2012 Listening Recap

My bestest companion in the whole world is my music collection. As Nietzsche proclaimed, "without music life would be a mistake." It may be worth noting I have this quote inscribed on my iPod. :-)

With this in mind, I thought I would collect some random notes about my 2012 in music:

Most Played - Song
According to my iTunes, the 10 songs I played the most last year were (in no particular order):

Jason Mraz - "I Won't Give Up"

Howie Day - "The Longest Night"

Sara Bareilles - "Gravity"

Racoon - "Lose Another Day"

Muse - "Uprising"

Karmin - "Brokenhearted"

Matchbox Twenty - "She's So Mean"

Radiohead - "Fake Plastic Trees"

David Guetta w/ Sia - "Titanium"

Guster - "Do You Love Me"

This is an odd collection of songs. I have no insight into why these rose to the top, other than they likely earmark different emotional times throughout the year. Though with Matchbox Twenty and Karmin, I just find them so catchy! And with Guster, well, it is the darn bells!

Most Played - Artists
According to my iTunes and my journal, the 10 artists I played the most last year (again, in no particular order):

Matt Nathanson

Arcade Fire

The Decemberists

Sara Bareilles

Blue Rodeo

Mumford & Sons

Kelly Clarkson

P!nk

Radiohead

Lady Antebellum

Favoritest Finds
The artists and songs which had me giddy all year:

Lykke Li

Emeli Sand

Of Monsters and Men

Jessie Ware

Kimbra
Carrie Underwood - "Blown Away"
David Guetta w/ Sia - "Titanium"

Favoritest Songs / Albums
This was the new music which made me go 'wow' everytime I listened (and still do have me wowing):

Kathleen Edwards - Voyageur

Serena Ryder - Harmony

Angel Haze - "Cleaning Out My Close"
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - "Same Love" (& video)

Favoritest Rediscoveries
These are the artists, albums and/or songs whose brilliance I rediscovered through various avenues:

The Killers - Sam's Town

Linda Ronstadt feat. Aaron Neville - Cry Like a Rainstorm, Howl Like the Wind

Pete Yorn - Music for the Morning After

Rosanne Cash - The Wheel

Tears for Fears - Songs From the Big Chair

Bobby Brown - "Every Little Step"

Sam Cooke

Looking Forward to Discovering in 2013
It is not so much that I don't know of these artists and/or the album indicated. It is just I have not spent much time listening and digesting the specific album or the artist's discography as of yet. But I will. In 2013. :-)

Fiona Apple - The Idler Wheel

Grizzly Bear

Whitehorse

Amanda Palmer

Alabama Shakes

Favoritest Musical Achievement
I have never heard nor viewed "Gangnam Style." Hand to heart swear. Never. And I feel incredibly blessed. Also, I still have not heard a Justin Bieber song in full. I intend to keep it this way for as long as possible!

2012 Reading Recap

I usually do not write end-of-the-year posts. This is mainly because I am lazy and also because I am never sure what to write. But reading almost everyone else's posts I thought I'd throw something together.

So here it goes:

I read 96 books this past year, excluding books related to school. It feels like I read a lot more so this was a bit surprising. Not surprising, 85 of those 96 were fiction. I am a fiction whore.

The ratio of authors was better than in past years, with 57 female authors to 39 males. This is a pretty darn good ratio for me, as I do gravitate toward female authors more than males. This may have to do with my aversion to certain genres. *shrug*

Interestingly though (or maybe not), the books I remember most from this past year are primarily from male authors. And by most, I mean I talked about and recommended these books to others and I hardly ever do this.

Highlights

Colin Meloy - Wildwood

Chad Harbach - The Art of Fielding

Patrick DeWitt - The Sisters Brothers

Markus Zusak - The Book Thief

Dave Cullen - Columbine

Marc Fitten - Elza's Kitchen

A.M. Homes - May We Be Forgiven

John Green - The Fault in Our Stars

William M. Kuhn - Mrs. Queen Takes the Train

Ann Patchett - State of Wonder

Ann Wilson and Nancy Wilson - Kicking & Dreaming: A Story of Heart, Soul and Rock and Roll

Cristina Alger - The Darlings

My favorite read overall was A.M. Homes' May We Be Forgiven. I don't really know if I got everything packed in its pages but I do know I've been thinking about the book every day since I finished it. And that is a monumental feat.






My second favorite read was The Book Thief. Just...wow.

One other highlight of the year was the resurrection of a local book club with former colleagues. You can find us on Good Reads as the "Sunday Brunch Club."

Side note: Patchett showing up on my list is a bit of surprise as her books are soooooo slow for me. I feel like I'm in quicksand whenever I pick one up, which is why I'm still slogging through Run and Bel Canto four years after first starting them. But I forced myself one afternoon to read State of Wonder from cover to cover; after 200 pages I finally got sucked in and sucked in good. The ending was poor but I choose to ignore it. :-)

Disappointments

I try not to be too disappointed by books but there were a couple which were so based on the social hype:

Emma Donoghue - Room

Ami McKay - The Virgin Cure

Gillian Flynn - Gone Girl

Alison Espach - The Adults

I Wanted To Like These More Than I Did

These are the books you wish were just the tiniest bit better so they could be on the highlight list:

Jasper Fforde - Shades of Grey

Ernest Cline - Ready Player One

Greg Oleaer - Fathermucker

Kris D'Agostino - The Sleepy Hollow Family Almanac

Anouk Markvotiz - I Am Forbidden

I debated having a category for books I didn't like but this seemed unproductive. Even if I dislike a book I still appreciate the effort the author and everyone involved in the publication put into its being. Well, unless it seriously offends then appreciate is hardly the word for my reaction.

Here's to lots of great reads in 2013!