I’ve taken you through books and music. I haven’t had a chance to go out to many movies this year so I decided not to scrape together a post about them. Instead, here’s a little bit of books, music, movies, and nonsense.

Best Book Cover of 2009:

The only reason I haven’t bought this book yet is because I prefer this cover to the American version. Of course there’s also the Australian edition, which is astounding, but also makes me think of things far different from opening a book and reading for a bit.

Best Live Music DVD of 2009:

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club Live. I was astounded by the quality when I put this dvd on. The sound is killer. I’m pretty sure if I put this on a projection screen with some surround sound the experience would be about as close as you can get to the real thing without actually having the real thing. Which means whoever put this thing together needs to now do dvds for all the rest of my favorite bands.

Best Album Art of 2009:

’nuff said.

Best Re-issue of 2009:

Sure, there’s some contention over the motives with this one, or how much it might add or subtract to the originally published version, but A Moveable Feast is one of my favorite books so I’ll take any “bonus materials” I can get my hands on.

Best Movie (of those I saw in a theater or on dvd) of 2009:

This is a tie between Inglorious Basterds and Where the Wild Things Are. Two mindblowing movies I will watch again and again.

Honorable Mention goes to The Limits of Control.

Best Blog of 2009:

PANK Blog

Even in periods where I was reading stuff online with little to no regularity, I think I still checked this blog a few times a week.

Best Trick My Infant Son Performed in 2009:

My little guy has a lot of “tricks,” by which I mean when he does something my wife and I find entertaining we encourage it to continue and try to get him associate it with a word. For instance when we say “shoulder” he cocks his head to the side and gives a big ol’ smile that’d melt Grinch’s heart. But the best of the best was “Rock and Roll” at which he would begin head banging. That little boy is unmistakably mine.

Best My Favorite Person of 2009:

This, without question goes to my wife. The loved ones of writers deserve a lot of credit for so many reasons. My wife is my biggest supporter, fan, and with most things I write, my first reader (sometimes the only). When I told her I felt awkward or nervous about writing certain things because I knew she’d read them, she told me that was “stupid” and that I should write whatever I wanted/needed to write, and that if I didn’t she’d be mad. Yes, she’s pretty much perfect.