Readings 2015

This was an usual year for me in my reading habits. I still read about the same number of books overall but it appears I mostly read fiction this year with on only eight non-fiction books and just one biography. Forty books this year and thirty of them were novels. Normally I read a more balanced selection between those three categories.  Fourteen books were in the science fiction or dystopian genres and seven in the crime/detective/spy genres which is also a little unusual for me.

Several of my favorite authors were on my reading list this year including David Mitchell, Neal Stephenson, James Ellroy, Nick Hornby, Tana French, Philip Kerr, Margaret Atwood and William Gibson, 

I also read a lot of and about William Burroughs this year which was a little different for me,

Non-fiction

1. The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt's New World - Andrea Wulf, 2015
2. Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania - Erik Larson, 2015
3. This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs the Climate - Naomi Klein, 2014
4. Days of Rage: America's Radical Underground, the FBI, and the First Age of Terror - Bryan Burrough, 2015
5. The Day of Battle: The War in Sicly and Italy, 1943-1944, 2007
6. Call Me Burroughs: A Life - Barry Miles, 2013
7. Vintage Beer: A Taster's Guide to Brews That Improve over Time - Patrick Dawson, 2014
8. The World Until Yesterday: What Can We Learn from Traditional Societies?, 2012
9. Outlaw Platoon: Heroes, Renegades, Infidels, and the Brotherhood of War in Afghanistan, 2012

Fiction

1. Seveneves - Neal Stephenson, 2015
2. The Bone Clocks - David Mitchell, 2014
3. The Martian - Andy Weir, 2014
4. Station Eleven - Emily St. John Mandel, 2014
5. The Peripheral - William Gibson, 2014
6. Perfidia - James Ellroy, 2014
7. God's Pocket - Pete Dexter, 1983
8. Redeployment - Phil Klay, 2014
9. An American Spy - Olen Steinhauer, 2012
10. Word Virus: The William S. Burroughs Reader - William S. Burroughs, 1998
11. Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage - Haruki Murakami, 2013
12. The Secret Place - Tana French, 2014
13. The Time Regulation Institute - Ahmet Hamdi Tanpinar, 1961
14. Funny Girl - Nick Hornby. 2014
15. Unmanned - Dan Fesperman, 2014
16. The Word Exchange - Alena Graedon, 2014
17. The Heart Goes Last - Margaret Atwood, 2015
18. Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn, 2012
19. The Lady From Zagreb - Philip Kerr, 2015
20. The Girl in the Spider's Web - David Lagercrantz, 2015
21. Vulture Peak: A Royal Thai Detective Novel - John Burdett, 2011
22. Dust - Hugh Howey, 2013
23. Shift - Hugh Howey, 2013
24. Rain Falls Like Mercy - Jack Todd, 2011
25. Ready Player One - Ernest Cline, 2011
26. The Penguin Book of Ghost Stories: From Elizabeth Gaskell to Ambrose Bierce - Michael Newton, Ed., 1984
27. The Book of Strange New Things - Michel Faber, 2014
28. Of Beasts and Beings - Ian Holding, 2010
29. The Book of Life - Deborah Harkness, 2014
30. Doors Open - Ian Rankin, 2007
31. Notes from the Internet Apocalypse - Wayne Gladstone, 2014

In The Meantime - Songs 1995

A second mix from my Songs 1995 series. Some of the hits from the year and some deep cuts.






All albums released in 1995.

1. Spacehog - In The Meantime (Resident Alien)
2. Dishwalla - Counting Blue Cars (Pet Your Friends)
3. Radiohead - High And Dry (The Bends)
4. Oasis - Wonderwall (What's The Story, Morning Glory)
5. Blur - Charmless Man (The Great Escape)
6. Elastica - Lined Up (Elastica)
7. Alanis Morissette - All I Really Want (Jagged Little Pill)
8. Tricky - Black Steel (Maxinquaye)
9. Morphine - Radar (Yes)
10. St. Germain - Deep In It (Boulevard)
11. Soul II Soul - Love Enuff (Vol. V: Believe)
12. Bjork - Hyper-Ballad (Post)
13. Spiritualized - Lay Back In The Sun (Pure Phase)
14. David Bowie - Strangers When We Meet (Outside)

May The Wind Take Your Troubles Away - Songs 1995

A mix of songs from some of my favorite albums released in 1995. The first mix of my Songs 1995 series.




