My Top Ten Kdramas of 2018

Here are my favorite dramas I watched this year. Turns out that five of them are new ones (aired this year in 2018) and five are old ones (aired 2017 or before.) What a nice balance eh?

First some numbers:

Dramas watched: 22

Five Hearts: 8
Four Hearts: 11
Three Hearts: 3

Aired this year: 11
Aired before this year: 11

New-to-me favorite actors:
Seo In Guk
Lee Min Ki
Lee Hong Gi
Lee Joon Gi
Lee Jun Ho
Park Bo Gum
Yang Se Jong
Lee Seung Gi
Yoo Seung Ho

WAH SO MANY!!!

Favorite Dramas From 2018:

30 But 17 (Still 17) This drama is very funny and had me LOLing so many times. Plus it's heart wrenching and the dude who plays our guy is one of the best criers EVER! And he gets to do this a lot! And the nephew dude is just... so perfect! Basically, I fell in love with every character on this show. There is not a bad dude. The bad thing in this drama is inner conflicts. Anyway. I loved it. The girl is a violin player so there is a lot of classic music as a backdrop. And the nephew is on a rowing team, so there's a lot of that too. And there's a cute dog and a funny chicken. And the maid is also hilarious with her own tragic back story. So many good things. And beautiful characters. It was a perfect.

I Am Not a Robot:  And of course, he is so charming that she falls in love with him but there is no way she can ever let him know that  SHE IS NOT A ROBOT! AH!! But.. just tell him already!!!  No, it's not that simple.  Anyway, things get very complicated from there and yeah... it's awesome.  I loved loved loved it. I pretty much just want to watch it all over again. 




Just Between Lovers: Our dude's character grows from an angry young man, to a loving guy... mostly. He has found people in his life that have taken care of him over the years and part (a lot actually) of what makes this drama so awesome is those relationships. One with an older grandma lady, one with his landlord lady and her mentally disabled but bright and beautiful son. And one with a "lady of the evening" who he saved back in the day and so she has taken him under her wing and she is now like an older sister to him. He also has his true sister who he is struggling to help and provide for as she is going to medical school.

Meanwhile, our girl has all her family issues to deal with too. Many after effects of what happened with the mall event as pulled them apart and made them live a lonely life.

Together, they help each other deal with things, and they learn and grow and love and heal.

Are You Human Too? The premise here is that our guy is a robot... his genius mom made him because her human son was kidnapped from her when he was about 10 years old by his grandpa (her father in law) and she was never able to get him back. So he was raised by this crazy powerful guy and so she, because she could, made a robot replacement.
The robot is nice, mannerly, kind, rule abiding, sweet, compassionate and etc. The human is... arrogant, mean, ruthless, playboyish, snotty, greedy, and etc. They are as different as can be.One day, the human son is trying to track down his mom, but he is being followed by a hitman hired by the bad guy and is nearly killed. The robot son witnesses this and is freaked out. The mom rescues the human son and begins to nurse him back to health.Meanwhile, she asks the robot son to step into his place in the corporate crazy world so that the bad guys don't know what happened, and so that the human son doesn't lose his place to inherit the company.

Yeah.
The Smile Has Left Your Eyes Anyway, once these two decide that they do in fact love each other, then the romance is absolutely perfect. So much kissing and hugging and all. And he is suddenly smiling a lot and believe me, when this actor smiles... IT'S OVER! AH!!! But of course, we knew that stuff is going to go down to ruin it all





Favorite Older Dramas:

Because This is My First Life: The issues addressed? Well, of course, much is said about the nature of love and marriage. About pleasing your parents or doing whatever the heck you want to anyway. Much is said about gender roles and women's rights and feminism and all that. Much is said about traditional vs. non. Much is said about family, love, friendship, relationships, emotions, feelings, etc. So.. I loved it. 

Scarlet Heart: It's an epic sweeping royal family saga that is beautiful in all the ways it interprets this story! Like everything is just... beautiful. I don't know how else to describe it! There is some cheesiness here and there. And some convenience things. But yeah.. it's an amazing production.

