Alan & Jono's Watching/Reading List: January 2025
Added 2025-01-29 21:00:11 +0000 UTCAlan:
Hello Heroes!
New Year. New Resolutions. I’m going to watch more movies this year. Like, classics. I’m also going to make another movie. Might be a short. Might be longer than that…
What I’m reading!
The Power Broker - by Robert A Caro. This biography of Robert Moses won the Pulitzer Prize in the '70s for its shockingly researched portrait of the man most responsible for the physical layout of New York City, and by proxy, most of the United States. Basically, every time you’re stuck in traffic or wonder why nowhere has good public transit, and every American city has expressways running right through the middle of it, Robert Moses is to blame. A monumental book that is jaw-droppingly well-researched. I want a Robert Caro-level biography of everyone ever. Maybe that’s what heaven is, just a library full of books that detailed about everyone who ever lived. It’s also 1,200 pages. So that’s all I got to this month. Oh, did I mention the writing is absolutely stellar as well? Funny, wry, powerful and emotional. Basically, this is the best biography I’ve ever read, and it’s not particularly close.
What I’m watching!
Severance s2 on Apple TV+. The first season is one of my favorite TV seasons ever. And season 2 seems to be picking right back up where the first left off. And good thing too. I had to wait three years for it, because of strikes, and internal, behind-the-scenes conflict with writers and whatnot.
What I’m playing!
Civilization VI. I’m just getting ready for VII to come out later this year, and you know what? Just one more turn, then I’ll go to bed.
Watch Movies! (And television, and read books, and play video games)
Jono:
Hey all! This month I've been largely occupied with prepping (and shooting) for the three YouTube channels I'm a part of: Cinema Therapy, Cinema Therapy Reviews, and Mended Light. Between that, travel, and family time my ability to watch/read has been lower than normal, but I've still been enjoying a bit here and there.
I've been reading Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's by John Elder Robinson. It's an older book (autism is the preferred term today), but still rich with first-person insights and experience into growing up feeling very different from others. It's a funny, cynical, and compassionate book that I'm enjoying very much.
I restarted Buffy the Vampire Slayer. This is my second time watching the series through, and even when some aspects have aged or feel dated, the storytelling and characters are as fresh as ever once it finds itself in season 2.
I also watched (and loved) Nobody Wants This, with Kristen Bell and Adam Brody. My favorite romance of the past five years. Like Ted Lasso, it finds the drama in people growing and being good to each other. Just a funny, warm, feel-good show.
As for new movies, I saw Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl and Flight Risk, both of which have reviews up on our new Cinema Therapy Reviews YouTube channel if you want Alan and my take.
What about you lovely folks? What have you been watching and reading this month?
Comments
Plllllleaaaase do an episode on nobody wants this. I’m a priest and my husband is agnostic and we flipping loved it 🤣 It was soooo good. Also my absolute heartfelt appreciation and commiseration to Alan for waiting that long for season 2 of severence because we have just binged it to get up to date and I think I wouldn’t have coped waiting that long to find out what happened next. I’ve been reading Water: A Spiritual History by Ian Bradley, which explores the spiritual significance of water, healing pools and shrines etc and the symbolism of water in the religions of the world, and through our history. Really fascinating.
Rachael Brind-Surch
2025-02-17 16:49:39 +0000 UTCYou say "just one more turn" *now*, but next thing you know you're playing Stellaris where there aren't any turns!
Scott Rutter
2025-02-05 05:12:01 +0000 UTCI started playing Okami again, because Nintendo announced a sequel, so I am re-playing the first game and am very impressed in how much I forgot since I last played it. I also finished 'The Sunshine Court' (All for the game Book 4) in my reading group (I read to friends every monday for an hour. Started this to practice my english pronunciation and we are doing this for 3 years now) and we started with 'Just stab me now' - a fantasy parody where the author of a supposedly young adult fantasy novel talks to her over thirty year old widowed mother of 2 heroine throughout the story. Very excited for that one :D Haven't gotten around to watching anything but the Dr. Who Christmas special, but that one was fun^^ Oh wait no, that was a lie. I also finished my re-watch of Gilmore Girls (inspired by Jono's series on Mended Light) including 'A Year in the Life'
Lyndis Cealin
2025-01-31 21:14:00 +0000 UTCGood luck with your new channel!