All albums released in 1995.

1. Son Volt - Windfall (Trace)
2. The Jayhawks - Blue (Tomorrow The Green Grass)
3. The Rembrandts - Drowning In Your Tears (LP)
4. Teenage Fanclub - Don't Look Back (Grand Prix)
5. Blue Rodeo - Better Off Than We Are (Nowhere To Here)
6. Blind Melon - Walk (Soup)
7. Radiohead - Street Spirit (Fade Out) (The Bends)
8. Luna - Chinatown (Penthouse)
9. Yo La Tengo - Tom Courtenay (Electr-O-Pura)
10. Mathew Sweet - Not When I Need It (100% Fun)
11. Oasis - Don't Look Back In Anger (What's The Story, Morning Glory)
12. Smashing Pumpkins - 79 (Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness)
13. Pulp - Common People (Different Class)
14. Charlatans U.K. - Just When You're Thinking Things Over (The Charlatans)
15. Blur - Country House (The Great Escape)
16. The Verve - On Your Own (A Northern Soul)

Everything In Its Right Place - Decade 5

A mix of songs from the late 90's and early 2000's. That fifth decade of rock.

1. Radiohead - Everything In Its Right Place (Kid A, 2000)
2. P. J. Harvey & Thom Yorke - This Mess We're In (Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea, 2000)
3. R.E.M. - I've Been High (Reveal, 2001)
4. The Beta Band - It's Not Too Beautiful (The Beta Band, 1999)
5. Mercury Rev - Goddess On A Hiway (Deserter's Song, 1998)
6. The Flaming Lips - Waitin' For A Superman (The Soft Bulletin, 1999)
7. Arcade Fire - Wake Up (Funeral, 2004)
8. Interpol - Obstacle 1 (Turn On The Bright Lights, 2002)
9. Wilco - Heavy Metal Drummer (Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, 2002)
10. Yo La Tengo - Stockholm Syndrome (I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One, 1997)
11. The Brian Jonestown Massacre - You Have Been Disconnected (Bravery, Repitition and Noise, 2001)
12. Ambulance LTD - Primitive (The Way I Treat You) (Ambulance LTD, 2004)
13. My Morning Jacket - Mahgeeta (It Still Moves, 2003)
14. Built To Spill - Trimmed and Burning (Ancient Melodies Of The Future, 2001)

Days of Rage

 

Days of Rage: America's Radical Underground, the FBI, and the Forgotten Age of Revolutionary Violence by Bryan Burrough, 2015

Read this book in December 2015.

This fascinating book explores the confrontation between the FBI and the radical underground groups of the 70's which include the Weathermen, The FALN, The Symbionese Liberation Army and The Black Liberation Army. I remember those days very well and the almost daily bombings of domestic targets in the news. A bunch of middle class kids smuggling bombs into skyscrapers and government buildings and denotating them made for a compelling read. It looked into the hearts and minds for the motivations that inspired these home grown terrorists,

The author interviewed many of the participants and members of these revolutionary groups and the federal agents who pursued them. It was also interesting to follow the police actions and investigations into these groups including the many informants. 

I was in the Navy and overseas during much of the period covered in this book so I personally did not see all of the everyday news coverage of their activities but did hear about it constantly.

We'll Meet Along The Way - Reflections

Another mix in the Reflections series. These mixs are collections of quiet reflective songs for hanging out. They are mostly indie folk rock and americana songs from the last ten years which also makes this mix part of my Decade 6 series.

