Rueben's Ramblings

For nearly 10 years now, I have been putting together my year-end round-ups on all things related to the entertainment industry; and what a great year it has been for all of these mediums, right? There have been plenty of scandals, horrors (Isis anyone?!), Twitter wars and unexpected calamities but, above all else, fans have been provided with a lot of great entertainment [when tragedies have been overlooked].

Like every year, I want to take a little bit of time, selfish though it may be, before I get underway with the 2014 year-end round-ups to focus on some of the goals I set for myself each year.

Besides watching a lot of television, one of my favorite hobbies is reading; and each year I strive to read at least 20 books in the year. This year I actually made it well beyond that goal (YAY me!!). Among the books that I wanted to read were the first two books of the Outlander franchise by Diana Gabaldon – mainly in preparation for the debut of the Starz TV series Outlander – and I thoroughly enjoyed both books. I also read two more books by fictional TV character Richard Castle (from the TV series Castle) and the first book in the Veronica Mars book series. And, very much like last year, I enjoyed reading more Jane Austen inspired books from authors like Cora Harrison, Jenni James, Syrie James, Nina Benneton, Belinda Roberts as well as The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet.

This year I was also busy with TV events, including Wonder Con in Anaheim and Comic Con in San Diego. Like so many past years, I also attended the annual Paley Fest in Los Angeles, participating in their panels for Veronica Mars, Pretty Little Liars, the Lost reunion, Sleepy Hollow and Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. I also attended the following events at the Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills: The Evolution of the Crime Drama Heroine, a screening for the new show Manhattan, the center’s Annual Preview Parties and The Facts of Life reunion.

I also thoroughly enjoyed attending one of the first Outlander events in Los Angeles, saluting the Starz drama well before it debuted in August, attending the Sarah McLachlan concert at the Greek Theatre and the Nocking Point Wines (Stephen Amell’s wine company) Fall Release Party in Studio City.

But enough about all of that, tomorrow I will start rolling out my year-end round-up starting with the best (and worst) in television with much more as 2014 comes to an end.

NOTE: I apologize in advance for any omissions, spelling errors or oversights I may have made, but I don’t apologize for any of the choices I made.