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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.…
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Bookish Hall of Fame 2024: Overview and Emeritus Titles
When I came up with my ‘Bookish Hall of Fame’ last year, I put a lot of thought into what it would mean for me to celebrate the ‘best’ one hundred novels for me. I gave less thought to what it would mean to keep it up to date. But, as we’re well into a…
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Top 15 Reads of 2023
An annual ‘best of’ my reading year post has become a tradition for me since 2017. (Last year’s list can be found here.) I read some unbelievably great books in 2023, so without further ado. let’s get to the books! 15. Talking at Night, by Claire Daverley (2023) Two teenagers with nothing in common bond…
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Bookish Superlatives 2023 Pt 2: Genres and Communities
Yesterday I undertook the first half of my 2023 Bookish Superlatives. That post focused on questions of format, style, and readerly expectation. Today in Part II, I’ll turn to genre and authors representing specific communities. Genres Best Romance I’m Your Guy (Hockey Guys #2), by Sarina Bowen (2023) I’m on the record as thinking the…
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Bookish Superlatives 2023, Part 1: Readerly Expectations and Style
2023 has been another banner year in my reading life. I’ve read so many great books that a top ten or top twenty list just can’t do justice to them all. So, I’m happy to introduce my second annual Bookish Superlatives, highlighting books that excelled in different specific categories. Today’s superlatives will focus on readerly…
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My Author of the Year: Robertson Davies (1913-1995)
When I do my end-of-year recaps, it’s important to me that they be representative of my reading year. That’s a big reason why I started doing ‘Bookish Superlatives’ in addition to a Best of the Year list last year. But as I was preparing these posts for this year, I noticed that one author wasn’t…
Matt's Books and Music
So many books, so many songs
Matt's Books and Music 