tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75313292194815836872024-03-18T09:00:32.339-05:00The BookGuide BlogBook reviews, author news and other reading-related material, from the BookGuide readers advisory web pages of the Lincoln City Libraries, in Lincoln, Nebraska, USA.BookGuidehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15326755376505673787noreply@blogger.comBlogger3978125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531329219481583687.post-8905643527348542632024-03-18T09:00:00.008-05:002024-03-18T09:00:00.136-05:00Book Review: Delish Insane Sweets by Joanna Saltz<p><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=delish+insane+sweets+saltz%20target=" style="font-weight: bold;"></a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQtrIy5JydKhIXAzsMlsgq9r1NdJ0JJBeS91V8D5OV8duFQVLHmw4VHj1I4pOsXWn65LORsZkAUWSBf0zQY4hWlfaNsbFGnJbidlwaVGXMxIU48gvwqA8a805LiXtsOlCABAXj80EOZwMuD2eRLa9CqmAm9f9AamyPUQNxTy-ZavoXZzgv0YM_zClM-Y5P/s200/delishinsanesweets.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="157" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQtrIy5JydKhIXAzsMlsgq9r1NdJ0JJBeS91V8D5OV8duFQVLHmw4VHj1I4pOsXWn65LORsZkAUWSBf0zQY4hWlfaNsbFGnJbidlwaVGXMxIU48gvwqA8a805LiXtsOlCABAXj80EOZwMuD2eRLa9CqmAm9f9AamyPUQNxTy-ZavoXZzgv0YM_zClM-Y5P/s1600/delishinsanesweets.jpg" width="157" /></a></div><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=delish+insane+sweets+saltz%20target=" style="font-weight: bold;">Delish Insane Sweets</a><b><br /></b>by Joanna Saltz (641.865 Sal)<p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">By now everyone is sick to death of
their healthy diets and it’s time to splurge on desserts!</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><strong><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=delish+insane+sweets+saltz%20target=">Delish
Insane Sweets</a></strong> is a collection of dessert recipes on the smaller
size. Some recipes will make 13 cookies (Ultimate Snickerdoodles), some 18
(Earth Day Cookies), and some 24 (Owl Cupcakes — which are adorable looking,
too).<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">The categories include Cookie
Monsters, Cupcakes, Brownies, Bar Cookies, and Holiday Cookies.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">Pick and choose a treat, and if you
don’t like that recipe, the batch was small enough that you can give them all
away to neighbors or coworkers and try something else without feeling like you
wasted a ton of ingredients.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">Use your own chocolate chip cookie
recipe and use “31 Amazing Mix-Ins for Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough” to create a
few new cookies using a few soft caramels for some, chopped cooked bacon for
another, mini Oreos for others, along with 28 other suggestions.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">This was a fun book to browse
through and bake (Mint Chocolate Chip Brownies! Cheesecake-Stuffed Cupcakes!)
and I have it on my To Buy List for my personal collection.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">Best of all, there are photos of
every single recipe.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">( official <strong><a href="https://www.delish.com/author/9921/joanna-saltz/" target="_blank">Joanna
Saltz</a></strong> page on the Delish web site )<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p align="right" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: right;">Recommended
by <a href="https://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/staff-recommendations/staff-recommendations-reviewer-index-page/reviews-by-charlotte-m/" target="_blank"><strong>Charlotte M.</strong></a><br />
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="right" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: right;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><b><i>Have you read or listened to
this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?</i></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
New reviews appear every month on the <a href="http://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/staff-recommendations/"><b>Staff Recommendations</b></a> page
of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch
them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the
entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this
reviewer’s recommendations!<o:p></o:p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Thanks for keeping an eye on this news feed for the BookGuide readers advisory site of the Lincoln City Libraries!
For more detailed information and tons of useful reading-related resources, please visit us at:
<a href="http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/depts/bookguide">The BookGuide site</a>.</div>BookGuidehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15326755376505673787noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531329219481583687.post-90262780271292920432024-03-16T09:00:00.004-05:002024-03-16T09:00:00.135-05:00DVD/TV Review: Endeavour complete series<p><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=endeavour+season+evans" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank"></a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKtICQTpSLZof79xSkHnwahfgKJ5RMS3cyAuiy4BfVufXdLfUkX-Ac8P5CojOO13xivY6jUdAin_I8-Rv-ArsQr38BNdQfhEoFrZjv4eia3-nSdWzmxVp-SBDFyw1Oob3lm9-FuRejCxrmLXvtGRkeCmyPrk43q_IblAC4moTIB8v9Ii2iH0Ma7AFCK9My/s208/endeavourdvd1-9.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="208" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKtICQTpSLZof79xSkHnwahfgKJ5RMS3cyAuiy4BfVufXdLfUkX-Ac8P5CojOO13xivY6jUdAin_I8-Rv-ArsQr38BNdQfhEoFrZjv4eia3-nSdWzmxVp-SBDFyw1Oob3lm9-FuRejCxrmLXvtGRkeCmyPrk43q_IblAC4moTIB8v9Ii2iH0Ma7AFCK9My/s1600/endeavourdvd1-9.jpg" width="208" /></a></div><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=endeavour+season+evans" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Endeavour</a><b> series</b><b><br /></b>(DVD Endeavour)<p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">From my first review of Endeavour
when it started nine seasons ago: <em>Endeavour follows the early years of
policeman-in-training Endeavour Morse as he learns the ins and outs of police
work with Investigator Fred Thursday in 1960s Oxford, England. As a fan of the
Inspector Morse series with veteran actor John Thaw, I was curious to see how
this series would hold up as a “prequel.”</em></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">Now the final season is over, I
decided to go back and watch all of the seasons again from the beginning. One
of the things that I liked most about this series is the superb writing and the
attention to detail, tying together elements from the original Inspector Morse
series and from the books by Colin Dexter. Endeavour Morse, always known as
“Morse” to everyone, is a young Oxford-educated young man with a fondness for
doing crosswords and solving mysteries, which is why he decided to try his hand
at detective work. His knowledge of classical music, opera, Latin, and the
classics gives him an edge over the other street-smarts cops that he works with
in his division. The acting in this series is superb, with excellent acting by
Roger Allam as Chief Inspector Fred Thursday, Anton Lesser as Superintendent
Reginald Bright, James Bradshaw as Dr. Max DeBryn and of course, Sean Evans as
Morse. One of the things that I would like to recommend is in the bonus
features in Series Nine: a documentary about the making of this series and its
previous series, Inspector Morse and Inspector Lewis. Do watch all of the bonus
features as you will learn much more about the making of these marvelous
productions. I have to admit that I am sad that this is done now, but the
producers did a wonderful job of bringing the stories together.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">(If you enjoy this, you may also
wish to try the original series, <a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=inspector+morse+thaw" target="_blank">Inspector Morse</a>.)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">(Also available: many of the <a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=inspector+morse+dexter" target="_blank">Inspector Morse</a> novels by Colin Dexter.)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">( <strong><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2701582" target="_blank">Internet Movie
Database entry for this series</a></strong> )<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p align="right" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: right;">See
Kim J.’s original review of <a href="https://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/staff-recommendations/staff-recommendations-index/staff-recommendations-november-2014#endeavour" target="_blank"><strong>Endeavour</strong></a>, in the November 2014 Staff Recommendations
here on BookGuide!<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="right" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: right;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p align="right" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: right;">Recommended
by <a href="https://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/staff-recommendations/staff-recommendations-reviewer-index-page/reviews-by-kim-j/" target="_blank"><strong>Kim J.</strong></a><br />
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="right" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: right;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><b><i>Have you watched this one?
What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?</i></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
New reviews appear every month on the <a href="http://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/staff-recommendations/"><b>Staff
Recommendations</b></a> page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that
page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog
individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the
reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!<o:p></o:p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Thanks for keeping an eye on this news feed for the BookGuide readers advisory site of the Lincoln City Libraries!
For more detailed information and tons of useful reading-related resources, please visit us at:
<a href="http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/depts/bookguide">The BookGuide site</a>.</div>BookGuidehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15326755376505673787noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531329219481583687.post-16846875595450964212024-03-15T09:00:00.003-05:002024-03-15T09:00:00.246-05:00Music Book Review: Well of Souls: Uncovering the Banjo's Secret History by Kristina R. Gaddy<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><strong><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=well+souls+gaddy" target="_blank"></a></strong></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><strong><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8NX0Vm4ruyyhyphenhyphenJ76xl02fX_GfcOLmuVheuWyDBHjc0293yxPbVbVIQ9qVa2RXXHth0JAi33fNHC5ed8OONITS8cjxZ5nN5CgD2YMuOxWT2OxywE7fpLRN4QGN7-1xEeYdf2vvB-ehhvdbycPFXtzUyIrOC3c61M5LQzhNSvxfS2aFrkyAVL70YELd21bC/s200/wellofsouls.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="131" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8NX0Vm4ruyyhyphenhyphenJ76xl02fX_GfcOLmuVheuWyDBHjc0293yxPbVbVIQ9qVa2RXXHth0JAi33fNHC5ed8OONITS8cjxZ5nN5CgD2YMuOxWT2OxywE7fpLRN4QGN7-1xEeYdf2vvB-ehhvdbycPFXtzUyIrOC3c61M5LQzhNSvxfS2aFrkyAVL70YELd21bC/s1600/wellofsouls.jpg" width="131" /></a></strong></div><strong><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=well+souls+gaddy" target="_blank">Well of Souls: Uncovering the Banjo’s Secret History</a></strong><br />
by Kristina R. Gaddy (Music 787.88 Gad)<o:p></o:p><p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">The banjo might be the first truly
American musical invention. Nowadays, we associate the banjo with country and
bluegrass music, where it has continued to proliferate as an important component
of those musical styles, but during its history, it’s been used for many kinds
of music, and its development coincided with a lot of early American history,
too. But it can be difficult to pinpoint the exact date and place of its
invention: there are related instruments still in use today in many parts of
Africa, though the American iterations of the instrument have their own unique
design elements. Learning more about the banjo might help us to learn more
about ourselves, too, and Kristina Gaddy’s new book, <strong><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=well+souls+gaddy" target="_blank">Well of Souls: Uncovering the Banjo’s Secret History</a></strong>,
reveals a lot about both musical developments in early America as well as
social issues that have been part of the entire length of our history.</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">Gaddy approaches the subject of the
banjo both as a musician and as an historian. Her background as a nonfiction
long-form journalist is important to this book, as it digs deeper into the
earliest formative days of the banjo than previous scholars have generally
published so far — there is a lot of original research here that ultimately
pieces together as clear a picture of the beginnings of the banjo as we’re
likely to find. But she is a musician herself, and an enthusiast of the banjo.
She plays fiddle, and she has even produced a CD of field recordings of banjo
player Currance Hammonds. Her partner, Pete Ross, is a luthier who produces
elaborate replicas of period banjos, including exacting replicas of some of the
earliest known instruments. This fascinating combination of backgrounds keeps
Gaddy’s writing about the banjo both thoroughly researched and very
enthusiastic.<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">Grammy, Pulitzer and
MacArthur-winning artist Rhiannon Giddens provides a short foreword to the book
that aptly describes the current state of research into the earliest days of
the banjo: <em>“Anybody who studies the banjo knows they are walking into a
swamp of unknown players, scraps of primary sources, dead ends, flashes of
brilliant understanding and also of utter despair. How is something so integral
to American culture so badly understood and so widely misrepresented?”</em> She
points out that ceremonial and spiritual aspects of the banjo’s creation
haven’t been discussed before, though they are likely essential to the real
history of the instrument.<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">Those scraps of primary sources
take interesting forms in the earliest history of the banjo: Gaddy takes over
the prelude of the book with a discussion of her and her partner Ross’ searches
for new information about the banjo in pre-1820 visual art. For Ross, these
early paintings can be important clues for his replicas of early banjos, and
for Gaddy, finding some new art that <em>“changed what we knew about the
instrument’s origins”</em> led to the deep research that ultimately produced
this book. Her immediate observations, which the book delves into in great
detail, were that the origin of the banjo might not be as all-American as
generally accepted, and that the early banjo was a sacred instrument, rather
than a secular musical invention as it’s often discussed.<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">Gaddy traces the earliest
appearances of the banjo in print to 1688, in the writings of Hans Sloane, who
served as doctor to the governor of Jamaica. While we’ve always known that the
banjo was created by early African-American slaves, the history of the
instrument — and of the slave trade — go back even earlier than America itself.
Sloane wrote of “strum stumps” that he observed being played by enslaved
Jamaicans at a festival in 1688, and his descriptions aptly match the
distinctive characteristics of the banjo. In particular, his descriptions of
instruments that are made “in imitation of lutes” with gourd bodies, flat
fingerboards, and tuning pegs point to being early banjos rather than instruments
like the gurmi or the akonting from West Africa, because the music made on them
features a regular return to high notes. These notes would likely have come
from shorter high-pitched strings added to the “strum stumps,” the precursor to
the 5th string on a modern banjo. Sloane collected various curiosities
throughout the world over the course of his life, and they were eventually
donated to Great Britain where they became the beginning of the British Museum.
His collection included at least two examples of “strum stumps” that survived
into the early 20th Century, but they have unfortunately been lost. Sloane’s
accounts are followed by a chapter on the observations of Father Jean-Baptiste
Labat on the Caribbean Island of Martinique, who observed similar instruments
around 1694 that he described as a “sort of guitar” being used during a dance
referred to as the calenda. Gaddy digs deeper into the nature of the calenda
dance itself: while Western observers of the era thought of it as mere
entertainment, it seems clear that the dance and its accompanying music have
spiritual foundations reaching back to the slaves’ homelands in Africa. So the
earliest accounts of the banjo seem to indicate that it was developed no so
much in America the country, but in the islands of the early Americas.<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">But the story isn’t that simple. In
reality, this research, and most of this book, is as much a survey of the
history of slavery in the Americas as a story of the banjo. The banjo is
fundamentally a product of slavery, an instrument that draws from its creators’
traditions, the practicalities of their new circumstances, and the natural
result of cross-cultural exchanges that happen over time, like the Creole and
Gullah languages or the Vodou, Santeria, or Obeah religious practices. To trace
the bare threads of information left about the early development of the banjo,
Gaddy takes us from the Caribbean to the New England states and back again many
times. Her writing style is captivating: each chapter generally focuses on the
writings of one European or American interacting with slaves, each of these
somewhat unreliable narrators contributing their own sighting of a banjo-like
instrument, usually as an aside while writing about their broader observations
of dance and musical practices of the slaves in their area. Some of these
narrators are priests, some public employees, some soldiers, and some
slave-owners themselves. And in the midst of their writings, they mention
instruments that all lead to the banjo: the Creole-bania, the banger, bonja,
bangeo, banza, and so on. When one considers that the inner lives and
traditions of slaves are either woefully misunderstood or barely acknowledged
at all in many of these primary sources, we’re lucky to have any mentions of
the banjo at all! We’re left with a complicated puzzle that will never point to
a particular person, date or location, not unlike the stories of most victims
of the transatlantic slave trade.<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">Research into the earliest days of
the banjo takes up most of the book. Toward the end, we move into the
beginnings of the modern banjo around the 1840s. The instruments we’d quickly
recognize as banjos now, with drum head tops on wooden hoops, originated around
this era, and these were generally the product of white musicians performing in
blackface for white audiences at minstrel shows. The banjo had already started
to represent Black musical culture through songs written by and for white
audiences and distributed as sheet music since roughly the 1820s, but the
minstrel shows spread an exaggerated (and often demeaning) interpretation of
Black cultural arts around the country. The book doesn’t really get into the
history of white musical styles that have subsequently adopted the banjo, but
of course there are lots of resources for learning more about the strains of
country, blues, folk and bluegrass music for which the banjo has become an
iconic instrument. But it’s fair to say that although the styles we associate
with banjo playing in the modern era are overwhelmingly created by and for
white audiences, the instrument itself, and its early repertoire, are entirely
the domain of slaves.<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">There is a final “coda” chapter
that addresses the handful of Black contemporary artists who have re-engaged
with the banjo. This is a relatively new musical movement that Gaddy traces
through the early days of the internet, when the “Black Banjo Then and Now”
forum transitioned into hosting the first Black Banjo Gathering in 2005. New
generations of black artists are picking up the banjo, combining musical
artistry with deep dives into the history of Black music in America. To the
extent that the banjo represents the earliest strains of new music in the
country, they’re revealing the history of both black music, and American music
as a whole.<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">Gaddy has uncovered more of the
hidden history of the banjo with this book than any authors before her, but
more work remains to be done. Her extensive notes at the end of the book should
serve as a great starting point for further research. More answers may turn out
to be right in front of our eyes, just not viewed from the proper context of
discovery yet, just like the image that was on display in the Rijksmuseum in
Amsterdam that Gaddy and Ross happened upon at the beginning of the book.<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">(If you enjoy this, you may also
wish to try <a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=lift+every+voice+peretti" target="_blank">Lift Every Voice: The History of African-American Music</a> by
Burton W. Peretti, <a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=black+american+music+roach" target="_blank">Black American Music: Past and Present</a> by Hildred Roach.)<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">( official <strong><a href="https://www.kristinagaddy.com/" target="_blank">Kristina R. Gaddy</a></strong>
web site )</p><p>
</p><p align="right" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: right;">Recommended
by <a href="https://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/staff-recommendations/staff-recommendations-reviewer-index-page/reviews-by-scott-s-polley/" target="_blank"><strong>Scott S.</strong></a><br />
Polley Music Library<o:p></o:p></p><p><b><i>Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?</i></b></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><p>New reviews appear every month on the <a href="http://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/staff-recommendations/"><b>Staff Recommendations</b></a> page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhserIuHYaAyxxY6Ut4-fpzNnAomgrDFB14_iO4f8kQh-RdSOvgWMwvjdziozQaxk_fnZvKxe26inBq3ocEXNMZxQucA9GgBXxgCNQoP5TXukqW9a3o0cS5iWiS90EcTE9V8qUA7bRJaqah/s293/PolleyIcon.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="293" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhserIuHYaAyxxY6Ut4-fpzNnAomgrDFB14_iO4f8kQh-RdSOvgWMwvjdziozQaxk_fnZvKxe26inBq3ocEXNMZxQucA9GgBXxgCNQoP5TXukqW9a3o0cS5iWiS90EcTE9V8qUA7bRJaqah/s0/PolleyIcon.jpg" width="293" /></a></div><br />Check out this, and all the other great music resources, at the <a href="https://lincolnlibraries.org/polley-music-library/" target="_blank"><b>Polley Music Library</b></a>, located on the 2nd floor of the Bennett Martin Public Library at 14th & "N" St. in downtown Lincoln. You'll find biographies of musicians, books about music history, instructional books, sheet music, CDs, music-related magazines, and much more. Also check out <a href="http://library.booksite.com/7142/nl/?list=CNL4" target="_blank"><b>Polley Music Library Picks</b></a>, the Polley Music Library's e-mail newsletter, and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LNKLibrariesMusic/" target="_blank"><b>follow them on Facebook</b></a>!<div class="blogger-post-footer">Thanks for keeping an eye on this news feed for the BookGuide readers advisory site of the Lincoln City Libraries!
