The Filipino Group discussion

And again, as per tradition, here is the Best of 2014 thread! :D (See the Best of 2013 thread here)

I think most of us like lists, and I believe that the most effective marketing strategy for something is word-of-mouth, so here is the chance for you to share (and plug) all your bests in 2014. "Best" doesn't mean just books but also movies, TV shows, places, discussions, TFG moments, and whatnot. :D Share them here so we can discuss and perhaps add them to our to-read/to-watch/to-visit lists for 2015, too. Or some may dispute them because hey not everyone likes the same things (view spoiler)[(just make sure that when you do dispute some things, you don't forget the group's guidelines, okay? :D) (hide spoiler)]. :)

Looking forward to read your lists! :)

Hi! Posted my best reads on my blog. http://fantaghiro23.blogspot.com/2014...

But in summary, they're:

Locke & Key (the entire series) by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez
Dark Demon Rising by Tunku Halim
Tenth of December by George Saunders
The Everything Store by Brad Stone
The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
Dwellers by Eliza Victoria
Attack on Titan (or Shingeki no Kyojin) by Hajime Isayama (all of it! All of it, I say!)
Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer
The Girl from the Well by Rin Chupeco
An Untamed State by Roxane Gay

Looking forward to seeing others' best of the year lists, too.:)

Hello, writing these lists just like last year:

Favorite Books
1. Atonement by Ian McEwan
2. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
3. The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
4. Stoner by John Williams
5. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

Favorite TV Shows
1. Game of Thrones
and these series that I only started in 2014...
2. Sherlock
3. How I Met Your Mother
4. Doctor Who

Favorite Movies
1. Before Sunset
2. Once
3. Her
4. Atonement
5. Short Term 12
6. Inglorious Basterds

Favorite TFG moments
1. March f2f aka TFG outing
2. April f2f aka #TFGat4 plus the april fool's prank
3. Cloud Atlas buddy reading
4. TFG goes to Fully Booked's The Book Thief Discussion
5. June f2f moderated by Gwaxa and me

BOOKS
1. Love Minus Eighty - Will Macintosh
(view spoiler)[A perfect companion to Her. This is this generation's time capsule. Speaks about love and redemption (plus info over-sharing and voyeurism.) (hide spoiler)]
2. The Summer Tree + The Wandering Fire - Guy Gavriel Kay
(view spoiler)[Emotionally charged and poetic portal fantasy. I could not wait to read the last book. With how much grief and sorrow the characters suffered from in the first 2 books, I predict a tearducts- draught is imminent. (hide spoiler)]
3. The City & The City - China Mieville
(view spoiler)[Cerebral urban fantasy. This was quite an experience. (hide spoiler)]
4. House of Leaves - Mark Z. Danielewski
(view spoiler)[Cerebral horror. This was quite another experience. (hide spoiler)]
5. The History of Love - Nicole Krauss
(view spoiler)[Soaring love passages. Annhilated the cynic in me. (hide spoiler)]

PODCAST
1. Filmspotting
2. Serial ( + Slate's Serial Spoiler Special)
3. Savage Lovecast
4. The Moth
5. Rob Has a Podcast

Notable Mentions: Radiolab, WTF with Marc Maron, Slashfilmcast, Filmspotting SVU, NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour

TV SHOWS
1. The Good Wife
2. True Detective
3. Please Like Me
4. Girls + Looking
5. You're the Worst

Notable Mentions: Rectify, The Affair, Orphan Black, Game of Thrones

MOVIES
2014 Releases
1. HER
(view spoiler)[ It is wonderfully and tragically human. (hide spoiler)]
2. Boyhood
(view spoiler)[ Coming of age movies, just stop. Richard Linklater dropped the mic. (hide spoiler)]
3. Starred Up
(view spoiler)[Raw and explosive yet sympathetic. A successful marriage of violence, tension and heart. (hide spoiler)]
4. Nightcrawler
(view spoiler)[Intense in every way possible. I may have stopped breathing some point. Jake Gyllenhaal in his career-defining performance. His Lou Bloom is a total nigtmare fodder. (hide spoiler)]
5. Pride
(view spoiler)[A happy sandstorm assault on the eyes. (hide spoiler)]
6. Frank
(view spoiler)[They dare hid Michael Fassbender's face for the entire film. That kind of audacity alone should tell you how confident the filmmaker was with what he's doing. (hide spoiler)]
7. The One I Love
(view spoiler)[Sent my brain to a hyperdrive in an attempt to formulate my own response to the questions the movie posed. Quite the conversation starter. (hide spoiler)]
8. Only Lovers Left Alive
(view spoiler)[Wonderfully minimalistic plot with a powerhouse cast. Proves that vampire movies are not necessarily er... dead. (hide spoiler)]
9. The Way He Looks
(view spoiler)[Disarmingly charming in its innocence and simplicity. (hide spoiler)]
10. Two Days, One Night
(view spoiler)[Compassion vs. Pragmatism. This was a battle of the titans with the lovely Marion Cotillard caught in between. (hide spoiler)]

