We've Moved!

Wisconsin knows how to produce some bands, let me tell you. That Midwestern state has some soul.

By now, we all know of Eau Claire's Justin Vernon (of Bon Iver fame), but Baraboo, Wisconsin has its own claim to fame with PHOX. PHOX manages to marry the soul rock revival that is so popular right now with tangible emotion and self-conscious lyrics. I love a good dance tune as much as the next reserved introvert (only in my car), but many of those songs lack any depth. 

PHOX's self-titled debut LP is out now, and they are touring all over the country. Someone go see them for me. My favorite song off the album is "Satyr and the Faun," with "1936" as a close second, although I really love them all. The former has a perfect ethereal sound that only enhances Martin's comfortably raspy, yet arching vocals and the latter takes a standard acoustic track and layers it with a banjo, choir-like vocals, and charming lyrics. This album straddles the four corners of pop, r&b, folk, and alternative rock and roll, making it a unique addition to its contemporaries on the alternative charts. The lyrics are self-aware, questioning, and observant. Listen to "Raspberry Seed," another of my favorites, below.

I really like these four songs. The whole world should like them to. There's a hidden Easter egg in one of the songs (Hint: It involves Miley Cyrus).

XM radio is a true blessing. I can listen to the best of the 90s and also hear some great rock and roll. Zach and I drove to some waterfalls yesterday and then went on a 4-mile hike and only brought home one tick. Before we hit the trail, this song came on the radio. I was hit with two reactions: to makeout in the car like a teenager and recline the seat, close my eyes, and listen in solitude. I'm at a crossroads.

The twangy guitars, just enough whiny vocals, the fine straddle between singing and talking, and steady, strong strumming make it a perfect amalgam of Neutral Milk Hotel, Daniel Johnston, Wilco, and Weezer. Palace Music is a Will Oldham project, but I prefer it to Bonnie "Prince" Billy. It makes my heart race and my head float in a way BPB doesn't. Enjoy.

At this time last year I felt overwhelmed making this list. This year not so much. These five albums are easily my favorite so far. I feel like a you can judge an album by how many times you can listen to it without getting tired of it. All of these are still on repeat.

I haven't blogged in forever and a lot of it has to do with reviewing this album. I keep starting to write about it, but always end up deleting what I wrote or not posting it. It's overwhelming reviewing the album of your favorite musician. But here goes nothing. . .

Upside Down Mountain is a great album. I love it. I've listened to it on repeat for almost a month now and haven't grown tired of it. It's an upward progression in a catalog of great albums. I don't drink wine, but if I did I would probably say something yuppie like, "Conor Oberst is like a fine wine. He gets better with every year that passes." But I don't drink wine and I would never say that.

I've touched on this before, but I feel like all my favorite artists are dealing with the same issues that preoccupy my mind. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe they've always been writing about the same old things and getting older has made me more in tune with the lyrics. I know what your thinking, "Zach you're so mature". But I'd like to think we have the same fears and anxieties. The standout song on the album, "Desert Island Questionnaire", is lyrically and musically one of Obert's best songs. It's about being fearful of complacency, religion, death, technology, boredom, loneliness and anything else that makes you anxious. It's both dark and beautiful at the same time. It's definitely my favorite song of 2014 so far.

"Your Mother's Child" is being compared to "First Day of My Life" frequently in blogs and reviews that I've read and I can see why, but I don't think the song is as sentimental as everyone thinks it is. It's more about how the father in the song has failed at being a father, and all the good things in their child's life come from the mother. That's not to say there aren't sentimental moments. The song goes through the life of the child from birth to high school graduation. This song could have been cheesy, but it's the complete opposite of cheesy. It's cute, but in a good way.

Other standout tracks are . . . all of them, I guess. The whole album is (in my opinion) wonderful, but I wouldn't expect anything less.

Great things come from Indiana: Amy Doll, Ezra-Bug, Larry Bird, Rudy and Strand of Oaks.