For more detailed information and tons of useful reading-related resources, please visit us at:
<a href="http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/depts/bookguide">The BookGuide site</a>.</div>BookGuidehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15326755376505673787noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531329219481583687.post-77882072800316091042024-03-14T09:00:00.002-05:002024-03-14T09:00:00.136-05:00Book Review: The Tree of Life: How a Holocaust Sapling Inspired the World by Eliza Boxer and Alianna Rozentsveig<p><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=tree+of+life+boxer" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank"></a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIRVCYaMe3mPCcFByVHKU6wGBj04xhIGxbdWm5etJ8qN0hbBYvlwiCkwP1BVOKHVACn3VYB82yz4MBEfiHmW6UOsiDEU6ztnK-UNuRLKqhFADIT6jiBK7WSWK2YrWTmbgYfXA-zv2cL1GdmXEIe2TgsMZcVUtcENhVee-EFCM_PBHdqM0XVhBEyTOFbo0d/s200/treeoflife.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="156" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIRVCYaMe3mPCcFByVHKU6wGBj04xhIGxbdWm5etJ8qN0hbBYvlwiCkwP1BVOKHVACn3VYB82yz4MBEfiHmW6UOsiDEU6ztnK-UNuRLKqhFADIT6jiBK7WSWK2YrWTmbgYfXA-zv2cL1GdmXEIe2TgsMZcVUtcENhVee-EFCM_PBHdqM0XVhBEyTOFbo0d/s1600/treeoflife.jpg" width="156" /></a></div><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=tree+of+life+boxer" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">The Tree of Life: How a Holocaust Sapling Inspired the World</a><b><br /></b>by Elisa Boxer (author) and Alianna Rozentsveig (illutrator) (j 940.531 Box)<p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">This is an attractive little
non-fiction historical book for youth readers, done in picture book format,
written by Elisa Boxer with illustrations by Alianna Rozentsveig. It tells a
story that begins during World War II in the Terezin concentration camp but
which has repercussions through today.</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">Jewish teacher Irma Lauscher risked
breaking protocols in the camp by asking one of the other prisoner workers to
smuggle in a tree sapling, which she could use to give the children in the camp
a project to occupy their time. That fellow worker managed to conceal a small
maple tree sapling in his boot as he returned to the camp one evening. Irma and
her illicit class of students planted the sapling and each child shared part of
their meager daily allotment of water to help the small tree flourish.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">The book details how the tree
survived, and its seeds have been shared around the world, to create other
trees that are offspring of the original — to show that even during the worst
possible hardships, it is possible to keep something alive through love and
concerted efforts.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">This was a moving story, and one
I’d never heard about before reading the book. It provides a marvelous
introduction to children on a difficult subject. And the art is terrific.
Strongly recommended.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">( official <strong><a href="https://elisaboxer.com/" target="_blank">Elisa Boxer</a></strong> web
site ) | ( official <strong><a href="https://www.aliannarozentsveig.com/" target="_blank">Alianna Rozentsveig</a></strong> web site )<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="right" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: right;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p align="right" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: right;">Recommended
by <a href="https://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/staff-recommendations/staff-recommendations-reviewer-index-page/reviews-by-scott-c/" target="_blank"><strong>Scott C.</strong></a><br />
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="right" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: right;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><b><i>Have you read or listened to
this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?</i></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
New reviews appear every month on the <a href="http://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/staff-recommendations/"><b>Staff Recommendations</b></a> page
of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch
them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the
entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this
reviewer’s recommendations!<o:p></o:p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Thanks for keeping an eye on this news feed for the BookGuide readers advisory site of the Lincoln City Libraries!
For more detailed information and tons of useful reading-related resources, please visit us at:
<a href="http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/depts/bookguide">The BookGuide site</a>.</div>BookGuidehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15326755376505673787noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531329219481583687.post-25365575247781554672024-03-13T09:00:00.012-05:002024-03-13T09:00:00.136-05:00Books Review: The Vampire Knitting Club series by Nancy Warren<p><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=vampire+knitting+club+warren" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank"></a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSjPsaE5ybt_YAfrL1VtexP6CFhVFzwghDjHcfXmxR7xx7KHcdxz3Mffi52i_ms3Y9QnaBEgarPSwwlwMnMDcIe6LRZbkgFiE4zkncpbi4SNgdFYYYA5AQWh7ZwYHCiURjubXJt5jGaejC-HvoBhP05s03Q_9x0NHsw6_u1sCWkP-Mk4-yT0BTrJ_Ivh7K/s200/vampireknittingclub1-3.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="134" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSjPsaE5ybt_YAfrL1VtexP6CFhVFzwghDjHcfXmxR7xx7KHcdxz3Mffi52i_ms3Y9QnaBEgarPSwwlwMnMDcIe6LRZbkgFiE4zkncpbi4SNgdFYYYA5AQWh7ZwYHCiURjubXJt5jGaejC-HvoBhP05s03Q_9x0NHsw6_u1sCWkP-Mk4-yT0BTrJ_Ivh7K/s1600/vampireknittingclub1-3.jpg" width="134" /></a></div><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=vampire+knitting+club+warren" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">The Vampire Knitting Club series</a><b><br /></b>by Nancy Warren (Hoopla Audiobooks only)<p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">Lucy Swift has inherited her
beloved grandmother’s knitting shop in Oxford, England. As a child she would
travel from the US to spend her summers there as her parents are world-famous
archaeologists and spent their time at various digs around the world. Now
trying to get the shop in order, she learns that Grandma is now a vampire! And
she lives in the basement with a group of vampires who come out at night to
knit in her shop.</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">This is a fun, cozy mystery series
set in contemporary England. You meet the other town folk as well who move in
and out of the stories. The library offers all 14 books in this series (the
latest came out in 2022), as well as the prequel short story and one short
story written for a holiday anthology. In the first three books you are mostly
introduced to the vamps who are from various time periods in England and there
is a mystery in every book. The vampires range from a snarky teen who only
wears black to a 500-year-old landed, educated gentleman to a former silent
screen star. I thought the series especially picked up at book four. A member
of the library’s Just Desserts mystery book group had suggested this series to
the group so I gave this a try and thoroughly enjoy the characters and stories.
Sarah Zimmerman is the narrator and does an excellent job of voicing each
character.<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br /></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">The library offers this series only
on Hoopla audio. I recommend you search for “vampire knitting club boxed set.”
You’ll get three books per set and will be able to listen to the first nine
books in the series while using only three of your four monthly Hoopla
downloads. After that, search by title. There is also an off-shoot series,
Vampire Knitting Club: Cornwall.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">(If you enjoy this, you may also
wish to try the <a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=aunt+dimity+atherton" target="_blank">Aunt Dimity</a> by Nancy Atherton.)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">( official <strong><a href="https://nancywarrenauthor.com/" target="_blank">Nancy Warren</a></strong>
web site )<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p align="right" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: right;">Recommended
by <a href="https://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/staff-recommendations/staff-recommendations-reviewer-index-page/reviews-by-charlotte-m/" target="_blank"><strong>Charlotte M.</strong></a><br />
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="right" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: right;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><b><i>Have you read or listened to
this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?</i></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
New reviews appear every month on the <a href="http://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/staff-recommendations/"><b>Staff Recommendations</b></a> page
of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch
them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the
entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this
reviewer’s recommendations!<o:p></o:p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Thanks for keeping an eye on this news feed for the BookGuide readers advisory site of the Lincoln City Libraries!
For more detailed information and tons of useful reading-related resources, please visit us at:
<a href="http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/depts/bookguide">The BookGuide site</a>.</div>BookGuidehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15326755376505673787noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531329219481583687.post-80428117924154951012024-03-11T09:00:00.008-05:002024-03-11T09:00:00.131-05:00Books Review: The Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition Core Rule Books: Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide and Monster Manual<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUTNprAgBfSbCtVvbWEqWRvnmv_y8yk4zTdiAqW0W6ZzwLqfLpgxtJjOI7LoyXUtkfPnCR69crFLj7YoAzE0hutoaS8XOcc7a5lKO4OF7x7h3HAaNrVIfSmYLM2HH_sASYx90fFmXdZtibcCBI4WwJA0RcVuh7kSFm1qSo05RVDQl0QOSRfjQ5CsXJYzYJ/s459/dndcorebooks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="459" height="139" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUTNprAgBfSbCtVvbWEqWRvnmv_y8yk4zTdiAqW0W6ZzwLqfLpgxtJjOI7LoyXUtkfPnCR69crFLj7YoAzE0hutoaS8XOcc7a5lKO4OF7x7h3HAaNrVIfSmYLM2HH_sASYx90fFmXdZtibcCBI4WwJA0RcVuh7kSFm1qSo05RVDQl0QOSRfjQ5CsXJYzYJ/s320/dndcorebooks.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><b>The Dungeons & Dragons
5th Edition Core Rule Books: </b><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=player%27s+handbook+dungeons+dragons" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Player’s Handbook</a><b>, </b><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=dungeon+master%27s+guide+dungeons+dragons" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Dungeon Master’s Guide</a><b>, </b><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=monster+manual+dungeons+dragons" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Monster Manual</a><b><br /></b>by various authors/editors (all 793.93 Dun)<p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">The very first version of <em>Dungeons
& Dragons</em> (D&D) came out in primitive form in 1974. I first
started playing <em>Advanced Dungeons & Dragons</em> (AD&D) with a
small group of friends in 1981, using what is now known as <em>1st Edition</em>
rules — the first “core rulebooks” were released between 1977 and 1979. My
group’s “campaign” world grew in size and complexity, and my group of players
played together until around 2003, with new players joining and old players
dropping out…until we all eventually drifted away from the game due to time
constraints related to families and jobs. But even when we were still actively
playing, we had decided not to embrace the <em>2nd</em> (1989) and <em>3rd</em>
(2000) Editions of the core rule books.</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">Now, over 20 years later, the
opportunity to lead a new group, comprised mainly of players who are new to the
game, has lately had me refreshing my knowledge of the current rules and
mechanics of how the game is played. Dungeons & Dragons is currently using <em>5th
Edition</em> rulebooks, and much has changed since the <em>1st Edition</em>
version of the game I played back in the 1980s and 1990s. Many of the changes
are aimed at streamlining gameplay and giving players more variety in the
choices of characters they can create.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">The three core rule books remain
the same though — the <strong><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=player%27s+handbook+dungeons+dragons" target="_blank">Player’s Handbook</a></strong> gives new (and veteran) players
the basics of what they need to know about creating original characters and how
to play the game; the <strong><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=dungeon+master%27s+guide+dungeons+dragons" target="_blank">Dungeon Master’s Guide</a></strong> is designed for the person
who is going to run the game, giving them far more information than the basic
Players need, including more rule explanations, tables and charts, and
suggestions on how to design a game campaign or an entire world. And the <strong><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=monster+manual+dungeons+dragons" target="_blank">Monster Manual</a></strong> is an encyclopedia of all the
creatures (mostly magical or imaginary) that the Players may encounter in their
various adventures, with detailed backgrounds and statistics for how they
behave and how helpful or dangerous they may be. Together, these three hardback
volumes, in the hands of a dedicated DM (Dungeon Master) and a group of regular
game players, are more than enough for an interested group to start their own
game of D&D. But, there have been dozens of additional books put out by
Wizards of the Coast since the 2014 release of the <em>5th Edition</em> rules,
offering new rules, new magic items, and new world-building backgrounds.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">If you’re interested in starting to
play <em>Dungeons & Dragons</em>, you’ll find the three core rule books to
be essential reading. And check with the libraries — various branches offer
opportunity for new and intermediate players to learn how to play the game, or
to join a beginners group for some fun and imagination-challenging adventures.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">(If you enjoy this, you may also
wish to watch the movie <a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=dungeons+dragons+honor+among+thieves" target="_blank">Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves</a>, released in
2023.)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">( official <strong><a href="https://dnd.wizards.com/" target="_blank">Dungeons & Dragons</a></strong>
web site )<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p align="right" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: right;">Recommended
by <a href="https://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/staff-recommendations/staff-recommendations-reviewer-index-page/reviews-by-scott-c/" target="_blank"><strong>Scott C.</strong></a><br />
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="right" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: right;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><b><i>Have you read or listened to
this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?</i></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
New reviews appear every month on the <a href="http://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/staff-recommendations/"><b>Staff Recommendations</b></a> page
of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch
them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the
entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this
reviewer’s recommendations!<o:p></o:p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Thanks for keeping an eye on this news feed for the BookGuide readers advisory site of the Lincoln City Libraries!
For more detailed information and tons of useful reading-related resources, please visit us at:
<a href="http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/depts/bookguide">The BookGuide site</a>.</div>BookGuidehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15326755376505673787noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531329219481583687.post-13513015256929773562024-03-09T09:00:00.002-06:002024-03-09T09:00:00.126-06:00DVD/Movie Review: Oppenheimer<p><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=oppenheimer+cillian" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank"></a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeRkqKzae88CGhvMOKvhH7Rc0hostnLj6pQsrJimxrhGmiOsoAFSU-xjpkSuSPhipwNxVdSPDMVaJh5GqdzRaAi7XlXtLrgC6chbfjvmb6W_exDEdyXfi5YHq7l4Mo3Y0isIAzcBfPesKyhNHyHBD6SHREv-VWlpgblUhW9fIYnXq8PwA7x1V_KHv1Vn1-/s200/oppenheimerdvd.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="125" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeRkqKzae88CGhvMOKvhH7Rc0hostnLj6pQsrJimxrhGmiOsoAFSU-xjpkSuSPhipwNxVdSPDMVaJh5GqdzRaAi7XlXtLrgC6chbfjvmb6W_exDEdyXfi5YHq7l4Mo3Y0isIAzcBfPesKyhNHyHBD6SHREv-VWlpgblUhW9fIYnXq8PwA7x1V_KHv1Vn1-/s1600/oppenheimerdvd.jpg" width="125" /></a></div><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=oppenheimer+cillian" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Oppenheimer</a><b><br /></b>(DVD Oppenheimer)<p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><strong><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=oppenheimer+cillian" target="_blank">Oppenheimer</a></strong> is one of the front runners for Oscars
on March 10th, leading all other films with 13 nominations, including Best
Picture, Best Director (Christopher Nolan), Best Actor (Cillian Murphy), Best
Supporting Actor (Robert Downey Jr.) and Best Supporting Actress (Emily Blunt),
plus numerous technical nominations.</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">At 3 full hours, Oppenheimer
requires a commitment in its audience, but it ultimately pays off. The first
third of the film is relatively slow going, but tension and pace gradually
increase, set to Ludwig Goransson’s nerve-wracking score. This is part
biography of Oppenheimer the man, and part historical recreation of one of the
most pivotal eras in U.S. and World history.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">The performances in this film are
outstanding, especially Cillian Murphy’s haunting take as Oppenheimer and
Robert Downey Jr. as Lewis Strauss. I particularly enjoyed Tom Conti as Albert
Einstein in a couple of short but critical scenes. The production design,
costume design, editing, cinematography (particularly around Los Alamos and the
bomb testing site) are all top notch.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">Though I was a bit bored by the
first third of the film, and ended up breaking it up into two viewings, I’m
glad I returned to it, because by the end of this movie I was so impressed that
I ended up buying the DVD for my personal collection.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><strong><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=oppenheimer+cillian" target="_blank">Oppenheimer</a></strong> was part of a unique cultural
phenomenon in the summer of 2023. It opened the same day as Barbie, and many
filmgoers called that pairing Barbenheimer — challenging each other to watch
both landmark movies the same day or weekend. Both films were smash successes,
and now find themselves up against each other in multiple Oscar categories
(Barbie earned 8 nominations). Personally, I preferred Barbie, but that’s just
my own taste. I certainly recognize that <strong><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=oppenheimer+cillian" target="_blank">Oppenheimer</a></strong> is an exceptionally well-made film…and
I strongly recommend it for anyone who hasn’t yet seen it — especially those
interested in world history.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">(If you enjoy this, you may also
wish to try <a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=american+prometheus+bird" target="_blank">American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert
Oppenheimer</a> by Kai Bird, <a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=oppenheimer+alternative+sawyer" target="_blank">The Oppenheimer Alternative</a> by Robert J. Sawyer.)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">( <strong><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt15398776" target="_blank">Internet Movie
Database entry for this film</a></strong> )<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p align="right" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: right;">Recommended
by <a href="https://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/staff-recommendations/staff-recommendations-reviewer-index-page/reviews-by-scott-c/" target="_blank"><strong>Scott C.</strong></a><br />
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="right" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: right;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><b><i>Have you watched this one?