There is one prince that is hard to ignore right from the beginning. And he rises to the top for our girl after awhile. He is the scary, angsty, hurt, vulnerable, pained, tortured anti hero of which I love to love from all my books and movies. He is a good bad guy, or a bad good guy. Not sure which. The lines are very blurry and I love it.





Moonlight Drawn By Clouds: It's a great one for a fun, but not confusing, historical drama. Park Bo Gum is adorable. As is all the rest of them. The music is dramatic and epic, the love songs beautiful. Everything! I loved it.





Shopping King Louis So. They end up helping each other out... trying to navigate the city and modern life when neither one of them knows anything... and they don't have any money. And so it goes from there! And it's very cute and funny and heartwarming and all that. I loved it. It is a bit over the top silly at times. But you know. Who cares. So much fun!




Falling In Love With Soon Jung (Falling for Innocence) Well. Next thing we know the detective gets run down by our dude with issues and is rushed to the hospital where he dies.... sad. At the same time, our ruthless CEO dude collapses from heart failure and is rushed to the hospital.... and ends up getting the heart transplant he needs... from the detective dude. And he doesn't die. Yeah. So when he wakes up, he starts changing. And he is drawn to the secretary and she to him. And things get weird and complicated.

Top Ten Favorite Kdramas from 2017

I got a special request (thank you LillyLilac!!) to list my favorite Kdramas of the year. And yes, some of these aren't FROM 2017 but are old and I'm still catching up on them! And so I thought it would just be as simple as seeing what I gave five hearts too and there's my list, but in looking back over it.. some of the five hearts got bumped off and some of the four hearts got saved. Yeah, it happens.

Links to my reviews and some random quotes from those reviews are included.

And so my favorites from the dramas that were released this year are:
(Not in any order except that Goblin does top the list.)

Goblin: The Lonely and Great God There is much magic and ghosts and past and future lives, portals to other places and all that fun stuff. Also full of so much funny stuff and  many many weepy moments. It's truly one of the more emotional dramas I've seen and that's saying a lot. Cinematography, music, story line, character development, acting. All of it. AMAZING.

The Legend of the Blue Sea  But, as usual, I mostly loved the love story. The side kicks (of which there are many), the funny situational comedy, the sweet and perfect sappiness, and especially Lee Min Ho, who I somehow cannot get enough of.

Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo  I needed a light and funny drama and this one looked like it would do the trick and I was right! It did! Oh my gosh I loved this one just for its cuteness. Sigh. Such  fun happy heart warming stuff.

Hwarang So yeah. I loved it. Let it be known though, that this one caused me to cry that hardest I've ever cried because of a drama. Beware episode 18. I'm talking gut wrenching sobs. Yeah, maybe I was a little bit TOO invested in this one and its characters? :) No. It was worth it.

Strong Woman: Do Bong Soon Anyway. He pretty much loves her from the beginning, which is the cutest thing because... he is just SO DANG CUTE! But she is brushes it all off, because first she thinks he's gay and second, she is totally in love with her high school friend. And so it goes from there.

There are a bunch of side stories that are just totally off the wall bizarre. And one of them, about a serial killer, is downright disturbing. But they all tie together in the end, sort of. But I was in it for the cute romance which was totally worth watching all those weird side stories for! Also, beware the cheese factor. This one plays it up as high as it can go! So it's better if you are in the mood for such  thing! But again... who cares because... Park Hyung Sik.

While You Were Sleeping  Our guy is a brand new prosecuting attorney and over the course of the drama, we get involved in all the cases he is solving. Some of them had me screaming (literally out loud) in suspense and trauma. All of it ties together in the end. There are some great villains in this drama that have you totally squirming and on the edge of your seat. The secondary characters are perfectly quirky too and the second male lead, AS ALWAYS, is swoon worthy in his own right. Sigh. Always.

Suspicious Partner/Love in Trouble Such a fun show... all the way around. For the romantic chemistry and banter. For the most awesome creepy villain who blew me away with his acting and caused a ton of suspense. For the sad back stories. For the fun quirky side characters. For the tragic side stories. All of it. Most of all though, it's the best because of Ji Chang Wook, who I've raved on and on about before. But yeah. He knows his stuff. And he knows how to be a leading romantic dude like no other. He's just, pretty perfect.








