Happy
New Year! I hope that your final day of 2019 was bright and that you’re looking
forward to a better year starting today. I know I am.
And
now, without further ado, my annual review of books and music.
The
Textual World
Without
question, 2019 was the worst year I’ve had in reading since I’ve been keeping
track — and possibly ever. If it were not for reading children’s novels for academic
purposes, I doubt I would even have cracked one hundred books. As it is, my
total is dismal: 116. Here’s the breakdown:
Books
by women: 78
Books
by men: 35
Mixed/Unstated:
3
For
the first four months of the year, most of what I read was middle-grade or YA,
in support of the seminar I was teaching. No seminar this term, and the
publication I’ve been reviewing for since 2013 has shuttered, so who knows what
I’ll read this year.
I
read limited poetry but absolutely loved Kath MacLean’s Translating Air
and Emilia Danielewska’s Paper Caskets. I continued to read anything
John Scalzi published, and through his endorsement read Mary-Robinette Kowal’s Calculating
Stars works — immensely satisfying SFF. I stumbled on a quirky cozy mystery
series by Leigh Perry: preposterous in its premise, but spot on in its details
about the life of contract faculty. The most unusual book I read was Bibliophile
by Jane Mount, a book about loving books, embellished by art representing book
spines. If you’re a bibliophile, it’s sure to speak to you.
Sadly,
my own book was not printed in 2019 but should be available in the first quarter
of 2020. Fingers crossed!
The
Aural World
Well.
After a second year of intentionally listening to music as albums rather than
as singles, I can see some changes in my listening habits. All the dance
classes I’m taking are also affecting what I listen to — as are sessions on the
bike. But comfort listening still dominates my list. Unsurprising, given the
year that was — and, more granularly, given my ongoing experience of bus
commuting. Here are my top tracks:
“Not
About You” - Haiku Hands
“Dance
Apocalyptic” - Janelle Monáe
“Golubka”
- Vopli Vidopliassova with Amarilyo
“Sueltala”
- Jorge Luis Chacin
“You’re
My Best Friend” - Queen
“Whenever,
Wherever” - Shakira
“Wash
and Set” - Leikeli47
“Burning
Bridge” - Kate Bush
“I’m
So Excited” - Pointer Sisters
“Voicemail
for Jill” - Amanda Palmer
“Hot-n-Fun”
- N.E.R.D (feat. Nelly Furtado)
“Take
a Chance on Me” - ABBA
“Brand
New Lover” - Dead or Alive [single edit]
“Sarah”
- Sarah Slean
“Summer
Night City” - ABBA
“Long
Train Runnin’” - The Doobie Brothers
“An
Everlasting Love” - Andy Gibb
“Hungry
Like the Wolf” - Duran Duran
“Come
Alive (War of the Roses)” - Janelle Monáe
“Dreams”
- Brandi Carlile
“Samson”
- Regina Spektor
“Sky
Full of Song” - Florence and the Machine
“Salsa
Caliente” - Grupo Bip
“Sweet
Dreams” - Air Supply [album edit]
“Moderation”
- Florence and the Machine
“Venus
Fly” - Grimes with Janelle Monáe
“I’m
Your Baby Tonight” - Whitney Houston
“Tiny
Thing” - Jenson Interceptor
“Let
Go the Line” - Max Webster
“Con
Calma” - Daddy Yankee feat. Snow
Two
shoutouts here: the glorious Janelle Monáe and the incomparable Amanda Palmer. You
may recall that my birthday present last year was a pair of tickets to see AFP
in concert while I was in Vancouver for Congress. I went with my research
assistant and friend, Rebecca; it was a staggeringly impressive concert. I
discovered Janelle Monáe in a more roundabout way but quickly embraced her — I
played the Dirty Computer album all the way through twenty-six times. Expect
to see more from both performers on future lists.
Meanwhile,
in my ongoing quest toward completeness, I managed to play about 15,000 of some
17,250 tracks in my library, including every track tagged “Holiday” (meaning
the household was subjected to A LOT of Christmas music this year). Just over 1900
tracks received at least five plays.
So
that’s me. What caught your ears and eyes in 2019?
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