Playlist for the End of the World

I was thrilled when I started listening to Muse's album The Resistance and found a post-apocalyptic, dystopian, romantic dream. Fits perfectly with the novel I'm working on.

Plus, it got me thinking. How many of the songs I love are about the end days? With some thought (okay, and some googling) I ended up discovering the answer: a whole lot. Here's my ideal Playlist for the End of the World, a selection of my favourite songs with apocalyptic, post-apoclayptic and dystopian themes*. Totally biased toward my own tastes, of course!

1) Bad Moon Rising – CCR
2) 99 Red Balloons – Goldfinger

3) Panic in Detroit – David Bowie

4) Dead Flag Blues– Godspeed You Black Emperor

5) London Calling – The Clash

6) We Will Become Silhouettes – Postal Service

7) Aenema – Tool

8) Gimme Shelter – The Rolling Stones

9) Brother – The Organ

10) 5 Years – David Bowie

11) Lovecraft in Brooklyn – The Mountain Goats

12) When the Man Comes Around – Johnny Cash

13) Los Angeles is Burning – Bad Religion

14) Eve of Destruction – Barry McGuire

15) The Sky is Fallin’ – Queens of the Stone Age

16) The End – The Doors

Goodbye Blue Sky by Pink Floyd was going to be number 17, since it really has that war-torn, end-of-the-world feeling. But since the whole album has a dystopian slant, I'm instead saying: The Wall. 



 

*I realize that a few of these are actually based around battles in history  (#14 in particular), but I think they could still apply today - and plus, that makes them even more disturbingly delightful.

 

Do you have any favourite songs about the end of the world? Let me know in the comments!

Books Read in 2010, Genre Break Down

For most of the year*, I was keeping track of my reading by genre. Here's the list:

21 Adult Urban Fantasy
21 Regency Romance
11 YA Urban Fantasy
5 Victorian Romance
5 Travel Books
5 YA Apocalyptic/Post-Apocalyptic
4 Food-Related
3 Alternate History
3 MG Fantasy (okay, they were all Harry Potter books)
2 Crafty Books
2 Anthologies (urban fantasy, Regency romance)
1 Mystery
1 YA Historical
1 Graphic Novel
1 Adult Post-Apocalyptic
GRAND TOTAL: 86 books*

Big themes: If I make a couple combinations, I get 32 urban fantasy and 26 historical romance. Unsurprising on the urban fantasy front, since it's been "my" genre for a while. The historical romance? I only got into them in the summer. They. Are. Addictive.

What's Missing? I  browsed through more than 2 crafty books, but I wasn't counting them unless I read them cover-to-cover. This is also true with some travel books (like guidebooks). Though I do sometimes read guidebooks cover-to-cover. . .

Predictions for 2011: 

• Similar numbers for urban fantasy, historical romance, foodie, crafty, and travel.
• More apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic - I'm on the hunt for some more on the end of the world.  
• More mysteries, since I have a list of cozies I want to try (even though murders give me nightmares) 
• More non-fiction in general, particularly books on language, writing and international issues.
• A possible dive back into historical fiction and traditional fantasy, particularly fairy tales. I had been burned out on these genres in the past, but it might be time to get back to them.

Did your 2010 genre reading come out the way you expected? What do you predict for 2011?

* Not incuding February and March, when I was apparently too busy to write down what I read. Who knows what I might have been reading then!