Alicia Keys (Plus: Books of the Year)

As a teen, Alicia Keys lived in a small apartment in Hell's Kitchen; her mother worked nights and urged her to stay in. But Keys would sneak out to listen to music.

Keys's breakout song--"Fallin'"--uses a simple metaphor for ambivalence. To feel unsure about another person is to "fall," continuously; you're always stumbling. Keys acknowledges that she is a fool, but she can't change her behavior. "Loving you, darling, makes me so confused...."

I think it would be almost impossible not to see bits of your own character in Keys's honest self-portrait; it's not a shock that this song launched a major career.

OK, the Washington Post listed its books of the year--and I beg to differ. I'm just including some titles, here, that I'd love to see on the "Best in Show" stage. I'm rooting for you, Phillip Lopate.

Non-fiction:

"Homegrown," by Jeffrey Toobin

"Unscripted," by Stewart/Abrams

"Impossible People," by Julia Wertz

"Waco," by Jeff Guinn

"I Must Be Dreaming," by Roz Chast

"A Year and a Day," by Phillip Lopate

"The Upstairs Delicatessen," by Dwight Gardner

"Freaks, Gleeks, and Dawson's Creek," by Thea Glassman

"A Thread of Violence," by Mark O'Connell

Fiction:

"The Skull," by Jon Klassen

"Past Lying," by Val McDermid

"Small World," by Laura Zigman

"The Christmas Guest," by Peter Swanson

"Games and Rituals," by Katherine Heiny

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