And favorites from past years that I watched this year:

Moon Embracing the Sun This is a saga of a drama. A sweeping historical romance that covers a big time period and has a very complicated political plot and complicated messed up romances and relationships. I have no idea how to summarize it! Think of this as a period drama, like watching stuff from our British Tudor history or something. It's like that. Just like that! It's all very emotional, but I held it in for the most part. Until the last couple of episodes and then I gave up and let the tears stream. Sigh. It's so good and heart wrenching! 

Coffee Prince The best part about this one was the acting. Like these two were so totally amazing. Gong Yoo, I mean... he's just.. there are no words. He's so good. And Eun Hye? The way she could make you forget she's a girl? Like how does she do that when she's this beautiful actress? I don't get it! She was so good. I think that these guys and this drama won all sorts of awards because of them. And it quite pushed the boundaries, you know, for this whole gay thing and gender identity and all that. And just really makes one think. And the romance was so... cute and fun and intense. All of it. SO GOOD!!!

Pinocchio  And it's about revenge. And about forgiveness. And redemption. And...love and family... and so many wonderful beautiful things.  I got teary so many times during this one! So many! Which is a good thing because you know it's moving and heart wrenching! Yes. It is. Mark it down for one of the best ones!

It's been a great year for dramas. I love them so much. Can't wait to see what this year brings! Already we're off to a great start!!!

Top Ten Tuesday: Non-Reading Summer Activities

I haven't done a Broke and Bookish Top Ten Tuesday prompt for awhile but the list today sounded fun so here I am joining in again.

Ten Summer Activities NOT Reading


1. Driving with the windows down and blasting music. If I had a convertible, I'd be SO all over that!!

2. Going on a trips, sometimes big ones, sometimes small ones, but there needs to be an escape of some sort going on!

3. Going to plays and concerts at the outdoor theater. We've been going on and off (mostly on) for the past 25 years. It's not summer without it.

4. Watching TV, catching up on all the things!

5. Going to movies, all the summer blockbusters. Back in the day we'd do the summer kid movies every week. That was fun.

6. We don't have a beach here. And I'm not much of a swimming person, but I feel like that idea of going to the pool should be included. It's a good idea, but it was always more of a pain for me than it was fun.

7. Project time! I think of summer (at least I used to) as the time to finally finish a big project, or start a new one, or learn something new. Basically to just jump in and do that thing that you've been putting off. Do it now!

8. Conventions! This will be my new thing I think. Summer is full of conventions and I'm addicted. This year it's not happening, but next year (in addiction to Comic Con which is usually spring and fall actually) I'd love to go to both Vidcon and Kcon at the very least.

9. It's sort of about reading, but different... but going to the library's summer reading program was always a part of our summer back in the day. I miss those days actually. They always have such fun activities and get the kids motivated to make and usually keep their reading goals. Loved it.

10. Sleeping in of course. While I still have to get up on work days, the non work days are truly about sleeping in. Usually. Or I wish they were.

What stuff do you do in the summer that doesn't include reading?

Top Ten Tuesday: My Favorite Nonbookish Websites

Oh hey! It's a non bookish topic over at The Broke and the Bookish today! I'm a bit late, but why not join in? And so I give you:


Websites I love not about books:

Pixlr online video editor: the easiest place I've found for making collages

YouTube to mp3 : for grabbing songs from YouTube

Korean keyboard: Just in case you want to type something in Hangul you know

Kpop Lyrics: because sometimes we do want to know what they're saying!

Viki.com: my new Netflix

NaNoWriMo: this mostly in November (this is not about books really right?)

Spotify: well, it's a website, but I use the app and I wonder how I lived without it

YouTube: um, is this a given?

(I was going to list Amazon, but then I remembered... not about books....)

Um,,. that's pretty much everywhere I'm going these days. Where do you hangout online? That aren't too bookish?

