Gotham Gal: Best Music of 2005

Music comes and goes in our house like water. Today I asked the kids what did they think the best CD's of 2005 were? We were basically in sync. The list is longer than I thought it would be, but here we go.

Death Cab for Cutie, Plans. The ultimate alternative band. Love their sound and past albums.

Nada Surf, Weight If A Gift. Good follow up to their last album. Mellow, good sound.

Coldplay, X & Y It wasn't their best but it was still really good. A bit over produced but it's Coldplay.

Josh Rouse, Nashville Love his sound. I can not get enough of this CD. It has been on the top for at least the last 6 months.

Rogue Wave, Descended Like Vultures Love the dark sound.

Portastatic One of my favorites of the year. Great sound. Upbeat, smart, clever.

Goldspot, Tally of the Yes Men Classic. I listen to this over and over and over again. Top CD

The Shout Out Louds, Howl Howl Gaff Gaff Happy, fun and also with a great edge. Love this CD!

Jack Johnson, In Between Dreams Good surfer, beach music.

Mike Doughty, Haughty Melodic Huge fan. Love his voice. Different sound. Catchy.

M Ward, Transistor Radio Scratchy voice with great instruments. Another winner.

The Eels, Blinking Lights and Other Revelations Nothing else sounds like the Eels. One of the most interesting, musical concerts I have seen in years.

The Shore, The Shore This was on heavy rotation when it first came out. Melodic rock.

The Decemberists, Picaresque Clever song writing. Listened to over and over and over.

The Magic Numbers Catchy, clever, great sound

Spoon, Gimme Fiction Good guitar, good sound. Another winner

Bright Eyes, I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning Listened to Oberst for years. Talented. Bob Dylan of our generation? Great album

Ben Lee, Awake is the New Sleep Love Ben Lee. I have listened to him since his first album. Pop music at it's best.

Crooked Fingers, Dignity and Shame Dark, intense sound. Good songs.

There were others that we considered like U2 but the CD's above, although there are plenty, we got our fill of them all. Fantastic music. Highly recommended. Enjoy!!

books of the moment

Cristina Alger: The Darlings: A Novel
i LOVED this book. First time novelist. Well written. She does a great job of describing each character. The story is loosely based on a Madoff type character. Total NY story. Page turner. She knows her town and these people. Really LOVED this book.
Stephen King: 11/22/63: A Novel
This is my first King book. He is an incredible story teller. Quite a book, very creative, interesting idea and story. It is so long. 850 pages. I get why he is one of the best selling authors
Whitney L. Johnson: Dare, Dream, Do: Remarkable Things Happen When You Dare to Dream
I was so graciously asked to write a blurb for this book. It doesn't come out until May when I will write a post but for the time being you can pre-order. Here is my blurb; Every woman, regardless of age or profession, should read this book. Through stories of real women, their dreams and their struggles, Johnson's book has created an instant community. What's more, she has opened the door for women to empower themselves to dare, dream and do.
Russell Banks: Lost Memory of Skin: A Novel
An interesting novel about the underground topic of child molesters. Banks takes on a disturbing topic as he weaves a variety of strange characters into the fold. Maybe I wanted some kind of closure from the book. The book is a big idea which really navigates a slice of America. Really well written but not so sure I'd recommend it. I stuck with the book but I didn't love it.
Susan Weissman: Feeding Eden: The Trials and Triumphs of a Food Allergy Family
The name of the book says it all. Every parent and every teacher should read this book.
Tom Perrotta: The Leftovers
I have read a few of Perrotta's books. He is an incredible writer but I always feel so unfulfilled when his books end. This concept of this book is that one day random people disappear and the world changes. The book focuses on one particular community and a few families. At the beginning I was wowed by the premise of the book but as always his books begin to ramble and the end was so bad it was if he couldn't figure out how to finish it. Literally the last paragraph made me say to myself, "seriously"?
Alice Hoffman: The Dovekeepers: A Novel
I wanted to finish it, I really did. But half way in I moved on. Really beautiful book. A story of four women who lived on Masada who are thrown together through fate as they tend to the doves. Wonderful history and interesting paths of each character. Just super dense. I hope to return to finishing it. After all...it is on my kindle.
Deborah Copaken Kogan: Between Here and April
This book tracks a terrible tragedy of a mother who took her life and her childrens in the 70s. I was interested in it because it happened where I grew up. Unfortunately the book bounces all over the place and only focuses on the authors own issues that she believes to be connected to this but in essence it is a serious reach and rambling.
W. Bruce Cameron: A Dog's Purpose
It took me a while to get into this but a very clever book. Life through a dogs eyes. Really well done.
Kyung-Sook Shin: Please Look After Mom
International best seller. Not only a peak into a past generation of Korean life but a disturbing look at alzheimers. Sticks with you.
Kathleen Flinn: The Kitchen Counter Cooking School: How a Few Simple Lessons Transformed Nine Culinary Novices into Fearless Home Cooks
Flinn writes about how she transformed 9 people to love cooking, understand food and what they are eating and basically changed their lives. Good book.
Julie Salamon: Wendy and the Lost Boys: The Uncommon Life of Wendy Wasserstein
What a fascinating life. I actually liked the last 25% of the book the best. A woman of the generation that was told she could have it all and with all her success she still felt unaccomplished. A worthy read.
Michael Ondaatje: The Cat's Table
A beautiful memoir of Ondaatjes solo journey from Sri Lanka to London as a young boy of 11 to return to his mother who had been residing there for 3/4 years. Those 3 weeks made quite an impact on his life as he threads those stories back to his life as an adult.
Jeffrey Eugenides: The Marriage Plot: A Novel
loved this book. brilliantly written, great character development, literature references abound, questioning of religion, depression issues, post college angst. loved loved.
Julie Otsuka: The Buddha in the Attic
I read Otsuka's first book, When the Emperor Was Divine and really enjoyed it. Her writing is very distinct and her prose is written in a way that is different, imaginative and interesting. The book is a bit of an extension of the first book. The topic is on America's stained past during the war, in our own country, when we locked up all the Japanese people living here because of pure fear of nothing. Otsuka's book gives the read insight into how the Japanese lived prior to that time and really what wonderful immigrants they were and are. Opens up a chapter of American history that we should all be very disturbed by.

Gotham Gal

Best Music of 2005

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