Happy New Year to everyone who follows or otherwise reads Make Lists, Not War. I am thrilled to see that people from around the world have been checking out the lists on this site – every year the numbers grow. I particularly appreciate the comments and suggestions by some of the readers.
1. In this blog post, I have three announcements. The first is that 2015 was the best year so far for Make Lists, Not War since I began blogging in 2013. To give you a sense of the level of activity this year, here are some statistics, courtesy of the diligent folks at WordPress:
Total Views (2015): 60,095
Total Viewers (2015): 35,859
Top Ten Most Popular Lists (with links):
(1) Best Works of Art of All Time – The Critics’ Picks, Part 2
(2) Art History 101 – Part 1: Prehistoric Era – 1399 CE
(3) Best Operas of All Time – The Critics’ Picks
(4) Best Architecture of All Time – The Critics’ Picks
(5) Best Inventions of All Time – Chronological: Part II
(6) Best Works of Art of All Time – The Critics’ Picks, Part 1
(7) Best Inventions of All Time – Chronological: Part III
(8) Best Inventions of All Time – Chronological: Part I
(9) Best World Music of All Time – The Critics’ Picks
(10) Best Photography of All Time – The Critics’ Picks
Viewers’ Top 10 Countries of Origin:
(1) United States (29,011 views)
(2) United Kingdom (3,986)
(3) Canada (2,633)
(4) Germany (1,823)
(5) Australia (1,597)
(6) France (1,578)
(7) India (1,237)
(8) Italy (949)
(9) Netherlands (835)
(10) Spain (830)
Top 10 Search Terms
(1) “best operas”
(2) “greatest operas”
(3) “100 great short stories”
(4) “best operas of all time”
(5) “greatest works of art”
(6) “greatest paintings of all time”
(7) “best world music albums”
(8) “greatest architects of all time”
(9) “alfred stieglitz flatiron building 1903 photo reproduction”
(10) “greatest architecture of all time”
2. My next announcement is to introduce five new lists (actually, two two-part lists and one one-part list). Although I had already taken the Best Literature list and organized it by author, I had not made a list of Best Authors. Similarly, I had taken the Best Classical Music list and organized it by composer, but I hadn’t made a list of the Best Composers. I have now filled those gaps in the list-verse. In both cases, I collected lists of the best authors/best composers and combined them into meta-lists. I then made lists of each author/composer on more than two (for authors) or three (for composers) original source lists. In addition, I made a list of each author’s most highly-regarded literary works and for the composers, I made lists of their most highly-regarded music compositions. In the case of the writers, there is a two-part list organized chronologically by author’s date of birth. In the case of composers, there is a list organized chronologically by date of birth and a two-part list organized by rank (i.e., starting with the composer on the most lists). The results of these projects can be found by following the links below:
The Best Writers and their Best Works, Part 1: 850 BCE – 1870
The Best Writers and their Best Works, Part 2: 1871-Present
The Best Classical Composers and their Best Works, Ranked: Part 1
The Best Classical Composers and their Best Works, Ranked: Part 2
The Best Classical Composers and their Best Works: Chronological
3. My third announcement will be mostly of interest to my wife and others who know me personally. While I am devoted to the blog, and have a number of projects in the wings (more pictures! more descriptive/analytical essays!), it is a time-consuming labor of love that sometimes saps time and energy from other necessary activities and pursuits. After researching and creating over 160 lists that will remain fully accessible to viewers around most of the globe, I feel comfortable taking a hiatus from Make Lists, Not War for a significant portion of 2016, after which I hope to return with renewed vigor. Until then, please enjoy these lists and remember to Make Lists, Not War.
John B.