My Best of 2024

Jill Pantozzi | December 31st, 2024

It's an art creation by Lar deSouza. It's a very colorful background filled with Lego and features me as a minifig. I've got on a cute pink dress and am using my motorized scooter.
Me as a Lego minifig (not for the first time!). This one was created by Lar deSouza.

How the heck is it almost 2025???

Seriously though, this year flew by—even by current years-going-fast standards. Now that I’m not running a pop culture website (besides this one, obviously), the way I consume creative creations has changed dramatically. I mentioned this previously, but now that I don’t have to charge through media so I can talk about it asap, I can take time to catch up on older things. It’s…pleasant? It’s…how normal people live!

In no particular order, here are my favorite movies, television shows, video games, and books I watched/played/read in 2024.

Actor Zelda Adams from the film Hellbender. It's a shot from below in the woods and we see her face through a witchy creation of twigs.
Zelda Adams as Izzy in 2021’s Hellbender.

Movies

  • Bones and All
  • Killers
  • Monkey Man
  • Love Lies Bleeding
  • Abigail
  • Late Night with the Devil
  • Hellbender
  • Alien: Romulus
  • The Watchers
  • Trap
  • The Fall Guy
  • Strange Darling
  • Honorable mention: Deadpool and Wolverine (I got spoiled for literally every cameo outside of Pyro—of all characters—but it was an enjoyable ride nonetheless.)
Delainey Hayles as Claudia from Season 2 of Interview with the Vampire. She's in a light blue baby doll dress with her hair in pigtails and matching flowers.
Delainey Hayles as Claudia from Season 2 of Interview with the Vampire.

TV

  • For All Mankind Season 4
  • Echo
  • True Detective S4
  • Mr. and Mrs. Smith S1
  • Reacher S1 & 2
  • Abbott Elementary S3
  • Fallout S1
  • Bad Batch S3
  • Hacks S3
  • Ghosts (BBC) S4/5
  • Bodies S1
  • Interview with the Vampire S2
  • Dead Loch S1
  • Dark Winds S2
  • Domino Day S1
  • From S1/2
  • Agatha All Along
  • The Devil’s Hour S2
  • Somebody Somewhere S3
  • Honorable mention: Snowpiercer S3/4 (I’ve not actually finished the show yet but it’s been solid all along. Hoping they stick the landing!)
A screenshot from Obsidian Entertainment's 2022 video game Pentiment. It features the lead character Andreas Maler sitting on his bed speaking to a young redheaded child standing in front of it.
A screenshot from Obsidian Entertainment’s 2022 video game Pentiment.

Video Games

  • Solo
  • Pentiment
  • Life Is Strange: True Colors
  • Honorable mention: Netko Atsume 2 (I found out just a few weeks ago a sequel was released to the adorable cat collectible game and I got sucked in all over again.)
It's me taking a selfie in a mirror, I'm using a phone with an R2-D2 case. I'm wearing a sweatshirt that says "Basgiath War College Wing Leader," which is a reference to The Fourth Wing book series.
I fell into a romantasy hole this year. I see no end in sight.

Before I get to the books section, I’d be remiss if I didn’t give a shout out to Tim Hanley’s soon-to-be-released Never a Sidekick: Exploring the Dynamic History of Batgirl. It’s a comprehensive look at the history of not just Barbara Gordon, but every Bat Girl from DC Comics. I had a fantastic time with it—and not just because he namechecked me a few times in its pages! It was the only non-fiction book I read this year and Tim asked me to write a blurb for the back cover, which I was honored to do.

Books

  • The House in the Cerulean Sea and Somewhere Beyond the Sea by T.J. Klune
  • ACOTAR series by Sarah J. Mass (I also read her Throne of Glass and Crescent City series but ACOTAR is still my favorite by far):
    • A Court of Thorns and Roses
    • A Court of Mist and Fury
    • A Court of Wings and Ruin
    • A Court of Frost and Starlight
    • A Court of Silver Flames
  • Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros (I read The Fourth Wing, the first book in the series, late in 2023 and am VERY excited for Onyx Storm’s release next month.)
  • Keeper of Enchanted Rooms by Charlie N. Holmberg
  • From Blood and Ash series by Jennifer L. Armentrout (I also read the entire Flesh and Fire series prequel series but the original won out slightly.)
    • A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire
    • The Crown of Gilded Bones
    • The War of Two Queens
    • A Soul of Ash and Blood
    • Visions of Flesh and Blood
  • The Evelyn Maynard trilogy by Kaydence Snow (In which I learned about “reverse harems”…)
    • Variant Lost
    • Variant Lost: Vital Found
    • Variant Lost: Vivid Avowed
  • The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson
  • Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
  • The Scholomance Trilogy by Naomi Novik:
    • A Deadly Education
    • The Last Graduate
    • The Golden Enclaves
  • Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree
  • Honorable mention: The Graveyard Shift by Maria Lewis (If you’ve not read her Supernatural Sisters series do that ASAP. This was a horror novel—something my gal Maria knows a thing or two about—and featured a radio DJ as the main character. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go yell at her for not consulting me, a retired radio DJ…)

And thus closed another year.

For those of you who are used to following me on Twitter, I really only pop on once a day now for obvious reasons. You’re more likely to find me on BlueSky which, currently, reminds me of the early days of Twitter (your mileage may vary). As always, you can always look to my LinkTree for official accounts.

Happy New Year, everyone!

Posted in Fangasm