I've probably said this one too many times but it feels like forever since I started liking an artist I hadn't already liked 5ish years ago. New music just hasn't been my bag, baby. Then I heard a song by Strand of Oaks called "JM" which is a tribute to the late great Jason Molina. The thing I loved the most about the song besides the fact that it's just a great song is it actually sounds like a song Jason Molina might have written. The way the guitar is tuned totally sounds like it might have been a track on Pyramid Electric Co.

Tonight I also listened to a few other songs from their upcoming album entitled Heal that comes out Tuesday.

Apparently their album is also currently streaming on NPR's first listen. So if you enjoy these songs as much as I do you'll probably be checking that out.

I'm currently playing FKA Twigs on repeat. Geoff Rickly of Thursday is a fan, and I will listen to anything he listens to on repeat because he has great taste in music. I would recommend this for fans of Emily King, the XX, Grimes, and James Blake. It's good Sunday music. I really enjoy the clacking sound on "How's That," which I shared below. It sounds like a turn signal clacking or fingers hitting a keyboard, both sounds that I find oddly soothing. Anyway, enjoy.

We Gibsons are huge proponents of public radio. I don't know how people function without it actually. I hear the important news in-depth and also listen to interviews with people like Joaquin Phoenix, Robert Redford, Conor Oberst, and the creator of Orange is the New Black. Over the years, I have developed friendships in my head with some of my favorite hosts. Audie Cornish, Steve Inskeep, Kai Ryssdal, Lynne Rosetto Kasper, Terry Gross, and last but not least....

Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton. They are my best pals. You might think you know Bob Boilen, but it's probably just Ryan Earl Ward (made famous by the Wires and Waves blog). Anyway, I digress. I heard two great songs on World Cafe this weekend, and I wanted to share them here.

The first song was "Does Someone Have Your Baby Now?" by Mazzy Star. I have not listened to them much in the past, but not for any particular reason other than I am stupid.



The second song was "Start Choppin'" by Dinosaur Jr., another band I have never listened to for no particular reason.


Finally, I want to share "Popular by Design" by the Polyphonic Spree. I did not actually hear this on NPR. I searched for it on my own free will. I was always scared by their costumes because they have a certain cultish vibe, so I never actually listened to them. I am terrified of cults. Even thinking about cults worries me, as if the thought will render me a Kool-Aid drinking fundamentalist worshiper off things. PS is not a cult, though, but no one bothered to tell me that. I know a lot of people who really love them, and Annie Clark, my dream lady-musician, played with them for a long time, but none of that led me to listen to them until yesterday when I was sitting in a bookstore doing homework for 2+ hours.

Photograph by Platon

I rarely listen to rap or hip hop or whatever you kids are calling genres these days. These two genres tend to be very beat driven and I am more of a rhythm kind of girl. I still appreciate good rap and hip hop, don't get me wrong. I just don't really seek it out or sit and listen to whole albums.

The Roots might be an exception for me.

I've listened to them a few times in the past. Coworkers have turned on one of their songs, I watch Jimmy Fallon, etc. I remember always enjoying their music and thinking I should listen to them more but I never did.

The other day I was reading an interview with the Roots' drummer, Ahmir Khalib Thompson (or Questlove for short) in one of my favorite magazines, Vanity Fair. (Maybe you've heard of it?) It was a great interview and at the end, he said something really interesting.

"... I think when it scares parents it's doing something right. Frank Zappa scared parents. If it's not scaring parents, then I don't think it's worth anything."

That really intrigued me. Made me think. What's scaring parents right now? Is it scaring me? Is it actually good, then? So many questions.

Then I had to listen to them. So I got on Spotify and listened to their new albums. Guys, it's great. You should all listen to the Roots. They have a fantastic way of melding rock and hip hop. We could all learn something from the Roots.

Here's a fun fact: I sometimes get anxiety at the thought of discussing my favorite albums. It's just hard to convey the effect they have had on me. With that being said, I'm going to talk a little bit about the new Taking Back Sunday album. Their last album was powerful. The energy was electric and palpable, and I was nervous that it was a product of their reunion. Fortunately, this new album is no different. It pulses with loud guitars and heavy drums, but it leaves room for soft reflection.

