Favorite Songs from 2017

I loved some songs this year. I loved a lot of songs. I loved way too many songs to count. But I will share some of those songs with you here. Even though it stresses me out in more ways than one.



1. My favorite song of the year is probably Mic Drop by BTS.  First they came out with their own version of it in September with the rest of their new album. But then they did a remix with Steve Aoki and did a music video for it and that remix is now getting played all over the place, including radio here in America and it's high in all the charts and lists and such. So, you could say this is a "mainstream" popular song even, not just in my kpop world/fandom. Have you  heard or seen it yet? If not, please click and enjoy:





2. Monsta X with their Beautiful song, with beautiful singing and beautiful dancing is up next.




3. Then we have Taemin (from SHINee) doing his solo song, Move. It kills me. Here's a live version.





4. I really loved this B side song by EXO. It's called Sweet Lies and the vocals in it are amazing to me. There's no video for it so just turn it up loud and enjoy their beautiful voices.




5. Super Junior came out with new stuff this year. And while I loved their upbeat title song Black Suit.. it's their more ballad-y song that really got to me emotionally after waiting these two years for them. One More Chance it's called. And I love it.





6. There were many SEVENTEEN songs I loved from this year. Several of them duets by different members. But this one that they did altogether remains one of my favorites. It's called Don't Wanna Cry.





7. Yes, okay. Another BTS. They've pretty much taken over the kpop world and it's hard to deny how many amazing songs they have going on right now. The year started with this one that I still can't get enough of. NOT TODAY! I love this fighting song. Taken from Lord of the Rings for those paying attention. Maybe someday I'll give up, maybe someday I'll stop loving kpop and kdramas, but that day is NOT TODAY! Ready aim fire... BAM! :)






8. Here's one we stumbled upon accidently and then ended up loving. For those of you with more of a rock love, you might like this one. And my guess you'll all understand the story of the video even without understanding the lyrics. Try it. It's very funny. This one is called The Real by N. Flying.



9. This one I can't help but dance too. (Well, they are all that way but this one especially.) Does it make you want to dance too?  Block B Shall We Dance. (Purple dreads? My favorite!)





10. Well and so I thought there must be a current song from this past year that was popular here on the radio or something that I liked/loved. I couldn't think of any. I looked at the popular chart even to see if I even knew any. Most of them are explicit songs. Nice. I remember hearing Shape of You a lot. But I didn't ever like it. Despacito, yes. I liked that one, but the Spanish version of course, not the Justin Bieber remix necessarily. Imagine Dragons... I just realized they have new stuff... I bet I'd like it if I listen. :) But I'll end with a song from a musical that has been popular this past week. And features music I truly do love. But now to pick one song from it... This Is Me from The Greatest Showman. Here's hoping we can all live by and believe these words and brave enough to be ourselves.




If you are interested in a little longer list with very short clips, here's what The Kpop Konverters loved from the past year:




What songs were on your favorite list? Let me know what I missed from the world of western/American music this year!!!

Top Ten Books Read in 2017

Here are my favorite books of the year, quoting myself from my reviews. I read a lot I loved toward the end, but there's several from the very beginning of last year too. Interesting. The top two I would say sort of tied for my favorite. Maybe even the top three. I loved these books.

1. Deacon Locke Went to Prom by Brian Katcher: It's such an awesome friendship book. And relationship book, with Deacon and his grandma at the heart of it. Lots of funny moments. And sad moments. And romance moments. It has it all. I loved it.

2. Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia: So yeah. Read this book. Especially if you've ever been made to feel weird because you are part of a fandom that people think is stupid or silly. My guess is you will relate to the feelings in this book too, no matter how old you are.


3. Letters to the Lost by Brigid Kemmerer: Why do I love this so much? I don't know. But, these characters were awesome. So real and so lovely. The writing was just my style, whatever that means. So engaging. Deep without trying too hard.


4. Gemina by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff: It's so very complicated and much much more intense than I can articulate. But let me just say, whew, these are violent books. Let that be a warning to those with queasy and/or weak stomachs. Violent I'm telling you! So once again, I was sucked in and loved this story. I'm anxious to read more and see how it all ends, because of course, there is so much  more of this story to tell!

5. Dark Matter by Blake Crouch: I thought it was a great page turning and twisty story. And it made you really think about all the different decisions you make in life and how things would be if you chose other things. And how we should love and appreciate the life we're in at the moment. Because what if you woke up one and it was all gone. 

6. What Alice Forgot by Lian Moriarty: I found the premise really fascinating because the first thing it does is make you think about your own life and would you recognize yourself ten years from now. Or would your younger self recognize the you you are today? Have you made good changes or bad ones? Have you done anything with your life? Have you alienated all the people around you? Are the things that were important ten years ago still important? It's an interesting thing to think about!

7. The Game of Love and Death by Martha Brockenbrough: A fascinating story about Love and Death who have a competition to see who can win the souls of these two characters. Death's player is the girl, and Love's player is the boy. The idea is if they fall in love, then Love wins. And if they don't then Death wins.

8. The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen: Well, it's kind of a simple story, but then we start getting all the back stories and then you realize things aren't quite as simple as it seems. There's this strange sort of feeling going all, with all of the characters, and I started wondering, what's going to drop. SOMETHING IS ABOUT TO GO DOWN! I loved that feeling.

9. Goodbye Days by Jeff Zentner: I ended up really enjoying it after all and loving yet another main boy character. I'm a sucker for the guy points of views these days! And it ended up hopeful and sweet and happy, despite the downer of a subject.

10. Tell Me Three Things by Julie Buxbaum: Guys. I love this kind of stuff. I have no idea why. But it's just... fun! This one was a little gritty in parts, and sad in parts. But overall, an uplifting... I got this! sort of attitude. I really enjoyed it.


Here's to 2018 and new books to discover and love!! I look forward to it!