Cinema Therapy
2025-01-31 17:38:47 +0000 UTCI’m always a few days behind commenting on your end of the month wrap ups. I’m doing comfort reading. The Miss Silver mystery series by Patricia Wentworth. She was a contemporary of Agatha Christie. I’m on book 20 and am nearly finished with the series. I’ve watched several movies and series since returning home from our Christmas trip. We love Masterpiece Theatre on PBS and watched Miss Scarlett and are now watching All Creatures Great and Small. In between we watched The Night Agent on Netflix. We also watched a number of classic movies from our library. I don’t remember them all. I have been busy setting up a new YouTube channel that my sister and I are doing called, Classic Cinema with the Sage Sisters. I have the trailer and first episode ready but ran into a snag using clips from the second movie we want to discuss. With that and my Story-Power podcast I’ve been busy. I want to tune in here. More often. Maybe once I get the new channel set up, I can check out more episodes.
Lucinda Sage-Midgorden
2025-01-31 03:41:12 +0000 UTCDefinitely recommend Mistborn as a starting point for Sanderson. It's so good! (Most of his books are really good, but the Mistborn trilogy is Alan's favorite)
Cinema Therapy
2025-01-30 21:45:26 +0000 UTCSo sorry for your loss.
Cinema Therapy
2025-01-30 21:42:37 +0000 UTCI've heard really good things about On Tyranny. Might have to add it to the list! Severance is incredible! Can't wait for the rest of the season! And Silo is so good too. Haven't started the new season yet, but really looking forward to it. - Megan
Cinema Therapy
2025-01-30 21:39:11 +0000 UTCThe Good Place is one of our favorite shows! And yes, we just filmed a few episodes on it. Can't wait to share with you all!
Cinema Therapy
2025-01-30 21:37:02 +0000 UTCThe Anthropocene Reviewed is currently in my "holds" in my library app! Glad to hear you enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to listening to it. - Megan
Cinema Therapy
2025-01-30 21:35:14 +0000 UTCI finally got to see Sonic 3 this month and it was AMAZING!! It was everything my 13 year old self wanted AND MORE <3 ! I've been playing a space arcade-type game called Nova Drift! It's kinda similar to Galaga, except you can try different weapon, hull, and shield combos to take out space ships! I haven't been reading much this month, but my favorite non-fiction book is still The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green. Not a biography, but a kind of memoir and its extremely heartfelt <3
Charlie
2025-01-30 18:07:50 +0000 UTCI read the first three books of Mistorn era 2, and currently reading Elantris. Last night I took a break to read Wrath of the Triple Goddess, the latest Percy jackson, because somehow I missed it. It's amazing, and Percy Jackson is my comfort reads for sure. Also, Brandon Sanderson is amazing! Not watching a lot of movies, but I did rewatch Agatha All Along for, like, the fifth time. Love that show.
Ayesha Ali
2025-01-30 14:51:13 +0000 UTCThis month I read an overview of Buddhism (titled Buddhism), I am almost done with a book about Zen Buddhism, and next will be the Lotus sutra, which is one of the sacred texts of Buddhism. In a previous live Q&A I askes Jono for books about spirituality without believing in gods, and it turns out Buddhism is just that, an atheistic religion, so I am very excited about it. I watched the Planet of the Apes trilogy (and CTS needs to make an episode about it), and started rewatching Scrubs. I played Crusader Kings 3 and Victoria 3.
András Balogh
2025-01-30 14:45:23 +0000 UTCThe 99% Invisible podcast has a great 10-part series on The Power Broker, including an interview with Robert Caro, well worth the listen. I don't know if I should read the book first, or listen to the podcast and approach it with more awareness.