It is odd to compare it to an album that came out over a decade ago, but "Tell All Your Friends" is undeniably influential. TBS maintains the TAYF energy on Happiness Is... but the themes have changed. This album is filled with a lot more nostalgia and an acceptance of oft-unfortunate events. Don't worry-- TBS has not gone soft. They still do angry really well. Also, the back and forth singing of Adam Lazzarra and John Nolan will always warm my heart in a way that no other pair of singers could. They have a give-and-take that is often only possible between siblings.

I love this album. I shared the videos for "Flicker Fade" and "Stood a Chance" but every song is great. A couple of my favorites include "It Takes More" and "Better Homes and Gardens." "Beat Up Car" calls to mind the Used, which makes sense since they are pretty close with that band.
This album really solidifies the new generation of the band as a music staple. Enjoy.

Here's what I haven't been blogging about. Sorry I've too tired (no, lazy) to post anything this month.

Moses Sumney - Not too much is none about this guy. I randomly came across his music listening to KEXP's online radio. He has one EP called Midd-City Island, and it's probably one the most beautifully crafted groups of songs I've heard this year.



Conor Oberst's new album is coming out next week and I'm more than excited, but the song I'm posting is from his split with Dawes that was released for record store day. The song is "Million Dollar Bill" which is a song by Dawes, but I think Conor Oberst's rendition is much better.



Damon Albarn (Blur, Gorillas) released his first solo album, and although I'm not crazy about every song I love the first song (also the title of the album) "Everyday Robots".



One of the best hip hop songs this year was released on Rick Ross' new album. I don't even know what it's called and don't really care. Rick Ross kind of creeps me out. However, the song "Sanctified" featuring Kanye West and Big Sean is near perfect, not because of Ross but because of Kanye and Big Sean. They steal the show on this one.

So my wondrous wife isn't such a huge fan of Conor Oberst unless it's in Desaparecidos form but I'm almost positive she'll enjoy this song. As for me, the title of this post says it all. The album as a whole is magnifique. It seems a lot more optimistic and hopeful than previous catalog. In embarrassing fashion I might have gotten some sniffles while listening to this song at work today. Enjoy.

After four weeks of only being at home on the weekends this fits my day perfectly.

My song of the day is "Divisionary (Do the Right Thing)" by Ages and Ages. I am really, really into it today.

My song of the day is by Valerie June. Her music combines the best elements of rock and roll, pop, and soul in the vein of Jack White or the Black Keys. Her voice is heavy and rich and really all over the board. The title track "Pushin Against a Stone" feels like the Beatles mixed with 60s girl group pop, "You Can't be Told" has a definite rock and roll tinge to it, and other songs get a little bluegrass and folky. You have to listen to the whole album to understand its depth and range. Below are two of my favorites.

I am working on three very big papers, but don't worry, I will be back to my regularly scheduled ultimatums and declarations of love very soon. I just had to share this great song I heard today.

"Worms" by Youth Lagoon was included on Space Project, a 14-song compilation put out on Record Store Day. All of the songs incorporate sounds from outer space. "Worms" utilizes noises from Uranus's rings. I'm not a scientist, so I don't know how that works. But it's great.

You can read a little bit more about it here.

Conor Oberst debuted 7 new songs from is upcoming album, Upside Down Mountain, last Thursday on WNYC's Green Space. You can listen to all of them below.

"Time Forgot"


"Double Life"


"Night At Lake Unknown"


"Lonely At The Top"


"Hundreds of Ways"


"You Are Your Mother's Child"


"Common Knowledge"

I've been listening to the Walkmen a lot lately, and when I say a lot, I mean like a lot. Besides for their last album, Heaven (my album of the year in 2012) and the song, "The Rat" I really hadn't listened to much of their music. I really missed out. They've consistently put out solid album for more than a decade. It's hard to call indie rock bands underrated, because most are, but I feel like the Walkmen don't get the credit they deserve.

