The Geeky Nerfherder 14th Anniversary & My 2025 Favourites

It's that time again! Today, December 29, is the birthday of this nerdy blog, beginning all the way back on this day in 2011 with the obligatory introductory blog post. Can't quite believe that I've been doing this geeky blog for 14 years!

 

From the beginning, the aim of the blog has always been to showcase inspiring, cool art and pop culture geekery, from alternative movie poster art, comic art, book and magazine cover art to the artworks on view from the latest new contemporary exhibitions, and the artists that create them.

 

I don't have as much time to work on the blog as I used to these days, life sometimes getting in the way and all that, but it's still a lot of fun to curate, even after all these years; finding the latest cool art, cover art, print releases and gallery shows, showcasing art from some of my favourite artists in my long running 'Artist Spotlight' series (still working my way through the artist alphabet and currently at the letter S), as well as starting each day with an #ArtOfTheDay post - something random from the Geeky Nerfherder image archives.

I'm still relatively active on the socials and they continue to gain new followers, even with the algorithms doing their best to limit any visibility and with the influx of AI slop (which I will NOT knowingly post on the blog or my socials), the number of followers is still in the thousands! WOW! It's always humbling and amazing to know that other people are also enjoying the artworks I'm posting and hopefully discovering new favourite artists along the way as well. But if you’re not already following, here are the links to my social profiles where I post to:

on Tumblr (GeekyNerfherder)

on Bluesky (@GeekyNerfherder)

on Instagram (@geekynerfherder)

on YouTube

on Goodreads

on Storygraph

Stores:
on Threadless (GeekyNerfherder)

on Teepublic

So that's another year almost in the books! There's still been more than enough good stuff to escape into a geeky and nerdy bubble with, despite everything 2025 has thrown up, and here are a few of my favourites from the past year below.

 

 

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Movies & Shows:

Not watched many movies or shows this year, but in no particular order, here's a list of movies and shows that I did enjoy this year, including some that I missed when they were originally released.

Click images for trailers.

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Books:

I love my stories, reading (and listening through audiobooks) deep rather than wide, escaping within the realms of fantasy and science fiction, but also dipping into historical and mythical retellings and reimaginings inspired by myths and folklore.

Most of my favourites are reads that break away from the usual traditional SFF tropes and trends; tales inspired by cultures, mythologies and perspectives other than my own (I am a white European cis male). If the world building and lore of these fantastical worlds, filled with interesting and engaging characters draw me in to the story, then I'm more than happy to keep turning the pages! And I have done this year, by exceeding my Reading Challenge target for 2025!

 

Once again I've really enjoyed what I've read / listened to this year. A few re-reads / listens, and a few from brand new authors that I'll definitely be watching out for in the future. After all, there's always room for more on the ever expanding TBR!!

All in all, a great bookish year!

Here's a list of the books and audiobooks that I've finished throughout the past year.

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Art / Illustration:

Here are just a few of my favourites (in no particular order and only really representing the tip of a very large iceberg of awesome art) from the many print releases, cover artwork and gallery exhibitions throughout 2025 (no AI slop).

by Ruth Speer

by Mr Melville

by Tran Nguyen

by Matt Ferguson

by Paul Mann

by Tran Nguyen

by Chris Thornley (Raid71)

by Daniel Danger

by Kilian Eng

by Malleus

by Malleus

by Kevin M Wilson

by Yuko Shimizu

by James Jean

by Rory Kurtz

by Bruno Vergauwe

by Deb JJ Lee

by Kilian Eng

by Pablo Olivera

by Bastien Lecouffe Deharme

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Gaming:

I recently upgraded my PC to something a bit more up to date, something that can cope with the latest games, as I don't want be restricted to a specific platform when there are so many great games available, especially from Indie Devs, and some great deals at online stores like GOG, Steam, Epic etc. 

Narrative driven, single player games are my jam, immersing myself in an action adventure / RPG game, with a vast and deep, but not necessarily open, world to explore, puzzles to solve, some good NPCs (Non Playable Characters) to interact with, good gameplay, and a compelling protagonist that develops over the course of the game.

I wanted to try and play more Indie games in 2025, as opposed to just the big franchise AAA games, and I managed to pick up and play a few; some that have been released this year as well as some that I missed when they were originally released (and yeah, I'm still dipping back into Baldur's Gate 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 as well - two of my favourite games from the last few years!). So as long as they have good immersive storytelling and characters to interact with and a large and in depth environment to explore, things that I love in a game, then I'll definitely be wishlisting and playing more Indie games.

Click image for trailers.

 

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So there you have it, a list of some of my favourite geeky things from 2025.

As always, thanks again to everyone who drops by the blog, and follows me on the socials, making 'The Geeky Nerfherder' a lot of fun to curate! Here's to another year of nerdiness!