My Favorite Things of 2023
As we close out 2023 and open the door for 2024, I've been thinking about the past year, and some of things about the year that brought me joy. Here is a list of some of the things that stood out as some of my favorite things over the last year. These are not in ranked order, so please don't assume ones listed first are "better".
I set a goal of 45 books for 2023, and I ended up reading 44. Some of those were easy, one evening books, and then there was Brandon Sanderson... These days, I seem to read a lot more non-fiction than fiction, and my interest in history and biography continues strong.
Non-fiction books
Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West by Stephen E Ambrose: a really well written and researched book about the life of one of the Lewis and Clark expedition leaders. It was a lot harder and more complicated than I think our modern history suggests it was.
Astoria: John Jacob Astor and Thomas Jefferson's Lost Pacific Empire: A Story of Wealth, Ambition, and Survival by Peter Stark. After Lewis and Clark came the explorers trying to open up the new western frontiers, and this is the story of the founding of the city of Astoria Oregon, and it's part in the goals of a global trading empire for John Astor and how it tied into the hopes of Thomas Jefferson in creating a continent-wide country and making the United States a world power.
Hybrid Woodworking: Blending Power & Hand Tools for Quick, Quality Furniture by Marc Spagnuolo. I discovered the Wood Whisperer YouTube channel this year, and his style of teaching. The idea of Hybrid Woodworking is that there is a place for both power and hand tools, and you can/should use either as appropriate. It's a really nice read for someone working to set up a shop or get more serious about their woodworking.
Fiction books
The Spare Man by Mary Robinette Kowal: just a fun romp of a read as Kowal writes a science fiction meets Thin Man mashup with cocktails and a friendly dog.
Tsalmoth by Steven Brust: Vlad Taltos #16, and I've been reading his books since the start. Fast paced with a bit of a snide attitude, this one looks back at an earlier time in his life. His previous book felt a bit tired to me, so I was wondering if I was maybe going to move on from the series; this one dragged me back in.
All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries, #1) by Martha Wells. I finally got around to reading the first Murderbot book, and boy, it really tickled my fancy. Looking forward to continuing the series.
All Souls Lost by Dan Moren. I'm a big fan of Dan's books. This one is a big change of pace from his previous books, where he's mashing together a hard-core detective and noir vibe with a murder mystery and some really fascinating magical elements -- all tied into a big high tech company. It works, and is a great read.
Favorite Podcasts
The American Birding Podcast. My weekly fix into what's happening in the birding world. Educational and entertaining.
The Incomparable. A weekly pop culture podcast where they discuss and review books, movies and other interesting things.
Nerd Therapy. A group of crazy people play D&D, mostly interested, it seems, in making the dungeon master crazy.
Photocombobulate. My favorite photography podcast, featuring Jeff Carlsona and Mason Marsh. I really like their take on photography and technology.
Total Party Kill: from the folks who bring you the Incomparable podcast, a weekly listen to a group of people having a lot of fun playing D&D. Both this and Nerd Therapy make me miss playing D&D myself (which I haven't done with a group since college!), but if I were to ever join a group, it'd have to be people like these.
Upgrade. My weekly tech podcast that keeps me in touch with what's going on in tech and Apple.
Favorite YouTube Channels
The New Yankee Workshop. Russ Morash and team are putting the entire series of NYW on YouTube, and I'm loving it.
Adam Savage’s Tested: I love it not only because he’s a great teacher who loves to share his making with us, but because he is also a strong teacher of the philosophy of making, and not just the technique.
The Wood Whisperer. Marc Spagnuolo talks woodworking topics and shows off builds and techniques. Quickly became a favorite channel that I dove deep into the backlist on
Rob Cosman. A Canadian woodworker who is all about hand tools. Another channel I discovered this year that I've been diving deep into the backlist on.
Stefano Ianiro. I've struggled to find bird/birding/bird photography type YouTube I find interesting -- so much of it is aimed at beginners, and honestly, I don't need another lecture on what an Aperture is. This channel is different. Stefano doesn't pust videos too often, but he's very involved in trying to build good habitat for birds, and discussing what he's doing and how it impacts his Quebec property -- and the birds and other animals that live there. Just some amazing videos to watch with interesting ideas as I try to improve the habitat here over time
Tasting History with Max Miller. Every week, Max talks about a historic recipe and the history surrounding it. Then he cooks and tastes it. He even spent months making his own Garum (a Roman "delicacy") to give you an idea how seriously this is researched.
Ben Horne. Large Format film landscape photographer. What attracts me to Ben and his channel is how well he shows off and discusses his composition techniques, which are applicable to all forms of photography. His imagery is an ongoing strong influence to my ideas of what I wish my landscape photography was (and someday might be)
Adam Gibbs. Canadian photographer based on Vancouver Island, his focus is on trees and waterfalls for the most part, and is another photographer who's composition technique is strongly influencing what I like and want to do in my own photography.
Frank Howarth. Woodturner and Woodworker. Basically, my interest in building out a woodshop when I moved to Washington is all his fault.
Simon Baxter. Simon is an english photographer that specializes in tree and woodlot photography. Doing this well is surprisingly difficult, and he does a great job of finding compelling images and explaining the thinking behind the composition.