What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?</i></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
New reviews appear every month on the <a href="http://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/staff-recommendations/"><b>Staff
Recommendations</b></a> page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that
page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog
individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the
reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!<o:p></o:p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Thanks for keeping an eye on this news feed for the BookGuide readers advisory site of the Lincoln City Libraries!
For more detailed information and tons of useful reading-related resources, please visit us at:
<a href="http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/depts/bookguide">The BookGuide site</a>.</div>BookGuidehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15326755376505673787noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531329219481583687.post-87369105344232973152024-03-08T15:00:00.002-06:002024-03-08T15:00:00.130-06:00Music Book Review: The Art of Noise: Destruction of Music by Futurist Machines by Ferruccio Busoni and others<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><strong><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=art+noise+busoni" target="_blank"></a></strong></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><strong><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinGdsj_PIYmL8URIRGd1n1AD0ESWv-5zaw6jmPiLgAHU8W_gICz48sIsXk7Vzn_RHUsVDwmuxP3-mUi8ypJlmCACgG22Eelt1P3L5cr8Ih6FXEdibtW86_o4T5S5bI8bcjRWuouapHxl7Vv5vMkcNZVh3PdOx7IA6mrY2soegEjiG6FxWcTYlR11gatRFj/s200/artofnoise.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="132" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinGdsj_PIYmL8URIRGd1n1AD0ESWv-5zaw6jmPiLgAHU8W_gICz48sIsXk7Vzn_RHUsVDwmuxP3-mUi8ypJlmCACgG22Eelt1P3L5cr8Ih6FXEdibtW86_o4T5S5bI8bcjRWuouapHxl7Vv5vMkcNZVh3PdOx7IA6mrY2soegEjiG6FxWcTYlR11gatRFj/s1600/artofnoise.jpg" width="132" /></a></strong></div><strong><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=art+noise+busoni" target="_blank">The Art of Noise: Destruction of Music by Futurist Machines</a></strong><br />
by Ferruccio Busoni and others (Music 780.904 Art)<o:p></o:p><p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">When one thinks of early 20th
century art movements, perhaps “I should look in the music library” isn’t the
first phrase that comes into your mind, but in fact these early art movements
involved artists from all kinds of disciplines, including painting, sculpture,
poetry, fiction, theater, and yes, music! And these early art movements — I’m
thinking in particular of Futurism, Dada, and Surrealism — laid the groundwork
for much of the art of the 20th Century, and continue to influence modern art
and music today. The first of these movements was Futurism, which is officially
noted as starting in 1909 in Italy with the publication of F. T. Marinetti’s
Futurist Manifesto. The Futurists produced lots of manifestos, and many of them
pertain specifically to music. I remember first coming across them in the early
days of the public internet, around the mid-1990s, which seemed fitting
considering the Futurists’ categorical embrace of evolving technology and the
hustle and bustle of modern cities. And most of them pertaining to music have
been gathered together in a book called <strong><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=art+noise+busoni" target="_blank">The Art of Noise</a></strong>, which you can borrow from the
Polley Music Library.</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">To begin, let’s address this book’s
subtitle, which is <em>“Destruction of Music by Futurist Machines.”</em> That’s
a pretty provocative title to get someone to open a book, isn’t it? I think
that it may be overstating the case that one will find in these essays, and to
be fair, this is one of those books that isn’t itself particularly scholarly in
nature: it’s basically reprinting those same translations of the manifestos
that have floated around the internet since its early days, along with an
introduction by Danielle Lombardi that first appeared in Art Forum magazine.
Outside of Lombardi’s introduction, you won’t really find any analysis of these
manifestos and writings here, just the source documents themselves. But
Lombardi’s article is a good choice for introducing new readers to the ideas
found in Futurism, particularly in music. And one of the first observations
that she makes addresses the subtitle of this book: while Futurists are often
remembered as being pro-technology, pro-industrial age, celebrating machines
and war and the rejection of tradition, the writings of their first major
musical figure, Ferruccio Busoni, take a more moderate position that embraces
both new and old ideas. In reality, much of the music of the Futurists
continued to use traditional musical principles, while attempting to add new
ideas, and brainstorm new possibilities. In this sense, the Futurists aren’t
really that different from any other generations, with new ideas continuing to
supplement the old.<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">In part, this misunderstanding is
related to the tumultuous history of Italy in the early part of the 20th
Century. While the Futurists got their start in 1909 (and perhaps a little
earlier, considering some of Busoni’s writings dating back to 1906), Italy
eventually turned to fascism after WWI, at which point much of the Futurist
movement was suppressed publicly, replaced with nationalistic art much like
what happened in Germany at the same time. Some of the Futurists, such as
founder Marinetti, became fascists themselves, finding that some aspects of
early Futurism like an admiration of war and the notion of establishing a new
national identity translated well enough to the new regime. But most of the
music written by futurists was lost, and only the manifestos, which had
circulated around Europe in earlier years, survive. Even the legendary
“intonarumori,” or “noise machines,” invented by Futurist musician Luigi
Russolo around 1910, only survive in photos.<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">So what shall we make of these
manifestos? One thing to bear in mind is that manifestos are historically done
in a provocative style—their authors are generally compelled to write them to
shake things up, socially, politically, artistically, or all of the above. But
before anything gets shaken, you have to have readers! So some of the bravado
and bluster of these writings can be taken with a grain of salt—on some level,
they are attempting to capture readers and stimulate discussions, a more
difficult feat back in the days before the internet, television, or even radio.
The beginning of Francesco Pratella’s 1910 “Manifesto of Futurist Musicians” is
a great example of this: his opening, “I appeal to the young,” is kind of the
radio DJ “shock jock” rhetoric of over 100 years ago. He goes on to discuss
what he feels is a kind of traditionalist mediocrity in Italian music of the
era, comparing Italy’s scene to composers from various other countries (whom he
amusingly praises and criticizes simultaneously). Like many manifestos, he
eventually reaches a list of demands, such as abandoning the universities and
conservatories, ignoring the music press, stepping away from music
competitions, and “the liberation of individual musical sensibility from all
imitation or influence of the past, feeling and singing with the spirit open to
the future, drawing inspiration and aesthetics from nature, through all the
human and extra-human phenomena present in it.” Regarding the latter, I find
this both inspirational and naïve: obviously most music and art over time have
taken inspiration from nature and humankind, so it’s a little silly to act as
though rejecting all previous traditions will somehow land one in a new place.
But he has some other interesting and more specific ideas that continued to
resonate over time, such as “the reign of the singer must end,” a notion that no
doubt influenced some of the intense symphonic writing of the early 20th C.
from many composers.<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">Just a year later, Pratella’s
“Technical Manifesto of Futurist Music” opens with a much softer and
historically realistic observation, simply that “All innovators have logically
been Futurists in relation to their time.” Indeed! There’s no such thing as a
totally new haircut, for example. What follows are some specific musical areas
of inquiry that are indeed very forward-thinking for their time, such as considering
the “chromatic atonal mode” for composing, an idea that had just begun to be
spread elsewhere with Schoenberg’s earliest 12-tone pieces dating around 1908.
He goes on to suggest looking into microtones, divisions of the octave even
smaller than half-steps. He proposes similar investigation into more complex
deployment of rhythms in music, and tempos that shift frequently. Just a couple
years later in 1912, he writes again with more detail regarding rhythmic
variation in music with his article “The Destruction of Quadrature,” which
proposes different ways of perceiving and notating rhythmic groups that can
take into account simultaneously-occurring rhythmic pulses, polyrhythms that
can shift like the internal rhythms of free verse.<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">Busoni and Pratella may have been
the foundational musical thinkers in the Futurist movement, but the most famous
is likely Luigi Russolo, for his intonarumori machines mentioned above, and his
manifesto describing their necessity and use, which was called “The Art of Noises”
and published in 1913. Starting around this point we get to my favorite parts
of this book, which place the work of the Futurists in a more purely creative,
out-of-the-box, sometimes even childlike light. “The Art of Noises” started
life as a letter from Russolo to Pratella, proposing that a family of “noises”
could be incorporated into music, reflecting both sounds from the natural world
and new sounds emanating from the hustle and bustle of then-modern cities.
Russolo came up with six “families” or groupings of noises that could be
conceptualized in a manner similar to the sections within an orchestra, and
composed for them using a variety of instrumentation including his new “noise
machines.” Russolo sent his letter to Pratella in March of 1913, and by June of
that year, Russolo wrote an article documenting a June 2 performance that
featured these new machines and ideas. There were machines produced for a
variety of noises: the “Roarer,” “Thunderer,” “Burster,” Bubbler,” and so on.
As mentioned earlier, sadly these instruments were lost over time, but we still
have a written score for “Awakening of a City,” one of Russolo’s pieces that
would have used these machines, featuring its own unique kind of graphic
notation. Even without hearing much of these instruments in action—only a tiny
fragment of recorded sound from the original machines survived—the ideas behind
these sounds have been influential throughout the last century. Works by
contemporaries like Arthur Honegger were influenced by Futurist ideas, as well
as post WWII composers like John Cage, and within pop music idioms, industrial
music and noise music in particular have embraced the Art of Noises in many
different ways. There’s even the pop band who took their name from this
document!<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">The remainder of this book falls
into an “appendix” section, though the material is still very much related.
Busoni’s 1906 article “Sketch for a New Aesthetic of Sound Art” is another
spirited investigation that looks at the fundamentals of sound and proposes
various new ways to expand musical resources. Just a few years before Futurism
became an official movement, Busoni was already considering the primal
implications of music’s emotional impact, questioning if present-day
instruments and notation systems were capable of expressing the full range of
these potential emotions, and proposing several ways to expand the
possibilities: He proposed a system of third-tones that could further parse the
octave even more than half-steps. He proposed several new ways to conceptualize
harmony, including largely abandoning it altogether. And he continued to try to
link these ideas to tangible emotional expression, which strikes me as an
interesting contrast to the fairly intellectual manner in which serialism in
music ultimately developed over subsequent decades.<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">Bruno Corra’s article about
“chromatic music” is here, too, and it’s a fascinating piece from 1912 that is
truly looking at the “chroma,” or “color” relationships that one could
potentially establish between music and color. It documents a two-year project
attempting to find useful, consistent connections between color and pitch, or
music and light, dividing colors across pitches, and different hues of colors
in different octaves. Futurist painter Carlo Carra’s essay closes out the book
on a related note: writing more from a visual artist’s perspective, he
challenges the reader to consider “The Painting of Sounds, Noises and Smells.”<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">All told, it feels like these
writings, and those of the Dada movement that followed soon after, led the
world to consider art from exciting new perspectives that many contemporary
artists still engage with every day. Reading these pieces, and discovering some
of the first times that these ideas were expressed during the beginnings of
modernism, can be inspiring, and cause one to think about their own
interactions with music, either as music makers or listeners, from new angles.<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">(If you enjoy this, you may also
wish to try <a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=music+dada+dayan" target="_blank">The Music of Dada</a> by Peter Dayan.)</p><p>
</p><p align="right" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: right;">Recommended
by <a href="https://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/staff-recommendations/staff-recommendations-reviewer-index-page/reviews-by-scott-s-polley/" target="_blank"><strong>Scott S.</strong></a><br />
Polley Music Library<o:p></o:p></p><p><b><i>Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?</i></b></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><p>New reviews appear every month on the <a href="http://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/staff-recommendations/"><b>Staff Recommendations</b></a> page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhserIuHYaAyxxY6Ut4-fpzNnAomgrDFB14_iO4f8kQh-RdSOvgWMwvjdziozQaxk_fnZvKxe26inBq3ocEXNMZxQucA9GgBXxgCNQoP5TXukqW9a3o0cS5iWiS90EcTE9V8qUA7bRJaqah/s293/PolleyIcon.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="293" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhserIuHYaAyxxY6Ut4-fpzNnAomgrDFB14_iO4f8kQh-RdSOvgWMwvjdziozQaxk_fnZvKxe26inBq3ocEXNMZxQucA9GgBXxgCNQoP5TXukqW9a3o0cS5iWiS90EcTE9V8qUA7bRJaqah/s0/PolleyIcon.jpg" width="293" /></a></div><br />Check out this, and all the other great music resources, at the <a href="https://lincolnlibraries.org/polley-music-library/" target="_blank"><b>Polley Music Library</b></a>, located on the 2nd floor of the Bennett Martin Public Library at 14th & "N" St. in downtown Lincoln. You'll find biographies of musicians, books about music history, instructional books, sheet music, CDs, music-related magazines, and much more. Also check out <a href="http://library.booksite.com/7142/nl/?list=CNL4" target="_blank"><b>Polley Music Library Picks</b></a>, the Polley Music Library's e-mail newsletter, and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LNKLibrariesMusic/" target="_blank"><b>follow them on Facebook</b></a>!<div class="blogger-post-footer">Thanks for keeping an eye on this news feed for the BookGuide readers advisory site of the Lincoln City Libraries!
For more detailed information and tons of useful reading-related resources, please visit us at:
<a href="http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/depts/bookguide">The BookGuide site</a>.</div>BookGuidehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15326755376505673787noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531329219481583687.post-15970893592976429202024-02-29T09:00:00.008-06:002024-02-29T09:00:00.135-06:00Book Review: The Third to Die by Allison Brennan + Just Desserts meets tonight<p><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=third+to+die+brennan" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank"></a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0qS03OLMxHzM27oWnD-ZQugD8UKRBJlYqAmtpSOxzs4UHBDvE3TbKqw27kc6hjUwhHvz3yS4Ika7Atyn47FqMcI8_pHG_0be_pI86Xt1t6drRM5IsIEHM3IxN1DCbn5Z5BlocNpTtC0-ftUzWbUnEwvAW3UgaFqnOQwvG5mHAlMUWrIVMu5uTZmKCmhnf/s200/thirdtodie.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="133" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0qS03OLMxHzM27oWnD-ZQugD8UKRBJlYqAmtpSOxzs4UHBDvE3TbKqw27kc6hjUwhHvz3yS4Ika7Atyn47FqMcI8_pHG_0be_pI86Xt1t6drRM5IsIEHM3IxN1DCbn5Z5BlocNpTtC0-ftUzWbUnEwvAW3UgaFqnOQwvG5mHAlMUWrIVMu5uTZmKCmhnf/s1600/thirdtodie.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>The Third to Die<b><br /></b>by Allison Brennan (Brennan)<p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">In January 2024, the libraries’
Just Desserts mystery book group reading assignment was “any of the
thriller/suspense novels by American author Allison Brennan. Since most of
Brennan’s works fall into series, and I had jumping in the middle of a series,
I managed to get my hands on a copy of <strong><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=third+to+die+brennan" target="_blank">The Third to Die</a></strong>, which is the first entry in
Brennan’s “Quinn & Costa” series, released in 2020 (there have been four
more in that series since then).</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">Kara Quinn is an L.A.P.D. detective
specializing in deep undercover work. She’s got a checkered past, and is
currently on an enforced leave/vacation to her old hometown in Washington
state, to let a complicated situation in L.A. cool down. While jogging early
one morning, she ends up discovering a murder victim at the side of a local
lake. It turns out that this victim is the latest in a serial killer’s pattern
of killing on March 3rd, 6th and 9th, every third year. This brings FBI Special
Agent in Charge Matt Costa and his newly former (in fact, still-being-formed)
rapid-response team to Liberty Lake, in hopes of preventing the killer from
striking again.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><strong><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=third+to+die+brennan" target="_blank">The Third to Die</a></strong> is a solid, well-plotted
thriller, dealing with police procedures, inter-agency squabbling, and
psychological profiling. Chapters alternate being told from the points of view
of Costa, Quinn and the killer themself. Pacing is brisk, and characterizations
are well-done. Even if I thought there was a lot of coincidental stuff
happening in the plot, I was still carried along by what was happening, and
feel I can give this a fairly strong recommendation!.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">(If you enjoy this, you may also
wish to try the rest of <a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=allison+brennan" target="_blank">Allison Brennan</a>‘s body of work, especially the other four
entries in the Quinn & Costa series.)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">( official <strong><a href="https://www.allisonbrennan.com/" target="_blank">Allison Brennan</a></strong>
web site )<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p align="right" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: right;">Recommended
by <a href="https://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/staff-recommendations/staff-recommendations-reviewer-index-page/reviews-by-scott-c/"><strong>Scott
C.</strong></a><br />
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="right" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: right;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><b><i>Have you read or listened to
this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?</i></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
New reviews appear every month on the <a href="http://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/staff-recommendations/"><b>Staff Recommendations</b></a> page
of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch
them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the
entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this
reviewer’s recommendations!<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br /></p><hr width="75%" /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx1aOZg5128TiC7Bn9Gtp1iCejtJw0vcD1B4sF6b2q8KTuXnbqmbMT26co0WO4ilkNNVAyeH09fOeQLY7LmuAqmOhlLan4Pa7lZP6bUu8qUGuiWEjGPpUWzX87emP3ijMixz7FsO_aA-TY/s400/Just+Desserts+Logo+400.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="167" data-original-width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx1aOZg5128TiC7Bn9Gtp1iCejtJw0vcD1B4sF6b2q8KTuXnbqmbMT26co0WO4ilkNNVAyeH09fOeQLY7LmuAqmOhlLan4Pa7lZP6bUu8qUGuiWEjGPpUWzX87emP3ijMixz7FsO_aA-TY/s320/Just+Desserts+Logo+400.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">If you're a mystery fan, you're invited to join us for <b><i>this </i></b>month's Just Desserts meeting <b><i>tonight</i></b>, February 29th, at 6:30 p.m. in the 4th floor auditorium of the Bennett Martin Public Library downtown at 14th & "N" St. -- this mystery-themed discussion group meets on the last Thursday of each month, January through October. Tonight, we'll be discussing the recent thriller <u>The Only One Left</u> by American thriller/suspense author <b>Riley Sager</b>.<br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"> </p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">Even if you haven't read <u>The Only One Left</u> for this specific discussion, you can still participate, and learn about great new mysteries to try! For more information, check out the Just Desserts schedule at <a href="https://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/book-groups/#justdesserts"><b>https://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/book-groups/#justdesserts</b></a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Thanks for keeping an eye on this news feed for the BookGuide readers advisory site of the Lincoln City Libraries!