The two album I've most enjoyed (also the two albums you should listen to right now) are You & Me and Pussy Cats.

(Pussy Cats is a cover of the exact same album Harry Nilsson and John Lennon put out in 1974. If you haven't heard it listen to it and then listen to The Walkmen's take on it. There's not much difference, but I love them both.)

Seems like a pretty epic day in Des Moines' music scene's history. News broke today that Guided By Voices will have a date here on their upcoming tour and then just minutes later that David Byrne will be the keynote speaker at the Grand Opening of the Des Moines Social Club. Sure, this might be a typical day in Seattle or Austin but around here having two things like that drop before lunch is a huge deal.

Duh.




New album out in June. This is not an April Fools joke. We don't joke about new Jack White albums here.

Love,
Tori

I heard two great songs today.

First Copeland is back from a brief hiatus and are releasing their fifth full length album, out in May. They also released one of the most beautiful songs they've recorded, "Ordinary".



Manchester Orchestra's released their new album, Cope, today! I've just started listening to the whole thing and so far so good (like, really good).
Last night they played an amazing rendition of the the album's title track, "Cope".

I was just listening to a playlist on the Des Noise blog and heard this song I really liked. It's some girl from Australia who probably loves Outback Steakhouse. Enjoy.

I spent a good portion of my youth watching my peers play music at the Boys and Girls Club. If I may quote Abraham Lincoln... It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.

Anyway, I don't know if any good bands actually came out of that mini-scene. Regardless, I have been on the hunt for a good local band since we moved to Oklahoma. It's just good to have someone to claim, you know? Well! I didn't exactly find a local band, but I found one that is close enough and is actually good. The Midwest Indies hail from the great town of Springfield, Missouri, and I am stoked because it is only an hour and a half away! (That's like a twenty minute drive when you live in the middle of nowhere.) I haven't seen them play yet, but I have high hopes.

Their music is a good blend of rock and roll and pop in the vein of Bishop Allen or Someone Still Loves You, Boris Yeltsin. Enjoy.

I think I haven't blogged in a while. School isn't even that overwhelming right now, but I have been working on two big projects for both of my classes. Also, I have yet to review the new Taking Back Sunday album, but I haven't forgotten about it. Au contraire...

Anyway, my song of the day is "Love is not Enough" by Owen. A billion and one people have told me to listen to him, and I don't know why I haven't. I'm the worst. He is fantastic. It's windy and tornado season-y over here, and this entire album is (L'Ami du Peuple) is perfect for this kind of day. I hope it isn't tornado-y where you are.

These two songs came out this week and you should probably stop what you're doing and listen to them.

The first one is from a band my sister introduced me to during Christmas, Future Islands. If you haven't seen their recent live performance on Letterman you need to look it up on YouTube. I can't explain why it's good, you just need to see it. The song is called "Seasons (Waiting On You)".

The second is from Conor Oberst's new album due out in May. It's a good mix of Bright Eyes and his solo albums. This jimmy jam is called, "Governor's Ball".

Two albums that I'm really into right now are Darlings by Kevin Drew and Guilty of Everything by the band Nothing.



Darlings is great because it's like a new Broken Social Scene album. It's front man Kevin Drew's second solo album and I dare say it's the better of the two. It's a little sensual or sexual or perhaps adult themed, so our younger readers might steer clear. Songs like "Body Butter" and "Good Sex" are about exactly what the titles suggest. This isn't the first time KD (not Kevin Durant, but wouldn't that be funny) has dove into sexual themes on songs("Lovers Spit", "TBTF"), and probably won't be the last which is a good thing, probably. He finds a way to make these themes tasteful. It's not like 50 cent rapping about hooking up with girls on the club floor, it's artistic.



The second album is by a band called Nothing. Lead vocalist  Dominic Palermo recently did a little time in the slammer and appropriately titled the album Guilty of Everything. I'm not sure what to compare it to, but it's most definitely rock n roll. It has kind of a garage rock 90's feel, kind of like Mikal Cronin, but lounder and distorted. A couple of my favorite songs are "Hymn of the Pillory" and the title track "Guilty of Everything".

