DVD Review: The Crown - The Complete First Season

The Crown: The Complete First Season
(DVD Crown)

 

The first season of The Crown covers the marriage of Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip, the rapid decline of King George VI’s health and then eventually his death, Elizabeth’s coronation, her relationship with Churchill – played very convincingly by John Lithgow – interactions with the abdicated king (now known as the Duke of Windsor) and other family drama, mostly involving her sister Princess Margaret.

 

This Netflix series was recommended to me by several friends and family members. Before watching it I knew nothing about the history of the royal family so I spent a lot of the first few episodes on my phone looking at the family tree to figure out who was who. Once that was nailed down things became really interesting. The first season focuses on her learning how to be the queen and being torn in different directions. She wants to remain loyal to her sister and also have opinions on matters but knows that as the Queen she has to do things differently. She also has to deal with a headstrong husband who has to learn how to become a follower instead. It’s really quite fascinating. Claire Foy was a very strong lead but Vanessa Kirby stole every scene.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try The Queen with Helen Mirren, The Tudors or The Hollow Crown, Reign, Victoria, The King’s Speech or Downton Abbey.]

 [ Internet Movie Database entry for this series ] | [ Netflix’ official The Crown web page ]

 

 

Recommended by Carrie R.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

Have you watched this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations 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!

Music Book Review: Sheets of Sound for Guitar by Jack A. Zucker

Sheets of Sound for Guitar
by Jack A. Zucker (Music 787.874 Zuc)

 

If you play any kind of pick-style guitar, this book will help you to clean up your technique and get you invested in the logic behind economy picking, or combinations of alternate and sweep picking that maximize the efficiency and control of the right hand. Stylistically, the book focuses on jazz passages, the kinds of fluid phrases one often hears played on saxophone, but the techniques work wonderfully no matter what style you prefer.

 

The book starts with relatively easy fundamentals, simply moving through major and minor scales with a focus on economy picking (carrying through with 2 upstrokes or downstrokes in a row as you switch strings). From there, you’ll break out to various kinds of melodic fragments that move all around the neck, showing you all kinds of potential approaches to the instrument. Exercises are written in 8th notes throughout, though once you’ve learned the mechanics of playing through these pieces, you’re encouraged to mix up the rhythms yourself and find the real music lurking behind the exercises.

 

Of all the pick-guitar books in Polley, I think this one can offer the most toward maximizing your right-hand technique. Work on a few exercises at a time, starting out slowly using a metronome and gradually increasing the speed, and you’ll be amazed at how quickly your picking feels more fluid and expressive.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Guitar Aerobics by Troy Nelson, Vaideology by Steve Vai, or Guitar Sweep Picking & Arpeggios by Joe Stump.]

[ official Jack Zucker/Sheets of Sound for Guitar web site ]

 

Recommended by Scott S.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Polley Music Library

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations 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!

Check out this, and all the other great music resources, at the Polley Music Library, 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 Polley Music Library Picks, the Polley Music Library's e-mail newsletter, and follow them on Facebook!

Book Review: Superman Smashes the Klan by Gene Luen Yang

Superman Smashes the Klan
by Gene Luen Yang (YA PB (Graphic Novel) Yang)

Acclaimed Asian-American graphic novelist (American Born Chinese) Yang provides his take on one of the giants of the comic-book industry — Superman. Yang took the plot of an early 1940s-era 16-episode Superman radio serial, “The Klan of the Fiery Cross”, and beefed it up with additional subplots and a stronger sense of social justice.

 

This storyline is set in the early days of Superman’s existence — it is a late 1930s setting, and Superman as a hero has only recently begun his exploits. In fact, he still hasn’t fully realized the full range of his own powers — he can’t fly, use heat beams or x-ray vision from his eyes, or exhale frost breath.

 

The story of Superman Smashes the Klan focuses on the Lee family, who are moving from Chinatown into Metropolis proper, and who begin to face both outright and subtle racial discrimination. One of the fellow baseball team members of the “Unity House” baseball team that a Lee teenager joins, turns out to be the nephew of the Grand Dragon of the local branch of the Klan of the Fiery Cross (a thinly veiled version of the KKK). The plot involves the Lee family getting further and further involved in a disturbing battle against racists, and Superman learning about his own true alien nature and the abilities he’s never been aware that he had.

 

I anticipated not liking this, but exactly the opposite was true — the storytelling and artwork here were superb, and Yang’s extensive afterword notes helped to explain a lot of the time-period-sensitive references in the story. This isn’t really a “superhero” story — it’s more a story illustrating how anyone can stand up to racism and fascism. I enjoyed this one so much after reading the library copy, I went out and bought a copy for my own collection.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try American Born Chinese also by Gene Luen Yang.]

