This post will comprise the best media I have consumed in 2022, to the best of my memory. Last year, I wrote only about my favourite books for the year. This year, I have diversified my media consumption and found the books I have read not as impactful or thought-provoking as the other media I have consumed.
I think this is because I have made an effort to watch more movies and TV series, which means I have read considerably fewer books in 2022 I have also given myself the liberty to drop more books mid-way and read longer and denser books. The items are in no order.
Books
Fiction
At a later date, I may go into more detail about books because I want to spend more time writing publicly this year, and it is one of my main sources of private writing. You can find some of my book notes in the book notes section.
I also need to digitise and upload most of the book notes from 2022, which is never a priority; the task keeps getting bigger, and it just keeps getting easier to procrastinate. I promise, at some point, I will share those.
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
I read this book in one sitting, one August afternoon on the porch. The book wrecked me; it is one of the best early science fiction books I have read. Even though it was written in 1959, the ideas are fresh and complex. It is a short and powerful read.
The book describes an experiment in which a simple yet good man undertakes to become gradually more intelligent. The consequences of the experiment as time goes on and he becomes more intelligent affect both the man and his interactions with the other characters. The interactions as he surpasses other characters’ intelligence are heartbreaking.
I have thought about the book a lot since then, about happiness, human intelligence and the interaction between both.
I recommend this book to anyone to read over a weekend. It is a great book to start a 2023 Goodreads reading challenge and gain easy momentum.
Beneath the Wheel by Herman Hesse
The book is set in early 1900s Germany and explores conformity and over-education. It follows the path and struggles of a young student from a village who gets a scholarship to study in the capital city.
The descriptions of the surroundings of the main character’s village are great. It looks at burnout, overworking, and the hedonic treadmill. The book surprised me because until then, I had always thought the main culprit of hustle culture was social media; the book opened my eyes to how the problem goes deeper than social media and that social media is only an amplifier.
I plan to read the book in the original German soon.
Fire and Blood by George RR Martin
I started reading the book because I couldn’t get enough of the TV series and it was a treat. The book is written as a history book written by a scholar within the A Song Of Ice and Fire universe. Contrary to the other two fiction books, this was long but it got me hooked and I stayed up late reading it.
I was really sad to read the last chapter because there was no more book left.
Even if you have watched the TV series I still recommend the book, even more so, because of the format, the book is not told as a story but as history, with different sources that contradict each other and with things that are really not clear. It is fun to see which of the sources were right and which were lying when watching the TV series.
Non Fiction
This year I have tried to read longer and more impactful and have shied away from business and productivity books as I was feeling they were starting to get repetitive. I have only added two books in this category because those were the ones that were in the same category as the rest of the media in this post. Sadly, this wasn’t a great year for nonfiction.
This is how They Tell Me the World Ends
I found out about this book in a post about the best books of 2021. This book was the Financial Times Book of the Year last year, so it comes up pretty often in non-fiction recommendation lists. The title piqued my interest, and I did what we were told not to do as kids: I judged the book by its cover.
The book describes how the cybersecurity industry works, investigating the major players and their incentives. It was written by a cybersecurity correspondent for the New York Times and is, surprisingly, the author’s first book.
The book is fast-paced and focuses more on the business side of the security and espionage conflict. The book talks about the history of cyber espionage over the last decades and the actors involved in building a global marketplace for security exploits.
The book sheds new light on the war in Ukraine, as a big part of the war is being fought on a digital battleground. The book looks at Russian cyberattacks and the Russian exploit machine.
The book is written to be understood by someone with zero experience in security and explains thoroughly the advancements in cyber warfare and the direction it will take over the next years.
Einstein
This year I finished the Walter Isaacson biographies I had yet not read. I read both Franklin and Einstein. Both are great reads, but like all of Isaacson’s books, the amount of detail makes them long and dense.
Einstein was a fun read and an insight into an odd man. My favourite thing about Einstein is how he maintained his curiosity throughout his life.
Another interesting thing is that one of Einstein’s differentiating factors when he started discovering was that he was outside the echo chamber of other physics researchers because he wasn’t an academic, so he got to pursue more original thoughts outside the structure of academia.
TV Series
One medium I consume the most is TV series on streaming services. I tend to watch an episode during lunch when I work from home.
House of The Dragon (HotD)
I loved the Game of Thrones TV series, although I didn’t like the ending like most people. I had some scepticism when watching the first episode of the series. By the end of the first episode, I was hooked and downloaded Fire and Blood.
The series has many of the great attributes of Game of Thrones, like great scenery, awesome original music, politics and dragons. I really loved that it became a phenomenon like Game of Thrones did, where episodes sparked a discussion with friends during the week, and on Monday nights, we would get takeout and watch Hotd.
I think House of the Dragon will be the peak of subscriber network TV, as budgets are getting smaller and it is getting increasingly more difficult to get the networks to invest in shows that are a risk.
Westworld
Westworld is my favourite series of all time. The series is sometimes overlooked because some of the episodes are slow, and sometimes it is difficult to keep up with what is happening with time jumps and some of the characters.
The ideas and themes the show develops around AI, consciousness and robotics blow my mind every season. Not knowing what is going on is part of the charm, but I get how that is not for everyone.
Ramin Djawadi writes the music and arranges pop songs into classical masterpieces. Here is a version of the Video Game by Lana del Rey, which is exquisite.
Season 4 came out this summer, and it upped the stakes from the previous seasons to lead to a conclusion that feels like it leaves some margin for a fifth season that was ultimately cancelled.
Ted Lasso
This is a comedy about an American football coach who goes on to coach a Premier League team despite knowing nothing about football (soccer). The show follows the team and the people managing it.
The character of Ted Lasso a clueless over-enthusiastic American plays very well off the pissed-off British players who see him as a wanker. The process of gaining over his players and staff while overcoming his own personal problems makes great television.
Movies
I have watched more movies this year because I got into the habit of doing a movie night once or twice a month. I have a list of movies I want to watch, and I just go down that list.
Matrix
I watched the Matrix movies as a kid, but never really understood them. They were just cool action movies with impossible fights and chases.
I decided to give them a rewatch after talking with a friend about the movies and having a different vision of what the movie was about from his. After rewatching the trilogy and the new movie, I discovered a new look at a movie that I had underrated entirely and never understood why it had gotten so popular.
The first movie, especially, is a masterpiece, and the phone booths and attire give it an air of nostalgia 20 years later.