Really enjoyed thinking through this year - as I did last year - not just in things that “came out” this year, but the things I enjoyed. Since I don’t know why media has this culture of caring about the best “releases” of 2024, when there is plenty of opportunities to learn and enjoy things that didn’t release in this calendar year. It also is definitely more of a personal decision since historically in these posts I’ve not ever cared about what year the books I read were released, yet I did hold myself accountable for only including this years music releases.

This was a very hard year for me mentally, due to a handful of personal and professional reasons that made it challenging for me to find my footing, so to speak. But, entering 2025, I feel like I’ve found my sea legs and worked on myself to the point that I’m really moving past the treading water stage, and am starting to swim up current a bit. Interestingly this came with a lot of distinct focus on rest and relaxation time for myself, which meant I actually got a historically large amount of reading done, which I hope to continue going forward.

Music

Structured by release year, but these are all albums that I really got into this year. Trying to stick to including the latest release per band. So some of these are new albums by bands I already enjoyed that I got into this year, some of these are new artists I got into this year, and some of these are new releases by new artists I discovered this year. Wow!

2024

  • All Hell - Los Campesinos!
  • Feeling Not Found - Origami Angel
  • Foxing - Foxing
  • Nothing - Louis Cole
  • Is Committed… - Say Anything
  • The Well I Fell Into - Why?
  • Gangster of Love - Super American

2023

  • The Rise And Fall of a Midwest Princess - Chappel Roan
  • always cloudy - saturdays at your place
  • So Much (For) Stardust - Fall Out Boy
  • chaos takes the wheel and i am a passenger - awakebutstillinbed
  • Oblivion Will Own Me and Death Alone Will Love Me - Short Fictions

2022

  • Never Before Seen, Never Again Found - Arm’s Length

Books

I surpassed my goal of two books per month - totaling in at twenty seven-ish. In a similar fashion to music, moving away from how I’ve looked at books of previous years, I will not show everything I read this year, the same way I don’t, in any way come close to, list everything that I listened to during the year. Plenty of things get listened to, get read, get watched, that just aren’t my favorites. I’d rather just celebrate the things that I ended up really loving, and that resonated with me, and not worry too much about the books I didn’t enjoy. In surpassing my goal this year, I read a lot of books that were more exploratory for me, either into non-fiction topics or other genres that I wouldn’t usually read. I think you’ll note that most of these did not end up on the favorites list, not all experiments are successes.

Favorites

  • Peace - Gene Wolfe
  • Florida - Lauren Groff
  • The Secret Life of Insects - Bernardo Esquinca
  • Pine - Francine Toon
  • Fates and Furies - Lauren Groff
  • Good Neighbors - Sarah Langan
  • The Devil’s Flute Murders - Seishi Yokomizo
  • The Valancourt Book of World Horror Stories Vol. 2
  • The Which Way Tree - Elizabeth Crook

Notable Mentions

  • Shades of Magic Trilogy - V.E. Schwab
  • Songs of a Dead Dreamer - Thomas Ligotti
  • Grimscribe - Thomas Ligotti
  • Malarkoi - Alex Pheby
  • The Lost Village - Camilla Sten
  • Isaiah Coleridge Series - Laird Barron

So in summary, I did branch out of my horror niche a bit with some literary fiction. I did also read a decent amount inside of it though. In particular I’m really enjoying especially world horror adjacent fiction.

Summary

I felt like I did not discover a whole lot of new artists this year before writing this list, but then afterwards I realized I had started listening to more than I initially remembered! I think maybe not seeing many of them on tour made them feel less “discovered” for me this year but it was interesting to note them regardless. I think I’ve definitely also found myself getting deeper into discographies of bands that I had only a cursory enjoyment of previously. This has been enjoyable as well.

And, in terms of authors, I have to give a really special note to Lauren Groff. I had had Florida on my To Read list for a long time and having finally read it, I found the stories absolutely beautiful and touching, and almost immediately picked up Fates and Furies and read it furiously. I have some of her newer books on my To Read pile and I look forward to it immensely. She is not anyone I’d previously have thought to name as a favorite author when next to names like Laird Barron, John Langan, Jeff Vandermeer, or even someone like Seishi Yokomizo. But, as V.E. Schwab did to me last year, I’m happy to be taken off my feet by a truly exceptional author who is able to craft beautiful, heartwrenching, and emotional stories.

Cheers to 2025 and whatever comes with it!