A-Town's Bookshelf: The Year in Books, 2023

I hated reading when I was younger. I think it was because, during my school years, the only stuff I ever read was forced upon me. This is not to say that those books were always bad. I just didn't love that I had no choice in the matter. I discovered the joy of "reading for fun" after I graduated college. I mostly attribute this to Dan Brown's books - several of which I read quickly and surprisingly enjoyed, due to their short chapter lengths and constant cliffhangers. I would not refer to myself as an avid reader or bookwork, but I have gone proactively out of my way to read a handful of books each year over the past decade or so. But nothing can hold a candle to what happened this year.

Early in 2023, I made the very adult decision to renew my library card, mainly so I could read a Star Wars book that I didn't want to spend actual money on. It was a good book. That was a good decision. For a few years, I've heard people talking about the "Libby" app - a mobile app that allows librarygoers to listen to audiobooks - which I never quite comprehended. Plus, I have never been a big audiobook guy. I just have a hard time paying attention if I'm doing literally anything else. However, in the midst of my paternity leave this summer, I figured I'd try it out, just to see what it was all about.

Here I am, at the end of 2023, to tell you that Libby and its paid alternative Audible, were basically best friends to me this year. I absolutely CRUSHED some audiobooks this year. During my second stint of paternity leave, there were many, many, many days when I would just watch my boys and play "NBA 2K23" with an audiobook going. Crushed it. I listened to so many books. Understand this: I was listening basically all day long and was finishing new audiobooks every 2-3 days. It was not normal behavior. (Now, before some of you come at me with the old "I read 96 books last month" comments, let me just say that the number of books that I completed was a staggering amount for me. I am sure I barely scratch the surface of what some of you have been able to do in your lives, but for me, this was insane.

Also, let me say something that these 96-Books-Per-Month people will never admit: when I'm listening to an audiobook, there is no way that I retain and comprehend 100% of everything that's going on. For some of the books I cruised through, maybe 70% would be a good guess. And not all of the books that I finished were good. In fact, I suffered through a couple of them, and even cranked up the listening speed on a few, just so I could cross the finish line and move on.

Some books, on the other hand, were really, really good, and I stumbled across some great stuff this year, for which I am grateful.

I used the "Goodreads" app (which is a bit confusing and, at times, difficult to use) to keep track of all of the books I finished this year, and I rated all of them on a five-star scale, not only because I'm a weirdo that loves stats and rating things, but also to help fellow readers have a better idea of whether or not a book is any good. I just wish that I could have given half-stars in my ratings because sometimes "4 stars" doesn't quite accurately reflect how close I would have come to giving some books (like Jurassic Park) a five-star rating.

Anyway, with all of that information in mind, I thought it would be fun to start another Year in Review blog, as a way for me (and probably only me) to look back and reflect on the books I've read from year to year. I was very excited when Goodreads sent me a yearly recap of my reading journey, which should make this blog much simpler for me to write.

But first, a meme:

Now, let us begin.

Books Read

Here is a list of all of the books I completed in 2023, along with my star rating:

1. Star Wars: The Fallen Star by Claudia Gray, 3/5 stars
2. No Time Like the Future: An Optimist Considers Mortality by Michael J. Fox, 3/5 stars
3. Gone Tomorrow (Jack Reacher # 13) by Lee Child, 3/5 stars
4. Beyond the Wand: The Magic and Mayhem of Growing Up a Wizard by Tom Felton, 4/5 stars
5. Star Wars: Convergence by Zoraida Cordova, 4/5 stars
6. Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton, 4/5 stars
7. The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company by Robert Iger, 5/5 stars
8. The Last Human by Zack Jordan, 1/5 stars
9. Without Remorse by Tom Clancy, 3/5 stars
10. Red Rising by Pierce Brown, 3/5 stars
11. Deception Point by Dan Brown, 5/5 stars
12. World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks, 2/5 stars
13. The Lost World by Michael Crichton, 2/5 stars
14. Star Wars: Thrawn by Timothy Zahn, 2/5 stars
15. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, 4/5 stars
16. Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis, 4/5 stars
17. How to Win Friends and Influence People in the Digital Age by Dale Carnegie, 4/5 stars
18. Fairest of All (Villains # 1) by Serena Valentino, 5/5 stars
19. Poor Unfortunate Soul (Villains # 2) by Serena Valentino, 3/5 stars
20. The Beast Within (Villains # 3) by Serena Valentino, 3/5 stars
21. Unbirthday by Liz Braswell, 2/5 stars
22. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis, 3/5 stars
23. Mistress of All Evil (Villains # 4) by Serena Valentino, 4/5 stars
24. The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolien, 4/5 stars
25. Blowing the Bloody Doors Off: And Other Lessons in Life by Michael Caine, 4/5 stars
26. Mother Knows Best (Villains # 5) by Serena Valentino, 3/5 stars
27. The Odd Sisters (Villains # 6) by Serena Valentino, 2/5 stars
28. Evil Thing (Villains # 7) by Serena Valentino, 5/5 stars
29. Soon I Will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman, 3/5 stars
30. Cold Hearted (Villains # 8) by Serena Valentino, 3/5 stars
31. Radical Love: Learning to Accept Yourself and Others by Zachary Levi, 4/5 stars
32. The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis, 2/5 stars
33. The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien, 5/5 stars
34. The House with a Clock in Its Walls by John Bellairs, 2/5 stars
35. Star Wars: Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn, 5/5 stars
36. If You Would Have Told Me by John Stamos, 3/5 stars
37. Star Wars: Cataclysm by Lydia Kang, 5/5 stars
38. Being Henry: The Fonz... and Beyond by Henry Winkler, 3/5 stars
39. Steelheart (The Reckoners # 1) by Brandon Sanderson, 5/5 stars
40. Never, Never (Villains # 9) by Serena Valentino, 2/5 stars
41. Mitosis (The Reckoners # 1.5) by Brandon Sanderson, 3/5 stars
42. Star Wars: Death Troopers by Joe Schreiber, 4/5 stars
43. Fire & Fate (Villains # 10) by Serena Valentino, 4/5 stars
44. No Is a Four-Letter Word: How I Failed Spelling but Succeeded in Life by Chris Jericho, 4/5 stars
45. The Great Train Robbery by Michael Crichton, 3/5 stars
46. Star Wars: The Perfect Weapon by Delilah S. Dawson, 2/5 stars
47. Star Wars: Master and Apprentice by Claudia Gray, 4/5 stars
48. Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination by Neal Gabler, 4/5 stars

