My Monthly Wrap-Up | February 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: 7 (↓4).
Manga volumes read: 10 (↓7).

Viewing Breakdown.

Movies Watched: 18 (↑6).
TV Series’ Seasons Watched and completed: (0).

Gaming Breakdown.

The Last of Us Part I Remake (Completed and To Be Reviewed).
Gotham Knights (Currently Playing).
Middle-Earth: Shadow of War (Currently Playing).

BOOK REVIEWS.

The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien.
We Could Almost Eat Outside: An Appreciation of Life’s Small Pleasures by Philippe Delerm.
The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien.

COMIC BOOK REVIEWS.

Gotham Central, Book Three: On the Freak Beat by Greg Rucka and Ed Brubaker.
Batman (Vol. 6): Abyss by Joshua Williamson.

MOVIE REVIEWS.

Howard the Duck (1986).
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001).

VIDEO GAME REVIEWS.

Marvel’s Avengers (2020).
Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor (2014).

MISCELLANEOUS POSTS.

A Lord of the Rings Marathon.
A Year of Roars and Echoes.

TOP BOOK.

The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien.

My thoughts: It’s everything I could have ever asked for when it comes to world/mythology-building. Nothing today really matches the professor’s imagination back in the day.

You can check out my review by clicking here.

LEAST FAVOURITE BOOK.

Dark Souls by George Mann.

My thoughts: It wasn’t wise of me to have even tempted this. I thought it wouldn’t be so bad, that I’d be momentaneously happy to dive into a video game world that I adore, this time in the form of a graphic novel… but… nop. This was absolutely soulless… Pun very much intended.

TOP MOVIE.

Of the 18 movies I watched in February 2023, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) was indisputably my favourite.

What is The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) about? A meek Hobbit from the Shire and eight companions set out on a journey to destroy the powerful One Ring and save Middle-earth from the Dark Lord Sauron.

My thoughts: It was a towering epic fantasy movie masterwork brilliantly introducing the creation of the fellowship and their treacherous quest across a gorgeously rendered Middle-Earth.

You can read more about my thoughts by checking out my review here.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

CURRENTLY READING.

Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-Earth by J.R.R. Tolkien.

My thoughts: I’m having a very hard time letting go of Tolkien’s legendarium so there’s no surprise here that I’m now working my way through his Unfinished Tales. 😛

PERSONAL LIFE.

It sure felt like this was the shortest month of the year! Despite that, I’m quite happy with how the month went down, once more, proving to myself that I could establish and maintain some form of equilibrium in all things I do. When it comes to reading and blogging, I couldn’t be happier with how things went. I was also able to check out a couple of movies and progress through games at a pretty satisfying pace. Even when it comes to work and university, I stuck to my program and got things done without impacting the other things I might have had to do throughout the month, e.g. various responsibilities or social outings. Things really just fit wonderfully into my schedule and I could only pray it’ll continue into March. But, hey, to begin the month with a Lord of the Rings marathon really does give one all the hope and motivation you need to face any obstacles afterward.

This month, for our little One Country Per Month project, we had Cyprus and it has quite the history! I wasn’t aware until now how divided the country actually is and how problematic the division actually is in terms of the “right to occupy”, with Greek Cypriots on one side and Turkish Cypriots on the other. I sure wouldn’t want to find myself on the thin line between both sides. For this month, I decided to read Panos Ionannides’ collection of short stories called Gregory and Other Stories. These stories were apparently award winners but, having gone through them, I can’t say how that’s even possible. I’m giving it the benefit of the doubt and blaming it on the translation or something… We also plan on checking out tonight Cypriot director Michael Cacoyannis’ 1964 comedy-drama called Zorba the Greek and will be eating fried halloumi (which is very popular there and is actually delicious if you have never tried it yourself).

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!

36 thoughts on “My Monthly Wrap-Up | February 2023”

  1. Your description of your experience of Dark Souls reminds me of when I was really into the card game, Magic: The Gathering, and I tried reading a prose novel written in the world of that game. Pretty much the same experience as you had, but at least the book came with a card for the game. Granted, I’d probably not have purchased it if it hadn’t. 🙂

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    1. I second that, halloumi is great 🙂 Cyprus in general – also great, perfect weather, nice beaches, rich history. The division is tragic, I was on the Greek side and had some discussions with locals.

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  3. You definitely had a very busy month, Lashaan. You may have only read 5 books, but you did pick some hefty ones. Glad your month ended on a high note with your Cyprus activities, even with the rather unsatisfying read.

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  6. Wow, I really need to catch up on your posts Lashaan! It’s great that you managed to maintain a balance in all the things that you do! And yay for fried halloumi, I love it, even though we didn’t have any this month! 🥲

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    1. Hahah don’t worry about it! You’re going through some of the most intense moments of your life and you definitely need to focus on that more than anything else. 😉 Hey, it’s never too late to eat halloumi. It continues to be one of the greatest little things to eat here and then. It’s soooooo good. 😛

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  7. I loved deep fried halloumi hope you enjoy as well! My friends visited Cyprus a while back and ended up in the North by mistake and said it was like a ghost town. There was a big tourist drive a few years ago not sure how that went but I bet it would be an interesting part of the island to visit.

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    1. Halloumi is sooo, sooooo good! I forget every time but when we got to eat it, it’s impossible to not realize how godly it is! We saw videos on what the Turkish side of Cyprus was like and wow, it’s quite shocking. It’s like entering a whole other country and not necessarily a country that kept up with the times!

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      1. I tried the aforementioned Lost Tales and that was about it. My 2nd go-around with the Silmarillion made me realize that only 4 of Tolkien’s books would ever work for me and that I just needed to accept that fact.
        I am now at peace that I am not a Tolkienophile….

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  9. Oh, how I understand your reluctance about leaving Middle Earth! Enjoy your continued journey 🙂

    And leaving the poetic for the prosaic, I wonder if the fried halloumi you mentioned is akin to “saganaki”, i.e. fried feta cheese, which is one of my very favorite Greek dishes (and one I’m happily able to replicate at home)

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    1. Have you heard that they plan on making more movies soon (not related to Rings of Power)? I dread it but am quite excited that as Tolkien fans, we’re getting more, especially when there are so many great stories they could adapt!

      I looked up what saganaki was and I can confirm that it’s pretty much the same principle but with halloumi cheese! I’d love to try that variant now too, just to see how it compares!

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      1. I saw something online about new movies but have not pursued those news yet: like you, I’m a little worried because much depends on the choice of material that will go into the scripts, but I will keep my fingers crossed….

        And enjoy the saganaki! 😉

        Liked by 1 person

      2. There are rumours that they’re trying to get Peter Jackson back on the map for these future movies. Knowing that the Hobbit trilogy was his last effort in all things Middle-earth, I can’t tell if it’s a good thing or not hahah It’ll for sure be a nice selling point though.

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    1. I never did. I actually used to be the kind of reader who’d check out the first book of a bunch of a series and barely find time for sequels. I do like picking up a new book by the same author one after the other though. It really changes things from the usual. I have no idea if I’ll go through a burnout eventually but for now, I’m lovin’ it. 😉

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