaries (although Netflix sure don’t know how to stop revealing new content everyday) but this one really caught my attention. How messed up is this story????

Wonder Woman 1984 premieres on December 25th, 2020 in theaters and streams exclusively on HBO Max.

The wait is over. While I wish they had continued to delay it until the pandemic was closer to its end, I’m still excited that we’ll finally get a superhero movie before 2021! Now… I just need to figure out how I’m going to watch it.

Soul premieres on December 25th on Disney+.

Disney and Pixar’s latest movie is right around the corner and I hope it’ll continue their streak of amazing movies! Hopefully streaming it doesn’t turn it into a flop for them. I felt like Onward was one of those movies that suffered from the arrival of the pandemic, for example.

PERSONAL LIFE.

With this being the final month of 2020, it’s hard not to see it as the month of reflection and introspection. We’re all bound to look back on how the year went down and how we survived it so far. It’s easy to also only look at all the negative that has happened to us and around the world but I like to believe that many of us managed to overcome more obstacles than we’ve ever imagined facing within a year.

Since it’s the last month of the year, I want to turn into a prelude to how I want 2021 to shape up for me and I hope to establish a routine and work methodology that will quickly help me achieve my goals without too much hassle. Now that I’m back to working from home, I have much more control over what and when I do my things too. I can also use my breaks for reading/blogging unlike when I’m in a social environment! 😉

Let’s end this month with a surplus of positivity, my friends!

Positivity GIFs | Tenor

Thank you all for checking out my monthly anticipation post!

Now tell me what you’re looking forward to this month! Any new releases? Anything exciting you plan on doing?

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!

55 thoughts on “My Monthly Anticipation | December 2020”

    1. Yep, I only dared pick this one up because of its stand-alone nature! I am, however, really glad to hear that the Great Kim has experience with her series though. It gives me hope that there’s definitely something enjoyable in her writing! 😛 I hope Monir’s latest DC ICON novel will prove to be good! And yes… let’s not jinx anything though. 2020 seemed promising around December 2019 too… and then this is what we got heheh… 😛

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  3. Oh, Lockdown Tales look very promising indeed!!! 😀
    Man, King and his BatCat fixation is something to be avoided at all costs! 😛 Have you taken a good look at that Catwoman’s hand choking Bats? That’s some big paw – where did she get it (or maybe I should write: off whom)? 😀

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  4. You could just rent out an entire theatre to watch 1984. That’s still probably a more viable option than HBOMax. Or is it HBOGo? As for ending the month with a surplus of positivity… you really haven’t been paying attention this year, have you 😂

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    1. Knowing how people are in general, I doubt renting out a whole theatre will be possible. In fact, I don’t know how they’ll control the seats during such festive periods…

      I think HBO GO is a dying platform, slowly being taken over by HBO MAX now. They need to open that up for people outside the US though…

      Hahahaha hence the Sponge Bob/Squidward gif! Got to stay a bit naive in these kinds of situations. 😛

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  5. Love these posts Lashaan, especially when you reveal what show and films you’re looking forward to. The Wonder Woman looks interesting especially with Kirsten Wiig in that part, very different to who she normally plays! When I first spotted her in the trailer I thought it was Captain Marvel and I was rather confused! 😂

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    1. I too love that section because of how many things I end up discovering through my research hahah It also reminds me of how soon they’re all coming out! Kristen Wiig is playing a role that I’m not used to seeing her in too (a villain with not much humour), so it’s going to interesting to see how she does! Hahaha rest assured that Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) and Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) each have their own thing going! 😛 Glad you enjoyed this post, Nicki! 😀

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  6. Call of the Bone Ships will prove to be all that you expect from it – and MORE! 🙂 Happy reading!
    And changing medium, I’m very curious about the new TV version of The Stand (as hard as it will be watching a story about a pandemic, these days…): the older miniseries was not bad but it felt a little… cheesy at times, so I have high expectations on this one…

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  7. Thanks for the shoutout AND the info. I had no idea he was releasing another new book. I’m not very good about tracking new releases 😉 Guess I’ll be keeping an eye out for that to add to my tbr. A Post-Polity universe seems a bit much but I guess I can roll with it.

    Good luck figuring stuff out. I have a bad feeling I’m going to procrastinate and write and plan everything Christmas Eve and New Years Eve, hahahahahaa.

