february 2024
welcome to the experiment! here's some things i liked this month.
game: stray (2022). been on my list for a while, and fortuitously went on sale when i was graving a new game. perfectly nails both being a cyberpunk game and being a game from the point of view of a cat. a bonus: my dog was riveted.
music: doom singer by chris farren (2023). i have a soft spot for upbeat music about being sad and this is a brilliant new entry on my list.
music: prelude to ecstasy by last dinner party (2024). very theatrical art pop music, complete with overture. fave track: "caesar on a tv screen."
music: hole in my head by laura jane grace (2024). love against me!, love how this album is about being old and trans and punk. fave track: "dysphoria hoodie."
music: doom & gloom sessions by spanish love songs (2023). i discovered sls last summer and their album "no joy" took over my life. in venturing into their older stuff, i loved this little EP. especially loved their cover of the killers' "smile like you mean it."
book: hilma af klint: a biography* by julia voss (trans. anne posten)(2023). wrote about this at length on dreamwidth, but in short an excellent, respectful biography. loved it.
book: stranger on the shore by josh lanyon (2014). a mystery that the storygraph algorithm recommended to me, this was a perfect combination of character study, romance, and mystery. felt like reading a really, really good nora roberts.
game: bear and breakfast (2022). extremely cute resource management game wherein you open and manage a chain of hotels, and also you're a bear. i loved the freedom in decoration and design, as well as the turns that the plot took. controls were weird on the switch, and lack of an ending was odd--no credits roll, just a slow realization that you've run out of plot. did love playing it, though.
game: spider-man: miles morales (2020). my friend julian sold me on playing this with a strategic mention of the fact that it's set during winter, but the game itself won me over. i am notoriously a superhero curmudgeon these days, but miles is the exception to the rule. the game lets miles as a character really shine, and the web-slinging and combat was FUN. i even enjoyed the stealth, which typically is my enemy.
book: madison square murders* by c.s. poe (2021). another banger of a storygraph mystery rec. this is first in a series, but a standalone mystery. it follows a cold case detective with a memory quirk which felt fresh and interesting and lent a compelling depth of emotion. set now but felt timeless (a perennial plus for me).
dog thing
*full disclosure: bookshop.org links are affiliate links