Notable Mentions: Gone Girl, Snowpiercer, Inside Llewyn Davis, The Wolf of Wall Street, Locke

Non-2014 Releases
1. Oslo, August 31st
(view spoiler)[Understated and sublime exploration on human connections. (hide spoiler)]
2. Man on Wire
(view spoiler)[Showcases at what lengths a person is willing to go to for his art and ambitions. Death-defying, law-defying, and gravity-defying. :D (hide spoiler)]
3. Short Term 12
(view spoiler)[A gigantic heart worn on its sleeve. (hide spoiler)]
4. I Killed My Mother
(view spoiler)[Balls to the walls explosion of emotion. Director, writer and actor: Xavier Dolan is a wunderkind. (hide spoiler)]
5. Heartbeats
(view spoiler)[Yep, he really is. French title directly translates to: love imaginary. Never had there been a more perfect title. :D (hide spoiler)]
6. The Broken Circle Breakdown
(view spoiler)[Blue Valentine with less prettier people and bluegrass music. (hide spoiler)]
7. The Hunt
(view spoiler)[Many months later, I'm still frustrated about the injustice of it all. (hide spoiler)]
8. Gone Baby Gone
(view spoiler)[Many months later, I'm still mad about the decision made in the ending. (hide spoiler)]
9. Dogtooth
(view spoiler)[A cinematically beautiful plotless madness. (hide spoiler)]
10. Layer Cake
(view spoiler)[After Drive and this, I decided that I like my nameless renegades. (hide spoiler)]

MUSIC
1. Damien Rice's My Favourite Faded Fantasy
2. Hozier's Hozier
3. She & Him's Classics
4. Lana del Ray's Ultraviolence ( The latter half.)
5. The Script's No Sound Without Silence

Notable Mentions: Sam Smith's In The Lonely Hour, Jason Mraz's Yes! and Ed Sheeran's x. OSTs of Her, About Time, Wish You Were Here and Girls Volume 2

Thanks Aaron, edited my movies to add Short Term 12. :)

Best of 2014

Event: Reviewing for the bar examinations.
Movies:
1. The Matrix Trilogy (I finally had ample time to watch these movies after October. Lol)
2. The One I Love
3. It's A Wonderful Life (rewatch)
4. Gone Girl
5. The Skeleton Twins
6. Ginger Snaps (rewatch)

Series:
1. True Detective
2. The Strain
3. Penny Dreadful
4. Sherlock
5. How I Met Your Mother
6. Game of Thrones
7. Angel (rewatch)
8. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (rewatch)
9. Saturday Night Live

Music:
1. Lana del Rey
2. Lorde

Books:
I haven't read anything last year that is noteworthy or even something unrelated to taking the exam. :)

Copying my template last year, here are the best stuff from my 2014:

Favorite Books:
1. The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton - 6/5 stars. Enough said.
2. The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell - Not his best, but I love it nonetheless.
3. House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski - What a good mindfuck.
4. To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf - What is the meaning of life?
5. The Sleeper and The Spindle by Neil Gaiman - Found the retelling to rival my favorite Snow, Glass, Apples also by Neil Gaiman.

Favorite TV Shows:
Just two: Game of Thrones (of course) and True Detective.

Favorite Movies:
1. Boyhood - Oh, Mason.
2. Begin Again - A love story that's not a love story.
3. Gone Girl - Legally speaking, could this be a challenge to our own VAWC law (Violence Against Women and Children Act)?
4. Her - Hello, movie hangover.
5. Dallas Buyers Club - Jared Leto was amazing.

Favorite Music:
1. No Sound Without Silence by The Script - LOVE the whole album. (view spoiler)[Watching them perform live sooooon! (hide spoiler)]
2. The Blessed Unrest by Sara Bareilles - Love the entire album, as well.
3. Begin Again OST - Something about the songs struck me.
4. Club Life, Vol. 3 by Tiesto - What can I do, I love house music. It lifts me up during sleepy mornings.
5. Unrepentant Geraldines by Tori Amos - Love this girl to bits.

