{"id":721,"date":"2025-12-28T11:46:36","date_gmt":"2025-12-28T11:46:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peiroricard.com\/?page_id=721"},"modified":"2026-01-01T21:16:58","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T21:16:58","slug":"favourites-q4-2025","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/peiroricard.com\/?page_id=721","title":{"rendered":"Favourites Q4 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Happy Holidays from Caball Mountain!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are my favourites from Q4 2025. It\u2019s been a busy few months, with a lot of travel and not as much time to dive into books or shows as I\u2019d like. Still, I managed to find a few standout gems worth sharing from the past three months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Books<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

2666 – Roberto Bola\u00f1o \u2606\u2606\u2606 1\/2<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Widely regarded as one of the greatest Spanish-language novels of the 21st century, 2666 is a work of immense ambition. The ambition of a dying man pursuing his magnum opus. I admired the prose deeply; at times, it was nothing short of exquisite. But reading the novel also felt, at points, like a deliberate act of endurance: a kind of literary torture tunnel that demands perseverance more than engagement. Knowing that Bola\u00f1o was terminally ill while writing this adds a layer of poignancy to the experience, especially as the manuscript seems to have been published untouched, out of respect for a dying friend\u2019s final words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’m terribly conflicted, how can someone capable of such beauty also create something so gruelling? The title itself remained a mystery to me, even after a thousand pages, and I found myself turning to Google in search of meaning. Maybe that\u2019s part of the point. Still, I can\u2019t help but wonder if the novel\u2019s brilliance required quite so much suffering to shine. It has been a life-changing reading experience, but not one I would recommend to anyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Words of Radiance – Brandon Sanderson \u2606\u2606\u2606\u26061\/2<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Words of Radiance is one of the best fantasy books I\u2019ve ever read. I picked up the first book in the series over the summer and really enjoyed it; it was solid A-tier fantasy: fun, well-crafted, but not quite standing with the greats. Then came the sequel, and it completely blew me away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At over 1,000 pages, I was hesitant. I worried I was letting huge books monopolise my reading time. But the cliffhanger from The Way of Kings was too strong to ignore, and I just had to know what happened next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This second instalment expands the world, the politics, and the magic system in ways that retroactively gave the first book more depth than I\u2019d originally credited it with. The story became a true page-turner; I stayed up past midnight more than once just to keep reading. It\u2019s epic in every sense, and now I fully understand why this series is considered modern fantasy royalty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shropshire Lad – A.E. Housman \u2606\u2606\u2606 1\/2<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

An excellent poetry collection by A.E. Housman, which I discovered last month, and which I bought in a beautiful Penguin Classics clothbound edition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It surprised me. I picked it up expecting something pastoral and a bit dated, but what I found was unexpectedly modern in its melancholy. It\u2019s a slim collection, full of short, deceptively simple poems about youth, loss, and the sharp beauty of things that don\u2019t last.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Movies & TV<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bugonia (2025)  \u2606\u2606\u2606\u2606<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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This was one of the weirdest things I watched all year, and I mean that in the best possible way. I was glad to go in blind, not really knowing what I was getting into, and I was positively surprised. The movie is ridiculously unpredictable and takes more turns than a Ferris wheel with twice the dizziness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The soundtrack is god tier. It elevates the chaos into something sublime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The movie still baffles me, and I can\u2019t explain much about it, but I had a great time being confused.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nuremberg  (2025) \u2606\u2606\u2606\u2606 1\/2<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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This historical drama was a standout. At its core, it\u2019s a character-driven exploration of the relationship between the Nazi high command, led by Russell Crowe\u2019s commanding portrayal of Hermann G\u00f6ring and the psychologist tasked with understanding their minds, played with quiet intensity by Rami Malek.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s the best performance I\u2019ve seen from Crowe since Gladiator;<\/em> he brings a terrifying charisma to a man responsible for unthinkable crimes. Malek, in contrast, plays it cold and analytical, turning their dynamic into a psychological chess match. The result is part thriller, part courtroom drama, and entirely gripping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Death of Stalin (2017) \u2606\u2606\u2606 1\/2<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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The Death of Stalin satirises the chaos and scheming among the Soviet high command following Stalin\u2019s death in 1953. It\u2019s a sharp, absurd political comedy that turns paranoia into punchlines. Steve Buscemi and Jason Isaacs are especially brilliant\u2014Buscemi as the frantic Khrushchev and Isaacs as a hilariously macho Zhukov.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dark, witty, and surprisingly tense beneath the laughs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Killer Heat  (2024) \u2606<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Easily the worst thing I\u2019ve watched all year. The story is paper-thin, and while the cast looks great on paper, their performances feel like something out of a high school drama club production\u2014stiff, awkward, and completely unconvincing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a stylish mess that wastes its talent and your time. Avoid like the plague.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stranger Things – Season 5<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I liked the first part of Season 5. I\u2019m holding off on a full review until the season wraps, but so far, the three-part holiday premiere is a smart move. It keeps attention on the show while giving viewers time to breathe and to truly savour a moment they\u2019ve been waiting over two years for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It feels like the creators understand both the weight of anticipation and the value of letting scenes land before rushing into the next big moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SAS – Rogue Heroes Seasons 1 & 2 \u2606\u2606\u2606\u2606<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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This was one of the year\u2019s most unexpected hits. From the creators of Peaky Blinders<\/em>, this BBC period series follows the wild, chaotic origins of the SAS commando unit during World War II. It\u2019s a story of unhinged brilliance. It features drunken, disorderly men operating behind enemy lines, redefining warfare from the deserts of North Africa to occupied France.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The show strikes a brilliant balance between dark comedy and the grim seriousness of 1941. It\u2019s gritty, fast-paced, and occasionally oddly hilarious. A must-watch for any WWII enthusiast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gen V Season 2 \u2606\u2606\u2606<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This spinoff continues to prove it\u2019s more than just a side story. Gen V<\/em> deepens the universe of The Boys<\/em> with its own twisted tone, wild characters, and a fresh layer of moral chaos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The finale sets the stage perfectly for the final season of The Boys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

End note<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next week, I will publish a two-part series on the favourites of the year, so stay alert for that. Enjoy time with your loved ones and stay warm!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I leave you with a picture from Warsaw last week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Have a great week!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Happy Holidays from Caball Mountain! Here are my favourites from Q4 2025. It\u2019s been a busy few months, with a lot of travel and not as much time to dive into books or shows as I\u2019d like. Still, I managed to find a few standout gems worth sharing from the past three months. Books 2666 – Roberto […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-721","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/peiroricard.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/721","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/peiroricard.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/peiroricard.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peiroricard.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peiroricard.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=721"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/peiroricard.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/721\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":731,"href":"https:\/\/peiroricard.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/721\/revisions\/731"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/peiroricard.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}