1Low
Double Negative
Category: Year End Round-up
2018 Books
- The Little Bookshop of Lonely Hearts by Annie Darling, rated B
- Lost and Found Sisters by Jill Shalvis, rated B+
- Welcome To Temptation by Jennifer Crusie, rated B+
- Faking It by Jennifer Crusie, rated B
- Sunset In Central Park by Sarah Morgan, rated B
- Crazy In Love at the Lonely Hearts Bookshop by Annie Darling, rated B
- Bury The Hatchet by Catherine Gayle, rated C
- Holiday in the Hamptons by Sarah Morgan, rated B
- New York, Actually by Sarah Morgan, rated B
- Moonlight Over Manhattan by Sarah Morgan, rated B
- Hunger Makes Me A Modern Girl by Carrie Brownstein, rated A-
- Head On by John Scalzi, rated B+
- Just For Show by Jae, rated B
- Rainy Day Friends by Jill Shalvis, rated B+
- The Hating Game by Sally Thorne, rated B-
- How To Be Dead by Dave Turner, rated B
- The Good Luck Sister by Jill Shalvis, rated B-
- Always on My Mind by Jill Shalvis, rated C+
- Hold Me by Courtney Milan, rated B-
- The Day of the Doctor by Steven Moffat, rated A-
- An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green, rated A
- To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han, rated B
- This Is Uncool by Garry Mulholland, rated B+
- Christmas at the Comfort Food Cafe by Debbie Johnson, rated B
- Sunshine at the Comfort Food Cafe by Debbie Johnson, rated B
- Coming Home to the Comfort Food Cafe by Debbie Johnson, rated B
- Married By Morning by Lisa Kleypas, rated C+
- A Gift From The Comfort Food Cafe by Debbie Johnson, rated B-
- Pawn of Prophecy by David Eddings, rated C+
- Queen Of Sorcery by David Eddings, rated C+
- Magician’s Gambit by David Eddings, rated C+
- Castle Of Wizardry by David Eddings, rated C+
- Enchanter’s End Game by David Eddings, rated C+
2018 Audiobooks
- Scrappy Little Nobody by Anna Kendrick read by Anna Kendrick
- Armada by Ernest Cline read by Wil Wheaton
- A Big Boy Did It And Ran Away by Christopher Brookmyre read by Angus King?
- A History of Heavy Metal by Andrew O’Neill read by Andrew O’Neill
- It by Stephen King read by Steven Weber
- Bedlam by Christopher Brookmyre read by Angus King
- The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde read by Gabrielle Kruger
- The Truth by Terry Pratchett read by Stephen Briggs
- Interesting Times by Terry Pratchett read by Nigel Planer
- Neuromancer by William Gibson read by Jeff Harding
- The Day of the Doctor by Steven Moffat, read by Nicholas Briggs
- Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor read by Zara Ramm
- All Fun And Games Until Somebody Loses An Eye by Christopher Brookmyre read by Sarah Barron
- Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett read by Stephen Briggs
- Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson read by Jonathan Davis
- Redshirts by John Scalzi read by Wil Wheaton
- Hogfather by Terry Pratchett read by Nigel Planer
2017 Albums of the Year
1Rose Elinor Dougall
Stellular
2St. Vincent
Masseduction
3Algiers
The Underside Of Power
4Richard Dawson
Peasant
5Nadine Shah
Holiday Destination
6Filthy Friends
Invitation
7LCD Soundsystem
american dream
8Mark Lanegan
Gargoyle
9Moses Sumney
Aromanticism
10Lorde
Melodrama
2017 Audiobooks
- Ready Player One by Ernest Cline read by Wil Wheaton
- The Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul by Douglas Adams read by Douglas Adams
- Pattern Recognition by William Gibson read by Shelly Frasier
- Every Heart A Doorway by Seanan McGuire read by Cynthia Hopkins
- Espedair Street by Iain Banks read by Peter Kenny
- The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins read by Carolyn McCormick
- Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins read by Carolyn McCormick
2017 Books
It’s been a year of reading in fits and starts – I never quite seemed to have the focus to read a lot. I’m hoping to read a bit more in 2018. We’ll see how it goes!