Favorite TFG Moments:
1. Birthday dinner with the best people. <3
2. Being entrusted with the strictest of confidences. :)
3. My very stressful (haha!) but well-attended February F2F (What We Talk About When We Talk About Love by Raymond Carver).
4. TFG's Shakespeare Christmas - everything about it! Special mention to my outbidding cousin for the ASOIAF book, Buddy's bid-trolling #EllaSabatera, and #EllaSabatera getting one over Joy. (Sorry, Joy, it was SO funny!)
5. TFG's planning session.

Favorite Life Moments:
1. Recent SG trip to celebrate Allie's 4th birthday.
2. Allie's programs in school - UN celebration, Halloween party, birthday party, Christmas party.
3. Being given preference/certain benefits for good work. ;)

(My apologies in advance for the lack of will power to trim any of the lists down :D)

Favorite Books: (view spoiler)[
1. We Learn Nothing by Tim Kreider - Kreider writes with an x-ray vision like perceptiveness that I felt a little bit unraveled.

2. We Live in Water by Jess Walter - There is such tender pathos and smart wit seeping through the lines that despite the bleak and dismal tone, it is strangely satisfying.

3. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell - He speaks of souls never leaving this earth, only crossing and recrossing each other, and evolving from from good to bad to something in between, and back again. It's a beautiful, ambitious piece of storytelling.

4. Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman - Gaiman turns stock stories into new ones, more bewitching, more chilling and more surreal that it’s derivative.

5. Dr. Birds Advice for Sad Poets by Evan Roskos -  I will remember this book not only for it's comedy. But also for it's very insightful and honest look at the lives of teens with depression.

6. Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin - It still has that unpredictability and danger and mystery.

7. Civilwarland in Bad Decline by George Saunders - And the humor, let's not forget to mention the wicked humor, and the biting satire, and the luminescent redemption (or epiphany) that cuts through the grim events like daggers of light piercing a dark room.

8. To the Lighthouse by Viriginia Woolf - Capturing domestic life and depicting the passage of time in a way that feels concrete and yet somehow, ethereal.

9. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens - It speaks of love and family and freedom and morality and justice and redemption and sacrifice. And the ending is just as arresting as the opener. And Sydney Carton is especially worth meeting. 

10. The City and The City by China Mievielle - Reading it felt like having a newfangled gadget. But one that is far from gimmicky. Mievielle has a way of making it all very credible and real (hide spoiler)]

Favorite TV Shows: (view spoiler)[

1. Silicon Valley Season 1 – I wasn't quite sure I would like this because there might be an awful lot of tech jokes that might fly over my head. But Kumail Nanjiani, a stand up comic that I enjoy, mentioned in an interview that he is in it (and TJ Miller too). So I gave it a shot. And it's great! There are a lot of um d*** jokes but they weren't the terrible kind. A bit crude maybe, but some were really funny naman. Hehe. I particularly enjoy the Dinesh and Gilfoyle competition, and Jared.

2. Orange is the New Black Season 1-2 – Also binge watchable. It has an amazing cast of believable characters that range from the horrible, to the complicated, to the flawed. And under the show's entertaining and funny facade is something more intense and serious.

3. Game of Thrones Season 4 – An old favorite that needs no explanations.

4. Sherlock Season 3 – This season has great plot twists. His Last Vow was a fun, operatic last episode. And Sherlock's best man speech is so awesome.

5. Dr. Who Season 6 – My favorites are episodes 8-13. And because I can't help myself:(view spoiler)[
1. 8: Let's Kill Hitler - Because any back story of River Song is awesome!
2. 9: Night Terrors – Because kinikilig ako when The Doctor does domestic stuff like make tea and ease children's nightmares! (This reminds me of The Empty Child and Fear Her. It's like horror-creepy.)
3. 10: The Girl Who Waited – They keep making Amy wait. Pang ilan na bang paghintay itey? Haha. I enjoyed this one, as it tested Rory and Amy's relationship yet again.
4. 11: The God Complex – Exit pursued by a Minotaur! And because after this I saw Amy and The Doctor's relationship a little clearer. And just how much a companion really acts as our (audience's) stand in. (What was behind the door for the Doctor???)
5. 12: Closing Time – Because Craig! And because kinikilig ako when The Doctor does domestic stuff like taking care of babies!
6. 13: The Wedding of River Song – Because bunny in a bunny suit! (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

Favorite Music: (view spoiler)[

Albums (New Discoveries)

1. Hozier by Hozier – My absolute favorite this year! Thank you spotify! He has an amazing sound. Haunting, Bluesy. Favorites: Angel of Small Death and the Codeine Scene, In a Week, From Eden, Work Song, Sedated, Jackie and Wilson, Cherry Wine, To Be Alone, Take Me to Church. Lahat!

