Book and Album of the Year

It is time for me to make my annual selections for the favorite book and album of the past year. There are no restrictions here as to date of publication/release, only the best that I read or heard for the first time in the previous calendar year.

The best book I read all year was easy, and it was the first book I read last January: The Etched City, by K. J. Bishop. What a fabulous book it was, reminiscent of China Mieville’s Perdito Street Station in its evocation of a strange new world. As I said in my review of it on 2/27/05, if I were to list all the aspects of the “perfect” novel as I see it, The Etched City contains all of them in varying degrees. It is the type of novel which comes along too infrequently, and which I recommend wholeheartedly.

If I had to select a runner-up for the honor, it would probably be Jack McDevitt’s Polaris, a fabulous combination of future history and mystery.

For a listing of all my Books-of-the-Year, go back to my 2/13/05 blog.

My favorite album was Green Day’s American Idiot, a well-constructed concept album from a band which started out as a simple, but talented, punk band and have evolved into perhaps the finest rock band in America without losing any of their enthusiasm.

Runner-up here would be Richard Thompson’s Live from Austin, TX. He is perhaps the most consistent singer-songwriter in my pantheon, and this live set demonstrates all of his strengths.

Here is a listing of all my Albums-of-the-Year.

Year / Album / Artist
1967 / Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band / The Beatles
1968 / Bookends / Simon and Garfunkel
1969 / To Our Children’s Children’s Children / The Moody Blues
1970 / Bridge Over Troubled Water / Simon and Garfunkel
1971 / The Yes Album / Yes
1972 / The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust / David Bowie
1973 / The Dark Side of the Moon / Pink Floyd
1974 / Preservation Act 2 / The Kinks
1975 / Born to Run / Bruce Springsteen
1976 / Turnnstiles / Billy Joel
1977 / Bat Out of Hell / Meat Loaf
1978 / Darkness on The Edge of Town / Bruce Springsteen
1979 / Damn the Torpedoes / Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
1980 / The River / Bruce Springsteen
1981 / Long Distance Voyager / The Moody Blues
1982 / Night and Day / Joe Jackson
1983 / The Present / The Moody Blues
1984 / Man on the Line / Chris de Burgh
1985 / Songs from the Big Chair / Tears for Fears
1986 / Graceland / Paul Simon
1987 / The Joshua Tree / U2
1988 / Volume One / The Traveling Wilburys
1989 / Full Moon Fever / Tom Petty
1990 / Stolen Moments / John Hiatt
1991 / Places I Have Never Seen / Willie Nile
1992 / Automatic for the People / R.E.M.
1993 / Get a Grip / Aerosmith
1994 / This Way Up / Chris De Burgh
1995 / Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness / The Smashing Pumpkins
1996 / Load / Metallica
1997 / Ixnay on the Ombray / The Offspring
1998 / The Philosopher’s Stone / Van Morrison
1999 / Quiet Revolution / Chris de Burgh
2000 / All That You Leave Behind / U2
2001 / Love and Theft / Bob Dylan
2002 / Young, Guitar Days / Steve Forbert
2003 / The Old Kit Bag / Richard Thompson
2004 / Cropedy / Fairport Convention
2005 / American Idiot / Green Day