Best Songs of 2025

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Here’s a list of my top songs for this year, in an order that might be surprisingly mixable. These are not necessarily from 2025; I just happened to have heard them in the last twelve months.

  1. Bitter, by Freya Ridings on Blood Orange
  2. Opalite, by Taylor Swift on The Life of a Showgirl
  3. Ghost in My Machine, by Mia Wray on Only Love
  4. Why Am I Dancing_ by Pet Shop Boys on Nonetheless
  5. Pretty Ugly, by Zara Larsson on Midnight Sun
  6. Shapeshifter, by Lorde on Virgin
  7. Suburbia, by Tove Lo on Dirt Femme
  8. Blood Orange, by Freya Ridings on Blood Orange
  9. Nice to Meet Me, by Mia Wray on Only Love
  10. davina mccall, by Wet Leg on moisturizer
  11. Don’t Be Tough, by Jason Isbell on Foxes in the Snow
  12. Got to Begin Again, by Billy Joel on Cold Spring Harbor
  13. Perfect, by Freya Ridings on Blood Orange
  14. Favourite Daughter, by Lorde on Virgin
  15. Human, by Brandi Carlile on Returning to Myself
  16. feelslikeimfallinginlove, by Coldplay on Moon Music
  17. 2 Die 4, by Tove Lo on Dirt Femme
  18. Broken Glass, by Lorde on Virgin
  19. Dancing in a Hurricane, by Freya Ridings on Blood Orange
  20. Get Out My Way, by Mia Wray on Only Love
  21. Buckle, by Florence + The Machine on Everybody Scream
  22. I Leave Everything to You, by The Swell Season on Forward

A quartet of musicians are here with multiple tunes: Freya Ridings (4), Lorde (3), Mia Wray (3), and Tove Lo (2).  Freya and Mia both have such unique texture to their voices; Lorde marries her whispers with a rumbling, dark soundscape; and Tove’s vocals are so clear, a perfect coupling with the electronica.

The only downside of these four taking over the songlist is that The Zombies, Lucius, Maren Morris, Purity Ring, The Beths, Laura Stevenson, Vampire Weekend, Nation of Language, and Perfume Genius will have to wait until next year…hopefully. There’s just so much good music out there every year.

Barnes & Noble Preorder Sale – 4/23 – 4/25/2025

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The summer before I went away for college, I worked at the B&N in Shrewsbury, NJ. I loved that job! I took care of the scifi and fantasy shelves — I even did a little ordering by the end of my tenure. 🙂

The mystery section wasn’t mine, but I read quite a bit out of there — Robert B. Parker, Dick Francis, and the alphabet mysteries of Sue Grafton starring Kinsey Millhone, who was definitely on my mind when I thought up a female gumshoe for my twosome of mystery novels, Skin Deep and Deep Roots, which have gotten a lovely makeover.

The books come out in less than two months, from Datura Books! Special preorder sale at B&N until 4/25.

On My Substack: The Gruesome Vegetarian

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My Substack is named From Nothing to Something. My last post was October 2024. So I think it’s safe to say that the Nothings are beating the crap out of the Somethings.

Still, an occasional Something is better than Nothing, right?

Enjoy The Gruesome Vegetarian!

1 Out of 8, 9 Out of 10

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A pleasant surprise to learn that Lines was one of only eight novels that one of my favorite reviewers, Julia Kastner, reviewed last year that received a rating of 9 out of 10. Woohoo!!

Of course, there were three books she reviewed that got 10 out of 10, but let’s not go there. Obviously those books are perfect and they can revel in their perfection. I’m quite happy to bask in the almost-perfectness of my fifth novel.

Check out her whole list — lots of good books there, including big-time bestseller Braiding Sweetgrass. She also names a handful of honorable mentions.

best of 2024: year’s end

Best Songs of 2024

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Here’s a list of my top songs for this year, in an order that might be surprisingly mixable. These are not necessarily from 2024; I just happened to have heard them in the last twelve months.