2. 151a by Kishi Bashi – I love that the melodies are upbeat with prominent violin sounds but the lyrics are kind of melancholy. Favorites: Unicorns Die When You Leave, Bright Whites, It All Began with A Burst, Manchester

3. Bad Blood by Bastille – Bastille has a bit of Hozier and Mumford in them. Melancholic, thunderous, swelling sounds. Favorites: Things We Lost in the Fire, Daniel in the Den, Flaws, Get Home, Bad Blood, Pompeii.

Old Favorites (Familiar Artists only a different album from the ones I listend to last 2013)

4. The Road to Red Rocks Live by Mumford and Sons – Favorites: Ghost that We Knew, Lovers Eyes, Whispers in the Dark, Lover of the Light, Dustbowl, Below my Feet. Lahat!

5. The Civil Wars by The Civil Wars – Fell in love with Barton Hallow last 2013, picked up their first album only this 2014. (I think Barton Hallow is a stronger collection) Favorites: The One that Got Away, I Had Me a Girl, From this Valley, Dust to Dust.

Songs that I can't stop listening to, or na LSS ako /
1. Riptide by Vance Joy
2. Blank Space by Taylor Swift
3. Shut Up and Dance by Walk the Moon
4. Wild Soul by Langhorne Slim
5. Man on Fire by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes
6. Hooked on a Feeling by Blue Swede
7. I Will Follow You Into the Dark by Death Cab for Cutie
8. Into the Mystic by Van Morrision
9. Love is an Open Door by Kristen and Bobby Lopez (hide spoiler)]

Favorite Movies: (view spoiler)[

Hindi ko na bibigyan ng mga reasons pa for each kasi na deplete na yung brain cells ko sa kadadaldal sa mga unang listahan.

1. Short Term 12
2. Much Ado About Nothing
3. Take Shelter
4. Before Sunset
5. Blue Valentine
6. Rushmore
7. Shaun of the Dead
8. Hot Fuzz
9. Her
10. Upstream Color
11. Once
12. The Immigrant
13. The Best Offer
14. Joe

Runners Up:
1. Kill Your Darlings
2. Snowpiercer
3. The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies
4. Guardians of the Galaxy
5. Attack the Block
6. Only Lovers Left Alive
7. Inside Llewelyn Davis

Animated Movies:
1. The Lego Movie
2. Studio Ghibli: Princess Mononoke, Whisper of the Heart, Pom Poko, Porco Rosso and The Secret World of Arriety
3. How To Train Your Dragon 2 (hide spoiler)]

This looks like fun!

Favorite Books:
Red Rising by Pierce Brown
The Story of Owen by E.K. Johnston
Monstrous Regiment
Jingo
Thud
I Shall Wear Midnight all by Terry Pratchett

Favorite Shows:
How I Met Your Mother
How to Get Away with Murder
Legend of Korra (Now ended :( )
Yugioh Arc V
RWBY

Here's a list of the things I can still somewhat remember haha! I didn't really keep track that much.

TV shows
Game of Thrones
American Horror Story
Grey's Anatomy
The Walking Dead
Downton Abbey

Anime
Haikyuu
Free! Iwatobi Swim Club
Monthly Girls Nozaki-kun
Chihaya Furu
Kuroko no Basuke
Akamegakill
Another
Yamishibai
Love Stage!
Sword Art Online
Hamatora
Full Metal Alchemist

Movies
The Imitation Game
Rurouni Kenshin Kyoto Inferno
Gone Girl
The Equalizer
If I stay
Maze Runner

Music
Welcome to New York by Taylor Swift (1989)
Blank Space by Taylor Swift (1989)
The Great Gatsby OST
RX Monster Radio Podcast The Morning Rush
Attended Paramore,The Script,One Republic Concert
Good Omens BBC 4 radio play

As for books well to be honest most of my 2014 was mainly composed of manga that filled up my quota haha! although I do love The Unfortunately the Milk by Neil Gaiman his works will always have a place in my heart.
Mr Penumbra's 24 hour bookshop was also very nice!
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
Animal Farm by George Orwell
And then there were none by Agatha Cristie

Just want to share. :D

Favorite Movies (2014 Release.)
1. The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies(Must watch for Tolkien Book fans)
2. Gone Girl (Disturbingly clever and thought provoking)
3. Big Hero 6 (Fan to watch and super cool movie)
4. Interstellar(Mind-bugling)
5. The Best of Me(Well, it Nicholas Sparks' so of course it is a tear-jerker)
6. Whiplash (Phenomenal Indie Film!)
7. Begin Again (Emotion and music forming together to create a beautiful film)

Best TV Series
1. Revenge
2. One Upon A Time
3. Beauty and the Beast
4. Suits
5. 2 Broke Girls
6. Legend of Korra

Favorite Music
1. 1989 by Taylor Swift
2. Is there Anybody Out There by A.B.W.
3. In the Lonely Hour by Sam Smith
4. Yes! by Jason Mraz
5. Begin Again OST

Life Moments
1. Having to watch IPTL for FREE! - That was probably what made my 2014. It was an amazing experience and high inducing tournament
2. Free Movies of 2014.

