Since June 30 marks the midpoint of the year, I’ve done a complete recount and updated the spreadsheet. But first, here are June’s numbers.

Physical Comics Read: 9
Digital Comics Read: 0
Books Read: 6
Trades/Graphic Novels Read: 1
Movies Watched: 6
TV Shows Watched: 3
TV Seasons Watched: 6
Podcast Episodes to Listen to: 68

And after the update here are my new totals:

Physical Comics to Read: 146
Digital Comics to Read: 435
Trades/Graphic Novels to Read: 4
Books to Read: 108
Movies to Watch: 196
TV Shows to Watch: 39
TV Seasons to Watch: 66
Podcast Episodes to Listen to: 68

So I guess as a reminder, the lists are comprised of things I physically own, of course, but also of to-read lists, to-watch lists, and streaming queues. In fact, the spreadsheets I use for movies and books have columns that indicate if I own that item and if not, where I can find it.

What I did was approach the lists in two obvious ways. First, I looked at what was unwatched/unread and decided if I was still interested in it. Then, I went through the queues and physical media and got rid of them as well as some books or DVDs that I’d decided to give away. When the dust settled, I wound up with the following differences between January 1 and June 30:

Physical Comics: +19
Digital Comics: 0
Trades/Graphic Novels: -8
Books: -7
Movies: +4
TV Shows: +45
TV Seasons: -12
Podcast Episodes: -11

It sure doesn’t look much like Uncollecting, I know. I guess in some cases, I’ve been accumulating a little too much or have simply been “managing debt”, kind of like making a payment on a credit card with an existing balance but the payment only covers what you spent that month? Anyway, I try to look at this as something to enjoy because it often leads me to discovering or rediscovering some pretty good stuff (i.e., all of these “women with nowhere to turn” novels I’ve read in the last couple of years).

June being month one of my two-month summer break means that I’m adjusting to a different routine and making time to read books or listen to podcasts. I haven’t watched that many movies during my days off–it’s mostly been sports–but there’s a lot more ease when it comes to each day. It’s odd that I always find summer to be way more expensive than most months of the year, but that’s a whole other conversation.

Otherwise, it’s putting together a huge to-do list that I whittle down, much of which consists of small projects, research for bigger ones, and every appointment that I can ever book. So life’s not too crazy exciting, but that’s kind of the point of time off.

Here’s two of the some of the “best” things from this past month:

The Odyssey. More on this in the August episode of Required Reading, but I re-read Emily Wilson’s translation of Homer’s epic poem for that show as well as in anticipation of the upcoming Christopher Nolan film. Now, I teach parts of this to freshmen every year, so I’m very familiar with it, and I have read the entire thing at least three times. Every time I read it, I notice something else. You’re probably staring at this and thinking that you don’t feel like reading something that seems like it’s “homework,” but this doesn’t feel like that.

Criminal: The Deluxe Edition vol 1 by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips. I’ve read a lot of Brubaker’s work over the years, and have been sitting on this since last Christmas. My wife got me volume 2 of the deluxe edition, so I was like, “Okay, I need to read this.” I’m glad I did.

If you’re unfamiliar with the series, it’s several volumes of slightly interconnected crime stories (the characters and settings intersect with one another) told with a gritty and noir-ish tone. And while there are definitely characters who are awful people, there are so many three-dimensional, human characters. Brubaker and Phillips put together tight stories that they give time to develop and bring to satisfying conclusions.