For more detailed information and tons of useful reading-related resources, please visit us at:
<a href="http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/depts/bookguide">The BookGuide site</a>.</div>BookGuidehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15326755376505673787noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531329219481583687.post-3505968080664750792024-02-28T09:00:00.003-06:002024-02-28T09:00:00.137-06:00Book Review: A Grandmother Begins the Story by Michelle Porter<p><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=grandmother+begins+story+porter" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank"></a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi71iO-hcoFpGRYAF1L0dp7P4NyYw0a6njjLBycUIgtTSXHkI_lK9Z5p-Na59qd_cKySeO6beeQAFLdpCYIW4X7H3xWZ3dKNxSEhsH1YcSH_BV4i7RpIPcTN9V27VvEfpZWpYHu58QfUChXJU3xbWKNwNj3L_nkSA1iKKvDzpEjimube7oyGu3l1cu0V7-e/s200/grandmotherbeginsthestory.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="132" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi71iO-hcoFpGRYAF1L0dp7P4NyYw0a6njjLBycUIgtTSXHkI_lK9Z5p-Na59qd_cKySeO6beeQAFLdpCYIW4X7H3xWZ3dKNxSEhsH1YcSH_BV4i7RpIPcTN9V27VvEfpZWpYHu58QfUChXJU3xbWKNwNj3L_nkSA1iKKvDzpEjimube7oyGu3l1cu0V7-e/s1600/grandmotherbeginsthestory.jpg" width="132" /></a></div><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=grandmother+begins+story+porter" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">A Grandmother Begins the Story</a><b><br /></b>by Michelle Porter (Porter)<p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">Award winning Metis author Michelle
Porter brings to life a brilliant ensemble of storytellers, which includes five
generations of women, some buffalo, the earth itself, and a couple of yappy dogs.
It starts in the middle, as all great stories do; telling of the past and
future, rambling through the spirit world, the dance hall, and the grasslands.
I found the way the stories were told, separately, but interlaced, distinct
points of view describing shared histories, captivating. In the mixed up world
of living, it makes sense to me. Mostly a telling of relationships between
sisters and mothers and daughters, but you can’t have those without a few
menfolk thrown in. Definitely one I I’d like to read again. (If only to decide
if that one chapter was really necessary.)</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">(If you enjoy this, you may also
wish to try <a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=council+dolls+power" target="_blank">A Council of Dolls</a> by Mona Susan Power, <a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=two+old+women+wallis" target="_blank">Two Old Women</a> by Velma Wallis, <a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=seed+keeper+wilson" target="_blank">The Seed Keeper</a> by Diane Wilson, or <a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=probably+ruby+bird-wilson" target="_blank">Probably Ruby</a> by Lisa Bird-Wilson.)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">( Wikipedia page for <strong><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Porter" target="_blank">Michelle
Porter</a></strong> )<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="right" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: right;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p align="right" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: right;">Recommended
by <a href="https://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/staff-recommendations/staff-recommendations-reviewer-index-page/reviews-by-carrie-k-2/" target="_blank"><strong>Carrie K.</strong></a><br />
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="right" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: right;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><b><i>Have you read or listened to
this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?</i></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
New reviews appear every month on the <a href="http://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/staff-recommendations/"><b>Staff Recommendations</b></a> page
of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch
them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the
entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this
reviewer’s recommendations!<o:p></o:p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Thanks for keeping an eye on this news feed for the BookGuide readers advisory site of the Lincoln City Libraries!
For more detailed information and tons of useful reading-related resources, please visit us at:
<a href="http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/depts/bookguide">The BookGuide site</a>.</div>BookGuidehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15326755376505673787noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531329219481583687.post-35100208589892800812024-02-27T09:00:00.006-06:002024-02-27T09:00:00.133-06:00Book Review: The Man Who Fell to Earth by Walter Tevis<p><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=man+who+fell+earth+tevis" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank"></a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyMQdqkrfTbyWYDwP-h7HG7YN4VWjaIS6cqGMZwBg7UurNALqbay9h_nwnAbboJEsm5esKkPtAd6nyt1mnWVsksTcLsc4cdzjDV1FmGXxmwTZ9jc7fjZDUqKmarm6FRgHEMjb7vJeshzSsU_HFAsdxhfNJ5gjN330yCv1lPEM3tiDy0_G7fL9TvtK_fTzI/s200/manwhofelltoearthbook.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="130" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyMQdqkrfTbyWYDwP-h7HG7YN4VWjaIS6cqGMZwBg7UurNALqbay9h_nwnAbboJEsm5esKkPtAd6nyt1mnWVsksTcLsc4cdzjDV1FmGXxmwTZ9jc7fjZDUqKmarm6FRgHEMjb7vJeshzSsU_HFAsdxhfNJ5gjN330yCv1lPEM3tiDy0_G7fL9TvtK_fTzI/s1600/manwhofelltoearthbook.jpg" width="130" /></a></div><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=man+who+fell+earth+tevis" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">The Man Who Fell to Earth</a><b><br /></b>by Walter Tevis (Tevis) and<br /><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=man+who+fell+earth+watters" target="_blank"><strong>The Man Who Fell to Earth</strong></a> (graphic novel)<br />by Dan Watters and Dev Pramanik, adapted from the 1976 film version of <i>The Man
Who Fell to Earth</i> by Nicolas Roeg, which was adapted from the Tevis novel
(741.5 Tev)<p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">If you ask most people nowadays if
they’ve heard of <strong><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=man+who+fell+earth+tevis" target="_blank">The Man Who Fell to Earth</a></strong>, they’d probably mention
having seen David Bowie (in his first major acting role) in the 1976 film by
director Nicholas Roeg of that title. But is was actually a classic scifi novel
before that film adapted the story (with some changes) for the big screen.</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">Thomas Jerome Newton may look
human, but he’s not. He’s a visitor from a distant planet — an emissary from
his own dying people, sent to Earth to manipulate both events and technological
developments in order to surreptitiously build a spacecraft that can be used to
return to his dying planet and ferry the rest of his people to our world. But
he’s supposed to do it without attracting dangerous attention to himself. He is
only partially successful.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLrnQk6S2QboYgVDD8ozTb39AmOTcQ7BXSirMg8s_moIsdCfO2VZicvwy-xgTYX4XiaQgWgeSg5nPIaKdWFBYXKRD5JVX8bP2iIg7T8aL6HXOziCTJA_5sTGC8Luh4DsvJYxbZnjTiY8Ov6o3qOp7EAVMSA8_2B3QqHZrmIzUM3dyOIDfYvidPBJ7e04Jt/s200/manwhofelltoearthgn.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="132" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLrnQk6S2QboYgVDD8ozTb39AmOTcQ7BXSirMg8s_moIsdCfO2VZicvwy-xgTYX4XiaQgWgeSg5nPIaKdWFBYXKRD5JVX8bP2iIg7T8aL6HXOziCTJA_5sTGC8Luh4DsvJYxbZnjTiY8Ov6o3qOp7EAVMSA8_2B3QqHZrmIzUM3dyOIDfYvidPBJ7e04Jt/s1600/manwhofelltoearthgn.jpg" width="132" /></a></div>This is a quiet, thoughtful science
fiction novel that fits more into the “social science fiction” category. It is
“scifi as written by a mainstream author”. Newton is a highly sympathetic
character, separated from all he knows and values and surrounded by those he
considers to be only rudimentally intelligent. It is a profile of loneliness
and isolation and self-reflection, as Newton eventually grows to question the value
of his own underlying mission.<o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">In addition to the famed 1976 film,
this story was adapted into the unsold pilot for a 1986 TV series (available on
YouTube in its entirety), and a 2022 10-part Showtime series, starring Chiwetel
Ejiofor, was an official “sequel” to the David Bowie movie, with Bill Nighy
taking over the Bowie role as Newton.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">The 1963 novel is definitely a
thing of its time, with certain glimpses of futuristic technology now looking
absurdly quaint. But it is still well-written and I believe it justifies its
place in the series of “SF Masterworks” of the 20th century. If you like it —
check out Walter Tevis’ other novels, including <a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=mockingbird+tevis" target="_blank">Mockingbird</a>, <a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=queen%27s+gambit+tevis" target="_blank">The Queen’s Gambit</a> (turned into a 7-episode limited series
on Netflix in 2020), <a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=hustler+tevis" target="_blank">The Hustler</a> and <a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=color+of+money+tevis" target="_blank">The Color of Money</a> (both adapted into classic feature films
starring Paul Newman), among others.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">If you enjoy this, you may also
wish to try <a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=man+fell+earth+watters" target="_blank">The Man Who Fell to Earth</a> (graphic novel adaptation of the
1974 film by Nicolas Roeg starring David Bowie) <span data-component-id="6" data-component-type="s-search-results"><span data-action="puis-card-container-declarative" data-csa-c-func-deps="aui-da-puis-card-container-declarative" data-csa-c-id="8mg5vd-xg7t5j-zbsnhs-pef3qh" data-csa-c-type="widget" data-render-id="rht03nzn8522m2u80h5v0int0m" data-version-id="v1s9ddn432to7l1yimuv43pqlfg"><span class="a-size-base">by </span><span class="a-declarative">Dan Watters </span><span class="a-size-base">and Dev Pramanik.</span></span></span>
The film (and thus this graphic novel adaptation of the film) differs in
several key facets from the original novel, notably in the presence of sex
scenes and slightly different end fates for some of the characters. Having just
read the novel, I was amused at the changes that are clearly evident in the
graphic novel, but even then, it still gets across its messages about
isolation, loneliness, addiction and corrupt power. And the artist does a good
job of capturing the appearances of cast members David Bowie, Rip Torn, Bucky
Henry, Candy Clark and Bernie Casey. I give both versions a 7 on our 1-10
rating scale.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">( Wikipedia page for <strong><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Tevis" target="_blank">Walter Tevis</a></strong>, with links to info about all versions of <strong>The Man Who Fell to Earth</strong>
)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p align="right" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: right;">Recommended
by <a href="https://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/staff-recommendations/staff-recommendations-reviewer-index-page/reviews-by-scott-c/"><strong>Scott
C.</strong></a><br />
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="right" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: right;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><b><i>Have you read or listened to
this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?</i></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
New reviews appear every month on the <a href="http://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/staff-recommendations/"><b>Staff Recommendations</b></a> page
of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch
them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the
entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this
reviewer’s recommendations!<o:p></o:p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Thanks for keeping an eye on this news feed for the BookGuide readers advisory site of the Lincoln City Libraries!
For more detailed information and tons of useful reading-related resources, please visit us at:
<a href="http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/depts/bookguide">The BookGuide site</a>.</div>BookGuidehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15326755376505673787noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531329219481583687.post-79781602848962262682024-02-26T09:00:00.006-06:002024-02-26T09:00:00.140-06:00DVD Review: Miss Fisher's Modern Murder Mysteries + Just Desserts meeting later this week<p><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=miss+fisher's+modern+hakewill" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank"></a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq4lXOtkaf9ntOQriG6HURreEERCwrbygDVA5G9F4WLPRjIAoVO7GrtZdcnKlwUQteT6XITzm9E52D05LD5LsVkYL8iSNryO2rg5_tHQ4VBJLkU4u7cAgVpjHG0Y2Vg8j5N7xq8mM6icDcWXYWhLEFc_ya6AROiNVOnNut9ZrVCsH-E0KSmSYjYl_Z8vo0/s200/missfishersmodernmurdermysteriesdvd-1.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="145" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq4lXOtkaf9ntOQriG6HURreEERCwrbygDVA5G9F4WLPRjIAoVO7GrtZdcnKlwUQteT6XITzm9E52D05LD5LsVkYL8iSNryO2rg5_tHQ4VBJLkU4u7cAgVpjHG0Y2Vg8j5N7xq8mM6icDcWXYWhLEFc_ya6AROiNVOnNut9ZrVCsH-E0KSmSYjYl_Z8vo0/s1600/missfishersmodernmurdermysteriesdvd-1.jpg" width="145" /></a></div><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=miss+fisher%27s+modern+hakewill" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Miss Fisher’s Modern Murder Mysteries</a><b><br /></b>(DVD Miss)<p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">Last month I reviewed “Miss
Fisher’s Murder Mysteries” on DVD, that take place in the late 1920’s
Melbourne, Australia. That series is based on the Phryne Fisher books by Kerry
Greenwood.</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=miss+fisher%27s+modern+hakewill" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Miss Fisher’s Modern Murder Mysteries</a> is an offshoot and revolves around Miss Fisher’s niece, Peregrine Fisher, in
1960’s Melbourne. Peregrine inherits Phryne’s fortune when she goes missing
after crashing in the jungle over New Guinea. Peregrine had never met her aunt
and decides to follow in her footsteps to become a private-detective. She makes
her way to Phryne’s club, The Adventuresses’ Club, where she is befriended by
the other members who thought highly of Phryne.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">I wasn’t sure I’d take to this
series because I’m not that fond of the 1960’s – the color schemes, the
furniture, the blatant sexism. But I ended up enjoying the characters, the
mysteries, and watching Peregrine take on the challenges of meeting, learning
from, and befriending the exceptional women of the Adventuresses’ Club.<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br /></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">Of course our thoroughly modern
heroine meets a straitlaced guy, James, who is a police detective (just as her
aunt did). He tries to dissuade her from investigating the various murders she
encounters but they end up teaming together – against the wishes of his
captain.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">Produced by Acorn, the library owns
all of this series on DVD.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">( <strong><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt9224216" target="_blank">Internet Movie
Database entry for this series</a></strong> )<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p align="right" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: right;">See
Charlotte M.’s review of <a href="https://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/staff-recommendations/staff-recommendations-index/staff-recommendations-january-2024#miss" target="_blank">The Miss Fisher Murder Mysteries</a> in the January 2024 Staff
Recommendations here on BookGuide!<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="right" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: right;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p align="right" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: right;">Recommended
by <a href="https://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/staff-recommendations/staff-recommendations-reviewer-index-page/reviews-by-charlotte-m/"><strong>Charlotte
M.</strong></a><br />
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="right" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: right;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><b><i>Have you watched this one?
What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?</i></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
New reviews appear every month on the <a href="http://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/staff-recommendations/"><b>Staff
Recommendations</b></a> page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that
page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog
individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the
reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br /></p><hr width="75%" /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx1aOZg5128TiC7Bn9Gtp1iCejtJw0vcD1B4sF6b2q8KTuXnbqmbMT26co0WO4ilkNNVAyeH09fOeQLY7LmuAqmOhlLan4Pa7lZP6bUu8qUGuiWEjGPpUWzX87emP3ijMixz7FsO_aA-TY/s400/Just+Desserts+Logo+400.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="167" data-original-width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx1aOZg5128TiC7Bn9Gtp1iCejtJw0vcD1B4sF6b2q8KTuXnbqmbMT26co0WO4ilkNNVAyeH09fOeQLY7LmuAqmOhlLan4Pa7lZP6bUu8qUGuiWEjGPpUWzX87emP3ijMixz7FsO_aA-TY/s320/Just+Desserts+Logo+400.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">If you're a mystery fan, you're invited to join us for <b><i>this </i></b>month's Just Desserts meeting <b><i>this coming Thursday</i></b>, February 29th, at 6:30 p.m. in the 4th floor auditorium of the Bennett Martin Public Library downtown at 14th & "N" St. -- this mystery-themed discussion group meets on the last Thursday of each month, January through October. Tonight, we'll be discussing the recent thriller <u>The Only One Left</u> by American thriller/suspense author <b>Riley Sager</b>.<br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"> </p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">Even if you haven't read <u>The Only One Left</u> for this specific discussion, you can still participate, and learn about great new mysteries to try! For more information, check out the Just Desserts schedule at <a href="https://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/book-groups/#justdesserts"><b>https://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/book-groups/#justdesserts</b></a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Thanks for keeping an eye on this news feed for the BookGuide readers advisory site of the Lincoln City Libraries!
