Books
1. North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell (new read)
Movies
1. The Help, new, better than I thought it would be but still sort of rubs me the wrong way as a politics major with a focus on race and gender
2. Dolphin Tale, new, surprisingly charming (then again, I am the girl who used to love dolphins so much I used to check all the tuna cans at the grocery store to make sure they were dolphin-safe)
3. Moneyball, new, pretty good if a little overrated
4. Kiki's Delivery Service, mostly new, sweet
5. My Neighbor Totoro, new, so adorable
6. Castle in the Sky, new, great storytelling
7. Nausicäa of the Valley of the Wind, new, intense and quite good
8. From Up on Poppy Hill (Kokuriko-zaka kara), new, weird but pretty
9. The Duchess, new, strange but not bad despite the presence of Keira Knightley
Plays
None
And while I tend to watch my TV either as it airs or in bits and pieces online (and therefore not in a way that works really well with my list), here are the shows I'm currently following:
The Office (I've seen every episode, and I still enjoy it, though it is past its prime)
Parks and Recreation (LOVE)
Switched at Birth (yeah, I know, but it's actually quite good for an ABC Family show)
I've seen the first episode of Downton Abbey (just realized the post I wrote never ended up online somehow - that'll be fixed within the next couple of days), and plan to write a blog series on it once I can, um, find a good proxy, since at the moment I can access neither my Netflix nor the PBS website and don't know where else to watch it legally. Anyway, I suspect I'll end up loving it; British costume dramas are generally my thing, and I liked the pilot well enough.
Doctor Who - the 2005 reboot, more specifically. I've seen all of series one and two and the first episode of series three at this point. David Tennant is my preferred Doctor; as for companions, I liked Rose and didn't particularly care for Donna, at least from the one episode that I've seen with her in it.
Entertainment things I'm looking forward to this year:
Avatar: The Legend of Korra (sequel series to Avatar: The Last Airbender, which is fantastic and you should watch it immediately. Also, just FYI, I like to pretend M. Night Shyamalan's atrocity never happened. It's nothing like the show which it is purportedly based on)
Brave (newest Pixar movie, its first with a female protagonist, and she's a spirited Scottish redhead, oh happy day)
The Hunger Games (this is one of the few books I think will work better on the screen than on the page, and I think Jennifer Lawrence was meant to play Katniss. Also, Josh Hutcherson will be playing my favorite character, Peeta, and I've had a huge soft spot for him since Bridge to Terabithia)
Reading The Fault in Our Stars when it gets here from the States, since I've heard from nearly everyone who's read it that it's John Green's best novel yet.
Make It or Break It's return to television (shut up. It's my guilty pleasure show, and I need Payson to win the gold medal at the Olympics
Speaking of which, the Olympics are this summer! I really only care about gymnastics, and maybe swimming a little bit, but I love watching them, and they'll be in London this year!
Finally, it's an election year! Not really looking forward to the nastiness of the race, but I can't wait to see dear old Mittens get his phony ass handed to him in the debates and on November 6. (Wow, that sounded kind of harsh, but I'm not taking it back. Mitt Romney disgusts me in way most politicians don't.)
