books I read in 2012 + songs I adored in 2012
novels, etc. :
The Post-Birthday World - Lionel Shriver
His expression of struggling hopelessness was soul-destroying. These days Irina's small kindnesses, to which Lawrence was now prone to attach exaggerated importance, seemed downright malicious, encouraging as they did an optimism that she might more decently quash. Hence Irina was mean when she was nice to him, and mean when she was mean. Since it didn't matter, presumably she was free to treat him however she liked. So this was 'power'. It was overrated.
"Yes, I would like that," she said softly.
Yet she thought, Oh, how I would like to like that.
I Am The Cheese - Robert Cormier
Everything Matters! - Ron Currie, Jr.
You Are Not So Smart - David McRaney
Checker & The Derailleurs - Lionel Shriver
“Evening.” Eaton nodded. “Come here often?” Feebly, he resorted to an old pickup line.
“Yes,” said Checker. “We love the murals. They’re so - innocent.”
“They’re ugly,” said Eaton automatically.
“Why would you want to look at them like that?”
“I enjoy hating them.”
Checker laughed. “So you must come here often, too. For the murals.” Fondly he reached for the saltcellar and stroked up and down its facets, cleaning off fingerprints. Waves of hot and cold crossed Eaton in ripples; the hair raised on his arms. Each object Checker reached for seemed to glow.
The Secret History - Donna Tartt
When I got back to my room-by a confused, circular route-I fell on my bed without taking off my coat or shoes. The lights were on, and I felt weirdly exposed and vulnerable but I didn’t want to turn them off. The bed was rocking a little, like a raft, and I kept a foot on the floor to steady it.
Then I fell asleep, and slept very soundly for a couple of hours until I was awakened by a knock at the door. Seized by fresh panic, I fought to sit up in the tangle of my coat, which had somehow got twisted around my knees and seemed to be attacking me with the force of a living creature.
The door creaked open. Then no sound at all. “What the hell is wrong with you?” said a sharp voice.
Francis was in the doorway. He stood with one black-gloved hand on the knob, looking at me like I was a lunatic.
The Land Of Stories: The Wishing Spell - Chris Colfer
"A flame may love a snowflake, but they can never be together without each harming the other."
"Then let me melt. . ."
Sin & Syntax: How To Craft Wickedly Effective Prose - Constance Hale
Peter Pan - J.M. Barrie
“Pan, who and what art thou?” he cried huskily.
“I’m youth, I’m joy,” Peter answered at a venture, “I’m a little bird that has broken out of the egg.”
This, of course, was nonsense, but it was proof to the unhappy Hook that Peter did not know in the least who or what he was, which is the very pinnacle of good form.
Call Me By Your Name - André Aciman
“You had a beautiful friendship. Maybe more than a friendship. And I envy you. In my place, most parents would hope the whole thing goes away, or pray that their sons land on their feet soon enough. But I am not such a parent. In your place, if there is pain, nurse it, and if there is a flame, don’t snuff it out, don’t be brutal with it. Withdrawal can be a terrible thing when it keeps us awake at night, and watching others forget us sooner then we’d want to be forgotten is no better. We rip out so much of ourselves to be cured of things faster than we should that we go bankrupt by the age of thirty and have less to offer each time we start with someone new. But to feel nothing so as not to feel anything-what a waste!”
Struck By Lightning: The Carson Phillips Journal - Chris Colfer
“Thanks, bro,” Justin said, and stuck a fist toward me. I dove halfway under my desk, afraid he was trying to punch me, but he just wanted me to bump it with my fist. After I did, his fist went through some kind of explosion and he made a sound effect to go along with it.
Did that mean I won? Was that a game? Why are athletes constantly playing games?
When You Are Engulfed In Flames - David Sedaris
When he was bored, he'd knock on my door and demand that I give him a cigarette. Then he'd stand there and smoke it, complaining that my room was too clean, my sketches were too sketchy, my old-fashioned bathrobe was too old-fashioned. "Well, enough of this," he'd say. "I have my own life to lead." Three or four times a night this would happen.
songs :
"3" - Chord Overstreet, Samuel Larson, & Jenna Ushkowitz
"All Eyes On You" - St. Lucia
"All The Lights" - The Cinema
"Bamboleo / Hero" - Chord Overstreet + Glee Boys
"Banker" - The Cinema
"Black Flies" (Scott Nixon remix) - Ben Howard
"Bottom Of The River" - Delta Rae
"Concrete Wall" - Zee Avi
"Emily" - MIKA
"Generator ^ First Floor" - Freelance Whales
"Glad You Came" - Grant Gustin + The Warblers
"Heartbeats" - Scala & Kolacny Brothers
"In The Dark" - DEV
"Just The Way You Are/Just A Dream" - The Barden Bellas
"Kill It" - The Cinema
"Let's Have A Kiki" - Glee Cast
"Let's Have A Kiki" - Scissor Sisters
"Medicine" - Daughter
"National Anthem" - Lana Del Ray
"Nitesky" - Robot Koch ft. John LaMonica
"No Diggity" (film version) - Anna Kendrick + Others
"Off To The Races" - Lana Del Ray
"One More Night" - Maroon 5
"Radio" - Lana Del Ray
"Run" - Daughter
"Shia LaBeouf" - Rob Cantor (song of the year!!!!!)
"Smooth Criminal" - Grant Gustin + Naya Rivera featuring 2Cellos
"Smother" - Daughter
"Some Nights" - fun.
"Somebody That I Used To Know" - Gotye
"Titanium" - Brittany Snow + Anna Kendrick
"Underwater" - MIKA
"Where Have You Been" - Rihanna
"Why Not?" - Jónsi
"We Are Young" - fun.
"Without You" - Lea Michele