Saturday, December 24, 2011

Best of "2011" It was one Heck of a Ride !!




It seems like a long time since I've been back here writing on my blog, but their was no way I could close out 2011 without my best of list. I love lists and I especially love the "best of" end of the year lists. Kyle Minor & Keith Rawson are two of my personal favorites at this. It was a terrific year for books & music,a very disappointing year for film, and no one will ever forget the weather and its impact on the world in 2011. Love em or hate em..here they are. Of course the books, concerts and film lists are all that I read, saw, or attended personally. Oh, Did I forget to mention the St. Louis Cardinals were World Champions as well.

BEST CRIME FICTION NOVELS:

1)Devil All The Time by Donald Ray Pollock
2)Already Gone by John Rector
3)Wake up Dead,Mixed Blood, & Dust Devils by Roger Smith
4)One True Sentence by Craig McDonald
5)Hurt Machine by Reed Farrel Coleman
6)The Wilding by Benjamin Percy
7)Frank Sinatra in a Blender by Matthew McBride
8)The Sisters Brothers by Patrick Dewitt
9)The End of Everything by Megan Abbott
10)Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward
* honorable mention: The Adjustment by Scott Phillips

BEST SHORT STORY COLLECTIONS:

1)Crimes in Southern Indiana by Frank Bill
2)Drowing Tuscon by Aaron Michael Morales
3)Volt by Alan Heathcock
4)Sinners of Sanction County by Charles Dodd White
5)Outlaw Album by Daniel Woodrell

BEST NON FICTION:

1)The Fear by Peter Godwin
2)Crazy River by Richard Grant
3)Murder City by Charles Bowden
4)On Fire by Larry Brown
5)I Was Looking for a Street by Charles Willeford

FAVORITE NEW SERIES:

1)Fun and Games and Hell and Gone by Duane Sweirczynski
2)Claire Dewitt & The City of the Dead by Sara Gran
3)The Ranger by Ace Atkins
4)The Big Goodbye by Michael Lister

FAVORITE OLDER READS:

1)Give Us A Kiss by Daniel Woodrell
2)Tony & Susan by Austin Wright
3)Circus Parade by Jim Tully
4)Kiss Me Judas by Will Christopher Baer
5)The Siege of Trenchers Farm by Gordon M. Williams

2012 MUST READS:

1) Raylan by Elmore Leonard
2) El Gavilan by Craig McDonald
3) Gun Church by Reed Farrel Coleman
4) Donnybrook by Frank Bill
5) Wowzer by Frank Wheeler
6) Choke Hold by Christa Faust
7) The Devil is Real, The Louvin Brothers by Benjamin Whitmer
8) The Sex Lives of Missionary's by Kyle Minor
9) A Swollen Red Sun by Matt McBride
10) Me and My Likker by Popcorn Sutton

FAVORITE LITERARY EVENTS:

1) Texas Book Festival in Austin,Tx.
2) Frank Bill's Book Launch Party in Coydon,In.
3) Suspense Night at St. Louis County Library
4) Bouchercon in St. Louis,Mo.
5) William Gay's Art Exhibit in Oxford,Ms.

FAVORITE COLLEGE CLASS:

1) Jack Pendarvis (Univ. of Mississippi Lit. Class) with guest speaker Megan Abbott

TOP 10 CONCERTS ATTENDED:

1)Mumford & Sons at The Pageant St. Louis
2)Old Crow Medicine Show, Justin Townes Earle, Okervill River
at the Double Decker Music Festival in Oxford,Ms.
3)William Elliott Whitmore and Trampled by Turtles at Old Rock House in St. Louis
4)Drive by Truckers & Cardinals clinch Gm. #7 of World Series at The Pageant St.Louis
5)Jason Isbell and John Prine at Touhill Performing Arts Center in St. Louis
6)William Elliott Whitmore at Off Broadway in St. Louis
7)Lucinda Williams in Bloomington,In.
8)Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit at Old Rock House in St. Louis
9)Tom Russell and Thad Beckman in Mt. Olive,Il.
10)Hayes Carll in Champaign,Il. or.. Slaid Cleaves in Springfield,Il.

MOST ANTICIPATED CONCERTS IN 2012:

1) Ray Wylie Hubbard
2) Todd Snider at Sheldon Concert Hall Jan. 13th in St. Louis
3) Scott H. Biram or Chris Knight
4) The Black Keyes
5) Tom Waits...a guy can always dream can't he.

BEST FILMS: 2011

1)Midnight in Paris
2)The Help
3)Drive
4)Take Shelter
5)The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
6)The Cave of Forgotten Dreams
7)Crazy,Stupid,Love
8)The Lincoln Lawyer
9)Martha Marcy May Marlene
10)Young Adult
*Sadly, I missed "The Rum Diaries"

HIGHLY ANTICIPATED FILMS IN 2012

1) Rampart
2) Shame
3) A Dangerous Method
4) Meeks Cutoff
5) My Week With Marilyn
6) The Descendants
7) Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
8) The Artist
9) Melancholia
10)The Master

FINALLY CROSSED PATHS: (Yeah, I was a fan boy)

1) Ray Wylie Hubbard
2) Dannielle & Mike Wolfe from American Pickers
3) Guy Fierri
4) Keith Rawson
5) Jason Isbell

BEST NEW DISCOVERIES or EVENTS:

1) Sweetie Pies Restaurant in St. Louis,Mo.
2) Yuengling Beer
3) Roger Smith crime novels
4) The Kingdom of Survival and The Folksinger films by Slowboat Films
5) Scott H. Biram
6) Albums "Here We Rest", "A)Enlightenment B)Endarkment", "Bad Ingredients" and "Measbi".
7) Weird South Magazine
8) Turtleman, on Call of the Wildman
9) Artwork by Steve Keene and Tom Russell
10) Castle TV Series

TEN (ok 11) TV SERIES I CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT:

1) Justified
2) The Walking Dead
3) Sons of Anarchy
4) Hidden City
5) Call of The Wildman
6) Treme
7) Bored to Death
8) Moonshiners
9) American Pickers
10) Off Limits and Boardwalk Empire

ONE TO LOOK FOR IN 2012:
1) Craig Johnson's new Walt Longmire TV series on A & E.
 
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