Entertainment Worth Exploring
What Have I Enjoyed in 2025
Every year I set a goal to read 20 books, and to explore as many great stories as I possibly can. I generally like to experience stories through the mediums of TV, Feature Films, Documentaries, Podcasts, Sports and Video Games. Below is a list of the entertainment I have explored so far in 2025 and my quick thoughts on each of these items. I am sure most of these items are experienced by many people and have been dissected extensively, but I like to write and process my thoughts through writing. I plan to update this list at the end of 2025.
Books (13 of 20 complete as of end of July)
The Legacy by R.A. Salvatore - A warm blanket for me. I always come back to The Legend of Drizzt books when I just want something that goes down easy and tells a fun adventure.
Wind and Truth by Brandon Sanderson - A points the Stormlight Archive has felt like an Albatross. The Way of the Kings was one of the best epic fantasy books I have ever read and as arc one of the story went along I wavered as to whether or not the investment was worth it. Ultimately, finishing Kaladin’s story was very much worth it and the end was worth the investment of time.
Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live by Susan Morrison - A great biography that is also an excellent look into perseverance and leadership. This biography did a great job highlighting what it takes to manage the most volatile and creative people that modern TV has created. Also, I learned a lot about the personal perseverance that Lorne Michaels had to have to even get to the creation point of SNL. This was a great counterpoint to one of my favorite bio-pic(ish)’s A Futile and Stupid Gesture which shows the pitfalls of chasing comedy and fame as compared to SNL which was chasing longevity with comedy.
Slow Horses (Slough House #1) by Mick Herron - A great spy novel that takes some common tropes and flips them over. I love the character of Jackson Lamb.
Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson - A really great social sciences / current events book which provides a counter to the prevailing politics of the US which has been in place since Reagan’s first term, which boils down to an economy run by scarcity. Abundance was a very thorough and thoughtful examination on how our government should pivot to providing abundance to people instead of cutting programs and the ability of local governments to produce for their constituents. I will write more thoughts about this in the future.
Blooming Through Loss: Tending to Grief with the BloomPath by Eryn Elder - I am not a big consumer of self-help books, but as someone who has experienced great personal loss, I really connected with the BloomPath model as a mental model. I thought it was a great way to think about grief and how it affects one both internally and externally and how to use both of those modalities to integrate the loss into one’s life. A really well thought out and easy to follow book especially for this author’s debut book.
On the Edge: The Art of Risking Everything by Nate Silver - I was not able to get all the way through this book. I appreciate the central concept of the book, but felt like it was a stretch to try and turn the entire thought into a full length book.
Dead Lions (Slough House #2) by Mick Herron - Continued the story of Slough House brilliantly and I still really enjoy these characters.
Starless Night by R.A. Salvatore - Same review as I wrote for The Legacy.
Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism by Sarah Wynn-Williams - A really interesting memoir. I am very excited for more stories similar to this one to be written. This story did a great job exploring what a company that goes from small start-up to redefining the media and communication industry (i.e. the internet). Also, it is very interesting to understand at a deeper level how involved their executive leadership is in day-to-day efforts and whether or not these companies can exist long term on their own. The biggest takeaway from this book for me was to wonder if Meta / Facebook can survive without Zuckerberg leading or without just fully monopolizing its industry (which it is clearly trying to do).
Real Tigers (Slough House #3) by Mick Herron - Still really enjoy these characters and want to read more about Jackson Lamb, River Cartwright and Diana Taverner.
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro - I always love a great sci-fi concept from a Japanese author. It seems like non-US authors always explore sci-fi concepts from a much more cerebral POV than American authors. This was a really great novel that dug into the humanity of artificial intelligence and what society may look like when the metrics for human success are borderline in their ethical implications. Telling this type of story through the perspective of a family that has experienced tremendous loss and how every character moves on from that point was really fascinating and added layers to the characters without bashing the reader over the head with the moral of the story. I won’t give any spoilers, but a really great case study of a unique world (which may exist in our future) through a full “life” cycle of a character.
I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman - I don’t think I have ever read a novel quite like this one. It was a unique story (I guess I would say a sci-fi genre) with a unique point of view. A world that is completely devoid of a masculine voice in the story and an amazing logistical breakdown of what it would take to survive in a world without any sort of modern society. The world is mysterious and the characters are a completely blank slate that have to be built up. It was amazing to me how much the author fit into their world with so few words.