Top Ten Tuesday: Recent FIVE Star Reads

I'm not scared of giving out five stars. You all know that. And here are the latest five I've awarded. It seems like they were a long time ago now. I need another five star in a bad way. Maybe today since The Winner's Kiss will be showing up on my doorstep any second! YES


Five Recent Five Star Books
(with quotes from my reviews)

Emmy and Oliver by Robin Benway: "It's all sorts of sweetness and swoon worthiness."

Mosquitoland by David Arnold: "It's an interesting mix of sad and funny. You know the kind, where you feel bad laughing at the situation these characters are in, and then you end up weepy eyed afterwards. Yeah, that kind."

Their Fractured Light by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner: "Gah. I love these books so much. If you haven't read them  yet, what the HECK are you waiting for?"

The Start of Me and You by Emery Lord: "I loved that the guy we thought would be the guy was not the guy, not because he turned out to be a jerk, but because he was just not the right guy. I loved the whole "nerds are awesome" theme too. I mean, I really really loved that especially."

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff: "I loved it. This! This is the sort of book I want to write! I just, I don't know, it's just so cool!"


What are your recent five star books? Link up over at The Broke and the Bookish.

Top Ten Tuesday: Books Not Set in the U.S.

Since I've been into immersing myself in other cultures (in one other culture?) recently, I thought I'd do a quick top ten on some of my favorite books which do not take place in my country (or my country of origin.) So... if you're in the mood...


Ten Books if you're in the mood for something that is NOT set in the US or Britain:

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (Spain)
The Far Pavilions by M.M. Kaye (India)
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See (Japan)
The Long Walk by Slavomir Rawicz (Siberia and Nepal)
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (Germany)
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (Afghanistan)
A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park (Korea)
The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck (China)
Fiesta of Smoke by Suzan Still (Mexico)
Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta (Australia)

Lovely lovely books, the lot of them! Read them! Read them now!

What's on your Broke and Bookish list today?

Top Ten Tuesday: Lovey Dovey Edition

It's a Valentine Freebie over at The Broke and the Bookish today. I wanted to do something, because hello... love and romance. But I've done favorite love stories, and literary crushes, and couples, what makes me swoon, and favorite kisses. Quotes would be fun, but I don't have time to look up quotes right now. . . and so what to do, what to do?

The only thing I can come up with is more recent literary crushes... not the old favorite standbys, but characters from books read in the past couple of years. Ready? Go.


Top Ten Recent Literary Crushes

1. Tarver from These Broken Stars... I have talked about him a lot, because he stands out in the recent crush scene. He's just so, so, perfect.

2. Max from The Start of Me and You.... because of his nerdiness. Nerds for the win!

3. Paul from A Thousand Pieces of Pieces of You, also because of his nerdiness and shyness and tallness.

4. Jake from Not in the Script, because of his non-nerdiness!

5. Arin from The Winner's Curse, because... oh my. I don't even know how to articulate. I have no words for this boy.

6. Adam from the Raven Boys, I like Gansey too, but I like Adam especially because he's quiet and unassuming. And tall and gangly, which for some reason I find cute in my literary boys.

7. Warner from Unravel Me, because he's the one you hate at first and then love. It's such a complete unexpected turnaround that it gives your whip lash and it's awesome.

8. Akiva from The Daughter of Smoke and Bone, and have I never mentioned him before? Because DANG. Smokin'.

9. Captain Thorne from Cress and Scarlet, because... swagger! There's just something about sincere swaggering. Am I right, or am I right?

10. Graham from This Is What Happy Looks Like, because how cute is he? An all humble celebrity. There's something about humble celebrities too I'm thinking.

And those are some recent loves. Have you read these books? Do you agree? Who's on your literary Valentine list this week?

Top Ten Tuesday: Past and Future

Today's prompt from The Broke and the Bookish is sort of a two parter (well, I'm making it that way at least) and is all about the past and the future.  Here are my two little lists:


Five Historical Settings I Love

1. Regency of course! Anything in this time period! What is about this era? I have no idea, but it's lovely to read about.

2. Also, anything from the medieval times or dark ages. You know, King Arthur type stuff. Love love love it. I think this era is fascinating just for the fact that people actually survived it.

3. I also enjoy stories sent during World War II because of the resilience of those people. Strong amazing characters all around.

