University of Illinois Press’s Best of 2007

Willis Regier, Director
Favorite Book:   Joe Sacco, PALESTINE:  THE SPECIAL EDITION
Favorite CD:   Arcade Fire:  NEON BIBLE
Favorite Movie:   CASINO ROYALE
Favorite Live Performance:   Moises Kaufman, DIABELLI VARIATIONS, University of Illinois Theatre Workshop

Lisa Savage, Journals Production Editor
Favorite book: Falling Man, by Don DeLillo
Favorite CD: Sondre Lerche’s Phantom Punch
Favorite movie: Into the Wild
Favorite live performance: Sondre Lerche at the Metro in Chicago

Denise Peeler, Advertising Manager
Favorite book read this year: English translation of Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko (not a 2007 pub date)
Favorite movie seen this year: Eastern Promises
Favorite blog: There are two: Apophenia and Words & Pictures
TV Show: Boston Legal

Rebecca Schreiber, Assistant Editor
Favorite Book: Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel
Favorite CD: Live from Austin, TX by Neko Case
Favorite Movie: Children of Men
Favorite live performance — Murray Perahia, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts

Breanne Ertmer, Assistant Editor
Favorite Book: Wrigleyworld by Kevin Kaduk
Favorite Color of the Season: chocolate brown
Favorite Movie first seen in 2007: Gigi
Favorite live performance: Andrew Bird, Krannert, University of Illinois

Lisa Bayer, Marketing Director
Favorite Book: anything, everything by the Irish mystery writer Ken Bruen
Favorite CD: Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs: Under the Covers, Vol. 1
Favorite Movie: Knocked Up
Favorite live performance — Woody Guthrie’s American Song, the Celebration Company at the Station Theatre, Urbana

Leslie DeLucia, Database Coordinator
Fav book: Liveship Traders trilogy, Robin Hobb
Fav CD: Pink Martini, “Hey Eugene!”
Fav movie: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Fav live performance: July 1972 Allman Brothers concert on Long Island (a year after Duane was killed in a motorcycle accident)

Heather Munson, Journals Production Editor
Favorite Book: The Maytrees by Annie Dillard
Favorite CD: Sky Blue Sky by Wilco
Favorite Live Performance: Billy Joe Shaver at the Highdive
 
Bonus answers, just because I feel like it:
Favorite Local Event: GCAP’s Artists Against AIDS
Favorite Meal on a Cold Day: special pho at Thara Thai Restaurant
Person Who Called More Often Than My Mother in 2007: Michael Hicks, editor of American Music (and each call was helpful, educational, and/or entertaining)

Angela Burton, Assistant Managing Editor
I couldn’t stick to only 2007 titles, because I am still trying to get caught up with my 2006 list of things to see and read.

Favorite Recent Book–The Unwritten Rules of Social Relationships: Decoding Social Mysteries through the Unique Perspectives of Autism (by Temple Grandin and Sean Barron)–written by two adults with autism, who describe how they managed their social interactions throughout their lives.
Favorite CD– Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals, Lifeline; M. Ward, Post-War (I loved both)
Favorite Movie–Brick (a film noir set in a high school)–this is from 2006, although it was at a film festival in 2005.
Favorite live performance — Los Lobos, Wall 2 Wall Guitar Festival, University of Illinois
Favorite New TV Show–Life

Barbara Horne, Assistant Marketing Director
My favorites of 2007 are not products of 2007 necessarily. Hence,
 
Books: An Unfinished Season (Ward Just); The Sorrows of Empire (Chalmers Johnson); City of Quartz (Mike Davis)
Rereading: The forging of the shield of Achilles, in The Iliad (read it and weep)
Movies: Army of Shadows (Jean-Pierre Melville, L’armee des ombres, 1969); The Valley of Elah
Live Performances: Boneyard Jazz Quintet (Iron Post)

Tamara Shidlauski, Production Coordinator
Favorite Book: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Favorite CD: Arctic Monkeys – Favourite Worst Nightmare; Fratellis – Costello Music
Favorite Movie: A Good Year
Favorite live performance: Eagles of Death Metal and Joan Jett – The Vic, Chicago; Kaiser Chiefs – The Vic, Chicago

Kathleen Kornell, Rights & Permissions Manager
Favorite book — No One Belongs Here More Than You, stories by Miranda July
Favorite CD — The Reminder by Feist
Favorite Movie — Reprise
Favorite Live Performance — Of Mice and Men at the Cleveland Play House

Joseph Peeples, Copywriter
Favorite Book: The Lay of the Land by Richard Ford
Favorite CD: American Girl Posse by Tori Amos
Favorite Bloated Blockbuster Sequel of Summer 2007: the sheer absurdity of Live Free or Die Hard
Finally, sadly, in 2007 the world lost one of my all-time, hands-down Favorite Authors: Kurt Vonnegut.  So it goes.

Lynda Schuh, Sales Manager
Movie — In the Valley of Elah — well acted, should be a wake up to the world of post Iraq war realities for many soldiers and their families
Book — River of Doubt by Candice Millard
CD — Ottmar Liebert — Christmas + Santa Fe — takes me back to childhood memories of living in the west

Michael Roux, Publicity Manager
Favorite Book – This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession – by Daniel J. Levitin (paperback)
Favorite CD – Amy Winehouse — Back to Black, Lily Allen – Alright, Still
Favorite Movie – Once
Favorite live performance —  Jose Gonzalez, University of Illinois’s Courtyard CafĂ©
Favorite TV Show – 30 Rock, The Unit, Countdown, The Daily Show

Kendra Boileau, Senior Acquisitions Editor
Favorite Book: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, by Junot, Diaz
Favorite CD: Rolando Villazon:  Opera Recital
Favorite Movie: Stranger Than Fiction
Favorite live performance:  Leipzig Gewandhaus at Carnegie Hall, performing Mahler Symphony No. 5, 3/6/2007


About michael

Marketing & Sales Manager since 2012