This was my favorite song the summer before 7th grade and I think I like it just as much today as I did then. TBT

Vanessa Carlton has always conjured up two things for me: my best friend Amanda and the movie White Chicks.

"One Thousand Miles" is the ultimate sing-a-long driving song; don't try to deny it. I was in the bookstore the other day, and I heard the best song. (Digression: I am so thankful for the Shazam app. I remember the days of hearing songs on the radio and having no idea who sang them. And I walked uphill both ways.)

Anyway, the song turned out to be "Tall Tales for Spring" by Vanessa Carlton. She just married John McCauley from Deer Tick and Stevie Nicks was their officiator! You will probably like this song.

Guys, I turned 30 today. Whoa. Here is a playlist with a personal favorite song from each year 1984-2014.

Enjoy

-Grandpa Earl

ps: the mac demarco song is probably my fav this year.

Taking Back Sunday always lifts my mood. Their new album Happiness Is... comes out in eight (8!) days, and they just released their second single from the album. The song is "Stood A Chance." Watch the video below:

Eels have released yet another new song from the forth coming album, (and much anticipated by me) The Cautionary Tales of Mark Oliver Everett. The song is called "Mistakes Of My Youth" and is quite possibly one of the best Eels songs I've ever heard.

I live for Saturdays. I can make it through a tough week much easier if I know I have a new episode of Saturday Night Live to look forward to. So when I found out that one of my favorite humans (Lena Dunham) was hosting and one of my favorite bands (the National) was playing, I was ecstatic!

Lena Dunham hosted last night, and I thought she flawlessly fit into the cast. She wasn't the best host I've seen, but she managed to fit into their skits as if she was one of them. And Taran Killam as Matthew McConaughey was amazing. Taran Killam as anyone is amazing.

The National's set was incredible. The quiet ferocity of their music, especially last night, was almost too much to handle. After they finished "Graceless," I turned to Zach and told him I needed a nap. They are one of the best bands and Trouble Will Find Me is one of the best albums. Watch and cry tears of joy with me:

If you don't already know, I am the president of the St. Vincent fan club. I'm really not, but I love Annie Clark (a.k.a. St. Vincent). She is one of the most talented musicians making music right now, and her new self-titled album is a testament to her tremendous talent.

St. Vincent comes right after her project with David Byrne, Love This Giant, and its influence on her solo work is obvious, especially in the song "Digital Witness." You still get a taste of classic St. Vincent with the gnarly guitar parts and hauntingly angelic vocals; in fact, both aspects are only amplified. But Clark is much more experimental on this album, and that's what is going to make this album one I go back to in one, five, ten years from now.

Listen to "Rattlesnake," "Birth in Reverse," "Prince Johnny," and "Digital Witness" for four songs that highlight the various sounds on the album. Listen to it all, though. "I Prefer Your Love" is incredible, as is "Bring Me Your Loves."

There are two albums I currently can't stop listening to, Morning Phase by Beck and Burn Your Fire for no Witness by Angel Olsen. Both albums are new this year. Beck's album came out just this last Tuesday and Angel Olsen's the week before.
They're both similar in the fact that they're very easy listening albums, but that's about it. Morning Phase has rich production with strings and an orchestra. It's so big, yet really simple. It's a Sunday morning album. I'm in love with it right now, especially after seeing him perform two of my favorite songs ("Blue Moon" & "Wave" along with J. Tillman) on SNL last night.
Angel Olsen's album on the other hand sounds like it could have been recorded in my parents garage. The low production makes this album so sweet and  intimate. I want to sit and listen to it in the dark by myself with my headphones on with my cat on my lap ( a little bit of man died in me as I wrote that). It's a brilliant, brilliant album. Her voice is haunting, it's one of the best female voices in independent music right now.
If you haven't heard either of these two albums, you can listen to them on Spotify or better yet just buy them. They're worth it.