For more detailed information and tons of useful reading-related resources, please visit us at:
<a href="http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/depts/bookguide">The BookGuide site</a>.</div>BookGuidehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15326755376505673787noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531329219481583687.post-2097320815819614202024-02-24T09:00:00.005-06:002024-02-24T09:00:00.133-06:00DVD Review: Station Eleven (based on the novel by Emily St. John Mandel)<p><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=station+eleven+davis" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank"></a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7Dz1JEZ6JmrSdLZr8urwjVThjeBgEx19mJcJ98bzDaNGw52NXYK7IgxX2Gc7AcQpXZBhurqOAxGl7n3u31zN-3BV_gJ2T3dFAkzeDzWbtgQyL9A5KKcwJtmG9cieqWNlWckGzK06bhbM70Be1d02I075LQUax8oeBUZO0NsewnipqNNkOFv2WyLSt0HgY/s200/station11dvd.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="141" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7Dz1JEZ6JmrSdLZr8urwjVThjeBgEx19mJcJ98bzDaNGw52NXYK7IgxX2Gc7AcQpXZBhurqOAxGl7n3u31zN-3BV_gJ2T3dFAkzeDzWbtgQyL9A5KKcwJtmG9cieqWNlWckGzK06bhbM70Be1d02I075LQUax8oeBUZO0NsewnipqNNkOFv2WyLSt0HgY/s1600/station11dvd.jpg" width="141" /></a></div><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=station+eleven+davis" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Station Eleven</a><b><br /></b>TV mini-series based on the novel by Emily St. John Mandel (DVD Station)<p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">One of my daughter’s favorite books
is Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel, a book about what happens when the
swine flu Pandemic kills off most of the population. Mind you, this book was
published in 2014, years before COVID. Because of the focus on trying to keep
culture alive, specifically theater, music and literature, I decided to give the
new mini-series a try. The mini-series, Station Eleven, is based on the
internationally acclaimed novel but with many changes in characters and plot.
Even so, the series holds the same basic idea: survivors of the Pandemic must
attempt to rebuild their world while keeping hold of the best of their culture:
Shakespeare plays, music performance, and literature. A group of survivors
bands together, calling themselves the Traveling Symphony, performing plays on
their established route around Lake Michigan. Small groups of survivors who
have formed new communities such as the one at the Severn Airport in Michigan
invite the players to come perform for them. This happens 20 years after the
Pandemic, bringing together all of the storylines and resolving them in one
climactic performance. Much of the series revolves around a graphic novel that
was created by one of the characters. Referred to as “the prophecy,” all of the
main characters have some tie to this novel — only a few copies exist, but the
impact of the story affects many people over the course of these twenty years.</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">I have to say that I really enjoyed
the post-Pandemic story and how connected all of these characters were to the
mission to save the best of humanity. However, the DVD set had no rating. I would
view this with caution due to Language; Graphic Violence; Adult Situations; and
Themes.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">(If you enjoy this, you may also
wish to try <a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=road+cormac+mccarthy" target="_blank">The Road</a> by Cormac McCarthy, and the film adaptation of
that, <a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=road+mortensen" target="_blank">The Road</a> starring Viggo Mortensen.)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">(Also available in <a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=station+eleven+mandel" target="_blank">traditional print format</a>.)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">( <strong><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt10574236" target="_blank">Internet Movie
Database entry for this 10-episode mini-series</a></strong> )<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="right" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: right;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p align="right" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: right;">Recommended
by <a href="https://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/staff-recommendations/staff-recommendations-reviewer-index-page/reviews-by-kim-j/" target="_blank"><strong>Kim J.</strong></a><br />
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="right" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: right;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><b><i>Have you watched (or read) this one?
What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?</i></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
New reviews appear every month on the <a href="http://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/staff-recommendations/"><b>Staff
Recommendations</b></a> page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that
page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog
individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the
reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!<o:p></o:p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Thanks for keeping an eye on this news feed for the BookGuide readers advisory site of the Lincoln City Libraries!
For more detailed information and tons of useful reading-related resources, please visit us at:
<a href="http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/depts/bookguide">The BookGuide site</a>.</div>BookGuidehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15326755376505673787noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531329219481583687.post-34308157593314111602024-02-23T09:00:00.003-06:002024-02-23T09:00:00.138-06:00Music Book Review: Schoenberg - Why He Matters by Harvey Sachs<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><strong><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=schoenberg+why+he+matters+sachs" target="_blank"></a></strong></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><strong><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihyphenhyphenQwu2tOvoiv3qr2klF7zwidG9qsGaGSz-mr68eIgi3pmHGF4E4nklu5-LhzoOTL_u4JDDdy6ZMcGTc0BuTN87DKdGn-1seSb0ETiS-0qHbrWlPZbPLJgBDvMxx2Ttrmm47VQeipfHGa8fCFUDUVQtKAEeDSi3KDx7NHerxBliS4CHFBxvjk6SEdhQm5i/s200/schoenbergwhyhematters.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="132" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihyphenhyphenQwu2tOvoiv3qr2klF7zwidG9qsGaGSz-mr68eIgi3pmHGF4E4nklu5-LhzoOTL_u4JDDdy6ZMcGTc0BuTN87DKdGn-1seSb0ETiS-0qHbrWlPZbPLJgBDvMxx2Ttrmm47VQeipfHGa8fCFUDUVQtKAEeDSi3KDx7NHerxBliS4CHFBxvjk6SEdhQm5i/s1600/schoenbergwhyhematters.jpg" width="132" /></a></strong></div><strong><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=schoenberg+why+he+matters+sachs" target="_blank">Schoenberg: Why He Matters</a></strong><br />
by Harvey Sachs (Music 780.92 Sch)<o:p></o:p><p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">There have been a series of books
about pop artists lately that include something about them “mattering” in the
title. We have a couple of them: <a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=o%27connor+matters+mccabe" target="_blank">Why Sinead O’Connor Matters</a>, <a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=patti+smith+matters+rose" target="_blank">Why Patti Smith Matters</a>, and <a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=bushwick+bill+matters+hughes" target="_blank">Why Bushwick Bill Matters</a> come to mind. But I never
expected to see one about one of the most well-known composers of the 20th
Century. That’s why I was a little amused to see the title of Harvey Sachs’
latest book, <strong><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=schoenberg+why+he+matters+sachs" target="_blank">Schoenberg: Why He Matters</a></strong>. It addresses some
serious questions about the Schoenberg legacy, though, and I think it’s an
important book, which you can borrow from the Polley Music Library.</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">Sachs lays out the meaning of his
title, and the necessity for the book, in his prologue. Although Schoenberg is
remembered for being a very influential composer, his music is rarely played
today. The 12-tone system of music that he is most known for was interesting
and influential in its time, but today it is almost never used, and the
atonality it produces is largely out of style again in a general sense, much
less by way of Schoenberg’s formal considerations. Sachs also discusses his
choice to proceed with this book in as non-technical a manner as possible. This
isn’t a book that will require readers to understand music theory and follow
formal analysis of 12-tone pieces, perhaps a first for writing about the
composer. I found this refreshing: this is a body of work that has mostly been
set aside for its reputation as being technical in nature and wholly dissonant
in its approach, but I must admit that I have long been an enthusiast of
Schoenberg’s music, and what I find to be most notable in his best works is a
tremendous feeling for melody. His posthumous reputation stands somewhat at
odds with the sound of his actual music, in my opinion. Perhaps this is the
only kind of approach to a book about the composer and his music that can
realistically help to correct that record.<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">It’s an unusual book. For the most
part, Sachs has written a traditional biography here, following Schoenberg’s
life chronologically. However, when he traverses into the more “controversial”
periods of Schoenberg’s music, all surrounding his gradual shift toward
atonality and the 12-tone technique, he pauses for moments of layperson musical
analysis and also focuses on the social and interpersonal implications of the
pieces, their performances, and their early reception by audiences. The musical
analysis tends to be easy to follow, and often focuses on elements of
performance practice around this music that have frequently conspired to
obscure Schoenberg’s musical intentions.<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">What are these intentions? <span data-markjs="true" data-ogab="" data-ogac="" data-ogsb="" data-ogsc="">Reading</span> between the lines here, I really see
them as having a very advanced and moving knack for melody, and for writing the
kinds of textures beneath melodies that can really highlight their sometimes
unusual, fragile natures. As Sachs proceeds through Schoenberg’s life and major
works, I can’t help but to put together a bit of a secondary narrative around
the music, some of which is explicit in the text, but some of which is more
implicit once one starts to think about the musical evolution that happened
over Schoenberg’s lifetime. His early works were still very much rooted in
German Romanticism, which despite its increased reliance on chromaticism, was
still a solidly tonal form of writing. The early works were often larger in
scale, too, such as the tone poem “Pelleas and Melisande.” The transitional
pieces like his celebrated “Pierrot Lunaire” are a kind of free atonality, and
generally written for small ensembles. The lightness of orchestration often
helps to clarify his emphasis on melody to my way of listening — check out his
string quartets for a great example of this in action that you can compare
across his long career, too. We finally arrive at the 12-tone period, from 1921
onward, where again the most representative pieces tend to be for smaller
chamber ensembles or for the piano, and though there is a somewhat more strict
kind of atonality — Schoenberg really strives to obscure any kind of tonal
gravity taking form — the pieces are still somewhat free, too. 12-tone or
“serial” composers, at least among this first generation, weren’t so strict as
some of their successors like Babbit or Stockhausen.<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">Yes, Schoenberg and some of his
contemporaries like Berg and Webern were looking for new kinds of sounds not so
grounded in tonality, but this isn’t noise music. Harmonic function may be
blurred beyond recognition, but in its wake, the gravitas of melody seems to
take on an even deeper role. One problematic area, though, is that musicians
simply aren’t trained to play atonally — the exercises and other music played
over time all reinforce tonal performance habits. This means that in
performance, musicians often find these pieces more difficult than other
repertoire, and as a result many performances take place at slower tempos than
Schoenberg intended. Sachs makes reference to this phenomenon several times throughout
the book, and each time there is a detrimental effect on the feeling of the
piece, the grace of the melodies. For example, in reference to Schoenberg’s
Minuet from the ”Serenade,” Sachs notes that performances all take place around
20 bpm slower than specified in the music, “And this eliminated not only the
‘singing’ quality that the composer specifically requested but also the whole
notion of the minuet as a dance: at too slow a tempo, the music plods, beat by
beat.” Much of the misunderstanding of this music, then, may be related to
performances that simply don’t match the musical intention. Where Schoenberg
aimed for light, airy textures, we often hear these plodding performances.<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">Sachs does a great job of
humanizing the composer as well. His long-term frenemy relationship with
Stravinsky, for example, makes occasional appearances in the book, as well as
Schoenberg’s occasionally prickly opinions about other composers as well. His
complicated relationship with his Jewish background and Christian faith are
explored, as well as his struggles with anti-Semitism and difficult audiences
in his native Vienna. His economic difficulties later in life are discussed. He
lived a deeply fascinating life, and knowing more about it will hopefully
compel some readers to give his music another listen, too.<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">(If you enjoy this, you may also
wish to try <a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=schoenberg+his+world+frisch" target="_blank">Schoenberg and his World</a> by Walter Frisch or <a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=arnold+schoenberg+bujic" target="_blank">Arnold Schoenberg</a> by Bojan Bujić.)<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">( Wikipedia page about <strong><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnold_Schoenberg" target="_blank">Arnold Schoenberg</a></strong>
) | ( official <strong><a href="https://www.harveysachs.com/" target="_blank">Harvey
Sachs</a></strong> web site )<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p>
</p><p align="right" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: right;">Recommended
by <a href="https://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/staff-recommendations/staff-recommendations-reviewer-index-page/reviews-by-scott-s-polley/" target="_blank"><strong>Scott S.</strong></a><br />
Polley Music Library<o:p></o:p></p><p><b><i>Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?</i></b></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><p>New reviews appear every month on the <a href="http://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/staff-recommendations/"><b>Staff Recommendations</b></a> page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhserIuHYaAyxxY6Ut4-fpzNnAomgrDFB14_iO4f8kQh-RdSOvgWMwvjdziozQaxk_fnZvKxe26inBq3ocEXNMZxQucA9GgBXxgCNQoP5TXukqW9a3o0cS5iWiS90EcTE9V8qUA7bRJaqah/s293/PolleyIcon.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="293" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhserIuHYaAyxxY6Ut4-fpzNnAomgrDFB14_iO4f8kQh-RdSOvgWMwvjdziozQaxk_fnZvKxe26inBq3ocEXNMZxQucA9GgBXxgCNQoP5TXukqW9a3o0cS5iWiS90EcTE9V8qUA7bRJaqah/s0/PolleyIcon.jpg" width="293" /></a></div><br />Check out this, and all the other great music resources, at the <a href="https://lincolnlibraries.org/polley-music-library/" target="_blank"><b>Polley Music Library</b></a>, located on the 2nd floor of the Bennett Martin Public Library at 14th & "N" St. in downtown Lincoln. You'll find biographies of musicians, books about music history, instructional books, sheet music, CDs, music-related magazines, and much more. Also check out <a href="http://library.booksite.com/7142/nl/?list=CNL4" target="_blank"><b>Polley Music Library Picks</b></a>, the Polley Music Library's e-mail newsletter, and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LNKLibrariesMusic/" target="_blank"><b>follow them on Facebook</b></a>!<div class="blogger-post-footer">Thanks for keeping an eye on this news feed for the BookGuide readers advisory site of the Lincoln City Libraries!
For more detailed information and tons of useful reading-related resources, please visit us at:
<a href="http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/depts/bookguide">The BookGuide site</a>.</div>BookGuidehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15326755376505673787noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531329219481583687.post-45035802638377847182024-02-21T09:00:00.002-06:002024-02-21T09:00:00.125-06:00Book Review: Dream On by Angie Hockman<p><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=dream+on+hockman" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank"></a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijynjwG5IhfREZ3cbrpXuHikCZ95Jo8DKYACkx-iW0Md9YL-wYzxDrR9c1e1ZusE17UND5XkKaHzeGSZZPJ1kJrcD8m4b-oVf8FYaXStCUOw_DdDQQoVDxf1VvxLjyDNqU-e7z3cAf3FiVXpUauZZ7FUZUCzfgSWDOeWaHlx9uP_z8Si2a1IZ4ph2e03D6/s200/dreamon.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="129" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijynjwG5IhfREZ3cbrpXuHikCZ95Jo8DKYACkx-iW0Md9YL-wYzxDrR9c1e1ZusE17UND5XkKaHzeGSZZPJ1kJrcD8m4b-oVf8FYaXStCUOw_DdDQQoVDxf1VvxLjyDNqU-e7z3cAf3FiVXpUauZZ7FUZUCzfgSWDOeWaHlx9uP_z8Si2a1IZ4ph2e03D6/s1600/dreamon.jpg" width="129" /></a></div><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=dream+on+hockman" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Dream On</a><b><br /></b>by Angie Hockman (Hockman)<p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">Using an intriguing premise, this
romance is well written and layered. Waking up from a coma as the result of a
car accident, law graduate Cassidy Walker is perplexed when no one in her
family, nor her best friend, seems to know anything about her handsome,
successful boyfriend and why he hasn’t made an appearance at her bedside. Then
things become really interesting. And complicated. Hockman does a good job of
constructing characters, places, and feelings as Cass navigates her life and
relationships post-traumatic head injury.</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">(If you enjoy this, you may also
wish to try <a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=bodyguard+katherine+center" target="_blank">The Bodyguard</a> by Katherine Center)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">( official <strong><a href="https://www.angiehockman.com/" target="_blank">Angie Hockman</a></strong>
web site )<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p align="right" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: right;">Recommended
by <a href="https://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/staff-recommendations/staff-recommendations-reviewer-index-page/reviews-by-becky-w-c/" target="_blank"><strong>Becky W.C.</strong></a><br />
Walt Branch Library<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="right" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: right;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><b><i>Have you read or listened to
this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?</i></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
New reviews appear every month on the <a href="http://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/staff-recommendations/"><b>Staff Recommendations</b></a> page
of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch
them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the
entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this
reviewer’s recommendations!<o:p></o:p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Thanks for keeping an eye on this news feed for the BookGuide readers advisory site of the Lincoln City Libraries!