Favorite Books
I want to share but it's mostly M/M stuff so I'll just refrain. But if you're curious and want try this genre feel free to message me and I'll rec some for you. :D

Favorite Books:
(view spoiler)[
1. Atonement
2. Cloud Atlas
3. A Song of Ice and Fire Series - yes, the entire series. :)
4. The Piper's Son
5. Un Lun Dun

Honorable Mentions:
A Tale of Two Cities
The Virgin Suicides
To The Lighthouse
UnWholly
Fortunately, The Milk
Interpreter of Maladies
(hide spoiler)]

Favorite TV Shows:
(view spoiler)[
1. The Walking Dead
2. Game of Thrones
3. True Detective
4. Sherlock
5. Once Upon A Time
(hide spoiler)]

Favorite Movies:
(view spoiler)[
1. Gone Girl
2. Her
3. Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno
4. Big Hero 6
5. Starting Over Again

Honorable Mentions: Spirited Away, The Girl Who Leaped Through Time, How To Train Your Dragon 2, Dallas Buyers Club, Atonement, Cloud Atlas
(hide spoiler)]

Favorite Music:
(view spoiler)[
1. No Sound Without Silence by The Script
2. X by Ed Sheeran
3. Lost Stars by Adam Levine
4. For Good from the musical "Wicked"
5. Still Hurting from the musical "The Last 5 Years"
(hide spoiler)]

Favorite TFG Moments:
(view spoiler)[
1. Marco Polo Match (March F2F)
2. Amazing Race TFG Style (April F2F)
3. F2F I moderated along with my co-moderator Meliza (June F2F)
4. TFG Auction (Christmas party)
5. Quiz Night, HAHAHAHA.

Honorable Mentions:
HOHOLs after F2Fs
Movie HOHOL for TFIOS (and Edgeof Tomorrow)
Iloilo Trip and Bonding with Meliza, Lynai and Ikay
Shakespeare theater - the monologues and dialogues.
(hide spoiler)]

Favorite Books:
(view spoiler)[
(view spoiler)[The Mountain Lion by Jean Stafford (hide spoiler)]
(view spoiler)[Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf (hide spoiler)]
(view spoiler)[Tenth of December by George Saunders (hide spoiler)]
(view spoiler)[Tinkers by Paul Harding (hide spoiler)]
(view spoiler)[Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson (hide spoiler)]
(hide spoiler)]

Favorite Movies (2014):
(view spoiler)[
(view spoiler)[Boyhood (hide spoiler)]
(view spoiler)[Interstellar (hide spoiler)]
(view spoiler)[X-Men: Days of Future Past (hide spoiler)]
(view spoiler)[The Normal Heart (hide spoiler)]
(view spoiler)[The Grand Budapest Hotel (hide spoiler)]
(hide spoiler)]

Favorite Movies (Non-2014):
(view spoiler)[
(view spoiler)[The History Boys (hide spoiler)]
(view spoiler)[The Hunt (Jagten) (hide spoiler)]
(view spoiler)[Kill Your Darlings (hide spoiler)]
(view spoiler)[Her (hide spoiler)]
(view spoiler)[Weekend (hide spoiler)]
(hide spoiler)]

Favorite Music (2014, based on my iTunes):
(view spoiler)[
(view spoiler)[Unrepentant Geraldines - Tori Amos (hide spoiler)]
(view spoiler)[Morning Phase - Beck (hide spoiler)]
(view spoiler)[Ruins - Grouper (hide spoiler)]
(view spoiler)[My Favourite Faded Fantasy - Damien Rice (hide spoiler)]
(view spoiler)[1000 Forms of Fear - Sia (hide spoiler)]
(hide spoiler)]

Favorite Music (Non-2014, based on my Last.fm 12-month history):
(view spoiler)[
(view spoiler)[Coexist - The xx + Making Mirrors - Gotye (hide spoiler)]
(view spoiler)[High Violet - The National (hide spoiler)]
(view spoiler)[Under the Pink - Tori Amos (hide spoiler)]
(view spoiler)[The Bones of What You Believe - CHVRCHES (hide spoiler)]
(view spoiler)[Days Are Gone - HAIM (hide spoiler)]
(hide spoiler)]

