My 10 Favorite Books of 2007

Unlike my previous list, I don't require books on this list to be new. I do have to have read them for the first time, though; I repeated two of my faves this year: The Stand, which I read every five years or so like clockwork, and The Gunslinger. They don't appear on this list.

There's a slight chance I'll finish Frank Deford's sports novel The Entitled before tomorrow night, but only a slight one. It would require an afternoon sitting on the couch, and not scooting around Springfield to some family function or another, something I seem to be incapable of allowing myself and my wife to do.

Here's the list, yo.

10. Antarctica, Kim Stanley Robinson
I've always been a lukewarm fan of sci-fi. I don't have the time to dig into Asimov or the whole Dune series, but I really enjoy Bradbury and some other sci-fi classics. I truly enjoyed Robinson's Mars trilogy; this one was not to that level. The story was sort of perfunctory, though the vivid description of the wasteland-that-isn't-a-wasteland of Antarctica was impressive.

9. The Hours, Michael Cunningham
I'd already seen the movie, so the "it-all-congeals" ending was sort of muted for me. The excellent prose, as would befit a Pulitzer-winning effort, can't really hide the pretension.

8. A Painted House, John Grisham
Okay, so it's John Grisham; this book is no great shakes. But the story is different from his usual unlikely-hero-in-the-South formula, as it is told from the perspective of a young boy in a hard-times cotton family in rural Arkansas, circa 1952. It is, I suspect, largely an autobiography. You can tell Grisham wrote this book for himself, rather than for his publishers.

7. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon
Told from the POV of an autistic teenager, this book is an interesting look at what an author thinks might be the inner workings of an autistic child's mind. That there really is a mystery to figure out--and that it has nothing to do with the dead dog found in the neighbor's yard--is all the more compelling because the kid never really suspects what he's on to... and since it's told in the first person, neither does the reader.

6. Lisey's Story, Stephen King
I read pretty much everything the man writes. Obviously I'm not highbrow, obviously; thankfully, I'm also not pretentious. This one seems to be an ode to King's wife, Tabitha. The plot feels almost pre-autobiographical: A tortured but brilliant novelist dies, leaving his wife and her formidable sisters to pick up the pieces and deal with a psychopath. Lisey's story has strong characters and gives an interesting (to avid readers) glimpse inside the mind of a brilliant but tortured novelist. But his greatest tale it is not.

5. Everything Is Illuminated, Jonathan Safran Foer
I missed out on the book club discussion on this one at The Moxie (they showed the movie, which I've yet to see, late in 2006), but the book was one of the more unique I've ever read, full of wry humor and some very significant moments. The flashbacks are distracting, but vital; stick with it. I highly recommend this book for people who are stuck on a single author/genre. Safran Foer defies convention.

4. The Red Tent, Anita Diamant
One new year's resolution for 2007 was to read more books by and about women. Mission mostly accomplished, and it's all because of this book, which fell into my lap on loan from a friend. Anyone interested in historical fiction or the Old Testament will relish The Red Tent, as it focuses on the clan of Jacob--primarily his four wives and only daughter, Dinah--and the events that tore the family apart and led to the famous beating of Joseph in his coat of many colors. It's obviously fiction, but the story has the feeling of being intensely researched.

3. Mystic River, Dennis Lehane
Mystic River isn't so much a mystery as a tragedy. I had the case of Katie Marcus's murder solved a good 200 pages before the detectives did, but it didn't decrease my pleasure in the book one iota. It's a great character study, as well as a relationship study: fathers and daughters, fathers and sons, and mostly, husbands and wives. It's also one of the few instances where a movie--by Clint Eastwood--makes a very suitable replacement for a book. But don't let that keep you from checking it out at the library.

2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling
It wasn't the best of the Potter series--that honor goes to the sixth book, The Half-Blood Prince--but it was a more-than-satisfying end to what will probably go down as one of the most beloved series of all time (Frodo and Gandalf might have something to say about that now, but not in 50 years). My only real gripe: Rowling should have taken another 10 or 15 pages for the epilogue. After 25,000 pages, couldn't you give us readers just a bit more falling action? (And I'm not talking about that Dumbledore was gay stuff, either.)

1. The Road, Cormac McCarthy
I reviewed The Road on this blog, so I won't deconstruct here. But damn, what a read. I'm interested in seeing the movie, starring Viggo Mortensen, which should begin shooting pretty soon. McCarthy is all of a sudden the new black in Hollywood; his No Country For Old Men is getting rave reviews in theaters, and is on my 2008 reading list. If you haven't read The Road, put it on your own.