For more detailed information and tons of useful reading-related resources, please visit us at:
<a href="http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/depts/bookguide">The BookGuide site</a>.</div>BookGuidehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15326755376505673787noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531329219481583687.post-85275784634034273992024-02-20T09:00:00.002-06:002024-02-20T09:00:00.137-06:00DVD Review: Peppermint (2018)<p><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=peppermint+garner" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank"></a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhevylMsnCW18bLTMQS27VmIw4iKxXlUJLr1IsU3tf4f8-uW6EZ-BnQTSqJlxN1Mv-m-4_ytYcMLOoyDkUsXxUJAF4lQ-TprpedPrZR0Mysd1RdYmn2_kQ1QxH5wZ8qABUl3YiWQlzMA1fH8eFoSzDwrD2kmS6-bcLHqcA-FJqHgFS1h3wVSKyhghyPGtsN/s200/peppermintdvd2.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="141" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhevylMsnCW18bLTMQS27VmIw4iKxXlUJLr1IsU3tf4f8-uW6EZ-BnQTSqJlxN1Mv-m-4_ytYcMLOoyDkUsXxUJAF4lQ-TprpedPrZR0Mysd1RdYmn2_kQ1QxH5wZ8qABUl3YiWQlzMA1fH8eFoSzDwrD2kmS6-bcLHqcA-FJqHgFS1h3wVSKyhghyPGtsN/s1600/peppermintdvd2.jpg" width="141" /></a></div><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=peppermint+garner" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Peppermint</a><b><br /></b>(DVD Peppermint)<p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">This 2018 film stars Jennifer
Garner and is a hard-core hard-bitten action thriller. Garner stars as Riley
North, a young woman whose husband and daughter are gunned down by members of a
street gang. Even though she is able to identify the killers, her testimony is
not taken seriously during the trial, the killers go free, and she herself is
labeled a dangerous psychotic. Riley manages to escape from medical personnel
and goes underground. A few years later, having trained with some of the best
physical and mental trainers she could find, she returns to her old city and
starts to take violent revenge on those who wronged her: corrupt judges,
lawyers, gang-bangers, etc.</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">As Riley works her way up the ranks
of organization led by the drug lord who was ultimately responsible for the
death of her family, both the bad guys and the good guys are out to find and
stop her.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">This is “revenge porn” — with a
mercenary taking out the people who wronged her, in increasingly violent ways.
But Garner still pulls off a completely sympathetic character. She also proves
that at age 46 (13 years after her action-espionage series Alias ended) she
still has massive “action film” chops and is wholly believable as this avenging
angel.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">(If you enjoy this, you may also
wish to try Garner’s TV series, <a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=alias+jennifer+garner" target="_blank">Alias</a>, which ran for five seasons in 2001-2005.)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">( <strong><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6850820" target="_blank">Internet Movie
Database entry for this 2018 film</a></strong> )<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p align="right" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: right;">See
Scott C.’s review of the first season of the TV series <strong><a href="https://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/staff-recommendations/staff-recommendations-index/staff-recommendations-july-2009/" target="_blank">Alias</a></strong>, in the July 2009 Staff Recommendations here
on BookGuide!<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="right" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: right;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p align="right" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: right;">Recommended
by <a href="https://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/staff-recommendations/staff-recommendations-reviewer-index-page/reviews-by-scott-c/"><strong>Scott
C.</strong></a><br />
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="right" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: right;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><b><i>Have you watched this one?
What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?</i></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
New reviews appear every month on the <a href="http://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/staff-recommendations/"><b>Staff
Recommendations</b></a> page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that
page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog
individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the
reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!<o:p></o:p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Thanks for keeping an eye on this news feed for the BookGuide readers advisory site of the Lincoln City Libraries!
For more detailed information and tons of useful reading-related resources, please visit us at:
<a href="http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/depts/bookguide">The BookGuide site</a>.</div>BookGuidehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15326755376505673787noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531329219481583687.post-79083977543714733922024-02-19T09:00:00.002-06:002024-02-19T09:00:00.151-06:00Book Review: The Mystery Guest by Nita Prose<p><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=mystery+guest+prose" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank"></a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWDPiDrX_KVADlV1Cydv1k8wwIGTpX-mUrZwvx27CVj7Hh88hjjiPO-4Ovw13KZRBkO-a3owpcRLEaharcdRq9x3mI80lM57LcsHeEaC0D8_NhXPmCfydwLwNwL8sbwu1oA4F437vl-Wyx-aAElSQIN7h98AsJDS1G65Vhl2HZhf51sQbdtweGAM2LHMmc/s200/mysteryguest.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="132" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWDPiDrX_KVADlV1Cydv1k8wwIGTpX-mUrZwvx27CVj7Hh88hjjiPO-4Ovw13KZRBkO-a3owpcRLEaharcdRq9x3mI80lM57LcsHeEaC0D8_NhXPmCfydwLwNwL8sbwu1oA4F437vl-Wyx-aAElSQIN7h98AsJDS1G65Vhl2HZhf51sQbdtweGAM2LHMmc/s1600/mysteryguest.jpg" width="132" /></a></div><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=mystery+guest+prose" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">The Mystery Guest</a><b><br /></b>by Nita Prose (Prose)<p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">This is a feel-good book in which
Molly, a maid at a high-end hotel, sees the world differently than most people
around her. It’s a mystery in which Molly is suspected of killing a guest. The
reader is treated to both the suspense of discovering “whodunnit” and the
refreshing opportunity to see things from a different perspective.</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">(If you enjoy this, you may also
wish to try <a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=maid+prose" target="_blank">The Maid</a> by Nita Prose or <a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=curious+incident+dog+haddon" target="_blank">The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time</a> by Mark
Haddon.)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">( official <strong><a href="https://www.nitaprose.com/" target="_blank">Nita Prose</a></strong> web
site )<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p align="right" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: right;">See
Scott C.’s review of <strong><a href="https://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/staff-recommendations/staff-recommendations-index/staff-recommendations-october-2022#prose" target="_blank">The Maid</a></strong> by Nita Prose in the October 2022 Staff
Recommendations here on BookGuide!<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="right" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: right;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p align="right" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: right;">Recommended
by <a href="https://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/staff-recommendations/staff-recommendations-reviewer-index-page/reviews-by-jodi-r/" target="_blank"><strong>Jodi R.</strong></a><br />
Anderson and Bethany Branch Libraries<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="right" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: right;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><b><i>Have you read or listened to
this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?</i></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
New reviews appear every month on the <a href="http://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/staff-recommendations/"><b>Staff Recommendations</b></a> page
of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch
them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the
entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this
reviewer’s recommendations!<o:p></o:p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Thanks for keeping an eye on this news feed for the BookGuide readers advisory site of the Lincoln City Libraries!
For more detailed information and tons of useful reading-related resources, please visit us at:
<a href="http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/depts/bookguide">The BookGuide site</a>.</div>BookGuidehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15326755376505673787noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531329219481583687.post-169301544050159742024-02-17T09:00:00.002-06:002024-02-17T09:00:00.138-06:00DVD Review: The Creator, written and directed by Gareth Edwads<p><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=creator+washington" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank"></a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYXT4pp0JK6zr0oKDUnre6kKuRwtv7Vq8Igi4zKZrrxPMQEeLVyQYTtD8v7IbR34Cz5JaaIhbLV2oTo_SHL0b9GrKJ3jcxRyhyphenhyphencWWZJgp9beaM1pTGHtP3BzpaE-gNIAaEUU_920CsgBbJ3APvUq_JLzD_lwLE0lGAvq9HOhN_gh-FNMJJmZkVhrM7RSX3/s200/thecreatordvd.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="142" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYXT4pp0JK6zr0oKDUnre6kKuRwtv7Vq8Igi4zKZrrxPMQEeLVyQYTtD8v7IbR34Cz5JaaIhbLV2oTo_SHL0b9GrKJ3jcxRyhyphenhyphencWWZJgp9beaM1pTGHtP3BzpaE-gNIAaEUU_920CsgBbJ3APvUq_JLzD_lwLE0lGAvq9HOhN_gh-FNMJJmZkVhrM7RSX3/s1600/thecreatordvd.jpg" width="142" /></a></div><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=creator+washington" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">The Creator</a><b><br /></b>(DVD Creator)<p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><strong><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=creator+washington" target="_blank">The Creator</a></strong> was a spectacular original science
fiction concept — refreshing to see when so many SF/F films are franchise
entries. Director Gareth Edwards (he also co-wrote this with Chris Weitz) gives
us a world in which Artificial Intelligences have struck back at humans in the
United States, detonating a nuclear bomb in Los Angeles. When the action picks
up years later, U.S. special forces are actively seeking out and destroying AIs
around the world — but in New Asia, AIs are still valued and American
intervention is opposed. Deep cover special U.S. special forces agent Joshua is
married to an Asian woman and expecting a child, while still working on his
mission to find the chief scientist creating new AIs. A strike force blows his
cover, kills his wife and badly injures him…but when a mission to infiltrate
and destroy a super weapon (that will take out the orbiting defense platform
that is the primary U.S. weapon against AIs), Joshua is forced back into active
service.</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">Joshua’s team is inserted into New
Asia to try to find Nirmata, the creator of the ultimate weapon, and destroy
both the weapon and Nirmata themself. The missions goes awry, and Joshua finds
himself on the run with “the weapon”…which has been designed as a six-year-old
little girl (who’s learning how to manipulate the technology around herself).
Joshua believes his wife, Maya, may still be alive and he’s determined to use
“the weapon” to find his wife and reclaim part of the life that was stolen from
him. But he starts to bond with the little girl…and there’s still people out to
destroy her.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">John David Washington does a
terrific job as the tortured Joshua, and there are some excellent supporting
performances by Allison Janney, Ken Watanabe, Gemma Chan and several other
adult actors. But the film is literally stolen by Madeleine Yuna Voyles, in her
film debut, as the young weapon, “Alphie”. <strong><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=creator+washington" target="_blank">The Creator</a></strong> is complex and fast moving, and a lot
of it is set in darkness. It is far from perfect, but it is still an excellent
movie, and I highly recommend it. Particularly for the Hans Zimmer score.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">(If you enjoy this, you may also
wish to try Gareth Edwards’ other films, including <a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=rogue+one+edwards" target="_blank">Rogue One – A Star Wars Movie</a>, <a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=godzilla+edwards" target="_blank">Godzilla</a> (2014) or <a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=monsters+edwards" target="_blank">Monsters</a>.)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">( <strong><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt11858890" target="_blank">Internet Movie
Database entry for this 2023 film</a></strong> )<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p align="right" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: right;">See
Kristen A.’s review of <strong><a href="https://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/staff-recommendations/staff-recommendations-index/staff-recommendations-september-2017#rogue" target="_blank">Rogue One: A Star Wars Story</a></strong> (directed by Gareth
Edwards) in the September 2017 Staff Recommendations here on BookGuide!<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="right" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: right;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p align="right" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: right;">Recommended
by <a href="https://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/staff-recommendations/staff-recommendations-reviewer-index-page/reviews-by-scott-c/"><strong>Scott
C.</strong></a><br />
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="right" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: right;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><b><i>Have you watched this one?
What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?</i></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
New reviews appear every month on the <a href="http://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/staff-recommendations/"><b>Staff
Recommendations</b></a> page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that
page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog
individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the
reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!<o:p></o:p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Thanks for keeping an eye on this news feed for the BookGuide readers advisory site of the Lincoln City Libraries!
For more detailed information and tons of useful reading-related resources, please visit us at:
<a href="http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/depts/bookguide">The BookGuide site</a>.</div>BookGuidehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15326755376505673787noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531329219481583687.post-35066186076521770962024-02-16T09:00:00.002-06:002024-02-16T09:00:00.136-06:00Music Book Review: The Needle and the Lens - Pop Goes to the Movies - From Rock and Roll to Synthwave by Nate Patrin<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><strong><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=needle+lens+pop+patrin" target="_blank"></a></strong></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><strong><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRrbivU3ZYi3c4Oqp5vXSX5usfJKymnhfAbcBbv4YJjKUxTsyhI2LD5jII-G_aFXBMadTi2mgUU76RqkMR-ME7iY2lO43VPImhsyWOzOtHUvkqeQPqxDJ6rlFgJ0iPpgPvaDIbn9WYT7zYxYVEXKj2InTZn4A9y07NsqLvMSunQUOThxyhdkWUZbaQmfLl/s200/needleandthelens.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="133" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRrbivU3ZYi3c4Oqp5vXSX5usfJKymnhfAbcBbv4YJjKUxTsyhI2LD5jII-G_aFXBMadTi2mgUU76RqkMR-ME7iY2lO43VPImhsyWOzOtHUvkqeQPqxDJ6rlFgJ0iPpgPvaDIbn9WYT7zYxYVEXKj2InTZn4A9y07NsqLvMSunQUOThxyhdkWUZbaQmfLl/s1600/needleandthelens.jpg" width="133" /></a></strong></div><strong><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=needle+lens+pop+patrin" target="_blank">The Needle and the Lens: Pop Goes to the Movies: From Rock and Roll to Synthwave</a></strong><br />
by Nate Patrin (Music 781.542 Pat)<o:p></o:p><p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">I think it’s safe to say that music
and movies are like peanut butter and jelly — most folks like them both on
their own, but they’re even better together! The history of film has always
been linked to music, too: when movies were still silent movies, most theaters
had an organist or pianist who played along with the films, adding another
layer of dramatic or narrative interest to the otherwise quiet on-screen
action. Once it was possible to reproduce sound with film, music remained an
important part of film production, often simmering in the background to set the
desired mood, or bursting into the foreground at dramatic peaks for emphasis.<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">There is a long tradition of
scoring music for film, writing custom music that compliments the unique
visuals, dialogue, and settings for each movie. But directors also turn to
familiar music frequently, too. There are a variety of reasons for this: music
familiar to the audience can be a shortcut to a particular kind of mood.
