Seeing as it’s the end of the year, I thought I’d put
together an Ultimate Nerd List, showing all of my favourite – and not so
favourite – things for the whole year rather than just the month. And it was
very hard to do, let me just say. 2013 has been a phenomenal year in terms of
books, movies and music, so picking favourites felt almost like picking a
favourite child. I’m therefore only going to rate the stuff I’ve bought,
watched, read or listened to this year, not necessarily the stuff that was
released this year. I hope you enjoy it, and feel free to share some of your
own favourites in the comments below!
Books
Number of books read this year: 42
Best Books of the Year: (I had to do categories…. There were so many good ones)
Book of the year: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
I cannot stress how much I loved this novel. It made me
laugh, cry, smile, and - most importantly – it has stayed etched in my mind
ever since I finished it. All good books should come back to haunt you long
after the last page has been turned, and The Fault in Our Stars was no
exception.
Fiction: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (my review)
Historical fiction: The Venetian Contract by Marina Fiorato
(my review)
Series: The Divergent Trilogy by Veronica Roth (my review of Allegiant)
Sci-Fi: The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
Other notable books:
The Lux Series by Jennifer L. Armentrout (my reviews)
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (my review)
A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin (my review)
Worst book of the year: Forgotten by Cat Patrick (my review)
Moments
Fangirl moment of the year:
My own biggest fangirl moment of the year (oh, and there
have been so, so many) must have been when I was minding my own business on the
internet, and I happened to stumble across a website announcing Nickelback’s
tour to South Africa in December. Well, let’s just say that I almost got
grounded because I freaked out so much and the neighbours might or might not
have complained to the police because they thought our household was
experiencing a break-in of sorts. (May I also just mention that I stayed up
until midnight the night before ticket sales started in the hopes of being able
to buy a ticket online at 00:01 – but sadly, the website kindly informed me
that tickets only really went on sale at 09:00, so I’d wasted about four hours
of my life for nothing.)Facepalm moment of the year:
There are too many to name just one. Kim Kardashian named
her child North West, Miley Cyrus practically flashed the audience at the VMA’s
with her teeny-tiny super-tight short shorts (and then went naked for her
Wrecking Ball video, and licked a hammer *super-facepalm*), Glee spiraled into
a pit of super crazy in its latest season (seriously what is going on, I don’t
even understand anymore – whenever the producers get bored they throw another
marriage at you and guilt you into watching until the disastrous wedding),
Justin Bieber prances around in his magical world with prostitutes… the list
goes on. What is happening to this world?
Music
Best album of the year: The Great Gatsby Soundtrack
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: even if – like me
– you’re totally not into that whole synthesized, bass-y type of music, it is
difficult to deny that the artistic value of this album is incredible. The way
that each and every artist has managed to merge the world of F. Scott
Fitzgerald’s novel with our own world, therefore helping the listener to relate
with Fitzgerald’s world, makes the album – and the film – amazing. I love the
soundtrack just as much as I love the film, and the novel – if not more –
because of this. I highly recommend trying it out (there are so many different
genres on this album – you’ll find at least one track that you like).
Best songs of the year: (I couldn’t pick just one, because my music taste changes by the season)
Somewhere in Neverland by All Time Low
If These Sheets Were the States by All Time Low
Here’s To Never Growing Up by Avril Lavigne
Let Me Go by Avril Lavigne feat. Chad Kroeger
Chloe by Emblem3
Rip Tide by Emblem3
Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Green Day
Roads Untravelled by Linkin Park
Classic by MKTO
We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together by Taylor Swift
Best lyrics of the year: (ditto)
“Pull me in just like a riptide. Go ahead and drown me in
your sweet soul. My heart is like a split divide – half of it beats for me,
while the other half beats for you.” – Emblem3, Rip Tide
“Bless me with a heart of gold, positivity and a story to be
told. I tripped, fell down to the sky – here’s what it took for me to learn how
to fly.” – Emblem3, Curious
“I feel like dancing tonight. I’m gonna party like it’s my
civil right (everybody get kinda awesome). It doesn’t matter where, I don’t
care if people stare. Cause I feel like dancing tonight.” – All Time Low, I
Feel Like Dancin’ (my New Year’s Eve anthem…)
“If these sheets were the states and you were miles away,
I’d fold them end over end to bring you closer to me. Cause I can’t sleep at
all without you pressed up against me. I’ll settle for long distance calls –
I’m lost in empty pillow talk again.” – All Time Low, If These Sheets Were The
States
“Don’t you see the starlight, starlight? Don’t you dream
impossible things?” – Taylor Swift, Starlight
Worst song of the year: We Can’t Stop by Miley Cyrus
The amount of times I’ve heard this song on the radio and
had to refrain from hurling is… immeasurable. It is so incredibly overplayed,
and all because it had a racy and inappropriate music video (that scarred both
me and all of my friends for life, thank you very much) to get it popular.
Think about it: the lyrics make no sense (and the amount of grammatical errors…
Oh my word I nearly killed myself), the beat is okay, and Miley’s actual singing
voice is mediocre. I can’t stand it.
Other
Movie of the year: The Great Gatsby
Hello, it’s not like I talk about it all the time or
anything. Or that I got it on DVD so that I can drive my family crazy by
watching it over and over at home. Anyway, Baz Luhrmann has had another stroke
of genius and pulled off an incredibly amazing film. I highly recommend it, and
shun you if you have not seen it at least twice.
Thanks for reading! I hope you all have a fantastic 2014!
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