Any suggestions for my 2008 list? Post them in the comments.

Peace,

ML

My 10 Favorite Songs of 2007

And so they begin: My "Best Of" lists for 2007. These have become as ubiquitous around this time of year as Christmas carols and hangovers, but for those of us obsessed with pop culture and list-making, they're like cocaine; you can never get enough, until you do. Fortunately with these lists, you don't die.

I start my wrap-up with the best single songs I've heard this year. I must admit, Top 40 radio and iTunes have killed the album. I think music is still best enjoyed in chunks, 12 tracks in a row, often telling its own story. Unfortunately, I can't think of 10 new albums I've listened to straight through this year. The short list includes the Silversun Pickups' Carnavas (came out in 2006, ditto with Wolfmother's self-titled effort); Son Volt's The Search; Kanye West's Graduation; and the Foo Fighters' Echos, Silence, Patience & Grace. Some singles from those discs appear on this list.

Rules and qualifiers: Albums have to have been released this year (it won't be so with other lists, because I make the rules here). This list will also put asunder any indie cred I might have with friends and readers of my magazine... not that there was much to begin with. I listen to things as they come across my desk or my XM Radio. If there's a lot of Top 40, well, I am married to a high school teacher.

10. "Long Walk Home", Bruce Springsteen
My earliest memory of music is The Boss's "Born in the U.S.A.", when my parents were little older than I am now, and over the last 25 years, Springsteen has changed right along with America. He still rocks, but he's more of a statesman of music than a rock star. And the band backing for this song is almost as good as the song itself.

Choice lyric: "Your flag flyin' over the courthouse/Means certain things are set in stone/Who we are, what we'll do and what we won't"


9. "Dance Floor Anthem", Good Charlotte
This is the one I'll take heat for, no doubt. Good Charlotte blows, I know that. But this song was in my head all the way through my marathon, which makes it special, if not good. It's just got a catchy chorus: It makes me want to be 19 again. Still, Joel Madden is kinda funky looking; and he knocked up Nicole Richie.

Choice lyric: "She calls him up/She’s tripping on the phone now/He had to get up/And he ain’t comin' home now/He’s tryin' to forget her/That’s how he got with her/When he first met her/ When they first got together"


8. "Empty Walls", Serj Tankian
What a voice; what an act. And the video... sheesh. Just watch.

Choice lyric: "When we decline, from the confines of our mind/Don't waste your time, on coffins today"

7. "The Great Escape", Boys Like Girls
God, another teeny bop song. I really like this one; I've had times this year when I felt misunderstood, or just wanted to drive until I hit a border or the ocean. This song sums up those feelings nicely.

Choice lyric: "Watch it burn/Let it die/Cause we are finally free tonight"


6. "Girlfriend", Avril Lavigne
I'm starting to get embarrassed. Still, something about this song reminds me of my wife. In a good way.

Choice lyric: "Don't pretend I think you know I'm damn precious/And hell yeah I'm the motherf'n' princess"

Embedding was disabled on YouTube (probably because Avril likes to rip off other people's beats and then overprotect her own stuff), but here's the link.

5. "Roc Boys", Jay Z
If American Gangster was one of my favorite films of the year, this song has to be one of my favorite spins. I love pretty much everything Jay Z does, because he's everything I'm not.

Choice lyric: "Let your hair down baby, i just hit a score/pick any place on the planet, pick a shore/take what forbes figured then figure more/cause they forgot to account what i did with the raw"


4. "All Your Words", Starrfadu
The only ballad on my list is also the only local tune. There weren't a lot of Springfield bands to put out honest-to-got albums this year, but And Yes... Our Thoughts Were Elsewhere was a good one. I like this song. It's sad, but kinda perky.

Choice lyric: "Maybe we're both crazy/and it's plain to see with you and I/that we ain't getting nowhere tonight"

No video online, but here's a link to the band's MySpace page. Listen to everything, for reals. You might recognize one of the songs there, "Let It Out" was used in a 2007 Kleenex commercial. No joke.

3. "The Pretender", Foo Fighters
The Foos have taken over the role The Counting Crows held until I was 25: The role of Favorite Band. I'd listen to Dave Grohl play the slide whistle. This is the most ass-kicking song they've put out in some time, and surpasses any the hard stuff on 2005's In Your Honor. Grohl will never be the icon Kurt Cobain was, but he's surpassed his blond ass as a musician. Great video too; Green Day would do something similar.