Favorite Podcasts:
(view spoiler)[
(view spoiler)[All Songs Considered (hide spoiler)]
(view spoiler)[Grammar Girl (hide spoiler)]
(view spoiler)[Pop Culture Happy Hour (hide spoiler)]
(view spoiler)[Books on the Nightstand (hide spoiler)]
(view spoiler)[KCRW's Bookworm (hide spoiler)]
(hide spoiler)]

Favorite TV Shows:
(view spoiler)[
(view spoiler)[Skins S02 (hide spoiler)]
(view spoiler)[Please Like Me S02 (hide spoiler)]
(view spoiler)[Looking S01 (hide spoiler)]
(view spoiler)[So You Think You Can Dance S01 (hide spoiler)]
(view spoiler)[So You Think You Can Dance S02 (hide spoiler)]
(hide spoiler)]

Favorite TFG F2Fs (including activities and HOHOLs):
(view spoiler)[
(view spoiler)[February F2F (hide spoiler)]
(view spoiler)[April F2F (hide spoiler)]
(view spoiler)[May F2F (hide spoiler)]
(view spoiler)[December F2F (hide spoiler)]
(view spoiler)[March F2F (hide spoiler)]
(hide spoiler)]

Favorite Life Moments:
(view spoiler)[
(view spoiler)[Ayaw (hide spoiler)]
(view spoiler)[kong (hide spoiler)]
(view spoiler)[mag (hide spoiler)]
(view spoiler)[open (hide spoiler)]
(view spoiler)[book! (hide spoiler)]
(hide spoiler)]

Angus: Lol on your fave life moments. :P

Favorite Books

I went for the most ruthless choices here, man.

1. True Grit by Charles Portis
2. The Devotion of Suspect X by Higashino Keigo
3. Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
4. My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk
5. Bolivar: American Liberator by Marie Arana

Favorite Podcasts

1. Revolutions by Mike Duncan
2. Pop Culture Happy Hour
3. BackStory
4. Serial
5. Welcome to Night Vale

Honorable Mentions: The Read, Reading Lives, Book Riot, Thrilling Adventure Hour, Sound Opinions, State of the Re: Union, 99% Invisible, Song Exploder, Philosophize This *deep breath*

Favorite TV Shows

1. Brooklyn Nine Nine
2. True Detective
3. Parks and Recreation
4. How to Get Away With Murder
5. Last Week Tonight with John Oliver


Favorite Movies

This is gonna be heavy on the documentaries, sorry. :P

1. 20 Feet From Stardom
2. Big Hero 6
3. Brooklyn Castle
4. Jiro Dreams of Sushi
5. Mockingjay Part 1

Favorite Music

1. Problem by Natalia Kills
2. Follow Your Arrow by Kacey Musgraves
3. The One that Got Away by The Civil Wars
4. Blank Space by Taylor Swift
5. Verlaine Shot Rimbaud by Lydia Loveless

TFG Moments

1. House of Leaves HOHOL of WTF
2. Christmas party auction and geek out over podcasts
3. To the Lighthouse F2F
4. My mini freakout over moderating my first F2F
5. The FFP + TFG collabo to rival Nicki Minaj and Drake

My Top 10 Best Reads of 2014:

The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen
A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin
Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
Atonement by Ian McEwan
What’s So Amazing About Grace? by Philip Yancey
On The Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta
Un Lun Dun by China Mieville
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
Landline by Rainbow Rowell
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

Notable Filipino books:

Manila Noir edited by Jessica Hagedorn
Welcome To Envy Park by Mina V. Esguerra
Finding X by Miles Tan
Fall Like Rain by Ana Tejano
Dwellers by Eliza Victoria

Favorite TFG Moments: Meliza & Gwaxa's visit, Laslas Girls' visit, Cloud Atlas Buddy Reading, Christmas lootbag

Adding other favorite TFG moments:
1. Iloilo trip with Gwaxa to meet Ikay Lynai (Haha!) and still talk about books.
2. TFG December party auction (especially because of Ella, Angus and Joy.)

