FAVOURITES

At first, I wanted to create a “log” page to track all the things I consume, but I quickly realized that it would be pretty time-consuming and useless to me (and probably to people who end up here somehow), especially after a few years. Instead, I decided to make a page dedicated to things that impressed me or made an impact on the way I perceive things.

You can think of it as a list of personal recommendations from a friend.

Note that this is not a “top-10-things-I-like” kind of list. A lot of films, albums, and other stuff are not 10/10 in my opinion, but if they ended up on this list, it means they have a place in my heart and have stood the test of time.

Also note: I’ve tried to include as few popular titles as possible, so it wouldn’t be a copy of the “IMDb Top 250” or “Spotify 2024 Picks,” because you have probably already heard of these things. I hope this makes the list more compact and rich.

By the way, if you have some recommendations in mind, please let me know! I’ll leave my contact info on the main page.

LITERATURE

I’ve tried to pick various titles, but as you can guess, I’m a huge fan of Russian classics, so they make up more than half of the list! Most of these books were read when I was in school and university. Nowadays, I read a lot less than before, unfortunately. Adult struggles take up too much space in my head, so it’s kinda hard to sit for an hour with a book and not overthink the last 10 years of my life, haha.
I’ll try to change this, but the real change will only happen if I solve fundamental life problems. At least I really want to reread The Brothers Karamazov; maybe this will help me get back on track. Who knows?

So, here’s the list. I can recommend every title; they’re all fantastic!

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Demons by Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin
The Captain's Daughter by Alexander Pushkin
Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev
Woe from Wit by Alexander Griboyedov
Bury Me Behind the Baseboard by Pavel Sanayev
Anna Karenina by Lev Tolstoy
Ward No. 6 by Anton Chekhov
The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov
The Dawns Here Are Quiet by Boris Vasilyev
Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka by Nikolai Gogol
The Government Inspector by Nikolai Gogol
Oblomov by Ivan Goncharov
The Two Captains by Veniamin Kaverin
Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk
Diary by Chuck Palahniuk
Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain by Oliver Sacks
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
The Tragedy of Hamlet by William Shakespeare
Macbeth by William Shakespeare
Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami
The Steppe Wolf by Hermann Hesse
Demian by Hermann Hesse
Words Without Music by Philip Glass
The Skin of Shagreen by Honoré de Balzac

MOVIES

As I’ve already said, I tried not to include popular titles in these lists, but if you want to check more of my film recommendations and ratings, you can visit my Criticker page. This list contains feature films, series, some anime, and documentaries (which I especially enjoy). I’ll try to update it occasionally and hope you’ll discover something new for yourself!

Donnie Darko (2001) by Richard Kelly
Arizona Dream (1993) by Emir Kusturica
Punch-Drunk Love (2002) by Paul Thomas Anderson
Magnolia (1999) by Paul Thomas Anderson
Waking Life (2001) by Richard Linklater
Geographies of Solitude (2022) by Jacquelyn Mills
The White Diamond (2004) by Werner Herzog
Let the Right One In (2008) by Tomas Alfredson
The Banshees of Inisherin (2022) by Martin McDonagh
Adaptation. (2002) by Spike Jonze
Apocalypse Now (1979) by Francis Ford Coppola
Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) by James Foley
Chronicle (2012) by Josh Trank
Red Rooms (2023) by Pascal Plante
Taxi Driver (1976) by Martin Scorsese
Primer (2004) by Shane Carruth
Mars Express (2023) by Jérémie Périn
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984) by Hayao Miyazaki
Ghost in the Shell (1995) by Mamoru Oshii
Creep (2014) by Patrick Brice
Trollhunter (2010) by André Øvredal
Following Seas (2016) by Tyler J. Kelley, Araby Williams
Days of Heaven (1978) by Terrence Malick

SERIES

Yellowstone (2018) by Taylor Sheridan
Made in Abyss (2017) by Akihito Tsukushi
Ergo Proxy (2006) by Shûkô Murase, Sayo Yamamoto
Vinland Saga (2019) by Makoto Yukimura
South Park (1997) by Trey Parker and Matt Stone
The Bear (2022) by Christopher Storer
Scavengers Reign (2023) by Joseph Bennett, Charles Huettner
The Night Of (2016) by Steven Zaillian
From (2022) by John Griffin, Jack Bender

ALBUMS

Damn… this one was tough! I've edited this list three times already, and it's still too big. At the moment, my personal library has around 600 or 700 albums, so it’s almost impossible to make this list not frightening at first sight. But if you give it a try, I’m sure you won’t be disappointed and maybe even find some life-changing artists (it happens to me a few times a year, and a big part of this list is such cases).

Once again, I tried not to include too many popular albums or classics here because this list is already huge, but I must mention some music that somehow shaped my taste.

My childhood was full of music from the 70s to the 00s, which I love with all my heart - this applies to The Cure, Fleetwood Mac, Joy Division, and The Smiths. Later, I discovered John Martyn and Nick Drake, and they have really changed my relationship with music. I highly recommend you check out their music; it’s amazing! Also, I would like to mention two hip-hop/soul queens - Lauryn Hill and Erykah Badu. If you haven’t heard their music, be sure to check it out too.