So I just stumbled upon the following information: Bob Nastonovich of Pavement likely lives within a few miles of me. He DJs at venues here in town every now and then and even did a session with fellow Des Moinian Marc Hogan who writes for Spin and Pitchfork on NYE at Vaudeville Mews. Bob's Best of 2013 list on Matador's site was almost exclusively local bands and included this music video which is pretty awesome.

Anyway, I look forward to possibly running into Bob around town and saying something awkward. If nothing else I'll go to the horse track outside of town where he works and tell him the story of my reasoning behind walking to Winco.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone. I'm not going to lie, I don't really care too much for it. That doesn't mean I don't like love. Love is great. It's gets me through my days. I'm a lucky guy as far as love goes. So in honor of love, not Valentine's Day I'm making a playlist of my favorite love songs that in my opinion do not suck. Push play and make a little love.
Number of times I said love in this post = 7

Here are my top ten most listened to artists of the week. Yes Limp Bizkit is on there. It's up for interpretation as to why it would have made the list. Maybe I was listening to it as a joke . . . maybe not. 

Eels have announced the release of their new album (The Cautionary Tales of Mark Oliver Everett) along with the cover art, track listing, and a new song, "Agatha Chang".

I'm excited. They're one of my favorite bands. This is going to be a good year for new music from my favorite bands/musicians. It's rumored that Conor Oberst, Death Cab and Ryan Adams all will have have releases this year.

You can here the new Eels song by clicking HERE.

Also here is the cover art and track listing.

Track Listing:
01 Where I'm At 
02 Parallels 
03 Lockdown Hurricane 
04 Agatha Chang
05 A Swallow in the Sun
06 Where I'm From
07 Series of Misunderstandings
08 Kindred Spirit
09 Gentlemen's Choice
10 Dead Reckoning
11 Answers
12 Mistakes of My Youth
13 Where I'm Going

I've never listened to anything from the band Wax Fang before yesterday. NPR's weekly podcast All Songs considered played a song called "The Astronaut" from their new album with the same name. OH EM GEE! The song completely blew me away. It was 16 minutes of mind blowing rock and roll. That's right, I said 16 minutes. In fact there are only five songs on the whole album ( the third track is 12 minutes and the final song is over six minutes). 

I'm ready to return from my blogging hiatus because 2014 is already starting out great. There have been a handful of really good albums that have already been released and were less than a month into the year.

I spent days one and two watching every bad (and good) independent film on Netflix. I couldn't lift my head to read, so I missed out on my anti-procrastination school reading (finishing the text before school starts) and my irresponsible, self-indulgent reading (Divergent is incredible, you guys).


It's day three, and I am feeling the pressure looming, so like it or not, I've got to start reading. (I like it.) I'm still casting YouTube onto the television in our bedroom, but I'm letting it play study-appropriate music.

The internet has been buzzing about the band Quilt in the last few days, but I have been wary to check out them because everything is electronic these days, and I don't even like electronic music that much when I'm not sick.

My gut has been wrong so much on this front lately, and I am thankful for that. What can I say? I'm no Olivia Pope.

Quilt reminds me a little of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros without all the acid-drenched, party-with-P. Diddy weirdness. Their music is calming without being boring, and carries just the right amount of 60's folk nostalgia with it.

I don't know which song to recommend, so I'll post their album below. Check it out and let us know what you think.

My best discover of 2013 wasn't even a band that released a record last year, in fact they don't even make music anymore. The band I'm talking about is LCD Soundsystem. In fact over the past few years I convinced myself that I hated them despite all the suggestions to listen to them from people who's taste in music that I trust and admire.

This summer when I heard that James Murphy (front man of LCD Soundsystem) would be producing the new Arcade Fire album, I decided to give them another shot. . . and man, am I glad that I did. It's much more than the electronic dance music that I dismissed it as. Sure, it's dance music, but it's dance music with a lot of emotion behind it. I haven't dove to deep into their catalog, but their last two releases Sound of Silver (2007) and This is Happening (2010), are wonderful albums.