  1. Weak in Your Light, by Nation of Language on Strange Disciple
  2. Glass, Concrete & Stone, by David Byrne on Grown Backwards
  3. My Babe, by Spoon on Lucifer on the Sofa
  4. Pink Pony Club, by Chappell Roan on The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess
  5. Hot to Go!, by Chappell Roan on The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess
  6. The Feeling You Get, by Empire of the Sun on Ask That God
  7. Femininomenon, by Chappell Roan on The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess
  8. Always/Never, by STRFKR on Parallel Realms
  9. Southern Storms, by Heavy Weighs the King on A Star in the Sky
  10. Twenty-Five, by Lake Street Dive on Good Together
  11. Turn the Lights Back on, by Billy Joel
  12. 365, by Waxahatchee on Tigers Blood
  13. The Nineties, by Kate Hudson on Glorious
  14. Escapism, by Raye on My 21st Century Blues (SNL, April 6, 2024)
  15. Wake Up, by Imagine Dragons on LOOM
  16. Red Wine Supernova, by Chappell Roan on The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess
  17. My Kink Is Karma, by Chappell Roan on The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess
  18. Worth It, by Raye on My 21st Century Blues (SNL, April 6, 2024)
  19. Please Please Please, by Sabrina Carpenter on Short n’ Sweet
  20. Change Nothing, by I Nine on Heavy Weighs the King
  21. Kaleidoscope, by Chappell Roan on The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess

Six by Chappell Roan here, for an album that actually came out last year. Her debut was one for the ages. Some miscellaneous notes:

  1. Saw Spoon in concert in Montreal — first concert I attended since the pandemic. Won’t be the last.
  2. How about Billy Joel putting out his first new song in decades? And did you catch the AI-infused video? Pretty amazing all around.
  3. So there’s a band named I Nine here, whose first album is titled Heavy Weighs the King. And there’s a band named Heavy Weighs the King. None of this is a coincidence, and their story can be seen via Rick Beato.
  4. Between Chappell Roan, I Nine/Heavy Weighs the King, and Waxahatchee, the three ladies here have some serious belting power. And while Kate Hudson may not have the same vocal strength, her entire album is excellent — I hope she keeps going with this musical side gig of hers.

Dream Chasers and Eccentrics Podcast: Ep. 72, Author Sung J Woo, “Lines”

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I had the great pleasure to talk to Paul Trammell, who helms the Dream Chasers and Eccentrics podcast — please have a listen!

We talk about New York City (where Lines takes place), how he got started writing, Stephen King’s books, other books we love, his inspiration for the novel, developing characters, creativity, writing technique, his muse, the novel, the ending, his MFA, and more.

https://www.paultrammell.com/dream-chasers-and-eccentrics

Lines Review from Pages of Julia

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I’ve been a fan of Julia Kastner’s writing, which I first read through her reviews in Shelf Awareness. On a lark I sent her an ARC, and to her great kindness, she read it and liked it enough to review it. It’s such a lovely piece of writing — I think her review may actually be better than my book! Yeah, it’s that good. Please read it! And yeah, read my book, too, if you want. 😉

Posting this from rainy and beautiful downtown Portland — and getting ready for the reading tomorrow:

Saturday, November 2, 2024 7PM PT
Portland Book Festival, Cover to Cover Event
Rose City Book Pub
1329 Northeast Fremont Street, Portland, OR 97212
with Anthony DiPietro, Douglas Cole, and Anna B. Moore

I’ll also be at Unsolicited Press’s Exhibiter Table #69 at Portland Art Museum between 10-11am.

Now, on with the review!

This book came to me in an unusual way, and I just happened (entirely by accident, as far as I’m aware with my conscious brain!) to pick it up a few days before its publication date, and finished reading it on the very eve. So, happy birthday to this book just published on Tuesday (October 29, 2024). And a brilliant book it is: deeply beautiful, full of tragedy and pain but also awe and even bliss and the exaltation of quiet, daily acts of love and creation.