Sometimes it helps to establish a scene as diegetic music, or music that’s
being experienced by the actors on-film. Sometimes it’s both! Music writer Nate
Patrin has a fascinating new book called <strong><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=needle+lens+pop+patrin" target="_blank">The Needle and the Lens: Pop Goes to the Movies: From Rock and
Roll to Synthwave</a></strong> which discusses some well-known uses of pop
music in film, and also makes the argument that having such music in film has
helped to legitimize the music itself as art to be appreciated on a serious
level.<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">The ”needle” Patrin refers to in
the title is a record player needle, of course, and in the film industry, the
diegetic music I mentioned earlier is often referred to as a “needle drop,”
when a character in the film would perhaps put on a record for their own
listening, and we hear it with them, or they turn on the radio, or they go to a
concert, etc. For the most part, these kinds of contexts are where pop music
first started to appear in films, while conventionally scored soundtracks
continued to underscore other parts of films. In his introduction, he points
out how these pop music moments in film can add so much meaning to a scene,
including establishment of a time period, revealing more about a character’s
personality, or even adding another emotional cue for the audience, as so many of
us have our own unique connections with songs. The idea became so important to
the film industry that the role of “music supervisor” was created to help
select music, organize it, and secure rights to use it.<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">The book focuses on 16 songs used
in 16 films, selected as being particularly influential or memorable, or
furthering the art of filmmaking. They’re arranged by the release date of each
film, ranging from “Scorpio Rising” in 1964 to “Drive” in 2011. Considering
that being influential is one of the criteria for inclusion, most of the films
are older, from the 60s to the 90s, with one representative from the Oughts and
the aforementioned “Drive” from the Teens. Jumping right into the 60s with
“Scorpio Rising,” we find a film that was regarded as borderline obscene at the
time of its release in the height of the Hays Code, but already somewhat quaint
by the standards of the 1970s. As an early film in the “biker” genre, it
arrived after the era of James Dean, but before the era of classic rock biker
anthems, and the music choices reflect that fascinating interstitial moment
when defining biker culture with rebellion was somewhat more open to
interpretation. Patrin focuses on director Kenneth Anger’s choice of the song
“He’s a Rebel” as performed by The Crystals as representative of this vaguely
liminal space, in which his unique blend of a documentary approach with edits
that represent his own interpretation of the culture are well represented in
the music. It was also one of the earliest cinematic examples of contemporary
pop music being placed in a film, which was influential for aspiring filmmakers
like Martin Scorsese.<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">Next, Patrin discusses the use of
music by Simon & Garfunkel in the 1967 film “The Graduate,” and in
particular “The Sounds of Silence,” which frames several important scenes. This
music would have been very familiar to audiences at the time this film
premiered, and it was unusual to have such familiar music used extensively in a
film both as diegetic music and underscore. While the plan had been to have
Simon & Garfunkel write original songs for the film, they were delayed in
delivering them, and in the meantime, the director and producer fell in love
with existing album cuts they had laid into the film as temporary tracks while
editing the final cut. While it was an unorthodox move at the time to leave
them in, it turned out to be a huge success: the film was extremely
well-received, as was its soundtrack.<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">We’ll skip ahead a little to the
film “American Graffiti” in 1973, which got to demonstrate another great use of
pop music in film: nostalgia. Here we have a period piece, set roughly 10 years
before the debut of the film, and director George Lucas opted to emphasize the
time period in part through musical choices. As so much of the action revolves
around driving, the music of the film is entirely diegetic, presented through
the car radios of its characters, and the music they’re cruising to is mostly
from the 50s. Ostensibly, Patrin focuses on the original 1958 Bobby Freeman
version of “Do You Want to Dance?” here as the main song, but the whole
soundtrack—41 songs that were already becoming vintage at the time of the
film—work together to set the mood and the time. It turned out that lots of
people were already nostalgic for the innocence and fun represented by the
“jukebox” selected for the film, as the soundtrack went triple platinum, spent
41 weeks on the Billboard charts, and essentially launched the era of classic
rock compilation albums.<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">Establishing a time period while
evoking some nostalgia turned out to work beautifully in the war film genre,
too. In 1979, “Apocalypse Now” opened with The Doors’ “The End,” powerfully
evoking the Vietnam War era with a focus on the personal rather than the
universal, something that would have been difficult to achieve with a more
heavy-handed approach such as any of the many war protest songs of the time. It
turns out that the whole opening scene of the film, which combines the Doors
song with footage of a helicopter dropping napalm on a tree grove and then
dissolves to the character Captain Willard suffering alone in a small room, was
conceived of toward the end of production. While finding this footage and
combining it with this music was essentially accidental, it became an important
element of the film, changing its structure and setting its tone. Much like
“American Graffiti” did for 50s nostalgia, “Apocalypse Now” marked the
beginning of a Doors revival that carried on for several years.<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">These moments of collective
reconsideration of familiar music are the basis for Patrin’s underlying thesis
in the book, a notion that these pop music hits became more seriously regarded
after their second lives through film. These songs contributed transformative
moments on screen, and they were themselves transformed in the process. In some
specific cases laid out in the book, I agree with this assessment. Take the use
of Roy Orbison’s “In Dreams” for David Lynch’s “Blue Velvet” film, for example:
the impact of the film on the song, the song on the film, and the subsequent
Orbison reassessment that followed, did feel like an elevation of Orbison’s
song and work more generally. And the appearance of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody”
in “Wayne’s World” definitely led to critical reassessment and a new generation
of fans for that band. But in other examples, I didn’t find his case to be
quite as strong, such as the Delfonics being featured in Quentin Tarantino’s
“Jackie Brown,” or the several entries that featured songs contemporaneous with
the films they were featured in. Even the “American Graffiti” soundtrack felt
more like pure nostalgia than a subtle or nuanced reassessment. These
relationships between song and screen are fascinating no matter how
transcendent they may or may not be, though.<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">If you haven’t had enough by the
time you reach the end of the 16 main chapters and their songs/films, there is
an “outro” chapter that adds an additional 24 examples to the mix. These are
covered with just a paragraph on each, but the additions definitely add to the
richness of the book. Who can forget the song “Tequila” as featured in
“Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure,” for example, or the surprising juxtaposition of Huey
Lewis and the News’ “Hip to be Square” in “American Psycho?” There are some
great songs and great movies to think about here.<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">This book isn’t just for music
fans, by the way. Describing these relationships between films and songs
requires a lot of description of the films, and movie buffs will find lots to
like here. In most cases, you’ll find more detailed analysis of the films than
the songs! This makes sense, though, as the films in this context are the
macro-structure art form at the heart of the discussion, and the songs are just
playing a role within them. It’s interesting to note that the supermajority of
the songs featured are considerably older than the films they’re featured in,
by at least a decade. I think this speaks to the notion that we have
complicated relationships with pop music in our culture: we hear it,
internalize it as part of our memories, associate with a particular time and
place, and then all of those associations come rushing outward when we hear it
placed into a new context like a movie. Music is a powerful way to express and
share emotions, and also a robust way to store those feelings in our memories
for detailed recollection later.<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">(If you enjoy this, you may also
wish to try <a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=music+counterculture+cinema+bartkowiak" target="_blank">The Music of Counterculture Cinema</a> by Matthew J. Bartkowiak
and Yuya Kiuchi or <a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=hollywood+shack+job+kubernik" target="_blank">Hollywood Shack Job: Rock Music in Film and On Your Screen</a>
by Harvey Kubernik.)<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">( publisher’s page for <strong><a href="https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/the-needle-and-the-lens" target="_blank">The Needle and the Lens</a></strong> )<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p>
</p><p align="right" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: right;">Recommended
by <a href="https://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/staff-recommendations/staff-recommendations-reviewer-index-page/reviews-by-scott-s-polley/" target="_blank"><strong>Scott S.</strong></a><br />
Polley Music Library<o:p></o:p></p><p><b><i>Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?</i></b></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><p>New reviews appear every month on the <a href="http://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/staff-recommendations/"><b>Staff Recommendations</b></a> page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhserIuHYaAyxxY6Ut4-fpzNnAomgrDFB14_iO4f8kQh-RdSOvgWMwvjdziozQaxk_fnZvKxe26inBq3ocEXNMZxQucA9GgBXxgCNQoP5TXukqW9a3o0cS5iWiS90EcTE9V8qUA7bRJaqah/s293/PolleyIcon.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="293" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhserIuHYaAyxxY6Ut4-fpzNnAomgrDFB14_iO4f8kQh-RdSOvgWMwvjdziozQaxk_fnZvKxe26inBq3ocEXNMZxQucA9GgBXxgCNQoP5TXukqW9a3o0cS5iWiS90EcTE9V8qUA7bRJaqah/s0/PolleyIcon.jpg" width="293" /></a></div><br />Check out this, and all the other great music resources, at the <a href="https://lincolnlibraries.org/polley-music-library/" target="_blank"><b>Polley Music Library</b></a>, located on the 2nd floor of the Bennett Martin Public Library at 14th & "N" St. in downtown Lincoln. You'll find biographies of musicians, books about music history, instructional books, sheet music, CDs, music-related magazines, and much more. Also check out <a href="http://library.booksite.com/7142/nl/?list=CNL4" target="_blank"><b>Polley Music Library Picks</b></a>, the Polley Music Library's e-mail newsletter, and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LNKLibrariesMusic/" target="_blank"><b>follow them on Facebook</b></a>!<div class="blogger-post-footer">Thanks for keeping an eye on this news feed for the BookGuide readers advisory site of the Lincoln City Libraries!
For more detailed information and tons of useful reading-related resources, please visit us at:
<a href="http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/depts/bookguide">The BookGuide site</a>.</div>BookGuidehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15326755376505673787noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531329219481583687.post-87633236614757385412024-02-15T09:00:00.002-06:002024-02-15T09:00:00.131-06:00Book Review: The Oxygen Farmer by Colin Holmes<p><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=oxygen+farmer+holmes" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank"></a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKu8zwHZaJlCwpjWjdoJAGqveQf4HjHZvYTLY37peynajG0Na7AFrOH6v4ixWzS_IpaFR47_AeI4KLlUsKgvYJyDZm6-wHJ5CbdfYAq6r7Kw6Ne-1pYFZGRW8OiTOy-NsnhRlgbm48vjEPLQhNYcptg-ldsx2CkE0B4vkkVzA9YOevmv2tYg-wXeEX5vwP/s200/oxygenfarmer.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="130" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKu8zwHZaJlCwpjWjdoJAGqveQf4HjHZvYTLY37peynajG0Na7AFrOH6v4ixWzS_IpaFR47_AeI4KLlUsKgvYJyDZm6-wHJ5CbdfYAq6r7Kw6Ne-1pYFZGRW8OiTOy-NsnhRlgbm48vjEPLQhNYcptg-ldsx2CkE0B4vkkVzA9YOevmv2tYg-wXeEX5vwP/s1600/oxygenfarmer.jpg" width="130" /></a></div><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=oxygen+farmer+holmes" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">The Oxygen Farmer</a><b><br /></b>by Colin Holmes (Holmes)<p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">This is a new science fiction title
by author Colin Holmes, author of the book <a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=thunder+road+holmes" target="_blank">Thunder Road</a>, his debut novel. I was intrigued by the cover
of this book when it arrived at the library, so I decided to give it a chance.
The story is set in the future and mainly takes place on the moon where our
main character works and lives. Farmer Millenium (Mil) Harrison produces oxygen
which is used by anyone living on the moon or just visiting. Most of his life’s
work has been to produce and store oxygen to prepare for Earth’s first mission
to Mars. Early on in the story, Mil accidentally falls into an area that has
restricted access and discovers a hidden facility that had been buried on the
moon before Mil ever came there over 35 years ago. When Mil starts asking
questions, attempts are made on his life as well as the lives of anyone he has
shared this information with. This government conspiracy goes back to the days
of the Reagan administration in the United States and it is possible that the
Russians are involved too. So who can he trust? Certainly not the head of the
Space Agency, who just happens to be his estranged daughter. This is an
excellent book which I expect someone to make into a movie. Think of this book
as a cross between <em>The X-Files</em> and <em>The Martian</em> with a little
bit of <em>Star Wars</em> thrown in for good measure. I highly recommend this
book.</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">(If you enjoy this, you may also
wish to try <a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=martian+weir" target="_blank">The Martian</a> by Andy Weir, the film adapation <a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=martian+damon" target="_blank">The Martian</a> starring Matt Damon or the TV series <a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=x-files+season+duchovny" target="_blank">The X-Files</a> by Chris Carter.)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">( official <strong><a href="http://bycolinholmes.com/" target="_blank">Colin Holmes</a></strong> web
site )<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="right" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: right;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p align="right" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: right;">Recommended
by <a href="https://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/staff-recommendations/staff-recommendations-reviewer-index-page/reviews-by-kim-j/"><strong>Kim
J.</strong></a><br />
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="right" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: right;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><b><i>Have you read or listened to
this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?</i></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
New reviews appear every month on the <a href="http://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/staff-recommendations/"><b>Staff Recommendations</b></a> page
of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch
them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the
entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this
reviewer’s recommendations!<o:p></o:p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Thanks for keeping an eye on this news feed for the BookGuide readers advisory site of the Lincoln City Libraries!
For more detailed information and tons of useful reading-related resources, please visit us at:
<a href="http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/depts/bookguide">The BookGuide site</a>.</div>BookGuidehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15326755376505673787noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531329219481583687.post-62871055446114137902024-02-14T09:00:00.002-06:002024-02-14T09:00:00.374-06:00Book Review: The Creep Crayon by Aaron Reynolds and Peter Brown<p><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=creepy+crayon+reynolds" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank"></a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2i7umgfLS1q9tku_WJmcXVFjzx8dlk2D25riOAwhRPUbnMmkf36nlAr79VTreuz4gJwTxwegc6jNXE-v4grmDK7blhBs_94zzYbi4fyEHhS9meLAwcmv4as6dGwiAgy8iQT42caUMMH6HMwQ6XcDvmpibKTR3PyYnWyrF2U8sagdnyLmxOQOOTCkHG7Qm/s200/creepycrayon.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="151" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2i7umgfLS1q9tku_WJmcXVFjzx8dlk2D25riOAwhRPUbnMmkf36nlAr79VTreuz4gJwTxwegc6jNXE-v4grmDK7blhBs_94zzYbi4fyEHhS9meLAwcmv4as6dGwiAgy8iQT42caUMMH6HMwQ6XcDvmpibKTR3PyYnWyrF2U8sagdnyLmxOQOOTCkHG7Qm/s1600/creepycrayon.jpg" width="151" /></a></div><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=creepy+crayon+reynolds" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">The Creepy Crayon</a><b><br /></b>by Aaron Reynolds and Peter Brown (jP Reynolds)<p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">The fact that the “Creepy Crayon”
is purple was the first draw, as that’s probably my favorite color. And the
fact the illustrations are large and uncomplicated, making it a very suitable
book for storytime presentation was the second appeal. Having read the story,
which combines humor, suspense, frustration, freak-outs and resolution, that
really sealed the deal as to recommending it. Let’s just say that if you ever
“find” a perfectly purple, perfectly pointy, perfectly perfect crayon —
beware!!</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">(If you enjoy this, you may also
wish to try <a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=purple+coyote+cornette" target="_blank">Purple Coyote</a> by Cornette or <a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=butterfly+horacek" target="_blank">Butterfly, Butterfly</a> by Petr Horacek.)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">( official <strong><a href="https://www.peterbrownstudio.com/" target="_blank">Peter Brown</a></strong>
web site ) | ( official <strong><a href="https://www.aaron-reynolds.com/" target="_blank">Aaron Reynolds</a></strong> web site )<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p align="right" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: right;">Recommended
by <a href="https://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/staff-recommendations/staff-recommendations-reviewer-index-page/reviews-by-becky-w-c/" target="_blank"><strong>Becky W.C</strong></a><br />
Walt Branch Library<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="right" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: right;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><b><i>Have you read or listened to
this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?</i></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
New reviews appear every month on the <a href="http://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/staff-recommendations/"><b>Staff Recommendations</b></a> page
of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch
them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the
entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this
reviewer’s recommendations!<o:p></o:p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Thanks for keeping an eye on this news feed for the BookGuide readers advisory site of the Lincoln City Libraries!
For more detailed information and tons of useful reading-related resources, please visit us at:
<a href="http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/depts/bookguide">The BookGuide site</a>.</div>BookGuidehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15326755376505673787noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531329219481583687.post-49015015754923380212024-02-13T09:00:00.011-06:002024-02-13T09:00:00.238-06:00DVD Review: Only in Theaters - a documentary by Raphael Sbarge<p><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=creator+washington" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank"></a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><strong><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=only+in+theaters+sbarge" target="_blank"></a></strong></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><strong><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj43ACL7YnO2oTa5uDLJkDWdcVgPfWJ8YmhQMcK3UrFFEzRy1aBnLedmCfupfOEqk9I7YG8AAD3BuvDSjNSH_Ms6t9ttVAiItBhEw3Ndsx_An_MIjllUnMSICxC_1ivKlSPNrQYg7FYT7xtBsCt4VAAc595JK83N-xGsj1ku4IbCy3qZ5dRL4dDa0ZpY4c2/s200/onlyintheatersdvd.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="141" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj43ACL7YnO2oTa5uDLJkDWdcVgPfWJ8YmhQMcK3UrFFEzRy1aBnLedmCfupfOEqk9I7YG8AAD3BuvDSjNSH_Ms6t9ttVAiItBhEw3Ndsx_An_MIjllUnMSICxC_1ivKlSPNrQYg7FYT7xtBsCt4VAAc595JK83N-xGsj1ku4IbCy3qZ5dRL4dDa0ZpY4c2/s1600/onlyintheatersdvd.jpg" width="141" /></a></strong></div><strong><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=only+in+theaters+sbarge" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: times;">Only in Theaters</span></a></span></strong><br />
a documentary by actor/filmmaker Raphael Sbarge (DVD 791.43 Onl)<o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">Fascinating documentary about the
Laemmle family (pronounced Lem-lee) and the chain of independent arthouse movie
theaters they established in the Los Angeles area. This documentary started
filming in 2018/2019 and its focus <em>was</em> going to be on the decline of
independent movie theaters, and the Laemmle family facing hard decisions on
whether to sell their chain or continue to cater to arthouse movie crowds.</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">But the documentary was still
filming when COVID-19 arrived and movie theaters in California all had to shut
down. The documentary focus shifted to how a family-owned-for-80-years business
can survive during a period of forced social isolation.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">I loved the sections of this film,
particularly the interviews with film critics and fans (like Leonard Maltin),
which dealt with the history of the Laemmle chain and how essential it has been
to the film-loving community of Southern California. The interviews with both
movie fans and movie makers was absolutely marvelous. While I certainly feel
badly for the current generation of Laemmle family leadership on the hard
decisions they have had to make in the pandemic era, those portions of the
documentary eventually became somewhat repetitive.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">But I do still recommend this film
to cinemaphiles and anyone who loves the experience of seeing movies with a
crowd in a movie theater…an experience that continues to become less and less
common in an era in which streaming and home theaters continue to replace the
actual movie-going tradition.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">(If you enjoy this, you may also
wish to try <a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=last+blockbuster+morden" target="_blank">The Last Blockbuster</a> (a documentary on DVD), <a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=going+attractions+wright" target="_blank">Going Attractions: The Definitive Story of the Movie Palace</a>
by April Wright, <a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=american+picture+palaces+naylor" target="_blank">American Picture Palaces: The Architecture of Fantasy</a> by
David Naylor, <a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=ticket+paradise+margolies" target="_blank">Ticket to Paradise: American Movie Theaters and How We Had Fun</a>
by John Margolies (Heritage Room only) or <a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=projectionist+nicolaou" target="_blank">The Projectionist</a> by Nicholas Nicolaou.)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">( <strong><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt11743152" target="_blank">Internet Movie
Database entry for this 2022 documentary film</a></strong> )<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p align="right" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: right;">See
Scott C.’s review of the documentary <strong><a href="https://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/staff-recommendations/staff-recommendations-index/staff-recommendations-august-2021#last" target="_blank">The Last Blockbuster</a></strong> in the August 2021 Staff
Recommendations here on BookGuide!<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="right" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: right;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p align="right" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: right;">Recommended
by <a href="https://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/staff-recommendations/staff-recommendations-reviewer-index-page/reviews-by-scott-c/"><strong>Scott
C.</strong></a><br />
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="right" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: right;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><b><i>Have you watched this one?
What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?</i></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
New reviews appear every month on the <a href="http://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/staff-recommendations/"><b>Staff
Recommendations</b></a> page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that
page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog
individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the
reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!<o:p></o:p></p><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Thanks for keeping an eye on this news feed for the BookGuide readers advisory site of the Lincoln City Libraries!
For more detailed information and tons of useful reading-related resources, please visit us at:
<a href="http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/depts/bookguide">The BookGuide site</a>.</div>BookGuidehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15326755376505673787noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531329219481583687.post-21777195601127225642024-02-12T09:00:00.001-06:002024-02-12T09:00:00.128-06:00Book Review: Have I Told You This Already? by Lauren Graham<p><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=have+told+you+that+already+graham" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank"></a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkjuJkTE3dgi_O1sSR9lpBtXjCZ80yrTdNWxlQSyGBqEiBBJOcY40fouXnkCoedN2xMSojSF8ivvOw6ombze7CKz1IPKUYdomtWb_D1maoyrp0Q98hcAYRMwUirnFOe8vBxSyEqYvzfem8cu6iDJRAiKgo4kU5JAhdzf4a7Bs9tVclAz4XENmS1imtTlxG/s200/haveitoldyouthisalready.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="133" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkjuJkTE3dgi_O1sSR9lpBtXjCZ80yrTdNWxlQSyGBqEiBBJOcY40fouXnkCoedN2xMSojSF8ivvOw6ombze7CKz1IPKUYdomtWb_D1maoyrp0Q98hcAYRMwUirnFOe8vBxSyEqYvzfem8cu6iDJRAiKgo4kU5JAhdzf4a7Bs9tVclAz4XENmS1imtTlxG/s1600/haveitoldyouthisalready.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>Have I Told You That Already? Stories I Don’t Want to Forget to
Remember<b><br /></b>by Lauren Graham (Biography Graham)<p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">This is a quick, feel-good read!