Choice lyric: "The secrets that you keep are at the ready/Are you ready?/I'm finished making sense/Done pleading ignorance/That whole...defense"

Another damn "no embed" video, but here's the link.

2. "How Far We've Come", matchbox20
Another band and lead man that gets better with age, though they're hardly the Foos. This is my favorite matchbox song. It never lets up, and I can see it being a theme song for a movie version of The Stand, my favorite book, because it seems to evoke the apocolypse. The video would indicate it's about social change. Wusses.

Choice lyric: "I sat down on the street, took a look at myself/said where you going man you know the world is headed for hell/say all goodbyes if you've got someone you can say goodbye to"


1. "Stronger", Kanye West
I love everything Jay Z does, but I'm awed by almost everything the Louis Vuitton Don cranks out. "Stronger" might be the most technically flawless song of 2007; the production is second to none, and Kanye's rhymes leave me slack-jawed, like Eminem's used to before he quit recording and I realized life was too short to listen to shi* that doesn't make you feel good (even if it makes you laugh). Kanye is king.

Choice lyric: "Bow in the presence of greatness/Cause right now thou has forsaken us/You should be honored by my lateness/That I would even show up to this fake shi*/So go ahead go nuts, go ape shi*"


I'm sure there a billion quibbles, and a billion great songs out there I haven't listened to. One of my many new year's resolutions is to dip deeper into the great pool of music. Trouble is, the good stuff is just so hard to find anymore, so middle-of-the-road fans like me are left singing along to Avril. Sigh.

Peace.

ML

Thnks Fr Th Mmrs

Not too many things can chase my ass to the computer to blog like earth-shaking St. Louis Cardinals news, and that's exactly what did it this morning when I fired up the Firefox and found that Jimmy Edmonds is now a San Diego Padre. I'm not shocked--he was old, expensive, and blocking young talent from playing center field for the Cards--but he was the longest-tenured Cardinal, the emotional epicenter of the team and a damn good-looking guy. He was awesome for his patented upercutting power stroke, his perfect diving catches, and his attitude. He'll be missed, and if he manages to make it to Cooperstown, I'll be proud for him to be wearing a St. Louis cap. I think the odds of his making it are a lot more likely now than they were a week ago.

Why do I say that? Well, anyone who has a sports pulse followed the unveiling of baseball's Mitchell Report with at least mild interest. Better than six dozen players were revealed to have (at least a fair) connection to steriods and HGH. Many of these players are retired or well on their way. Albert Pujols wasn't there, as had been reported initially, and thank goodness. Neither was this guy. Ergo, most of my faith in the game remains intact, though I hardly think the Michell Report is a capstone of any sort. Really, I think the witch hunt and punishment of violators is a joke; baseball would be better off acknowledging, fixing, and moving on. Keeping McGwire and Bonds and Clemens out of the Hall of Fame only keeps the wound open and festering. They were the best players of an unfortunate and flawed era. You can't change history, only learn from it.

What does this have to do with Jimmy Ballgame? Well, I think, five or six years from now when Bonds, McGwire and (possibly) Clemens are still sitting there, ignored, on the voters' ballots, a guy like Edmonds, who played the game hard, with flair--and, most importantly squeaky clean, unless weird things come to light--appears on the ballot, writers will be inclined to vote for him (them). Others who fit this bill will be Craig Biggio, Bernie Williams, Larry Walker and Jason Varitek. Of course, many of these players have been tagged as possible users, which brings me to my final point: We don't really know. Never will, with certainty. Perhaps Bonds deserves to be an outcast for his federal purjury charge. Maybe. But I still think Pete Rose should be in the Hall, so what do I know?

Barring further development, this is all I'll say on steriods for the forseeable future, unless I start using, in which case I'll blog in detail about my massive biceps and inverted testicles. It'll be my gift to all of you!

For those of you who care, life is predictably hectic. Work, of course, has combined with MBA finals, holiday shindigs and a nasty, nasty sinus infection to frazzle me a good deal. I haven't begun to Christmas shop. But it'll get done, it always does. I'm looking forward to the Christmas-to-New Year's stretch because that's when old friends come home and I recharge my batteries a bit.

More this week, me promises.

Peace.

ML