"A couple of days after the original post": Oh shit! I forgot to mention the legends through which I got into music at the very beginning! So, super-honorable mentions: Deftones, Paramore, American Football, Radiohead, and many, many more.

I feel bad not including more albums here (in the end I decided to add one album per artist), but I’ve already spent almost a week re-listening to my entire music library and trying to make this list more accessible. I can talk about this endlessly, so I’ll leave you with these great albums. Hope you enjoy them as much as I do! If you want to chat about music or recommend something cool, feel free to write me a letter.

a.s.o. - a.s.o. (2023)
Aldous Harding - Warm Chris (2022)
Alfa Mist - Antiphon (2017)
Andrea - Due in Color (2023)
BABii - SCREAMER_edit_Vii (2023)
Bag Raiders - Horizons (2019)
Bat For Lashes - The Dream of Delphi (2024)
Benny Sings - City Pop (2019)
Bibio - Sleep On The Wing (2020)
Big Thief - Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You (2022)
Bonobo - Fragments (2022)
brakence - Hypochondriac (2022)
Caroline Polachek - Pang (2019)
Catching Flies - Silver Linings (2019)
Chairlift - Does You Inspire You (2009)
Christine and the Queens - La vita nuova (2020)
Cid Rim - Songs of Vienna (2021)
The Cradle - Bag Of Holding - (2018)
Crumb - Crumb (2016)
Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles (II) (2010)
Djrum - Portrait with Firewood (2018)
Dorian Concept - Joined Ends (2014)
Eluvium - (Whirring Marvels In) Consensus Reality (2023)
feeble little horse - Girl with Fish (2023)
Floating Points - Crush (2019)
Flume - Hi This Is Flume (Mixtape) (2019)
Frou Frou - Details (2002)
ghost orchard - re; rainbow music (2023)
GoGo Penguin - v2.0 (2014)
gonima - Escapism (2023)
Hana Stretton - Soon (2023)
Hania Rani - Ghosts (2023)
Hiatus Kaiyote - Choose Your Weapon (2014)
Hudson Mohawke - Cry Sugar (2022)
Ichiko Aoba - Windswept Adan (2020)
Iglooghost - XYZ (2019)
jas Shaw - Sollbruchstelle 1-3 (2021)
Jerry Folk - Dotted Red (2021)
JFDR - Brazil (2017)
Jordan Rakei - Origin (2020)
Julianna Barwick - Healing Is A Miracle (2020)
Jungle - Loving in Stereo (2021)
Kai Whiston - Drayan! (2021)
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith & Emile Mosseri - I Could Be Your Dog - I Could Be Your Moon - (2022)
Kevin Penkin - Made In Abyss Original Soundtrack (2017)
Khruangbin - Mordechai (2020)
Kings of Convenience - Riot on an Empty Street (2004)
Kllo - Backwater (2017)
Kučka - Wrestling (2021)
Lapalux - Ruinism (2017)
Laura Groves - Thinking About Thinking (2013)
Little Simz - Sometimes I Might Be Introvert (2021)
L'Rain - I Killed Your Dog (2023)
Lucinda Chua - YIAN (2023)
Lutalo - Once Now, Then Again (2022)
Machinedrum - 3FOR82 (2024)
Makaya McCraven - In These Times (2022)
Mk.gee - A Museum Of Contradiction (2020)
Mr Twin Sister - Al Mundo Azul (2021)
Murlo - Puckle (2023)
Night Tapes - Download Spirit (2020)
Now, Now - Threads (2012)
Núria Graham - Cyclamen (2023)
Oklou - Galore Extended (2021)
Ólafur Arnalds - some kind of peace (2020)
Oneohtrix Point Never - Again (2023)
Oscar Jerome - Breathe Deep (2020)
Pearly Drops - A Little Disaster (2023)
Photay - Onism (2017)
Rökkurró - I Annan Heim (2010)
Ross from Friends - Tread (2021)
Ryan Lott - Pentaptych (2019)
Ryuichi Sakamoto - THREE (2012)
Salamanda - In Parallel (2023)
Sam Gendel - Fresh Bread (2021)
Sam Prekop - Sam Prekop (2005)
Sampha - Process (2017)
Samuel Organ - A Safe Place in Cyberspace (2021)
SBTRKT - Wonder Where We Land (2014)
Sega Bodega - Romeo (2021)
Sessa - Estrela Acesa (2022)
Sofie Birch & Antonina Nowacka - Languoria (2022)
SORA - Re.sort (2003)
Sound Of Fractures - Real Friends (2021)
Sufjan Stevens - Javelin (2023)
Teebs - Anicca (2019)
Tennyson - Rot (2022)
Titanic - Vidrio (2023)
Tom Misch & Yussef Dayes - What Kinda Music (2020)
Tori Amos - Boys for Pele (1996)
Vegyn - Only Diamonds Cut Diamonds (2019)
Wand - Golem (2015)
Wednesday - Rat Saw God (2023)
Yawning Portal - Heart & Earth (2020)