My Monthly Wrap-Up | January 2023

Posted on by Lashaan Balasingam @ Roars and Echoes

Hi guys,

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: 5 (-).
Comic books read: 11 (-).
Manga volumes read: 17 (-).

Viewing Breakdown.

Movies Watched: 12 (-).
TV Series’ Seasons Watched and completed: (0).

Gaming Breakdown.

Marvel’s Avenger (Completed and to be reviewed).
Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor (Completed and to be reviewed).
The Last of Us Part I Remake (Currently Playing).

BOOK REVIEWS.

Sword of Destiny by Andrzej Sapkowski.
The Nutcracker by E.T.A. Hoffmann.
The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien.
A Girl’s Story by Annie Ernaux.

COMIC BOOK REVIEWS.

Deadly Class (Vol. 1): Reagan Youth by Rick Remender.
Infinite Frontier by Joshua Williamson.

MOVIE REVIEWS.

Batman & Robin (1997).

TV SERIES REVIEWS.

The Legend of Korra (2012-2014) Season 3.

VIDEO GAME REVIEWS.

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion (2022).

MISCELLANEOUS POSTS.

Top DC Comics Live-Action Movies.
United States of America 2023: New York.

TOP BOOK.

The Two Towers (Lord of the Rings #2) by J.R.R. Tolkien.

My thoughts: Without a doubt, this is the best book I’ve read this month and so far this year!

You can check out my review by clicking here.

LEAST FAVOURITE BOOK.

Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer.

My thoughts: I decided to finally listen to the audiobook of this beloved book but I’m unfortunately not the one who will praise it… Something tells me the movie is WAY better though…

TOP MOVIE.

Of the 12 movies I watched in January 2023, Flee (2021) was my favourite.

What is Flee (2021) about? It tells the extraordinary true story of a man, Amin, on the verge of marriage which compels him to reveal his hidden past for the first time.

My thoughts: This was a terrifying, intimate, and eye-opening animated documentary beautifully capturing the emotive and scarring predicament of fleeing home and the challenge of finding and accepting a new one.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

CURRENTLY READING.

My thoughts: My Tolkien fever continues. As soon as I finished The Return of the King yesterday, I decided to tackle The Silmarillion. Overexcited, I’m having a hard time just sitting down to read the preface!!!

PERSONAL LIFE.

January was a wonderful month, filled with memorable moments, yet not too many to kill the balance I strived for. For Christmas, my girlfriend and I were gifted tickets to watch the Cowboys Fringants, a folk rock music group at a concert and we were absolutely delighted by the experience, especially by this beloved local group that garnered incredible success for the past years. The whole concert was packed and everyone was in such a happy and united mood, like a huge family, excited to be there.

Halfway into the month, I also got around to revisiting New York City on a three-day road trip and had a blast being a tourist down there. As per usual, doing these trips does make me want to do countless more but then my wallet tells me to calm down. That’s life. 😀

Reading and blogging-wise, I couldn’t be happier by the numbers I was able to achieve. I don’t know if I can maintain this tempo every month but if I do, it would be the best reading year I ever had. I do wonder if it’s the routine I found late last year that helps me do this but I’m definitely happy about it all. On top of that, reading Tolkien’s Middle-Earth stuff and playing the games based on his universe also put me in such a huge Tolkien fantasy mood lately that I have a hard time imagining myself stopping! I do look forward to putting out my review for The Return of the King soon.

This month, for our little One Country Per Month project, we had Zimbabwe. Unfortunately, it’s a bit complicated to find restaurants or even ingredients to get a “taste” of the country (similar to Gabon the month before). However, I got around to reading Tsitsi Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions which I found interesting in its portrayal of colonialism and gender roles through the story of a girl looking to get the education she dreams of. We also got around to watching a documentary released in 2009 called Mugabe & The White African which turned out to be quite disquieting, capturing the courage of white farmers against the racially-motivated and discriminatory wrath of ex-leader Robert Mugabe in a battle for decolonization and justice. Despite these heavier subjects, there are some gorgeous places in Zimbabwe, just look up the Victoria Falls.

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!

32 thoughts on “My Monthly Wrap-Up | January 2023”

  2. Glad to hear your experience with Lord of the Rings was a positive one. I hope you enjoy The Silmarillion and I’ll be curious to know what you think once you’ve finished it, whether you’re in the crowd who was disappointed or who found it interesting despite it’s differences with LotR.

    I had to laugh when you said something tells you the movie version of Into the Wild is way better than the book. I can’t really speak to any comparison but I hated the movie. I have friends who loved it, but I just couldn’t sympathize with the character. Hopefully you’ll enjoy it more than I if you watch it. I doubt I’ll ever get around to reading the book. I think I’d much rather reread LotR again. 🙂

    And Victoria Falls certainly is a gorgeous location, though I’ve only ever seen photos and videos. Can’t wait to hear what your next country is.

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    1. So far into the book, I can already tell you that I’m beyond interested and happy to be reading it. There’s so much to learn and discover on how Middle-Earth came to be! I just got through the segment about the Seven Father Dwarves. What a brilliant way to create these short lads! 😀

      Ahahahaha no way! I often hear the movie turned out to be amazing and depressing for many. Based on what I know from the audiobook, I can imagine how but how the story was initially written really gave me no reason to care for the protagonist and his careless behaviour… And yes, I’d rather recommend LotR over this ANY time hahah

      Same for me. If I were to visit, I’d definitely make it my number 1 stop though!

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      1. I have no respect for him at all. Might be seen as a racist remark, but I was glad he finally died, eventhough the people over there are idiot enough to believe he can still reign from the grave.

        Liked by 1 person

      1. Oh, I read (and re-read, although not so many times as with the LOTR) the Silmarillion and the Hobbit and I have the complete collection of the History of Middle Earth, even though I did not read every volume – but never say never…. 😉
        Yes, I’m something of a huge fan of the Professor! 😀

        Liked by 1 person

      1. Lol. I had to re-take French in high school because it didn’t “stick” the first time around. Meanwhile, all my buddies wound up taking Spanish and said it was easier. I don’t know about that, but I’ve admittedly forgotten more of the language than retained by now!

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  13. Well I see that you had a great month Lashaan! Also kudos for blogging so much! I struggled this past week as my worklife was hectic!

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  14. What a great January Lashaan! I’ll be very curious to read what you thought of the Silmarillion, because I found it harder to read than the LOTR trilogy, even though some parts are just beautiful! Same thing for the movie Into the Wild! I haven’t read the book, but quite liked the movie for its music and overall aesthetic – though it’s been a long time so maybe I should rewatch it! Have a great month of February!

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    1. Thanks, Juliette! I’m over 50% done with Silmarillion and am adoring every moment of it so far hahah I look forward to sharing my thoughts on that soon. 😀 I definitely plan on checking out the movie in the near future too, finally being able to understand why people talked about it so much back when it was released. I hope February has been awesome so far for you. 😀

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