If you're not a fan of electronic music I would still give LCD Soundsystem a shot. I think you won't be disappointed

. 

Heard this on All Songs today and fell in love.

St. Vincent (a.k.a. Annie Clark), a woman on whom I have an undeniable ladycrush, put out a new song today called, "Digital Witness." This is her second single off her upcoming self-titled album. She was obviously influenced by the music she made with David Byrne; this song is more horn-heavy than anything, but Annie Clark's signature guitar sneaks in throughout. "Digital Witness" is a satirical social critique on our obsession with technology.

"People turn the TV on, it looks just like a window."
"What's the point of sleeping if I can't show it? You can't see me."

Yes, there is a smidgen of irony in my listening to this song on the internet and blogging about it so everyone can see what I think. Pair this with The Circle by Dave Eggers for maximum (and justifiable) technology phobia.

I read a lot this year, so it was inevitable that I read some of the best books I have ever read in my life. I've been reading since I was five, and I always felt like my reading peak was between the ages of eight and eleven back when I re-read the Babysitter's Club books weekly, but I may have surpassed that landmark. I finally outshone elementary school Christina in one area.

I read somewhere around fifty books this year, and it was great. I have a pretty hard time remembering things a lot of the time, so I decided to document every book on my Goodreads account. In lieu of ranking them, I decided to create categories to highlight a few great ones.

Funniest Book

• Bossypants by Tina Fey: This book was laugh out loud funny, but it also showed how good of a writer Tina Fey is. A lot of funny people write books that are average because their humor doesn't translate to the page. This book is just essays about Fey's life and they aren't in an overly rigid chronological order, but they are funny and help you to understand Fey better as a woman and a comedian.

• Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell: This book was pretty heavy and realistic. Rowell is great at explaining the emotions of people you might not understand. We have all known (or not known) an Eleanor. She seems cold or distant, but she contains so many more layers than we are aware of. Rowell knows how to write a dynamic character, let me tell you.

• The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart: I really tried to branch out and read more YA novels this year. This book was fun and surprising. I couldn't wait to find out what happened next, so I read this pretty quickly. It's a story about a bunch of orphans who are recruited by Mr. Benedict to take on a secret mission that will save the world. That's all I can say. Carson Ellis, who is apparently pretty well-known in the independent music illustration scene (I made that up), illustrated this book, and her art is wonderful. It fits the precociousness of the four main characters very well.

• The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer: This book was heart-wrenching. It follows four people from the time they meet at summer camp when they are teenagers to sometime in their fifties. The main character falls in love with two kids after they make her feel included and interesting for the first time in her life, and she remains bound by this for her whole life. This bond is strong and understandably produces a lot of drama. I empathized with every character, which made this novel particularly heavy for me.

• Z: a Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Anne Fowler: I had to constantly remind myself that this was just a fictional account. F. Scott is a longtime favorite writer of mine, and this book skewed my perception of him quite a bit. It is a very illuminating account, and the word is that Fowler was as accurate as she could be. It will make a diehard Zelda fan out of you, but shouldn't we all be? She was tough, and I admire her so much. Fowler is also just a fantastic storyteller. I hope she disillusions all my favorite authors for me.

Best Book about Sports that is about so much more than Sports

• The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach: This is another of those books where I empathized with every character. And Quentin, man. I loved how disconnected everyone seemed at the beginning juxtaposed with the final scene. A high school baseball star is recruited by a fledgling team at a Midwestern university and this recruitment has implications for the most unlikely people. Good and bad implications. And surprises. I want to read this book again and again. It crushed my heart and made me supremely happy. I wish Harbach would write a million more novels.

Honorable mentions: Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple, The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman, Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls by David Sedaris, Another Bullshit Night in Suck City by Nick Flynn, Everything is Perfect When You're a Liar by Kelly Oxford, This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper, The Keep by Jennifer Egan, The History of Love by Nicole Krauss, Room by Emma Donoghue