Asymetra
2025-01-30 09:30:57 +0000 UTCThe Good Place won a poll a while back for them to film episodes on! They'll be out in a couple-ish months, I believe 😊.
SaucyJTD
2025-01-30 09:16:59 +0000 UTCNobody Wants This was excellent! You need to check out The Good Place and Man on the Inside, both great shows on Netflix, with Kristen Bell and Ted Danson, Man on the Inside is just Ted Danson from that, but it's really funny and poignant.
Gabe Vermund
2025-01-30 05:44:31 +0000 UTCWith those words on Nobody Wants This, I feel like I need to watch it. January always feels long, but on the other hand I’ve kept myself busy! Highlights in reading were: - finished the Belladonna series by Adalyn Grace. Very pleased with the last book (Wisteria) and the series over all - Brave New World by Aldoux Huxley. I love sci-fi books that sort of open your eyes on our real life society. This one felt so very relevant for us today, in spite of being published in 1932. I saw a tv adaptation of this a couple of years back and knew I had to read it, glad I finally moved down my TBR 😂 - On tyranny by Timothy Snyder. 20 lessons from the 20th century regarding totalitarian regimes and fascism. I feel like everyone should have a copy of this in their pocket. Brilliant, but still easy to follow. Currently reading Notes of an Execution by Danya Kukafka. Very engaging, I can hardly put it down. Highlights in TV: - severance (I mean, it’s only 2 episodes in but still, so excited) - Silo (how have I missed this one? On the first season and loving it) - Slowly making my way through Schitt’s Creek but I’m crocheting while ”watching” so I’m probably not getting the full experience 😅 I like it though! I don’t think I’ve watched any movies, sorry guys…. I’ll probably catch Better Man soon though.
Sara Wagiström
2025-01-30 03:44:43 +0000 UTCI'm only on episode 15. It doesn't feel so unrealistic to me so far, honestly. Long-distance is difficult, and her being a single mother essentially is even more difficult. I'm happy to see them genuinely struggle after seeming so perfect all the time in previous seasons.
SaucyJTD
2025-01-30 03:09:49 +0000 UTCHow are you finding Office season 9 with the Jim/Pam conflict?
MrWishart
2025-01-30 03:06:50 +0000 UTCTV-wise: Rewatched the Good Place in preparation for the future CT ep on it. Currently doing a passive rewatch of old Seinfeld, more as a background thing for a 20-minute break or so. Also excited for Season 2 Severance and season 4 Mythic Quest Reading: Just finished "Sensitive: The Hidden Power of the Highly Sensitive People..." as recommended by Bryt.Knee on Discord. Ended up buying two copies for friends of mine to read! Currently going through "The Impossible Man: Roger Penrose and the Cost of Genius" Game-wise: Got a new run going on XCom: Enemy Unknown. Going well so far!
MrWishart
2025-01-30 02:48:04 +0000 UTCYep I did the same thing. I wasn't happy about a certain characters death. I felt they deserved better. I also didn't love the random cut for the other brothers life. It was sweet but not great. A lot of people said and I kind of agree that it should have ended an episode earlier. But still worth finishing through. There are a lot of shows that I didn't like the ending but I enjoyed the majority of the show so I still like it
KrissyArtist
2025-01-29 23:22:46 +0000 UTCI love the magic systems that Sanderson build. I've read all of his related Cosmere works, and it's brilliant just how different each system is.
SaucyJTD
2025-01-29 23:19:40 +0000 UTCI did look into how the series ended just so I could see if I could work with it to continue watching. Mixed feelings, yes, but I'm still willing to finish it out 😊.
SaucyJTD
2025-01-29 23:19:02 +0000 UTCThese are the only books that I have read of his. The first book ("The Final Empire") is quite good. I am not far into the second book. There is a detailed, and very different magic system in these books.