TV, Sports and Movies - I won’t comment on all of these, just wanted to list some stuff I enjoyed.
Andor Season 1 and 2 - I have a lot to say about this show. It might be my favorite show ever created along with The Sopranos. The amount of effort put into this show to really understand human behavior throughout history and the story of authoritarian rule and the eventual rebellion against that rule. Also, the ability to explain these massive concepts which happen across many years and involve thousands or millions of people through the lens of a few core characters was just amazing. This might be one of the best accidental documentaries ever created.
The Studio - It was fine and definitely had very funny moments.
Stick - I really love this show. I am a sucker for a show with several characters that have a serious trauma and they are trying to find a way forward together. Especially when the show has characters that are funny and extremely charismatic like Owen Wilson and Marc Maron. I enjoy shows that make me feel good even if they are sometimes exploring really heavy topics.
MurderBot - It started rough, but ended well. I am excited to see more.
Yellowjackets Season 1
The OceanGate thing on Netflix - It makes me sad that documentaries have been reduced to this type of medium on Netflix.
F1 The Movie - I didn’t realize how much I miss stories where the classic sports trope of having the hero be the person doing it for the love of the sport instead of money and fame is the central plot point. I yearn for the days where people like this exist, people with passion and not just yuppie schmucks that are chasing money and fame. A very entertaining and simple film.
The NBA and the playoffs and Finals - Some of the best drama in recent sports memory. The young, upstart juggernaut that was the OKC Thunder getting pushed to the brink by my favorite team, The Nuggets (Nuggets would have won if AG was healthy in G7). Then again going to a G7 in the Finals against the other young, upstart team from the East, the Pacers. Also, I never thought I would actively root for the the Pacers, but when Haliburton went down with an obviously torn achilles it was heartbreaking and I really wanted his team to win G7 for him. Also, I didn’t even touch on Tatum’s injury and the Knicks and how fun they are to hate (I hate the iso ball style they play with Brunson and hope that changes with Mike Brown). I cannot wait for next season as the East is a toss-up (I hope the Sixers can make a run, I feel bad for them at this point and I really like Maxey) and the West is a powerhouse at the top (I love the Nuggets offseason)!
The NFL - I don’t remember anything about this past season. I guess my team, the Cowboys, have the highest average attendance and the franchise is the most valuable, so there is that... Will this be the year I finally stop caring about the NFL (probably not).
Delicious in Dungeon - I don’t watch much anime, but this show was amazing. The visuals and voice acting paired with the music and story was amazing. Every episode made me super hungry and I wanted to learn to cook some of those dishes (with regular meat and not monster meat). I really loved the concept of the show and can’t wait to see more.
Podcasts - I haven’t really found any new podcasts so I will just list the ones I regularly listen to and really, really love.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The Rewatchables
Post Games - I guess I lied, this one is new and I love hearing Chris Plante’s reporting and perspective on the video game industry
The Besties
Triple Click - This continues to be my absolutely favorite podcast
Strong Songs
The Energy Curfew Radio Hour - I love the oddball concept behind this show and the music is just so lovely.
The Zach Lowe Show
Video Games and TableTop Games
Clair Obscur Expedition 33 - One of the best narrative games I have ever played. It was a truly moving story and I loved the combat mechanism. I really can’t wait to see what the new studio Sandfall Interactive makes next.
Metaphor Refantazio - This was the first and probably the last Atlus game I play. I really like JRPGs, but this game was an absolute slog to get through.
Crosscode - I rediscovered this game and really loved its charming story and visuals.
Mario Kart World - It is more Mario Kart and really fun.
Donkey Kong Bananza - Just starting it and really love it.
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4 - A really fun game to jump into for 20 minutes.
Ark Nova - I love this game and will play it until the day I die. It gets me into my zen state.
Time Lancers - A really fun concept and I am still working on figuring out the game.
Great Western Trail
Dune Imperium Uprising and all of its expansions
Apiary - A great worker placement game
Well that is it for now. I will continue my quest for great stories and experiences. If anyone reads this and finds something new they are interested in please let me know!