Gwaxa: Wala kasi akong maisip at madalas kasi akong TMI kapag pinilit kaya ganyan na muna. ;)

Favorite Books: (Top 5 from the list I posted on the blog)

1. Daring Greatly by Brene Brown
2. Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed
3. The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
4. Letters to a Young Poet by Rainier Maria Rilke
5. The Mythology Class by Arnold Arre


Favorite Movies:
Ugh, I did not keep track. But from what I can remember:

1. Lego Movie
2. Starting Over Again
3. Interstellar
4. Sana Dati
5. Her

I can't remember the movies I downloaded/got from other people. I am also big on local movies. Hehe. (view spoiler)[When I finally move to my new job, someone supply me with movies and TV shows so I can regain my pop culture knowledge back. kthx. (hide spoiler)]

Favorite Music:
1. Switchfoot's Fading West
2. Tenth Avenue North's Over and Underneath
3. The Better Story Project's Love Club
4. One Direction's Four (hahaha don't judge)
5. Taylor Swift's 1989

Podcast:
Just one: finished Serial over the holidays. Sooo engrossing. Made all my lining up less boring.

TV Shows:
I'm so boring last year; I hardly watched anything. :(( (Save for local telenovelas haha)

TFG Moments:
1. Bangkok-Siem Reap trip :)
2. April Fools' Prank =D
3. April F2F
4. TFG + FFP on September
5. 2014 Christmas Party

Life Moments:
1. Cagayan de Oro trip
2. Japan trip
3. Getting a new job
4. Releasing my first novel
5. Resigning from my job (view spoiler)[The final countdown! (hide spoiler)]

Tina: Wow, nagresign ka na? Congrats! :P

Meliza wrote: "Tina: Wow, nagresign ka na? Congrats! :P"

Yep. Haha. Long story short: the week after the Christmas party, I got invited to an interview and got the offer the same week. Resigned the following week. Counting the days now, haha. (view spoiler)[Pero nasa Eastwood pa rin ako. Lipat building lang. :D (hide spoiler)]

Favorite Books:
1. Sylvia by Leonard Michaels
2. In Persuasion Nation by George Saunders
3. The Sense of An Ending by Julian Barnes
4. Play It As It Lays by Joan Didion
5. Atonement by Ian McEwan

Favorite Movies (2014 Release):
1. Boyhood
2. The Grand Budapest Hotel
3. The 50-Year Argument
4. Inside Llewyn Davis
5. her

Favorite Movies (Non-2014 Release):
1. Away from Her
2. Glengarry Glen Ross
3. In The Mood for Love
4. Atonement
5. Gone Baby Gone

TV Shows:
1. True Detective
2. Top of the Lake
3. The Fall
4. Sirens
5. Review

Music:
1. Hozier by Hozier
2. The Bones of What You Believe by CHVRCHES
3. If You Wait by London Grammar
4. In The Lonely Hour by Sam Smith
5. Morning Phase by Beck

Podcasts:
1. Dead Authors Podcast
2. Criminal
3. Stuff You Missed in History Class
4. The New Yorker Fiction Podcast
5. Serial (Episodes 1-8)

^Serial Buzzkill. (view spoiler)[Might be related to Jay. (hide spoiler)]

Aaron Vincent wrote: "^Serial Buzzkill. [spoilers removed]"

Your spoiler. Heh heh heh. XD

I just saw this thread today pero hahabol pa rin ako because this is a tradition hehe

Favorite Books
1. The Girl with All the Gifts (view spoiler)[To think that the person who recommended this to me was almost drunk at the time. Definitely the runaway scifi favorite of the year though. I even recommended this to my thesis adviser! (hide spoiler)]
2.The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry
3. Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore
4. The Book of Lost Things
5. Blankets

Favorite Movies (for 2014, not that I've watched many)
1. her (view spoiler)[wasn't this technically released in 2013? But since you guys included it, I will too hehe #conformist (hide spoiler)]
2. Copenhagen
3. The Grand Budapest Hotel
4. X-Men Days of Future Past
5. The Lego Movie

Favorite Movies (not released in 2014)
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring (2003)
Citizen Kane (1941)
Synecdoche, New York (2008)
Heathers (1988)
Taxi Driver (1976)
It Happened One Night (1934)
Harold and Maude (1971)
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
Full Metal Jacket (1987)
The Goonies (1985)

Favorite Musicals (view spoiler)[I am calling this the year where my inner theater geek took over (hide spoiler)]
1. A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder (view spoiler)[Everything here is perf - the music, the set, the cast, the costumes, the writers (both book and music), the prod team, THE MARKETING TEAM, etc etc! After my cousin and my uncle got me tickets for Christmas, I felt like I had to think of a new life goal (hide spoiler)]
2. Wicked (view spoiler)[has it really been just last year?? (hide spoiler)]
3. Jersey Boys (view spoiler)[In addition to the really killer jukebox tunes, I really liked the way they told Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons' story (parang documentary style but with musical numbers). Also the lighting was really nice!!! (view spoiler)[Later found out they won the Tony for lighting too (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]
4. Rak of Aegis (view spoiler)[first time to watch at PETA Theater! So nice to see theater friends in the cast (hide spoiler)]
5. The Last Five Years (view spoiler)[heto ako, basang-basa sa ulan at humuhugot (hide spoiler)]