Nancyjane Bailey
2025-01-29 22:39:49 +0000 UTCI recommend it even if you don't like the ending it still feels satisfying knowing I finished that show and finished being a part of Sam and Dean's journey. It's felt like finishing a series of books.
KrissyArtist
2025-01-29 22:31:50 +0000 UTCSupernatural is INTENSE. I need to finish it from season 11 one of these days.
SaucyJTD
2025-01-29 22:30:20 +0000 UTCI recently finished reading Tales of the Morisaki Bookshop, and now I’m currently working through You Made a Fool of Death With Your Beauty. I also recently started reading Braiding Sweetgrass.
LG Alfonso
2025-01-29 22:29:52 +0000 UTCMistborn is the best place to start. It gives you a feel for his writing without having to read huge tomes. If you enjoy Mistborn, then there is a whole world you can jump into.
SaucyJTD
2025-01-29 22:29:23 +0000 UTCAlso finally finished Supernatural after waiting 4 years. That show was big help for me during my really bad depression days in my teens. It's still a comfort show for me in so many ways now. I didn't love the ending but I still cried. I really felt I had grown with these characters over the years. It was a sad watch but I'm glad I watched it. Still love the show regardless of the ending and some of the later seasons
KrissyArtist
2025-01-29 22:28:07 +0000 UTCI have not Read Brandon Sanderson but I need to. I have heard nothing but good things about his books. I'm just not sure what series of his to start. Anyone have good recommendations on that?
KrissyArtist
2025-01-29 22:26:02 +0000 UTCAll for it!!!
KrissyArtist
2025-01-29 22:25:03 +0000 UTCTed Lasso is AMAZING. I absolutely love Keeley. Strong women supporting women advocate ❤️.
SaucyJTD
2025-01-29 22:24:33 +0000 UTCReading Finally finished Fellowship of the ring and loved it! Once you get to the prancing pony and meet my favorite LOTR character Aragorn it really picks up. I was shocked how many lines from the book that I remembered being in the movie. I'm going to have to Google to see what lines are in the movie because I'm super curious now. Also slowly reading a book recommended to me by my therapist (yay therapy!) The Sciene of Stuck it's a great book for people who fall into the same cycles of self sabotage and it explains why and how to get it out of it. Watching I recently watched Murder on the Orient Express, Death On the Nile, and a Haunting in Venice all Kenneth Branagh murder mystery movies. I really enjoyed all of them for different reasons but I think I really liked The Venice one more because of all the spooky vibes. Really fun movies. I also Watched Nobody Wants This and loved it! My sister recommended this to me and Ted Lasso I need to watch it! Great show with a healthy relationship with very realistic problems that could easily happen to anyone I know, also surprisingly hilarious. I found myself laughing quite often which is great! Playing Red Dead Redemption 2 again until MGS Delta comes out but I may try hades I have heard wonderful things and the artwork is incredible! So we shall see. January has been a bit of a stressful bumpy road for me but I am looking forward to the future! Hope all is well with everyone in The cinema therapy group!!!
KrissyArtist
2025-01-29 22:23:08 +0000 UTCI still haven't tired of it, after all these years. There's just so much depth, especially when you bring Angel into the mix.
SaucyJTD
2025-01-29 22:22:47 +0000 UTCMy brother watched it that much and burned out! He hasn't tried for years.
Anna Murray
2025-01-29 22:20:34 +0000 UTCAdding What My Bones Know onto my TBR!
SaucyJTD
2025-01-29 22:19:17 +0000 UTCMISTBORN! My favorite of all his series. Vin is the best female character ever written by a man, in my opinion.
SaucyJTD
2025-01-29 22:18:26 +0000 UTCIt's super light, then heavy in just the right moments. Absolutely beautiful show. I can't wait to see Jono talk more about it on Mended Light.
SaucyJTD
2025-01-29 22:17:50 +0000 UTCI love Alan's transparency that he watched and read nothing. I feel that. I just bought my first house and moved out of my rental after losing my boyfriend in an accident. I have been trying to prioritize mental health over watching/reading/playing.