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  8. This is a month of reflection for me too. Such a weird year! I have hopes that 2021 will be better but the pandemic isn’t going away anytime soon, unfortunately. But on to happier things, I hope you love Call of the Bone Ships! Have a wonderful December, Lashaan😁

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  12. I’m really curious to hear what you think of Iris Johansen. Like you, I’ve seen the name around a lot, she seems to write quite prolifically. But I’ve not yet tried any of her work. And though I most often read the speculative genres like fantasy, sci-fi and horror, I also enjoy branching out once in a while. Have a great month, Lashaan!

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    1. Mystery/thrillers used to be my go-to but the more I grew up, the more I figured SFF was my gateway to escapism, especially when my day-to-day is already heavily focused on crime… 😛 Have a fantastic month of December, Todd! Let’s get through it safely and happily!

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  13. Hello, Lashaan and this looks like a great line up for December. I know we are all hopeful for The Stand show, Asher, and of course your thoughts on all this artwork, downstairs here in USA.

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      1. I know what you mean, I feel like it’s been, for lack of a better term, a metaphorical shit Blizzard the past couple of days around me. But thankfully starting to get better! I know what it’s like to be in real snow!! Be safe. 😉

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  14. I’ve done 2.5 of the DC Icons books (just couldn’t finish the Batman, and can’t bring myself to try Catwoman), haven’t loved the 2 I finished, but they were good enough to keep me looking for more in the series. The Canary volume looks good tho.

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    1. Yeh… Based on what I hear from other bloggers, there’s always something that would greatly annoy me, a lot that has something to do with the YA world too. Wonder Woman seemed to be the most promising one of them all though. Hope this Canary one will change the game.

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  16. I’ve been seeing very good things about that second Bone Ships book. Makes me want to start on the first one immediately, but I’ll wait for the new year.
    I like that about focusing on positivity. And I too am trying to figure out a better schedule for working from home. I’m trying to devise one that doesn’t have me sitting as much.

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  17. Ending the month with a surplus of positivity sounds like a good plan! How do you find working from home? I have mixed feelings – I like the flexibility it offers, but I am getting very insular in a way I know isn’t great for me

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    1. Like you, there are just as many pros and cons to it for me hahah I like that it saves a lot of time that I can put elsewhere, e.g. sleep more, read more, etc. Otherwise, it saddens me to not be able to really interact with various co-workers from other departments and learn more about their own projects/problems! 😛

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  19. I’ve always thought it’s great to start each month with a positive focus on what you look forward to. I think, I mostly look forward to read some more heavy reads in Dec. Maybe I will finally muster the energy for Crime and Punishment? I must admit, it has mostly been easy-readable crime fiction lately. Hope you will enjoy all your selected books and movies and look forward to hear what you think of the Iris Johansen.

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    1. Crime and Punishment being my all-time favourite book, I can only recommend it VERY highly to you and wish that you’ll have a pleasant time with that gem of mine!!! 😀 But I can totally understand the desire for easier/kinder-in-length books though! 😉 Happy reading! 😀

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  20. Very excited to read all of your reviews for December! I was wondering… Do you remember about all the books that you read? I don’t even read half as much as you and always seem to forget if I have read this or that other book 😂 Anyway, I hope this month started off well for you! Thanks for bringing a good dose of positivity to it! 😊

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    1. I only remember those worth remembering! 😉 If it leaves a good enough impression on me, I’m more likely to remember how it went down. Otherwise, I’ll only remember what’s necessary to talk about it or recommend it to others! That’s why I have these reviews to help me remember what I thought of certain books too! 😀 Hope you have a fantastic month of December too, Juliette! Stay safe! 😀

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  22. Love your view on making sure to reflect on the good of 2020 and not just the bad. 🙂 I think it’s been too easy for a lot of us to just get caught up in all the negativity that’s been swirling around this year.
    That’s great that you’re finding ways to squeeze in more time for your goals and interests now that you’re working from home. I’m starting to think about my New Year’s Resolutions now and I know organization and time management are things I really want to work on for my creative pursuits. 😀

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    1. Tell me about it. Although it is fair for many to see 2020 as a dumpster fire, I think it would still benefit a lot of us to see us reflect on the good things we tried to sprinkle into that very dumpster fire! 😛

      Absolutely! I think I too make it a yearly life goal to improve my time management skills. It’s something that’s too easy to lose control of and that’s when things derail hahah Have a fantastic month of Dcember! 😀

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