Year end lists (tweeked)

Since I have been changing the music portion of this almost every day I think I'll just repost it. Due to a request by James I have added some links to the music portion of this entry.

Here's the list of my favorite books I read this year in no particular order.

Andrei Makine - A Hero's daughter
Sheri Holman - The Mammoth Cheese
Anchee Min - Empress Orchid
E.L. Doctorow - Sweet Land Stories
Philip Roth - The Plot Against America

How about favorite CD's purchased this year?

Drive by Truckers - The Dirty South
If you're taking a road trip bring this baby along but keep one eye on the speedometer.

Sonic Youth - Sonic Nurse
For the last year I've been singing the line "you're the one" to myself in a raspy voice.

Tom Waits - Real Gone
Worth every penny for the song "Hoist that rag." As I mentioned to James in an email I've noticed this album hasn't made any year's best lists yet. That hasn't happened with a Tom Waits album in a long time.

Black Keys - Rubber Factory
Straight ahead rock and roll. Just the way god likes it.

Modest Mouse - Good News for People who Love Bad News
Kind of all over the map but it had the feel good song of the year on it.

Dave Alvin - Ashgrove
Blues rock from California. Dang, he writes the saddest songs in the world. Why? Because they're honest. This album deserves to appear on more than Americana lists.

Sally Timms - In the World of Him
Dreamy and irrestible. Kind of like me.

Half Cousin - The Function Room
The first album I ever bought by a band from the Orkneys. I'm ahead of the curve on this one. I actually had to buy it imported. Booya!

Mekons - Punk Rock
Live versions and studio rehearsals from the anniversary tour. Good shit.

Jon Langford - All the Fame of Lofty Deeds
An album loosely based on a Hank Williams type of character.

The two albums I played the most this year were the ones by the Drive by Truckers and Modest Mouse. Hey, that William Shatner album was pretty good also. Honest.