- Attachments by Rainbow Rowell, rated B+
- The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi, rated B+
- Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher, rated A-
- Armada by Ernest Cline, rated B-
- Hold Me by Courtney Milan, rated B
- Scrappy Little Nobody by Anna Kendrick, rated B-
- Romancing Mister Bridgerton by Julia Quinn, rated B+
- You Drive Me Crazy by Anna Premoli, rated C+
- Love To Hate You by Anna Premoli, rated B-
- Until Love Do Us Part by Anna Premoli, rated C
- True Love At The Lonely Hearts Bookshop by Lucy Darling, rated B
- Wildflower Bay by Rachael Lucas, rated B-
- The Hating Game by Sally Thorne, rated B-
- The Magicians of Caprona by Diana Wynne Jones, rated A-
- Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs, rated B+
- Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, rated A-
- The Total Package by Stephanie Evanovich, rated B-
- Sleepless In Manhattan by Sarah Morgan, rated C
- One Dance With A Duke by Tessa Dare, rated B-
- Rogue One by Alexander Freed, rated B-
- Once Broken Faith by Seanan McGuire, rated A-
- All Or Nothing by Deborah Cooke, rated B
- The Brightest Fell by Seanan McGuire, rated A-
- Sleigh Bells In The Snow by Sarah Morgan, rated B-
- Sourdough by Robin Sloan, rated B+
- Miracle on 5th Avenue by Sarah Morgan, rated B-
2016 Albums of the Year
1Wussy
Forever Sounds
2Angel Olsen
MY WOMAN
3Lambchop
FLOTUS
4Lou Rhodes
theyesandeye
5case/lang/veirs
case/lang/veirs
6Leonard Cohen
You Want It Darker
7Hannah Peel
Awake But Always Dreaming
8Drive-By Truckers
American Band
9Heron Oblivion
Heron Oblivion
10Mitski
Puberty 2
2016 Books
Not my most prolific reading year but I did listen to a record number of audiobooks
- Johnny and the Dead by Terry Pratchett, rated A-
- Star Wars: The Force Awakens by Alan Dean Foster, rated B+
- The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan, rated C+
- Johnny and the Bomb by Terry Pratchett, rated A-
- You’re Never Weird On The Internet, Almost by Felicia Day, rated B
- Justice Calling by Annie Bellet, rated B-
- Murder Of Crows by Annie Bellet, rated B-
- Pack Of Lies by Annie Bellet, rated B-
- Hunting Season by Annie Bellet, rated B-
- Heartache by Annie Bellet, rated B-
- Thicker Than Blood by Annie Bellet, rated B-
- Magic To The Bone by Annie Bellet, rated B-
- Me, Earl & The Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews, rated A-
- Chaos Choreography by Seanan McGuire, rated B+
- Stiletto by Daniel O’Malley, rated B+
- Country of the Blind by Christopher Brookmyre, rated B+
- Uprooted by Naomi Novik, rated A
- Some Kind of Wonderful by Sarah Morgan, rated C+
- Christmas Ever After by Sarah Morgan, rated B-
- First Time In Forever by Sarah Morgan, rated C+
- Wife By Wednesday by Catherine Bybee, rated C
- The Boss’s Fake Fiancee by Inara Scott, rated C-
- One Con Glory by Sarah Kuhn, rated B
- Heroine Complex by Sarah Kuhn, rated B+
- Goodnight and Good Riddance by David Cavanagh, rated A
- Maskerade by Terry Pratchett, rated B
- Must Love Mistletoe by Christie Ridgway, rated C
- Superheroes Anonymous by Lexie Dunne, rated B
- Supervillains Anonymous by Lexie Dunne, rated B+
- How To Save The World by Lexie Dunne, rated B
- Miss Kane’s Christmas by Caroline Mickelson, rated C
2016 Audiobooks
- Ready Player One by Ernest Cline read by Wil Wheaton
- Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk read by Paul Garcia
- The Rook by Daniel O’Malley read by Katy Carmichael
- Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling read by Stephen Fry
- Bellwether by Connie Willis read by Kate Reading
- Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling read by Stephen Fry
- Going Postal by Terry Pratchett read by Stephen Briggs
- Making Money by Terry Pratchett read by Stephen Briggs
- The Truth by Terry Pratchett read by Stephen Briggs
- Night Watch by Terry Pratchett read by Stephen Briggs
- Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett read by Stephen Briggs
- The Fifth Elephant by Terry Pratchett read by Stephen Briggs
- Feet of Clay by Terry Pratchett read by Nigel Planer
- Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett read by Stephen Briggs
- Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett read by Stephen Briggs
2015 Albums of the Year
1Low
Ones And Sixes
2Julia Holter
Have You In My Wilderness
3Susanne Sundfør
Ten Love Songs
4Sleater-Kinney
No Cities To Love
5Drenge
Undertow
6Torres
Sprinter
7LoneLady
Hinterland
8Gwenno
Y Dydd Olaf
9My Morning Jacket
The Waterfall
10Gaz Coombes
Matador
11Courtney Barnett
Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit
12The Decemberists
What A Terrible World, What A Beautiful World
13Farao
Till It’s All Forgotten
14Unknown Mortal Orchestra
Multi-Love
15John Grant
Grey Tickles, Black Pressure
16New Order
Music Complete
17Ought
Sun Coming Down
18Wolf Alice
My Love Is Cool
19Patty Griffin
Servant Of Love
20The Unthanks
Mount The Air
This year I found it very hard to choose between the top three choices – they are all SO good. In the end took the easy option I went with the order of most listens on last.fm.
Choosing albums to go on the list beyond the top dozen on so was also quite difficult. I added 1771 tracks to my iTunes library in 2015 and giving all that music the attention it deserved to make album of the year choices was basically impossible. I’m happy with the list as it stands but it took a concerted effort in the last few weeks of the year to be able to make my choices.
I think I only attended a couple of gigs this year. The Ex were great at Summerhall, but I had to leave early due to toothache. Low were similarly great at the Glasgow School of Art but it was spoiled by the guy who talked non-stop through the first half of the gig.
My favourite new-to-me track of the year was Kamikaze by Susanne Sundfør.
My most listened to track was Lies by Low