Other Stats

The A-Town Awards

Best Book of the Year: Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson

Honorable Mention: Deception Point by Dan Brown

Worst Book of the Year: The Last Human by Zack Jordan

Honorable Mention: Unbirthday by Liz Braswell

Best Audiobook Narration: Andy Serkis (The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien)

Honorable Mention: Susanne Blakeslee (Evil Thing by Serena Valentino)

 

*****

There you have it! My first-ever Year in Review blog about books! Do any of the titles I read spark your interest? Do you have any recommendations for me?... because I absolutely live for book recommendations these days. Please, let me know what I should read next. Leave a note in the comments section, follow me on Twitter (here and here), find me on Facebook or, heck, even look me up on Goodreads, if you're into such things.

May the new year be full of even more literary adventures.

Until next time.

A-Town Playlist: Top Spotify Songs of 2023 and Songs for Griffin

If you're anything like me, you've been anticipating what your Spotify Wrapped for 2023 was going to look like for, oh, probably the last 11 and a half months. Thankfully, we need worry no longer, as our Spotify overlords have bestowed personalized statistics upon us once again, and I am more than happy to break my results down for you - right here, right now.

But first, a meme:

For those of you who lie awake at night wondering what kind of music I like and which artists I've had on repeat for the past 12 months, this may be the luckiest day of your lives.

Spotify Wrapped - Top 10 Songs

1. 
   Where the Streets Have No Name - U2
2. D'yer Mak'er - Led Zeppelin
3. One Headlight - The Wallflowers
4. I Don't Wanna Be In Love (Dance Floor Anthem) - Good Charlotte
5. Dancing in the Moonlight - King Harvest
6. My Body - Young the Giant
7. Wish I Knew You - The Revivalists
8. Everywhere - Fleetwood Mac
9. Here It Goes Again - OK Go
10. Simplify - Young the Giant

Analysis: "There is nothing new under the sun," I complained last year. Well, almost everything is new in my Top 10 songs this year! It only features one song by one of my Top 5 artists (more on them later), it features one song that virtually came out of nowhere ("Dancing in the Moonlight"), a mostly random song by Fleetwood Mac, and not one but two songs by Young the Giant. These are, perhaps, my most surprising Top 10 songs since I started doing these end-of-year blogs, and I'm actually ok with it.

It is highly noteworthy that many of the songs in my Top 100 came from a playlist I made for our eight-month-old boy, Griffin, in the months leading up to his delivery date, and I listened to that playlist every time I drove down for a baby appointment, so those songs got a lot of play time. For instance, "Where the Streets Have No Name" and "D'yer Makk'er" were the first two songs on that playlist, and I think all of the other songs, other than "Wish I Knew You" and "My Body," were also songs that I used for little Baby Griff's musical enjoyment.

I would have thought that there were a few other songs from Griffin's playlist that would have cracked the Top 10 way before King Harvest, Young the Giant and Fleetwood Mac, but whatever. I'm not that mad about it.

It is also notable that the only song from last year's Top 10 that stayed on the list this year was "Wish I Knew You" by the Revivalists. Everything else is new, which is a little wild.