Holly✌️
2025-01-29 22:12:54 +0000 UTCReading: What My Bones Know - I blew through this in three days and, especially because I'm a trauma therapist, it was FASCINATING. Serious trigger warning to anyone who's experienced trauma, but if you've had relational trauma? I'd read it wisely but I'd still read it. Project Hail Mary (solid re-read), Alibi by Sharon Shinn (meh), Edge of Collapse (intense apocalyptic thriller, once again trigger warning but the start of a cool series!), and Miss Amelia's List. Watching: As per usual, how many K-dramas can I list lol. Just finished Miss Night and Day (Netflix, loved it!), still watching Crash Landing On You with the hubby, and then there was My Love from the Star (oldie but what a goodie), Extraordinary You, The Story of Park's Marriage Contract, Remember You (a more intense one but still fun), So I Married the Anti-Fan (solid but wouldn't repeat), and My Roommate is a Gumiho (PEAK comedy and it was the first one where I cried not just at the saddest part but also for joy at the happiest part!). Also re-watched Barbie when it got added on Netflix, Carry-On (solid original movie!), Meet Me Next Christmas because I was still in the spirit lol, and a couple stand-up shows (Sebastian Maniscalco, Gabriel Iglesias).
Lydia Hartzler
2025-01-29 22:11:08 +0000 UTCI watched. "A Different Man" and have been binging the Flash. Also listening to the first two Mistborn books by Brendon Sanderson. You might want to do a Cinema Therapy video on "A Different Man" someday. It is about identity and how one Man sees himself.
Nancyjane Bailey
2025-01-29 22:09:46 +0000 UTCIt's like super light, the intrigues are fun. It helps me decompress!
Marie-Soleil Cha
2025-01-29 22:02:56 +0000 UTCI've watched Buffy 7+ times. It was my go-to comfort/transitioning between working days and nights show 😂. It's such a great show!
SaucyJTD
2025-01-29 22:00:54 +0000 UTCNO WAY Jono you're rewatching Buffy. I restarted watching it too a couple weeks ago, and I am currently on the 3rd season. When I was younger, I had watched some episodes here and there, but not all of them by any means. I was feeling quite nostalgic of the 90's, so I wanted to have a bit of those feelings back. hehe!
Marie-Soleil Cha
2025-01-29 21:48:23 +0000 UTCI saw Companion on Monday (pretty good), The Colors Within last night (still processing my feelings on it), and Alien 3 last week (the Temple of Doom of the franchise). For television, been flipping between One Piece, Chuck rewatch (in season 4), and Smallville first watch (in Season 5). Been trying to find motivation to play anything and beat it before Avowed next month(!). Finally finished the body of The Silmarillion and only have the Numenor and Rings of Power parts left, probably going to read something for a palette cleanse before more Middle Earth.
Vanille’s lost hearing aids
2025-01-29 21:33:04 +0000 UTCI watched SO MANY westerns this month. Like... so many. It has been a genuine pleasure, too, since it's not a genre I was naturally curious in. I essentially went through Jono's entire list that he shared on social media. All of them had great merit! Even, "Shane? Shane! Shane. Shane?! Shaaaaaane!" I also watched Glory a couple of nights ago, and cried soooo much. Otherwise, I'm almost done with watching all of The Office! I'm in season 9, and still loving it. I haven't done much reading, to be honest. I'm trying to get into Onyx Storm, and I'm struggling. I have no choice but to get into it soon. One of my bestie's will kill me if I don't read it lol. Looking forward to continuing to catch up on all the movies and shows that I've missed out on! As well as seeing Love Hurts next month 👊.
SaucyJTD
2025-01-29 21:19:17 +0000 UTCI saw Wolf Man last week. I would have loved to see your take on it.
Ben Sheppard
2025-01-29 21:10:15 +0000 UTC
