Everything I Read, Played, & Watched in September 📖📺🎮
Really finding my groove with these cleaning games lately!
I’m back with another one of these little monthly wrap-ups — finally! It’s been awhile, mostly because I haven’t really felt like I was doing anything worth sharing. I guess we can thank depression or something for that, but whatever the cause may be, I’m back with some fun stuff that I watched, played, and read for the month.
My reading still isn’t quite back up to the same level it was when we had a solid place to live, but I’m proud of what I have managed this month! I’ve also been spending more time with video games than I typically do, which makes sense since this is my birthday month and it’s the one month of the year I feel a little more capable of relaxing and spending my downtime on things I actually enjoy — but we might disagree on what qualifies as “fun” with some of these, I’ll admit and warn you in advance, haha.
As for movies & TV, I honestly did more rewatching than anything else this month. My job sometimes requires me to do really tedious tasks (like picking & sorting mint for 2 hours, as an example, lol), and during that time I like to grab my iPad, turn on a movie I’ve seen before and like, and just zone out while doing work. You’ll see what I mean in the movie section!
Okay, enough rambling. Onto the good stuff!
ONE WAS LOST by Natalie D. Richards | YA Thriller | First Read
A few too many characters and I’ll admit I found the ending a bit unsatisfying, but this was my first full audiobook in awhile, and although it wasn’t super stellar or excellent, it kept me entertained to the point that I ended up checking out the ebook from my library so I could finish the last chapters after my phone started dying!
RUN TIME by Catherine Ryan Howard | Mystery | First Read
I love speculative fiction that involves making a movie or TV show, so this was high on my TBR list for awhile. I was slightly underwhelmed - the main character was a bit annoying, she made reckless decisions that felt illogical to me - but was still immersed. I don’t always like a book-within-a-book type of plot, but the movie script & accompanying novelization within the main story were really well done.
A HEAD FULL OF GHOSTS by Paul Tremblay | Horror | Reread
A reread for me, or re-listen? Well, I read it the first time about 5 years ago, and then listened this time! I gave it even higher stars than before, this is solidly one of my favorite books and definitely my favorite of Tremblay’s that I’ve read so far. I love the spooky “is she or isn’t she?” possession plot line, love the sisterly bond and family drama, love the way this is told as an interview / special about a reality TV series (that we also get to see being made within the book). So good, would love this to be a movie or TV show adaptation!
I AM STILL ALIVE by Kate Alice Marshall | YA Survival | First Read
Another audiobook, and I have to mention how well done the narration was done for it - truly gave so much life and emotion to the characters and story, I loved it! KAM is one of my favorite authors - I love their Ashford Files books - and although this one is less paranormal and more survival story, I had a lot of fun with it!
UGLIES by Scott Westerfeld | Sci-Fi / Dystopian | Reread
I loved this series as a teen, so when I saw they were adapting the first book into a movie, I had to revisit it. I remember being OBSESSED with Westerfeld’s books — there were vampires, future society that spoke in funny ways (bogus to bubbly!), trendsetters. UGLIES sets the series up so well, with excellent introductions to how the world is set up and works for Tally and her friends. The setup for the actual main plot in these books is a little hokey science-wise, which I didn’t remember at all, but it was still a very fun reread.
CONSTANTINE (2005) | Rewatch
This is genuinely one of my FAVORITE movies, especially as a comic adaptations. I am a huge Keanu fan forever, and he’s so fun and silly and PERFECT in this role - every time I watch it, I have so much fun and can’t turn it off or look away. Tilda Swinton, Djimon Hounsou, Rachel Weisz — everyone just nails their performances and I love the silly special effects, the grand “good vs evil” plot, and omg, Peter Stormare as Lucifer? Just so, so good. If you haven’t seen this in awhile (or ever), I’d highly recommend revisiting this mid-2000s gem.