Overall, pretty good stuff.

Minutes Listened

I was worried about this stat for 2023 because, as I've continued to work from home with two boys, the amount of time I spend listening to Spotify has significantly reduced over the past couple of years, and most of my Daddy Music Time (TM pending) comes when I'm driving or when I'm at the gym.

On top of that, during my time on paternity leave, I got really into something that I haven't really done much of in the past - listening to audiobooks. And believe me, I CRUSHED some audiobooks this year. Like, absolutely murdered them. If I'm lucky, I'll get some similar statistical recaps of how many books I've listened to this year and I'll make a blog of it. Those are some stats I'd be very curious to see.

Nevertheless, with Spotify Wrapped in mind, I tried my best to listen to Spotify as much as feasible so that I could rack up some relatively interesting totals for the end of the year.

I listened to 7,205 minutes of music on Spotify this year, which comes out to just over 120 hours. All things considered, that's not too bad, I guess.

(Editor's note: LOL look at me absolutely cramming in my listening on October 31 to try and solidify any last-minute moves on my song and artist leaderboards.)

As I have done for my MLBTV wrap-up blogs, I decided that I'll start keeping track of how much music I'm tallying each year so that I can compare the numbers more easily, because I'm weird and that's a thing that I like to be able to do.

• 2023: 7,205
• 2022: 9,000+
• 2021: 6,918
• 2020: ?
• 2019: 30,613
• 2018: ?

Looks like I didn't put (or wasn't provided) the actual number of minutes in my blogs for 2018 and 2020 (whoops), so I don't have access to those anymore, but I bet it that 2020 was way higher than 2021 and 2018 was high but a bit lower than 2019 because I think that was the first year that I regularly used Spotify.

Also, can you believe that total for 2019? Insane. That, of course, was back when I was working in an actual office, with a 20-minute commute both ways, and I basically listened to six or seven hours of Spotify, Monday-Friday most weeks. Work From Home life has changed me, man.

Top Artists

1. Weezer: Weezer maintains its top spot for the fourth year in a row (and five out of the last six). My "Artist of the Decade" is still going strong, after all these years. Long live Weezer.
2. The Struts: The Struts land in my Top 5 for the third year in a row. And the Struts "Strange Days Are Over Tour" t-shirts that my wife and I own would probably be in the Top 5 shirts of 2023, as well.
3. Billy Joel: Billy Joel is probably the artist who has been most criminally underrated by my Spotify Wrapped over the years. He and Elton John were the first concert that I ever attended, and I saw him live again a decade or so later. I tried to intentionally listen to him more often this year, and I am glad to see that my efforts were rewarded.
4. Creedence Clearwater Revival: I watched a documentary about Creedence Clearwater Revival on Netflix in October and it blew my mind to find out that, at the height of their popularity, they were one of the top bands in the world, along with The Beatles. I knew my dad liked them and, therefore, so did I, growing up, but I had no idea that they were that big. Upon finishing that documentary, I listened to a TON of CCR (the KAGE Match Champions of the World, for you Loyal A-Towners) to end the year. Welcome to the Top 5, gentlemen.
5. U2: I had a feeling that U2 might end up in my Top 5, and I would have been shocked if "Where the Streets Have No Name" wasn't my top song. I was correct on both counts. Believe it or not, I went through a really big U2 phase as a youth, and I would have probably considered them or Bon Jovi my favorite band before I discovered Weezer. If they ever come back to Utah on tour, I should go.

Top Genres

Here are my top genres of the year, presented as a very delicious, oddly shaped rock & roll sandwich:

Other Fun or Otherwise Notable Songs in My Top 100

Not all great songs can crack the Top 10 and not all of my favorite bands got their own infographic. Here are some other songs that landed in my Top 100 that made 2023 a delightful year of music:

(Editor's note: I've marked any songs that made my Top 100 because of their inclusion on Griffin's playlist with  SFG - Songs for Griffin)