Lauren’s little writing “quirks” make for funny, enjoyable essays geared toward
those that are fans of Graham’s work (think <em>Gilmore Girls</em> and <em>Parenthood</em>).
This book includes personal anecdotes from ranging from stories about attending
various “health camps”, being an up-and-coming actor living in LA, and even
stories about orange marmalade (read to find out!) and her dog.</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">(If you enjoy this, you may also
wish to try more non-fiction by Lauren Graham, including <a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=talking+fast+can+graham" target="_blank">Talking as Fast As I Can</a>, <a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=conclusion+worry+graham" target="_blank">In Conclusion, Don’t Worry About It</a>, or <a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=someday+maybe+graham" target="_blank">Someday, Someday Maybe</a>; or the TV series <a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=gilmore+girls+graham" target="_blank">Gilmore Girls</a> and <a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=parenthood+bedelia" target="_blank">Parenthood</a>.)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">( publisher’s official <strong><a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/151426/lauren-graham/" target="_blank">Lauren Graham</a></strong> web page ) | ( Wikipedia page for
actress/author <strong><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lauren_Graham" target="_blank">Lauren Graham</a></strong> )<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p align="right" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: right;">Recommended
by <strong>Amanda S.</strong><br />
Gere and South Branch Libraries<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="right" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: right;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><b><i>Have you read or listened to
this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?</i></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
New reviews appear every month on the <a href="http://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/staff-recommendations/"><b>Staff Recommendations</b></a> page
of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch
them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the
entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this
reviewer’s recommendations!<o:p></o:p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Thanks for keeping an eye on this news feed for the BookGuide readers advisory site of the Lincoln City Libraries!
For more detailed information and tons of useful reading-related resources, please visit us at:
<a href="http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/depts/bookguide">The BookGuide site</a>.</div>BookGuidehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15326755376505673787noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531329219481583687.post-78968475612951817772024-02-10T09:00:00.003-06:002024-02-15T14:14:06.876-06:00DVD Review: A Christmas Story Christmas<p><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=christmas+story+billingsley" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank"></a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCY2YNw_MtkrP9NSFbEhUGtdQm6XCLfIiNMzXzTAis77sJI1OJWYiPM9hP3vX-wMrJXz8M1inYRbWDfMtxxM5KqTlZ6oT70Zk6OgGlPh1-KFdmx4WbyOysQOC1CGfkE2Gbr8tGRZuDIukOkVGi3b60Y7Zy3oB7S6svNUrv5t_Igmir5aRQnVq5Nvqxs8U5/s200/achristmasstorychristmasdvd.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="140" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCY2YNw_MtkrP9NSFbEhUGtdQm6XCLfIiNMzXzTAis77sJI1OJWYiPM9hP3vX-wMrJXz8M1inYRbWDfMtxxM5KqTlZ6oT70Zk6OgGlPh1-KFdmx4WbyOysQOC1CGfkE2Gbr8tGRZuDIukOkVGi3b60Y7Zy3oB7S6svNUrv5t_Igmir5aRQnVq5Nvqxs8U5/s1600/achristmasstorychristmasdvd.jpg" width="140" /></a></div><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=christmas+story+billingsley" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">A Christmas Story Christmas</a><b><br /></b>(DVD Christmas)<p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">The first time I saw the 1983 movie
<a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=christmas+story+mcgavin" target="_blank">A Christmas Story</a>, I was expecting something completely
different. Instead of a heart-warming, sentimental story about a family’s
Christmas in the 1950s, this hilarious film looks at Christmas through the eyes
of a child who sees everything going wrong for him. <a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=christmas+story+mcgavin" target="_blank">A Christmas Story</a> became one of my favorite Christmas
movies to watch during the holiday season.</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">I was excited to find that a new
movie was produced recently looking at the characters from that original
production nearly 30 years later. In <b><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=christmas+story+billingsley" target="_blank">A Christmas Story Christmas: Ralphie Comes Home</a>,</b>
Peter Billingsley stars again as Ralphie Parker, looking at Christmas through
the eyes of the Dad who is responsible for making sure everything turns out
just right for his own young family as they celebrate Christmas with his Mom in
his childhood home. Unfortunately, Ralphie has to deal with the loss of his own
father and his inability to secure a publisher for his book that he has written
while trying to make this a memorable occasion for his kids.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">This excellent movie is filled with
the same kind of imaginary scenes that made the original film the classic it
became. We see all of the actors who played important roles in the original
return for cameos as their adult characters. We see the same department store
and its “visit Santa and his elves” but with the twist that its Ralphie’s kids
waiting in the long line this time. The filming is well done, re-creating the
look from the original set but fast-forwarded to the year 1973. We don’t have
Darren McGavin as Old Man Parker (the actor passed away in 2006) but his photo
is everywhere and there are clips from the original production as Ralphie
remembers things his Dad did. We also don’t have actress Melinda Dillon (Mother
Parker); she passed away shortly after this new film was released. Otherwise,
the film does have the same feel as its predecessor.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><b><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=christmas+story+billingsley" target="_blank">A Christmas Story Christmas</a></b> was co-produced by
Jean Shepherd’s two adult children, Randall and Adrian Shepherd. One thing that
I loved was the scene where Ralphie goes to visit his friend Flick in the
neighborhood bar, Flick’s Tavern. The camera pans to a spot on the wall with a
sign that says “In God We Trust; All Others Pay Cash.” This, of course, is the
name of the book by Jean Shepherd that the original film was based on. I
thought it was a nice touch to include that. The story was based on the
author’s memories of growing up in the Hessville neighborhood of Hammond,
Indiana.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">I recommend this movie for anyone
who is a fan of the original story.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">(If you enjoy this, you may also
wish to try the original <a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=christmas+story+mcgavin" target="_blank">A Christmas Story</a>.)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">( <b><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt17220704" target="_blank">Internet Movie
Database entry for this 2022 film</a></b> )<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="right" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: right;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p align="right" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: right;">Recommended
by <a href="https://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/staff-recommendations/staff-recommendations-reviewer-index-page/reviews-by-kim-j/" target="_blank"><b>Kim J.</b></a><br />
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="right" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: right;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><b><i>Have you watched this one?
What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?</i></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
New reviews appear every month on the <a href="http://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/staff-recommendations/"><b>Staff
Recommendations</b></a> page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that
page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog
individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the
reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!<o:p></o:p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Thanks for keeping an eye on this news feed for the BookGuide readers advisory site of the Lincoln City Libraries!
For more detailed information and tons of useful reading-related resources, please visit us at:
<a href="http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/depts/bookguide">The BookGuide site</a>.</div>BookGuidehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15326755376505673787noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531329219481583687.post-40826276539064906332024-02-09T09:00:00.002-06:002024-02-09T09:00:00.133-06:00Music Book Review: The Oud: An Illustrated History by Rachel Beckles Willson<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><strong><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=oud+illustrated+history+wilson" target="_blank"></a></strong></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><strong><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy39PjIpX9z_VEgdW7T9JxT72Dx1gw0tnZQuSQyvzUPrs_DyRKJ-rVq2du4M9VP5Zd033y8Rn9vCL1daa9sQf4WZ6VnTJw75uQfQucwFmOqjuBT5ie3Gin3GPGJu1f9XsNvtSo3YqWGmKSCkcyAjwqdBhCh1s3stJSQGd5GSiIwcC6OP6NoMD138cr5bqK/s200/oudanillustratedhistory.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy39PjIpX9z_VEgdW7T9JxT72Dx1gw0tnZQuSQyvzUPrs_DyRKJ-rVq2du4M9VP5Zd033y8Rn9vCL1daa9sQf4WZ6VnTJw75uQfQucwFmOqjuBT5ie3Gin3GPGJu1f9XsNvtSo3YqWGmKSCkcyAjwqdBhCh1s3stJSQGd5GSiIwcC6OP6NoMD138cr5bqK/s1600/oudanillustratedhistory.jpg" width="200" /></a></strong></div><strong><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=oud+illustrated+history+wilson" target="_blank">The Oud: An Illustrated History</a></strong><br />
by Rachel Beckles Willson (Music 787.82 Wil)<o:p></o:p><p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">The oud, a common stringed
instrument throughout the Middle East, eventually begat the Medieval-era lute,
which was at its essence an oud with gut frets tied around the neck, and from
there, the guitar was eventually born. Though we don’t see lot of oud
performances in the United States, it remains one of the most popular stringed
instruments in Middle Eastern musical traditions, along with its cousins the
baglama, the tanbur, and the buzuq.</p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">We recently got a new book at the
Polley Music Library called <strong><a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=oud+illustrated+history+wilson" target="_blank">The Oud: An Illustrated History</a></strong> by Rachel Beckles
Willson, and it may be the first book-length discussion of the history and
present status of this noble instrument published in the English language. As
it turns out, this book can show us a lot about the instrument itself,
lesser-discussed aspects of music history (both Eastern and Western), and the
many ways the instrument continues to be used in contemporary music, both
traditional and new forms that combine multiple traditions.<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">As Willson notes in her
introduction, the oud is found all over the world today, but there isn’t as
much concrete information known about its history, particularly for Western
audiences. She has a background as a writer, musician, composer, artist and
educator that makes her uniquely qualified for writing this book. As an artist
who has toured the world as a professional concert pianist, who also has
studied composition and the saxophone at the collegiate level, and who has regularly
published as a music scholar, she has been able to bring all of these skills to
her personal journey into learning to play the oud since 2010. She has returned
with an in-depth analysis of the instrument’s history and the social and
political conditions around its development over the ages. In her exploration
of the oud, she has studied many unique styles and traditions connected with
the instrument, finding that many nationalities take umbrage with the different
musical approaches of their neighbors. As she says, “My outsider position is my
strength. It is what allows me to bring together the multiple voices that make
up the history and contemporary life of this extraordinary instrument, and to
draw out the fascinating stories of those who have been lost along the way.”<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">Willson approaches the instrument
from a variety of perspectives, starting with the history of the instrument,
and early stringed instruments more generally. The oud is not the earliest
stringed instrument, though it is so ancient that the absolute beginning of its
development remains somewhat lost. Musicologists generally divide the early
chordophone instruments including the oud into two categories: long-necked and
short-necked. The long-necked varieties are much older, dating back to somewhere
around 2300 BCE in the area of Iraq. These evolved into a different set of
instruments: the tanbur, the dutar, the more modern saz and baglama
instruments. They generally all share characteristics of having smaller bodies
with their relatively long necks, relatively few courses of strings, and many
have frets made of gut tied onto their necks. In contrast, the oud features
more courses of strings and a shorter neck to achieve a similar range, all
attached to a considerably larger body. Evidence of instruments close to this
design start to appear in the historical record closer to one century BCE. The
relatively modern iteration of the instrument, likely very similar to the ouds
still in use today, appears to date to roughly the 7th or 8th Century CE.<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">Next, we explore construction of
ouds. While there are similarities in features and proportions, there are ouds
of somewhat different sizes in use today, each refined to the particular needs
of a region or country’s particular musical tradition. Arabic, Turkish, Iraqi
and Egyptian ouds are all common, and their subtly different scale lengths (the
distance that the strings span) and body sizes all create unique tonal
characteristics. Willson also discusses the techniques used to make ouds, which
include a lot of ingenious molds that help to shape wood staves or “ribs” into
the classically recognizable pear-shaped bowl back that these instruments all
feature. The various pieces of wood that comprise the oud are both functional
and made to be quite beautiful!<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">I found the third section of the
book to be the most interesting, as I knew the least about it: Willson explores
what she describes as the “tangled lives of oud players” historically.
Specifically, the early history of the oud, and of a lot of Middle Eastern
musical culture in general, was driven by the contributions of women: “Women
performed in temples and they performed in courts, playing a range of
instruments…women continued to dominate the professional class of players in
the first centuries of Islam, and so the earliest oud players were inevitably
women.” This is not to say that the culture at large was matriarchal: in these
earliest years, some of these women were free, and some were enslaved
courtesans, also expected to be responsible for musical entertainment. As many
religious scholars assessed that music itself was a corrupting influence,
musicians in general weren’t particularly admired, either.<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">Over time, men took over
music-making, and in present times, relatively few women have been involved with
playing the oud. Willson explores this transition in the next section, in which
the oud travels throughout Europe and gradually becomes the lute in many
countries. This happened in the 15th and 16th centuries, and at some point the
two instruments and their traditions more or less diverged permanently, with
lute players opting to play more contrapuntal and chordal-based music by
plucking with their fingers instead of a plectrum, aided by the addition of
frets to lute necks. Some things remained the same, though: women who played
this instrument in Medieval Europe were often courtesans as well. As empires
and trade routes changed from the Medieval era to the present, there appear to
be some similarities in the West and the East in terms of how music was treated
culturally: in both cases, the celebration of composers and performers as
“geniuses,” or people to be admired as representing their area’s cultural
traditions to an increasingly interconnected world, became common, and most of
those figures were men. And the instruments themselves, like many cultural
artifacts, have become collectable and valuable, an interesting phenomenon when
one considers how impoverished most instrument-making families have been
historically.<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">For readers with a musical background
but not much knowledge of how middle eastern music works, the section on taksim
may be the most important here. This tradition has dictated a lot of the
direction of middle eastern music since the 17th century. It’s a form of
improvisation, with some differences: in the West, our improv is often governed
by chord progressions. There, where the music is often not heterophonic or
chord-based, taksim dictates particular melodic directions and angles preferred
to be used with their scales, or makam. The playing of taksims remains an
important part of the oud playing tradition today, and the pieces produced
through this tradition often go on to become familiar songs themselves, with a
mix of composition and improvisation.<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">Though the oud is used by many
cultures in the middle east, most countries have their own unique traditions,
repertoire, and even microtonal tuning systems, which make a fretless
instrument like the oud ideal for traveling between traditions, and even
participating in the creation of new ones. The later sections of the book focus
on these new traditions, many of which find oud players taking on roles in
exciting new blends of musical traditions from around the world. It’s a
flexible instrument that shines in a wide variety of styles, and it’s great to
see it finally being celebrated in the West with this thorough overview book!<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">(If you enjoy this, you may also
wish to try <a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=music+traditions+arabian+peninsula+urkevich" target="_blank">Music and Traditions of the Arabian Peninsula : Saudi Arabia,
Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar</a> by Lisa Urkevich or <a href="https://lcl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=music+world+islam+shiloah" target="_blank">Music in the World of Islam: A Socio-Cultural Study</a> by
Amnon Shiloah.)<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">( Wikipedia page about <strong><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oud" target="_blank">The Oud</a></strong> )
| ( official <strong><a href="https://www.rachelbeckleswillson.com/" target="_blank">Rachel Beckles Willson</a></strong> web site )<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p align="right" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: right;">Recommended
by <a href="https://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/staff-recommendations/staff-recommendations-reviewer-index-page/reviews-by-scott-s-polley/" target="_blank"><strong>Scott S.</strong></a><br />
Polley Music Library</p><p><b><i>Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?</i></b></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><p>New reviews appear every month on the <a href="http://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/staff-recommendations/"><b>Staff Recommendations</b></a> page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhserIuHYaAyxxY6Ut4-fpzNnAomgrDFB14_iO4f8kQh-RdSOvgWMwvjdziozQaxk_fnZvKxe26inBq3ocEXNMZxQucA9GgBXxgCNQoP5TXukqW9a3o0cS5iWiS90EcTE9V8qUA7bRJaqah/s293/PolleyIcon.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="293" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhserIuHYaAyxxY6Ut4-fpzNnAomgrDFB14_iO4f8kQh-RdSOvgWMwvjdziozQaxk_fnZvKxe26inBq3ocEXNMZxQucA9GgBXxgCNQoP5TXukqW9a3o0cS5iWiS90EcTE9V8qUA7bRJaqah/s0/PolleyIcon.jpg" width="293" /></a></div><br />Check out this, and all the other great music resources, at the <a href="https://lincolnlibraries.org/polley-music-library/" target="_blank"><b>Polley Music Library</b></a>, located on the 2nd floor of the Bennett Martin Public Library at 14th & "N" St. in downtown Lincoln. You'll find biographies of musicians, books about music history, instructional books, sheet music, CDs, music-related magazines, and much more. Also check out <a href="http://library.booksite.com/7142/nl/?list=CNL4" target="_blank"><b>Polley Music Library Picks</b></a>, the Polley Music Library's e-mail newsletter, and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LNKLibrariesMusic/" target="_blank"><b>follow them on Facebook</b></a>!<div class="blogger-post-footer">Thanks for keeping an eye on this news feed for the BookGuide readers advisory site of the Lincoln City Libraries!
For more detailed information and tons of useful reading-related resources, please visit us at:
<a href="http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/depts/bookguide">The BookGuide site</a>.</div>BookGuidehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15326755376505673787noreply@blogger.com0