[ DC Comics’ Superman Smashes the Klan web page ] | [ official Gene Luen Yang web site ]

 

Fan of superheroes? Check out our If You Like Superheroes on Film and TV list on BookGuide!

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations 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!

Book Review: Before the Ever After by Jacqueline Woodson

Before the Ever After
by Jacqueline Woodson (j Woodson)

 

National Book Award winner Jacqueline Woodson tackled my heart with ZJ’s story, a novel in verse that shares how ZJ, a growing boy, learns to cope with the changes in his family as his football hero father deals with the consequences of a career fraught with injuries.

 

ZJ finds he can depend on his friends and his family as his father goes from being everyone’s football hero to someone who struggles to remember his son’s name. As the family’s world changes, ZJ discovers that daily life is about more than being a hero, and being a dad still means every single thing.

 

If you’ve never tried a novel-in-verse before, I highly recommend starting with Before the Ever After. Even though they are quick to read, the format lends itself to nuanced stories. In this novel, Woodson immediately immerses you into the world of ZJ and his friends, and suddenly, even if like me, you’re not a fan of football, you find yourself rooting for ZJ and his father, and left with a happy feeling for getting to know ZJ and his friends. It’s a moving story and thoughtfully done.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson, These Hands by Margaret Mason or I Am Every Good Thing by Derrick Barnes.]

[ publisher’s official Before the Ever After web page ] | [ official Jacqueline Woodson web site ]

 

Recommended by Carrie K.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations 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!

Book Review: A Timeless Christmas by Alexis Stanton

A Timeless Christmas
by Alexis Stanton (Hoopla E-Audiobook)

 

I was on a kick of watching quite a few of the “Hallmark Christmas Movies” that aired in October through December, and one of those was an adaptation of this novel — A Timeless Christmas — originally by Alexis Stanton. It was one of the better of the films this past holiday season, so I decided to take a chance on the original 2018 novel.

 

Megan Turner is a historical scholar, working at the historic Whitley Mansion as a costumed tour-guide, re-enacting what life in the mansion would have been like around 1902, when the famous inventor and innovator Charles Whitley disappeared, never to be seen again. Charles Whitley is that man, who accidentally triggers an unexpected time travel device in 1902, and who then reappears in his mansion in 2018, bewildered and surprised at both his predicament and all the strangers touring his elaborate home.

 

The “time travel” element is minor in this romance novel about a man out-of-place, a woman who was obsessed with him before he became a reality, and the typical learning experience of an inveterate tinkerer suddenly finding himself thrust into the world of iPhones and streaming video.

 

A lot of changes were made for the TV-movie, which tightened some plot elements and eliminated others from this novel. One of my favorite elements of the novel is the young daughter of one of the supporting characters, who is the first to recognize that Whitley is a real time traveler. This never made it into the film.

 

In the end, A Timeless Christmas is a very simply-written, charming little piece of fluff. Don’t expect depth and you’ll find enough to entertain you in this quick-to-read volume.

[ Hallmark Channel’s A Timeless Christmas movie web page ] | [ publisher’s official Alexis Stanton web page ]

 

For more “time travel” romances, check out our Somewhere in Time booklist on BookGuide!

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations 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!

Book Review: Phoenix Extravagant by Yoon Ha Lee

Phoenix Extravagant
by Yoon Ha Lee (Lee)

 

Phoenix Extravagant has a striking cover featuring a red East Asian style metal dragon flying over a low roof. This caught my eye because it looks like a great metal album cover. It didn’t have anything to do with heavy metal music, but it did turn out to be a fantasy set in Korea during its occupation by Imperial Japan. Okay, the words “Korea” and “Japan” aren’t in the book, but the details about things like flag designs and geography make it clear that it’s loosely based on this historical situation without being historical fiction.

Jebi is a young artist who has been working hard to pass an art examination and find steady work with the occupiers. They know their older sister wouldn’t approve of collaboration, but times are hard. Beyond Korean folklore being visibly true in this story, there is a police force of metal people in the city that turn out to be powered by magical sigils. Put that together with what’s on this book’s cover and you have a good idea of what Jebi is about to find themself stumbling into. But wait until you find out what the empire is doing to acquire the pigments for these sigils.

 

I would consider this a “new adult” level book that’s aimed primarily at readers in their 20s. It’s great for people into painting, Korean history and folklore, sympathetic characters in conflict with each other, or who just want a fun adventure story that looks at politics and the dynamics of occupation. Phoenix Extravagant is also the book with the most non-binary people I’ve encountered so far. It’s unclear whether this book will have a sequel. There’s an opening for more, but the story here does come to a satisfying and sublime conclusion.

 

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson, Tess of the Road by Rachel Hartman or Dragon Pearl also by Yoon Ha Lee.]

 

[ publisher’s official Phoenix Extravagant web page ] | [ official Yoon Ha Lee web site ]

 

Recommended by Garren H.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations 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!