2016: A Review in Lists

Posted & filed under End of Year Round-up, Lists.

The whole intention of 2016 was for it to go down better than 2015. For a number of reasons, some of which we don’t have to go in to, and some of which are two hospitalizations (First one was nearly a week for peeing blood on account of all the blood thinning medicine I had to take, and the second for my aorta dissecting. That last one will definitely color my perception of 2016, despite that apart from my right leg still not quite working as it used to, I got out of that pretty well. To make a 2016 Celebrity Death reference: Alan Thicke caught the wrong end of the same stick.) and my stepmother-in-law passing quite unexpectedly, it didn’t quite manage to do that.

So, here are some lists that sum up some things I kept track of.

The List of Books I’ve Read This Year

  1. Justin Cronin — The Passage Trilogy
    1. The City of Mirrors (2016-11-08—2016-11-18)
    2. The Twelve (2016-10-26—2016-11-08)
    3. The Passage (2016-10-05—2016-10-26)
  2. John Boyne — The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (2016-09-22—2016-10-10)
  3. Unidentified Funny Objects 4 (edited by Alex Shvartsman) (2016-09-21—2016-10-05)
  4. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Based on a New Story by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany. A New Play by Jack Thorne.) (2016-09-20—2016-09-22)
  5. Guus Kuijer — Drie verschrikkelijke dagen (2016-09-08—2016-09-21)
  6. Paul van Loon — Volle maan (2016-09-04—2016-09-07)
  7. Joe Hill — The Fireman (2016-09-03—2016-09-20)
  8. Stephen King — End of Watch (2016-08-27—2016-09-03)
  9. Paul van Loon — Dolfje Weerwolfje (2016-08-25—2016-09-03)
  10. Cory Doctorow — Little Brother (2016-08-22—2016-08-27)
  11. Hope Mirrlees — Lud-in-the-Mist (2016-08-12—2016-08-22)
  12. Peter Zantingh — De eerste maandag van de maand (2016-08-07—2016-08-12)
  13. Stephen King and Stewart O’Nan — A Face in the Crowd (2016-08-07)
  14. Stephen King and Joe Hill — In the Tall Grass (2016-08-05)
  15. Philipp Vandenberg — Het Sixtijnse geheim (2016-06-21—2016-08-24)
  16. Miguel de Cervantes — Don Quixote (2016-06-13—2016-07-29)
  17. Adriaan Jaeggi — Held van beroep (2016-06-08—2016-06-11)
  18. Alexandre Dumas — The Count of Monte Cristo (2016-05-04—2016-06-07)
  19. Dan Brown — Inferno (2016-04-27—2016-06-19)
  20. Neil Gaiman — American Gods (2016-04-18—2016-05-03)
  21. Graham Gardner — Inventing Elliot (2016-04-09—2016-04-27)
  22. Mikhail Bulgakov — The Master and Margarita (2016-03-18—2016-04-15)
  23. This Is How You Die: Stories of the Inscrutable, Infallible, Inescapable Machine of Death (edited by Matthew Bennardo, David Malki and Ryan North) (2016-03-17—2016-03-30)
  24. Unidentified Funny Objects 3 (edited by Alex Shvartsman) (2016-03-11—2016-03-17)
  25. Pickings from the Neil Gaiman Humble Bundle
    • A Fall of Stardust (2016-04-07)
    • Adventures in the Dream Trade (2016-03-30—2016-04-07)
    • Angels and Visitations: A Miscellany (2016-03-08—2016-03-11)
    • Day of the Dead (An Annotated Babylon 5 Script) (2016-03-07—2016-03-08)
    • Ghastly Beyond Belief: The Science Fiction and Fantasy Book of Quotations (edited with Kim Newman) (2016-02-27—2016-03-07)
    • A Little Gold Book of Ghastly Stuff (2016-02-26—2016-02-27)
    • Manuscript Found in a Milkbottle (2016-02-26)
  26. Aiden Chambers — The Toll Bridge (2016-02-19—2016-02-25)
  27. Stephen King — The Bazaar of Bad Dreams (2016-02-17—2016-03-17)
  28. Ira Levin — The Stepford Wives (2016-02-12—2016-02-17)
  29. Yann Martel — Life of Pi (2016-02-07—2016-02-18)
  30. Nathaniel Hawthorne — The Scarlet Letter (2016-01-28—2016-02-10)
  31. Terry Pratchett — Shaking Hands with Death (2016-01-28)
  32. Joseph Heller — Catch-22 (2016-01-02—2016-01-27)
  33. Maarten ‘t Hart — De Schrift betwist (2015-12-06–2016-02-06)

This year, I finished 36 books, which is a good number. I particularly enjoyed The Count of Monte Cristo, The Fireman, De eerste maandag van de maand, both Dolfje Weerwolfje books, and The City of Mirrors (which I still have to write up). Don Quixote was a slog, and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child was everything I hope it wouldn’t be.

Still reading: Ransom Riggs’ Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, and Faithful by Steward O’Nan and Stephen King.

The List of Performances I’ve Seen This Year

  1. — Jesus Christ Superstar starring Ted Neeley, World Forum Theater, Den Haag
  2. — Elton John, Ziggo Dome, Amsterdam
  3. — a balladeer + Mevrouw Tamara, Tivoli de Helling, Utrecht
  4. — a balladeer (solo), Terras De Vereeniging, Amersfoort
  5. — Circle II Circle + Lord Volture + Desert, FLUOR, Amersfoort
  6. — Daniël Lohues, “Aosem”, Deventer Schouwburg, Deventer

Last year, I saw just one show. This year: six. And they were all special, in their own way. Jesus Christ Superstar (featuring Ted Neeley, who played the title role in the movie as well) probably made the biggest impression, which has everything to do with timing.

The List of Movies I’ve Seen in Cinemas

  1. — Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Pathé Amersfoort, 3D)
  2. — Doctor Strange (Pathé Amersfoort)
  3. — Inferno (VUE Amersfoort)
  4. — Now You See Me 2 (Pathé Amersfoort)

Fantastic Beasts was everything Harry Potter and the Cursed Child should have been.

What I’ve Done from My List of 100 Things

  1. #67: Read books from my list of 40 books to read before my 40th birthday before my 40th birthday:
    1. Joseph Heller — Catch-22
    2. Mikhail Bulgakov — The Master and Margarita
    3. Alexandre Dumas — The Count of Monte Cristo
    4. Miguel de Cervantes — Don Quixote

Kinda disappointed here. I should really revise the list next year.

The List of Places Where I’ve Spent the Night This Year

This year I didn’t sleep in Noorden, where I grew up. That ended a 36 year streak. Nijmegen wasn’t planned, but the Radboud hospital was the first one that would admit me in the middle of the night. * mark multiple non-consecutive stays.

The List of Museums and Other Attractions I’ve Visited This Year

  1. — Dierenpark Amersfoort (multiple times)
  2. — Persmuseum, Amsterdam (Zwarte Piet in de Media)
  3. — Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht (Van Floris tot Rubens: Meestertekeningen uit de Renaissance)
  4. — Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
  5. — Allard Pierson Museum, Amsterdam
  6. — Nationaal Militair Museum, Soest
  7. — Kunsthal Kade, Amersfoort (De Loop der Dingen, over oorzaak & gevolg)

We got a season pass to our local zoo, and visited it quite a few times. The Red Panda and the tigers are awesome.

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Yeah, so maybe, medical issues aside, 2016 wasn’t all that bad, but a bit uneventful. For next year, we have some good things lined up, and it should kick 2015 and 16’s butt.