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2020 in Music
[This post is part of a large project in which I am going through the popular music released in each year. Please see the note at the bottom of the post re: omissions and limitations.] Introduction What a year 2020 was! For some of us, the first pandemic year made it hard to find the…
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Matt Takes On the Decades in Music: Introduction
My mom often says that my brother was born with a motor and I was born with a song. I can’t remember a time in my life that wasn’t defined by the music I was listening to. But the extent to which I’ve been actively up on what’s been happening in the world of popular…
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Bookish Stats, 2024
My 2024 reading year has come to a close, and while it didn’t quite hit the heights of 2023 for me, it was still a wonderful bookish year. If you’re interested, please check out my Bookish Superlatives (parts 1 and 2), and my Top Reads from the year. Today I’d like to look at the…
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Top 15 Reads of 2024
Where 2023 was an absolute banner year for my reading life — by the second week of January, I’d already read two books I knew were not just going to be best-of-the-year picks, but new all-time favourites — 2024 was a slower burn, and didn’t quite hit the same heights. But not every year can…
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Bookish Superlatives 2024, Part 2: Genres and Communities
Yesterday I undertook the first half of my 2024 Bookish Superlatives. That post focused on questions of format, style, and readerly expectation. Today in Part 2, I’ll turn to genre and authors representing specific communities. (For the previous two years: 2022, 2023) Genres Best Romance Not All Himbos Wear Capes (Villainous Things 1), by C.…
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Bookish Superlatives 2024, Part 1: Readerly Expectations and Style
So, I’m happy to introduce my third annual Bookish Superlatives, highlighting books that excelled in different specific categories, but which may not have reached my top reads of the year. Today’s superlatives will focus on readerly expectation, media, and style. Tomorrow’s will focus on genres, audiences, and communities. (For previous years: 2022, 2023) Because part…
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Top 10 Songs of 2024
The other day I shared my top 10 albums from 2024. Today I want to look at my favourite individual songs released this year. Favourite Songs 10. “I Love You, I’m Sorry,” by Gracie Abrams The emergence of Gracie Abrams as a force in the world of pop-oriented singer-songwriters has been a great story this…
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Top 10 Albums of 2024
[Copied from my main blog: https://matthewroot.ca/2024/12/18/top-10-albums-of-2024/) It’s become a tradition here on the blog for me to share my favourite reads of each year on New Year’s Day. And I’m definitely planning on doing that again this year. But 2024 has also been a remarkable year — possibly one of the most astounding on record…
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Bookish Hall of Fame 2024: New Additions
So far these posts on my 2024 Bookish Hall of Fame have focused on what’s happened to books that were in the original list: which ones dropped out to make room for new titles, and which ones saw the biggest drops or bumps compared to last year. But the whole reason for the reassessment is…
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Bookish Hall of Fame 2024: Biggest Falls and Rises
As I was looking at my Bookish Hall of Fame this year, what was more interesting to me than how my 2023 reads would fare was what kind of changes I’d discover amongst the books already in the Hall. Here’s a quick recap of the titles with the biggest jumps or falls in the list.…
Matt's Books and Music
So many books, so many songs
Matt's Books and Music 