2013 books lists

My Year in Reading, 2013

I read 66 books this year. I set a goal of 52, or a book per week; obviously I did more than that, but still a lot less than last year. That was a deliberate decision. By the end of last year, reading started to feel competitive (even though I was not actually competing with …

Continue Reading
2013 lists

Favorite Albums 2013

#agir Favorite Albums 2013 This list comes with the same caveat as my favorite songs: I’m not claiming they’re the “best,” just the ones that I enjoyed the most, that stuck with me, and that I listened to many times. Julia Kent: Character A former (?) member of Rasputina, Kent writes cello pieces that could …

Continue Reading
2013 lists music

Favorite Songs of 2013

I’m never really comfortable putting together a list of songs (or anything else) and calling it the “best” of the year— not because I don’t think it’s possible to make a reasonable stab at such a list, but because I think that in order to do so you really have to have heard a lot …

Continue Reading
2012 books lists

My Year in Reading, 2012

I read 105 books in 2012. That is unusual; it’s the first time (at least since I have been keeping track) that I have read more than 100. I am not really sure why or how it happened this year, except that for most of the year reading was how I usually felt like spending …

Continue Reading
2012 lists movies

My Year in Movies, 2012

I have never been a very disciplined movie-watcher; much more than with books or even music, , I have no ability to make myself watch the next thing on the list if it is not what I am in the mood for at the moment. So my list of movies is always unsystematic, and the …

Continue Reading
2012 lists music

My Year in Music, 2012

2012 for me was, first and foremost, the year of Spotify. Having access to Spotify dramatically changed both the quantity and the range of music I listened to. I went through, at various points in the year, a jazz phase (lots of Anthony Braxton, Miles Davis, Jason Adesiewicz, and Colin Stetson, among others), an Early …

Continue Reading