2023 in review

Reading

I finished 26 books in 2023. That is very likely the largest number of books I've ever read over the course of a year. The biggest reason for the increase in the number of books I finished were Marvel "bookazines" which were short stories that didn't take long for me to read and reminded me of how much I liked reading graphic novels. 14 of the 26 books that I finished in 2023 were Marvel stories.

I don't really want to start comparing how many books I read year on year. Life happens and I see reading as a healthy habit so I don't want to discourage myself because I didn't read as many books as I did in a previous year.

If I was to chose which books I enjoyed reading most, they would probably be Internet for the People by Ben Tarnoff and Anxious People by Fredrik Backman.

Finished PlayStation games

I could have named this section "games I played in 2023", but every game that I completed the story mode in was played on the PlayStation 5. It has become my console of choice over the last 12 months due to the large catalogue of games available and that I don't tend to game-on-the-go as much anymore. I've found I only pick up the Nintendo Switch for platform exclusive games.

I did purchase The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, but I didn't really enjoy it as much as I thought I would and so I still haven't completed the story.

The PlayStation games I completed the story mode in, are:

• Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart
• Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales
• Shadow of the Tomb Raider
• Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
• Guardians of the Galaxy
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge

There were many more hours spent playing games such as Star Wars Battlefront 2, FIFA 23, EA Sports FC 24 in online matches.

Cinema trips

I only made it to the cinema four times in 2023. The films I was able to see were:

• Matilda the musical
• Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3
• Barbie
• Antman and the Wasp Quantumania

Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3 was probably my favourite, with Barbie a close second. I'm hoping to see more films at my local cinema in 2024 and feel less reliant on waiting for the films to come available on any of the several streaming services that now exist.

Music

There's a running joke in my family that if I'm going to a gig its either going to be Fatboy Slim or Royal Blood. I like to think my music taste is a little more varied than that, but in 2023 I saw:

• Fatboy Slim at the Brighton Centre in March.
• Dermot Kennedy at the Brighton Centre in April.
• Royal Blood on Brighton Beach (On the Beach Festival 2023: Day Five) in July.
• Fatboy Slim at The Old Market in December.

So yeah, aside from the Dermot Kennedy gig it was either Fatboy Slim or Royal Blood. The Fatboy Slim gig at The Old Market in December was my favourite of the gigs that I attended.

Sport

There was less basketball success in 2023 compared to previous years. Worthing D&D White - the Basketball Sussex men's team that I play for - were knocked out of the Sussex cup competition at the semi-final stage and finished second out of the teams based in the west of Sussex.

Following Brighton and Hove Albion through 2023 has been quite the adventure. Getting to see them qualify for the Europa League was something I never thought I would see and I was fortunate to attend a number of away games in addition to the home games that my season ticket covers. A real highlight was visiting Marseille in October with my dad and brother to watch Brighton collect their first ever points in a European competition.

Travel

I managed to visit some places in 2023 that were new to me. In addition to the 72 hour trip to Marseille and Toulouse for the football, I also got to visit San Sebastien for a family holiday at the end of May, and Becka and I visited Antwerp in October.

I also travelled to Tallinn twice for work in April and August and got to meet the rest of the team I work with. I need to leave more time between connecting flights in the future to make the trips less stressful.