HELL HOUSE, LLC (2015) | Rewatch
Probably my favorite found footage movie and series, I just love this so much. I comfort rewatch it often, which probably sounds weird considering what it’s about and how much of the runtime is spent with people screaming in terror as they flee from a haunted house, but still, lol. The first one is the best in the series, but I honestly love them all — even the third, which is probably the campiest it gets.
DRAG ME TO HELL (2009) | Rewatch
This is so campy and silly and FUN! I fell asleep during my Hell House III rewatch, and when I woke up, this was on. I’m counting it as a “watched” movie even though I only saw the last hour or so, but I got to rewatch the goat part which is stupid and hilarious and just so, so silly. The special effects (and ending scene) are my favorite parts of this one.
RuPaul’s Drag Race: Global All-Stars | Season 1 | First Watch
Okay, so I have a lot of thoughts on this because on the one hand, I’ve never watched any of the other Drag Race iterations, so I’m loving getting to know the different Queens and their styles of drag, backgrounds, etc. On the other hand, I’m growing really tired and extremely annoyed by the way the very American judges just straight out laugh at the contestants that struggle a bit with English — like, literally pointing and LAUGHING, I am not exaggerating! One of my favorites on this season is Nehellenia, a contestant from Italy with a heavy accent and fun, quirky, anime-loving personality. At one point, another contestant (white, British, native English speaking) interrupts something Nelly says to start shouting “MARGHARITA PIZZA!” in a shitty accent — and RuPaul bursts out laughing and it becomes a running joke for several episodes…? Just bizarre, weird, xenophobic behavior that I keep seeing and do not like. I really wish they’d had main judges from other countries and not just the normal American ones because it puts a bad lean onto things for me as a viewer and just feels more mean and racist and less catty/fun than the normal seasons, which bums me out.
On the bright side, I’ll definitely be checking out some of the other Drag Race shows for other countries moving forward!
CRIME SCENE CLEANER | Steam
If there’s nothing else you take from this, please at least take this recommendation: this is probably my favorite game of the entire year! In it, you work as a janitor that gets involved with some questionable folks that ask you to clean up after some of their, uh, messes. These messes involve dead bodies, tons of blood, broken things, and more! You spend the game cleaning different maps, with each level following an overall storyline that makes this unique to other games within the “cleaning/organizing” subgenre.
I don’t know how to sell you on this because there’s SO MUCH I love about it: a talent/skill tree you unlock as you go, a main storyline involving saving your sick daughter (who we never actually meet, lol), the dog you can pet back at your home base, the variety of levels and the incredible set design for each one, I could go on and on. My absolute favorite level is one that involves a normal starter home, except it’s got a whole bunch of spooky haunted stuff going on while you’re trying to clean. So fun, and parts are downright scary! (But the other levels aren’t so if scary isn’t your thing, don’t worry!)
Obvious warning for bits of gore and blood, etc. Some of the murder scenes are pretty graphic, but I loved the different deaths and characters. I cannot freaking wait for them to release more content!
SPIRIT CITY: LOFI SESSIONS | Steam
Have you ever wanted a game to exist, knew how you wanted it to work, but didn’t have the skills or knowledge to actually make it yourself? This is one of those things for me. I love the idea of a game as a productivity tool, with things to unlock as you do normal daily activities or tasks. This also has fun ‘spirits’, or little cute characters you unlock that can keep you company while you do things - and they’re so fun to unlock! Each one has a specific way to be lured out and discovered, and going through the different times of day and sounds and lighting settings to find them has been so fun.
The game has a decoratable bedroom to relax or work in, you can customize your character and areas pretty nicely, and the productivity tools are great: a journal, pomodoro time tracker, task / to-do list, and a habit tracker (which could encourage daily use)! Love it, and I love the chill lofi music that comes with it.
POWER WASH SIMULATOR | Steam
Okay, hear me out on this one, too, lol. It seems very basic and boring when you look at it, but oh my god is it SATISFYING to fully finish a level or even just a small area of a level! This is like the ultimate zen, chill out & relax game. No thought, only clean!!
Have any fun game recommendations, or books you’ve loved recently? Let me know everything!
