My All Time Favorite Pieces of Media

Hello friends, it’s Vera here today! About two years ago, I wrote a post dedicated to my all time favorite pieces of media. I knew that, despite their name, my all time favorites would keep changing, so my plan was to revisit the post in a couple of years and make an updated list that better represents my favorites at that time. After two years, I think it’s time to share how my feelings changed on these pieces of media and share my new, updated list with you all.

In 2020, I focused on seven pieces of media, however, I decided to extend the list with one additional place to eight, as it was impossible to limit myself to seven titles this time around. Before we jump into the post, if you’re interested in my post from 2020, you can visit it by clicking here.

What am I deleting from the 2020 list?

I believe it’s best to start by quickly going through the pieces of media that didn’t make it onto today’s list. There are three titles that I no longer consider part of my top eight, but I still cherish each of these. Besides these, there is one item on the list that was.. altered a bit, which I’ll explain when we get to it on my 2022 list. But for now, let’s see the three titles that are no longer part of my list.

1 – Les Miserables (Musical)
It’s a bit brutal to put this list together, because the truth is that I still have so much love for Les Miserables. I love the play, its music and (unpopular opinion time!) I even love the film adaptation. The main reason why I’m saying goodbye to Les Miserables is that some strong(er) contenders arrived and took its place on the list.

2 – The Diviners by Libba Bray
For years, The Diviners was one of my top favorite book series. I read the first three books multiple times, and I was so ready to be impressed by the series’ conclusion. Sadly, the final novel didn’t bring the catharsis I was hoping for, and instead it left me a bit dissatisfied with the series. Despite the disappointing conclusion, my love for the characters made me put The Diviners onto my 2020 list, but even then this series was the weakest link on the list, and right now, it’s time to delete it from the list altogether.

3 – Gravity Falls
I left Gravity Falls for last, because it hurts to take it off my list. I’ve rewatched this show multiple times and I adore the story, the characters (seriously, all of them are so fleshed out) as well as the animations. Out of the three titles I’m deleting right now, I think Gravity Falls has the greatest chance of winning back its place on my list in the future.

My All Time Favorite Pieces of Media

these are in no particular order!

THE PSY-CHANGELING SERIES

At this point, the Psy-Changeling series has been a part of my life for more than ten years, which is probably a good indicator of how much I adore these novels. Nalini Singh is a masterful author who has created some of my favorite characters and couples. Something that makes this series special is its world-building which is truly intricate, with every novel presenting us with new details about the world. I’ve read all 15 of the original Psy-Changeling novels at least twice, and I’ve reread my favorites countless times. I also adore the continuation / spin-off series (and for the record, I’m counting that as part of the same series), so a reread of those books is in order.

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TAYLOR SWIFT’S DISCOGRAPHY

I was strict on my 2020 list and I tried to limit myself to actual pieces of media, hence I wrote about the Reputation Stadium Tour (Netflix) in that post. This time I don’t care about the rules and I’m including all of Taylor Swift’s discography as an all time favorite of mine. I was already a fan in 2020, make no mistake about that, but since then, Taylor has released four albums (two of them being re-recordings), and somehow I’ve become an even bigger fan throughout this process. I love the way she tells complete stories through her songs – folklore and evermore are prime examples of this – and I really appreciate her as an artist.

🌿 Related Post: Recommending Books Based on Red (Taylor’s Version)

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THE WILL DARLING ADVENTURES

I discovered K.J. Charles at the end of 2021 and I literally couldn’t stop reading her novels until I was done with all of them. Truth to be told, I still can’t stop reading them – I keep going back and rereading my favorite parts of her books, or even whole novels. Having said that, my relationship with The Will Darling Adventures is complicated. The series consists of three books, each one being better than the previous one, with the first novel being the weakest. To be honest, I’m not sure I’d have continued onto the second book had I not wanted to read all of K.J. Charles’ novels by that point. Thankfully, I did continue on, and I fell in love with the world – which is full of mystery, espionage, and yes, romance – that Charles created. Will and Kim went from being a couple I was iffy about in the first book to having the best character / relationship development I’ve ever seen. Since I finished the series, I’ve reread the first book once, the second and third book twice, and I’m sure this will be a series I’ll keep coming back to.

