Favorite music and books of 2008

Each year my friend, Geoff, leads the charge amongst a group of us longtime friends and shares his favorite songs and books of the year. His primary motivation is to inspire reciprocation, thus expanding his musical and literary horizon.

So tonight, while snowed in and sitting by the New Year's Eve fire with Brandy, I started preparing my ranking, in full anticipation of his e-mail in the next few days. Lo and behold, he was simultaneously preparing his list, and his hit my Inbox while I was in the midst of crafting mine.

Clearly we were on the same wavelength, which serves as further evidence why we've been such great friends for so long.

You'll have to ask Geoff for his personally. He certainly didn't anticipate his being shared with my small blog audience....

However, for anyone keeping score at home, mine is below.

MUSIC

A couple of notes:

1. I let iTunes do my ranking for me. My criteria is that the songs were added to my library in 2008, and they are then ranked by rating (four stars or better, a functionality I use throughout the year to mark my favorites). The number of times each has played throughout the year acts as tie-breaker.
2. Though these songs have been added within the past year, they may have been released in prior years. I think that's in keeping with how many consume music in this age of the Long Tail.
   
3. I'm sharing the list online because many -- though not all -- of these songs were downloaded for free via iTunes, Amazon, LastFM or the artists themselves. So the least I can do is trade the artists some publicity and back links.
   

With that out of the way, on with the music.

1. "Stranger Than a Stranger" by Oliver Future
   http://www.myspace.com/oliverfuture
   Free download of another track: http://2008.sxsw.com/music/showcases/band/65863.html
2. "How To See The Sun Rise" by Ben Sollee
   http://www.bensollee.com/
3. "Shine On Babylon" by Sheryl Crow
   http://www.sherylcrow.com/
4. "Our December" by Thriving Ivory
   http://www.thrivingivory.com/
   Free download of another track: http://2007.sxsw.com/music/showcases/band/30718.html
5. "Flowering Spade" by Sean Hayes
   http://www.seanhayesmusic.com
   Free download of another track: http://2007.sxsw.com/music/showcases/band/42117.html
6. "Hometown Glory" by ADELE
   http://www.adele.tv
   Some other tracks available here: http://ultra8201.blogspot.com/2008/03/sxsw-spotlight-adele.html
7. "Eve, The Apple of My Eye" by Bell X1
   http://www.bellx1.com/
8. "Bang My Drum" by Danielia Cotton
   http://www.danielia.com/
   Free download of another track: http://2007.sxsw.com/music/showcases/band/31885.html
9. "You, Me & The Bourgeoisie" by The Submarines
   http://www.thesubmarines.com/
   Free copy: http://2008.sxsw.com/music/showcases/band/69759.html
10. "Color" by Toby Lightman
    http://www.tobylightman.com/
11. "Brotherhood Of Man" by The Innocence Mission
    http://www.theinnocencemission.com
12. "Something Good This Way Comes" by Jakob Dylan
    http://www.jakobdylan.com/
13. "Boys With Girlfriends" by Meiko
    http://www.myspace.com/meiko
    Free download of another track: http://2008.sxsw.com/music/showcases/band/70468.html

BOOKS

These are in order of consumption, as they were the only ones I managed to read cover to cover (or listen to on CD) this past year. I did enjoy them all, but "Schulz" and "Dinner With Dad" were easily my favorites:

• The Day the American Revolution Began : 19 April 1775 by William H. Hallahan
• Citrus: A History by Pierre Laszlo
• Rome 1960: The Olympics That Changed the World by David Maraniss
• Cuba Libre by Elmore Leonard
• Schulz and Peanuts: A Biography by David Michaelis
• Dinner with Dad: How I Found My Way Back to the Family Table by Cameron Stracher

Please reciprocate with your favorites in the comments. I, like Geoff, look forward to expanding my horizons.