Apart from my rather disappointing (with the exception of a couple of gems) reading wrap-up of the first two months of 2018, some other things I really enjoyed in January and February were language learning (as I’m trying to improve my Japanese and reconnect with my French), some podcasts, a blog and a YouTube channel, a theatre performance, a film and two TV series.
I really like podcasts and I have found so many interesting (and uninteresting) ones over the years, but I never seem to have any appropriate time to devote to them since I don’t currently commute or travel as often as I used to and I always find myself doing other things while I try to listen to them at home and thus not concentrating enough on what is being said. However, I made some new discoveries lately which I would like to share with you. 
I first discovered the Books and Boba podcast back in October, but I started listening to it properly only this January. It focuses mostly on Asian-American literature and the hosts, Reera and Marvin, are truly great to listen to, even more so since one of their missions for this podcast is to promote and enjoy works by marginalised authors and give priority to stories told from an Own Voices perspective. They have a Goodreads group, where they pick a book to read and discuss each month and they also talk about recent and future releases, they invite guests and authors over and they also discuss other important current events. Their January read was Min Jin Lee’s Pachinko (which I lauded in my previous post) and I was so excited to hear my name mentioned in that episode‘s discussion! The books they choose cover a wide array of genres, so I would highly recommend you give their podcast a try.
The next podcast I started listening to in February is Journey to the West, a podcast by Asian women discussing Asian issues, as the podcast’s own description reads (plus, the name of the podcast is an homage to the great Chinese epic of the same name). The four lady hosts are all very eloquent and they tackle a wide variety of topics such as racism, body image, the Olympics, feminism as well as culture appropriation (starting with the shameful Logan Paul incident in Japan recently). Their podcast is fairly new, it began approximately two months ago, but I really enjoyed listening to the discussions they brought up as well as listening to a slightly different perspective (that of Asian women) which we don’t usually get to hear very often.
Next, I have a blog and a YouTube channel I immensely enjoyed spending time on lately, both related to language study. Inside that Japanese Book is a blog focusing on Japanese and general language learning, providing motivation, study tips, book reviews and so many wonderful things. The girl behind it, Inhae, is French and is currently learning Japanese (with very impressive results) while also trying to improve her English writing skills. Her posts are always incredibly motivational and she has definitely been one of my main sources of inspiration for my own Japanese study lately. Plus, she always includes such cute drawings of herself and her cat in her posts.
Lindie Botes is another incredibly inspirational language learner, as she can speak ten (!) different languages. Of course, I mostly enjoy her Japanese/Korean/Chinese language learning videos, but she also makes videos about other languages such as French and Hungarian. No matter what language you’re learning, Lindie’s videos will definitely be an inspiration for you – I especially enjoy her ‘Study [insert language] with Me’ videos as well as the discussion videos she makes on various linguistic topics.
Having spent most of my February in Athens, I grabbed the opportunity to go to the theatre after a very long time. The performance I watched is called Το Ψέμα (To Psema/The Lie), a comedy about relationships, faithfulness and how even the most trusting couples actually have their own deeply buried secrets. Although it’s not the type of theatre performance I usually go for, I really enjoyed this one, mainly because of the excellent performances of the main actors. 
My favourite film was The Post, with incredible performances by Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks, and two of my favourite TV series were Mindhunter and Dark. Mindhunter is an American TV series set in 1970s in which Holden, the protagonist, embarks on the groundbreaking endeavour of analysing criminals’ psychology and past experiences in order to start building patterns in which to categorise their crimes – thus marking the creation of the term ‘serial killer’ for the first time. I love crime/mystery stories and Mindhunter was nearly excellent, providing both crime cases the protagonists are called to solve as well as their struggles with academia and the police force in getting their research accepted and funded.
Dark is a German series (the very first one I watch) and a very impressive one. The story is very reminiscent of Stranger Things, initially, as it involves a child’s disappearance under mysterious circumstances and the uproar that is created in the small town due to this event. Although there is something supernatural involved, Dark‘s story soon diverges from that followed by Stranger Things and it manages to create a very unique, intriguing and incredibly visually beautiful outcome. It will definitely keep you glued to your screens until the very last minute.
Have you seen or listened to any of those? Which were your favourite non-bookish things so far in 2018?
theliterarysisters 
Thank you so much for mentioning me and writing so kind words about my blog!
I didn’t know Lindie Botes, she is a fantastic discovery for me.
My most treasured non-bookish thing of 2018 is Anouar Brahem’s new album Blue Maqams. It was released in October of last year, but I was able to listen to it only last month. I love Anouar Brahem’s music, a mix of Arabic music and jazz, peaceful, inspiring and melancholic. I listen to it while I study or write.