🌿 Related Post: Ranking and Reviewing K.J. Charles’ Novels.

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THE EUROVISION SONG CONTEST

When I mentioned The Diviners above, I wrote that in 2020 it was the weakest link on the list. In 2022, the weakest link is, sadly, The Eurovision Song Contest. As much as I love Eurovision, I have some major issues with it, mainly with their disregard for the atrocities certain participating countries have committed and continue to commit. No matter how fun or exciting the contest is each year, their questionable decisions make it difficult to enjoy the contest. What I love about Eurovision is how extravagant it all is and how you never know what to expect. Some artists choose to take it seriously while others take it more lightly and bring something funny. For someone like me who loves pop music, Eurovision is something to look forward to every year.

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THE MAGNUS ARCHIVES

Back in 2020, The Magnus Archives was one of the pieces of media – if not the piece of media – that made me want to create an all time favorite list. I discovered this horror podcast in March, 2020 and proceeded to listen to all 160 episodes that had been released at that point. I fell in love with this story, with the characters, and with the main and supporting romance of the series. The podcast wrapped up in 2021, which was both good and bad – good, because I’d been eagerly awaiting the conclusion, and bad, because I didn’t want to let go of these characters just yet. Since then, I’ve re-listened to the first four seasons (there are five seasons altogether) and honestly, the podcast is somehow even better on my second listen! There are so many little details that I missed on my first listen, and it’s been a delight to discover them all and to see certain things in a new light.

🌿 Related Post: Recommending My Favorite Podcasts

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WOODEN OVERCOATS

If we are talking podcasts, The Magnus Archives and Wooden Overcoats would be the first two I’d recommend. Wooden Overcoats is a full-cast, wonderfully written, dark comedy podcast that I couldn’t stop listening to. The most special part of this podcast is that I started it expecting it to make me laugh – which it did – but nothing else. However, I found myself getting extremely attached to these characters and even being moved to tears at multiple parts. Wooden Overcoats came to an end earlier this year, and it did so in such a spectacular way. I truly couldn’t have asked for a better conclusion to this podcast.

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THE OLD GUARD

When I sat down to write this post, there was no question in my mind that The Old Guard deserved to be on my all time favorites list. If you’ve read the rest of this post, you’ve probably realized that I’m always more focused on the characters than on the plot, hence it is the characters that can make or break a story for me. In The Old Guard they definitely made the story. I absolutely adored all the characters and loved that they formed a loving found family; their scenes together always melted my heart. Don’t get me wrong, the plot is really exciting too, but the characters definitely took the cake. I’ve rewatched this film too many times to count, and it has never let me down.

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GOOD OMENS

And with that, we have arrived to the title that made me add another place to this list. Oh well, I’ve always liked even numbers better than odd numbers, so this works out just fine. I read Good Omens years ago, after a friend recommended it to me. Unfortunately, I went into the book with the wrong expectations, so I finished it with a feeling of disappointment. Nonetheless, I watched the show shortly after it was released… and I ended up falling in love with the story and the whole cast. I think Good Omens, the tv show, is one of the best examples of what a good adaptation should look like. In 2021, after re-watching the show with a friend, we set out to buddy-read the book (a reread for me, of course) and lo and behold, I suddenly found myself loving it. When I finished it, I changed my original rating of 3 stars to 5 stars, which isn’t something I’ve ever done before. Obviously, I’m incredibly excited for the second season of the show, and I hope it’ll further solidify Good Omens’ place on this list.

Let’s chat!

What are your all time favorite pieces of media? Do you even keep track of them? I for one never did until I wrote my 2020 list. Have you read / watched / listened to any of my picks?

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