• Call and Answer - Barenaked Ladies (#11; one of the most-listened-to songs on Griffin's playlist, SFG)
• This Is the Time - Billy Joel (#12; one of my favorite Billy Joel songs and a likely reason why he was one of my top artists, SFG)
• Africa - Weezer (#15; my top Weezer song on this year's list - a Spotify Wrapped mainstay -- also, it's better than the original)
• Carolina Reaper - Chili Jesson (#18; an absolute banger from the "NHL 22" video game soundtrack)
• Lift Me Up - Rihanna (#19; arguably the best thing that came from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, SFG)
• Kid - The Revivalists (#20; if I had to pick a Revivalists song that I thought would have been in my Top 10 this year, this would have been it, SFG)
• Change the World - Eric Clapton (#25; fun fact: I hated this song when I heard it as a kid because I thought it was about recycling or something, SFG)
• Down on the Corner - Creedence Clearwater Revival (#27; my most-listened-to CCR song, SFG)
• Perfect Situation - Weezer (#31; I distinctly remember listening to this song with my brother Cody and discussing how it differs from the original version of this song that we were introduced to when we first heard it)
• Forever Young - Alphaville (#32; they used this music on one of the commercials I remember most vividly from my school years and I've loved the song ever since, SFG)
• Good Tonight - Daniel Pemberton/Anthony Ramos (#33; I talked about this song last year because it didn't quite make my Top 100 of 2022, but we got it on this year - one of Stockton's favorite songs in the whole world, for sure.
• Jump Jive An' Wail - The Brian Setzer Orchestra (#45; I put this song on Griffin's playlist because, while my wife was pregnant, I would often play this song and dance around the kitchen with Stockton while he laughed hysterically... plus, it's just a great song, SFG)
• Wake Me Up (Acoustic) - Aloe Blacc (#47; a creative find for Griffin's playlist, and a very good find, at that, SFG)
• Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon & Garfunkel (#57; I don't believe that my wife was familiar with this song when I played it for her, which was interesting, SFG)
• Try Everything - Shakira (#58; arguably the best thing that came from Zootopia, and I have to - absolutely have to - sing along any time I hear it playing, SFG)
• Skyfall - Adele (#71; the best James Bond song, SFG)
• 100 Years - Five For Fighting (#75; I can't listen to this song without thinking of The Big Ticket - shoutout to Scott, Jon and living legend Mr. Lloyd, SFG)
• California Dreamin' - The Mamas & The Papas (#79; the most epic flute solo ever to grace the eardrums of mankind, SFG)
• Bounce - The Cab (#84; a "Rock Band" classic)
• Brooklyn Bridge to Chorus - The Strokes (#93; "a vibe," as the kids say - shame it wasn't higher on the list)
• Stacy's Mom - Fountains of Wayne (#94; an absolute travesty that this song isn't in at least my Top 25 - like... how???? HOW?!? - and the best part is that, when I crank this baby while cruising Redwood Road, my wife sings right along with me)
• Free Bird - Lynyrd Skynyrd (#98; the second-to-last song on Griffin's playlist - and I actually had to play it for him in the hospital because he came a couple days early before I was done with all the songs I'd picked out for him, SFG)
• Separate Ways (Worlds Apart) - Journey (#100; truth: this is one of my Top 5 favorite songs of all time - glad it made the cut)

The Bonus Track

A few times in the past, I've given honorable mention to a song that, sadly, didn't make my Top 100 for the year, and there is no question which song I want Song #101 to be this year:

My Way - Frank Sinatra

This was scheduled to be the final song on Griffin's playlist - the last song I'd play for him before he was born - but SOMEBODY decided to come a couple days early, in the middle of a freak snowstorm in April, so I had to play this and "Free Bird" in the wee hours of the morning on April 4, 2023, standing next to my sleeping wife and newborn child.

"My Way," indeed, Griff.

Songs for Griffin

I've been talking about this playlist for Griffin throughout the entire post, and it is very likely that some of you may have no idea what on earth I'm talking about. Let me enlighten you.

When my wife was pregnant with our first son, Stockton, I felt a little bit of pre-Dad Guilt from all those do-gooders who always brag about how many books they've read to their wife's pregnant belly and whatnot. I decided that I'd start playing one song a night for our yet-to-be-born child. It ended up being 75 songs over 75 nights, with no duplicated songs or artists. You can listen to Songs for Stockton here.

It was a lot of fun, so I wanted to do it again. However, for Griffin, no bands were off limits but I didn't want to duplicate any of the songs I had previously used for Stockton, which made things a little bit complicated. Let's just say that I had to get a little creative on some nights. But I got the job done and filled out a pretty nice little set list for Baby # 2.

Like I just mentioned, he showed up four days before his due date. I had planned on ending the playlist a couple nights early, just in case, but I still had "Free Bird" and "My Way" scheduled, then he just showed up. I wanted his first song to be "Where the Streets Have No Name," since that was the first song I played for his playlist, so I gave him the lil' triple feature at like 4 AM or something on the morning of his birth, with U2, Skynyrd and Sinatra. Not a bad way to start off one's mortality, if you ask me.

Here's his full, 75-song playlist, if you're looking for some sweet tunes to help you make it through your day:

Condensed Playlist

Finally, I've condensed my Top 100 songs of 2023 down to 50 of my favorites, including all of the Top 10. Feel free to pop in some earbuds and take a listen.

And that brings us to the end of another glorious Spotify Wrapped blog. Did you find any new music that you liked? Has this information totally changed your perception of who I am, as a person and a friend? What were some of your top songs and artists of the year? How many minutes did you crank out? Let me know in the comments, follow me on Twitter (here and here) or come bug me on Facebook. I'm not a hard man to find.

Until next time.