1. Hem - We'll Meet Along The Way (Funnel Cloud, 2006)
2. The Head and The Heart - Down In The Valley (The Head and The Heart, 2010)
3. PJ Harvey - In The Dark Places (Let England Shake, 2011)
4. Patty Griffin & Julie Miller - Coming Home To Me (Downtown Church, 2010)
5. Matthew Sweet - When Love Lets Go I'm Falling (Modern Art, 2011)
6. Winterpills - July (The Light Divides, 2007)
7. Kathleen Edwards - Chameleon/Comedian (Voyageur, 2012)
8. Gemma Ray - Shake Baby Shake (Milk For Your Motors, 2014)
9. Norah Jones - Miriam  (Little Broken Hearts, 2012)
10. Mary Lou Lord - She's Still Bewitching Me (Backstreet Angels, 2015)
11. Azure Ray - Don't Leave My Mind (Drawing Down The Moon, 2010)
12. Jolie Holland - All The Love (Wine Dark Sea, 2014)
13. Neko Case - Fever (Middle Cyclone, 2009)
14. Robert Plane & Allison Krauss - Rich Woman (Raising Sand, 2007)
15. The Weepies - Take It From Me (Say I Am You, 2005)
16. Ed Harcourt - Rain On The Pretty Ones (The Beautiful Lie, 2006)

There Comes A Time - Reflections

More songs of life and love. Quiet reflective music from my Reflections series of  mostly indie folk rock released during the past decade.

1. Ray LaMontagne - Let It Be Me (Gossip In The Grain, 2008)
2. Amos Lee - Stay With Me (Mission Bell, 2011)
3. Cat Power - Love & Communication (The Greatest, 2006)
4. Beck - Unforgiven (Morning Phase, 2014)
5. Low - So Blue (The Invisible Way, 2013)
6. Joseph Arthur - Someone To Love (The Graduation Ceremony, 2011)
7. The Civil Wars - Dance Me To The End Of Love (Barton Hollow, 2011)
8. Glen Hansard - Bird Of Sorrow (Rhythm and Repose, 2012)
9. The Cave Singers - Distant Sures (No Witch, 2011)
10. Kings Of Convenience - Me In You (Declaration Of Dependence, 2009)
11. Great Lake Swimmers - She Comes To Me In Dreams (Lost Channels, 2009)
12. Sufjan Stevens - Enchanting Ghost (All Delighted People EP, 2010)
13. Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter - Spectral Beings (Like, Love, Lust & The Open Halls Of The Soul, 2007)
14. Paul Weller - Invisible (22 Dreams, 2008)
15. Marissa Nadler - Love Again, There Is A Fire (The Sister, 2012)
16. The Lone Bellow - You Never Need Nobody (The Lone Bellow, 2013)

Your Heart's On The Loose - Reflections

More songs of life and love from my Reflections series. These songs are mostly indie folk rock and country that have been released over the past ten years. Quiet and reflective.

1. Ryan Bingham - The Weary Kind (Junky Star, 2010)
2. Ryan Adams - Save Me (Ashes & Fire, 2011)
3. The Felice Brothers - All When We Were Young (Yonder Is The Clock, 2009)
4. Bon Iver - Skinny Love (For Emma, Forever Ago, 2008)
5. Feist - The Bad In Each Other (Metals, 2011)
6. Blitzen Trapper - Love The Way You Walk Away (American Goldwing, 2011)
7. Hayes Carll - Bye Bye Baby (KMAG YOYO & Other American Stories, 2011)
8. John Hiatt - Hurt My Baby (Same Old Man, 2008)
9. Steve Earle - Love's Gonna Blow My Way (The Low Highway, 2013)
10. Dave Alvin & The Guilty Women - Don't Make Promises (Dave Alvin & The Guilty Women, 2009)
11. Lucinda Williams - Buttercup (Blessed, 2011)
12. Alejandro Escovedo - Can't Make Me Run (Big Station, 2012)
13. Buddy & Julie Miller - Everytime We Say Goodbye (Written In Chalk, 2009)
14. Jackie Greene - Another Love Gone Bad (Giving Up The Ghost, 2008)
15. Rhett Miller - Out Of Love (The Dreamer, 2012)
16. Greg Brown - Mercy Mercy Mercy (Freak Flag, 2011)