This is an unusual collection of insightful moments, people, relationships and life throughout the day into evening. Many will find something of value just by randomly opening the pages and selecting something new, including births, deaths, lovers, children, snooping, guns, the down side of Las Vegas, soap operas and birthdays.
Author:
A review of How We Got Barb Back: The Story of My Sister’s Reawakening After 30 Years of Schizophrenia by Margaret Hawkins
The quiet joy that Margaret takes in rediscovering her sister is inspirational. What we find at the end is not the old Barb, but rather, Barb as she is and has become. How We Got Barb Back is an important book, not just for those looking for answers and understanding about a relative struggling with mental illness, but for everyone.
A review of The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing, fifth edition by Marilyn Ross and Sue Collier
If you are serious about going the whole hog and self-publishing one, or many books, then you are going to become a publisher and trying to do it without this guide could be a big mistake. The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing is one of the most seminal, practical and valuable books on the topic on the market and it belongs on every self-publisher’s shelf.
Life was Bent, and I was Twisted: The King of In Between by Garland Jeffreys
It is very liberating to hear someone say something that sounds tough and wise; and in “Til John Lee Hooker Calls Me,” a blues-rock rave-up with intense singing, Jeffrey celebrates the musical heroes who have come and gone, such as James Brown, Fats Domino, Bo Diddley, Sinatra, Nat Cole, and John Lee Hooker.
A review of String Bridge by Jessica Bell
Above all, this is a novel about music. Music drives the plot as Melody’s desire for music becomes the motivating catalyst for change in her life. Her guitar and voice underpin the narrative in all sorts of ways, from the songs that open each chapter, to the lullabyes Melody sings for her daughter to the musical career she attempts to resurrect.
Of Necessity, The Human Claim: John Legend and The Roots, Wake Up!
John Legend is asking music to be real; asking music to be a bridge to reality; asking music to interrogate reality. I respect that. I admire work that expresses, preserves, and celebrates experience; and work that articulates values and virtues: work that embodies complete thoughts and uses poetic resources, whether the work is domestic or international. I know something about country and city life, of how children recreate the cruelty and ignorance they see in their parents, and the difficulty of professors and employers seeing themselves in a young African-American man.
Social Awareness and Spiritual Consciousness, Precious and Proud: The Essential Earth, Wind and Fire
By Daniel Garrett Earth, Wind and Fire, The Essential Earth, Wind and Fire Compilation produced by Leo Sacks and Maurice White Sony, 2002 “Don’t hesitate ’cause the world seems cold. Stay young at heart…” —Earth, Wind and Fire, “That’s the…
Citizens of the World: Rihanna’s Loud with The Definitive Collection by Diana Ross
Yet, it is usually interesting, if not illuminating, to hear new sounds, something I began to contemplate once more when considering the work of Robyn Rihanna Fenty, whose popular work seems to draw from different genres—hip-hop, rock, dance, and Caribbean music—to create a sound that is, at once, personal and impersonal, familiar and fresh.
A Great Voice Evokes, Inspires Feeling: My Soul by Leela James
The slow, intimately blues-tinged song “So Cold,” a response to a quirky lover, is a quick reminder of the gifts of Leela James, in which it is easy to identify with her voice and to feel empathy for her. Leela James has a great voice, the kind of voice one hears and then feels like crying or making love.
Glamour, Grace, and Grit: the anthology Breathe Again: The Best of Toni Braxton
Toni Braxton is both a song stylist and a popular entertainer; and she has touched places in an audience that used to be reserved for the obscure divas requiring special introductions and interpretations. It says much that her toughness is direct but not frightening, and that her sensuality is easy to see but does not diminish respect for her.