4. Early American, especially western frontier type books featuring cowboys and Indians, though I haven't read a huge amount of these types, but when I do, I love it.

5. Stories from the British Tudor period are especially fun and fascinating too.

Five Futuristic Books I Love

1. These Broken Stars (and its trilogy). All the perfect elements of science fiction!

2. Through the Ever Night (and its trilogy). The pairing of a futuristic society with a rugged nomad society is fascinating.

3. Partials (and its trilogy). Set in the very near future, this one seems like it could totally happen.

4. Legend (and its trilogy). Ditto for this one.

5. The Sparrow. This book kills me. KILLS me.

Fun prompt this week!  I know there's many more I could add to each list.
What's on your list?

Top Ten Tuesday: Books Recently Added to the TBR

I've been adding books to the pile like crazy! Here are ten that have risen to the top:

What books are on your TBR pile at this very moment? Be sure to link up over at The Broke and the Bookish!

Top Ten Tuesday: Resolutions

Many pooh pooh the whole New Year goal making tradition, but I can't seem to let it go. I have an overwhelming urge at the change of the year (or the season, or the school year) to make an effort to start again, to recommit, to make lists. Here are some thoughts I've had for various areas of my life... for now:

Reading:

• My Goodreads number for this year has been set at 80! 
• I want to read more adult books, more non fiction books and more classic books.
• And yet, I still want to keep up with the favorite YA authors and series and local authors and their new books!
• I want to host a couple of read alongs again. (We are thinking of a Little Women one... soon. Very soon!)
• I will probably not accept many ARCs this year or request much from NetGalley. 

Blogging:

• In order to make way for some other goals, I think blogging will take more of a back seat role this year. We'll see how it goes... and maybe you'll not notice much. Maybe it will make me too crazy, but basically, I plan to not blog as often...as in, not every day. Maybe more like three times a week or so. Unless I have way too much to say!
• I want to shake up my review system a bit, but I'm not sure how. I'm going to bag the discussion question and just write a quick blurb and a quick reaction. We'll see how it goes and maybe the change will also end up being very subtle.
• I want to keep Book Bantering with Jenny!
• Visit more blogs and reconnect with long lost blogging buddies!
• Get caught up on print out some blog posts and adding them to the binder.

Writing:

• This needs to become more of a priority, like... ahead of blogging.
• I want to make changes to the first book according to feedback from beta readers.
• I want to finish and revise the recent Nano book and start getting feedback for it.
• Which means the other book will still have to wait it's turn for some attention.
• I want to start researching agents and the like. Freaky! Which means maybe NEXT year I'll be ready to query and pitch. Maybe.
• I plan to attend two conferences. Maybe more.
• I hope to keep the online writing group going. And if that doesn't work.. find a real, in life serious writing group. Sigh.
• Keep going to UVW when I can. Renew membership in March.

Personal:

• Zumba, every day! (Or, at least four or five times a week.) Other strength exercises that work for me and that I have the ability to do. (Whatever that is!)
• Eat healthy. (Just as soon as all the chocolate in this house is gone! LOL!)
• Finish the hexagon wall hanging quilt!
• Clean up some hoarder stashes found in various corners of this house! Get rid of junk!
• Figure out what it means to be a grandma and do it. (Babysit? Re-enter the picture book world? I don't know!)
• Make some vacation movies... print up the pictures.

Well, I'm sure there's more, but I'll stop there. And yeah that's more than ten, but that was just a guideline, right? 

What do you have planned for the new year? Link up over at The Broke and the Bookish today!

Top Ten Tuesday: New to Me Authors in 2015

I read tons of new-to-me authors this year! Here are some of my favorites:

Some New Favorite Authors

R.C. Lewis, author of Stitching Snow
Andy Weir, author of The Martian
Gene Luen Yang, author of American Born Chinese
Amy Finnegan, author of Not in the Script
Julie Daines, author of Unraveled
Laura Ruby, author of Bone Gap
Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff, author of Illuminae
Sally Green, author of Half Bad
Jennifer Niven, author of All the Bright Places
Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner, authors of These Broken Stars


What new to you authors stood out this year? Link up over at The Broke and the Bookish!