Favorite Music
1. A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder OBC recording (view spoiler)[I can't believe I'm still not sick of this, but.. (view spoiler)[The music's so cute and they used a music hall-type ensemble I think, so it really sounds old-fashioned. The lyrics are so witty too! My favorites at first were Foolish To Think (view spoiler)[because of the triple meter!! (hide spoiler)] and Sibella (view spoiler)[it's such a sappy ballad but the music's so sultry and achingly sweet and Bryce Pinkham's voice is just precious huhu bb (hide spoiler)] mainly because of the melody but after 120982902849 listens I finally paid attention to the lyrics of the songs and ended up loving all of them. Seriously. Please listen. It sounds pretty old-fashioned because the music's so operetta/music hall-ish but malay mo, you might like it, it's funny naman. Also, it's nominated for a Grammy yay (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]
2. Sam Smith's In the Lonely Hour (view spoiler)[He made it to my most scrobbled albums in 2014 even though I technically really only started listening to him last month haha (view spoiler)[it's really because my cousins listen to him a lot and I miss them terribly so there's a lot of hugot involved (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]
3. Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga - Cheek to Cheek (view spoiler)[when I first heard about them collaborating on an album, I was SOOOO excited, because back when Lady Gaga was still Stefani Germanotta, I remember she also has a very good jazz voice, and it really shows in this album! I love all of the tracks because showtunes + jazz numbers are the bomb (hide spoiler)]
4. Guardians of the Galaxy Awesome Mix Vol. 1
5. Hozier - Hozier
The rest are singles, tons of soundtracks and OBC recordings, and 8tracks/Spotify playlists hehe

Hi all!

Favorite books I read last 2014:
1. The Chronicles of Narnia Series by C.S. Lewis
2. Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling
3. The Unicorn Road by Martin Davies
4. Percy Jackson Series by Rick Riordan
(am I that pathetic that I've only read these notable series last year? haha)

Favorite TV series:
1. Sherlock
(only Sherlock I think... not a TV person)

Favorite & Notable Books
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster
Open City by Teju Cole
Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain
The Tiger's Wife by Téa Obreht

Notable Local Book
Ang Banal na Aklat ng mga Kumag by Allan N. Derain

Favorite & Notable Foreign Movies
Dogtooth, directed by Yorgos Lanthimos
Leviathan, directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev
10.000 Nights Nowhere, directed by Ramón Salazar
Home from Home: Chronicle of a Vision, directed by Edgar Reitz
The Hunt, directed by Thomas Vinterberg
All About Lily Chou-Chou, directed by Shunki Iwai
Begin Again, directed by John Carney
Nebraska, directed by Alexander Payne
Living Is Easy With Eyes Closed, directed by David Trueba
Whiplash, directed by Damien Chazelle

Favorite & Notable Local Movies
Badil, directed by Chito S. Roño
Lorna, directed by Sigrid Andrea Bernardo
Violator, directed by Dodo Dayao
On the Job, directed by Erik Matti
Dukit, directed by Armando Lao
Mariquina, directed by Milo Sogueco
Buwaya, directed by Francis Xavier Pasion
Children's Show, directed by Roderick Cabrido
Norte, Hangganan ng Kasaysayan, directed by Lav Diaz
Dagitab, directed by Giancarlo Abrahan

Notable Documentary
The Missing Picture, directed by Rithy Panh
Nick & Chai, directed by Charena Escala & Wena Sanchez
Scarecrow, directed by Ricardo del Conde
Blue Intangible, directed by Eréndira Valle
How to Make a Visayan Chopsuey, directed by Charliebebs Gohetia
Marciano, directed by Universe Baldoza
Mananayaw, directed by Raffy Froilan
Jodorowsky’s Dune, directed by Frank Pavich
Mapa, directed by León Siminiani
Boundary, directed by Nontawat Numbenchapol

They all did not quite exactly came out in 2014 but:

Movie
A Clockwork of Orange (1971)
Pulp Fiction (1994)
Fight Club (1999)
The Fifth Element (1997)
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

Books
Neverwhere (Neil Gaiman)
Sandman (Neil Gaiman)
The Discworld Series (Terry Pratchett), especially Night Watch

Anime
Shingeki no Kyoijin
Shin Sekai Yori
Psychopass
Kill la Kill
Little Busters!