Boys in the 80s

I forget where I saw a review or comment that made me think I needed to put The Impossible Fortress by Jason Rekulak on my library hold list sooner rather than later but I saw it and I did it. It's the story of three boys that want to pull off the perfect heist of a Playboy issue. One of them is super into early computer gaming and so is the daughter of the store owner where they want to steal the magazine. This leads to an unexpected friendship and a lot of big decisions.

First, the good stuff. This story really felt true to the 80s. It made me remember early computers, crappy love songs, and old mall stores. Now the bad stuff. This story really felt true to the 80s. It reminded me of the horrible words that us 80s kids used to throw around, the casual sexism and racism, the shitty way single mothers were treated. I liked this story but I strongly disliked one of the boys and hated another one of them. The end is also a bit farfetched, although I did feel that the boy I disliked redeemed himself somewhat. All of the blurbs on the cover that use the words "sweet", "funny", "hilarious"? I'm not sure I read the same book that they did. I thought this was a dark but honest story. We may get nostalgic for the past but the day-to-day reality might not be as rosy as we remember.

My 80s itch wasn't fully scratched after that first novel so I picked up Jason Diamond's Searching for John Hughes. This book reminded me why I used to be (and need to be again) very, very picky about which memoirs I was willing to read. I did not like this guy much at all. I felt bad for him when he was a kid because both of his parents were HORRID but, ugh, how many times can someone claim to have recognized his privilege and then still go ahead acting the same way as he did before? How self-centered do you have to be to keep treating people like crap who are trying to help you and be friendly? He ultimately only gets his shit together because he is handed the job that becomes his career. This was not the love letter to the 80s that I was expecting. This guy wasn't even born until like 1980/81. Again, blurbs that use words like "hilarious" and "charm" don't make any sense to me after reading this book. It is dark and depressing and not a fun read.

So, now that I've read two books that weren't satisfying 80s reads, recommend me something about the 80s that I *will* like. (I am one of the ones that totally loved both of Ernie Cline's books, Ready Player One and Armada.) Please.

Looking back with distaste,

K

#MarchMagics : Soul Music

It seemed almost predestined that I would be reading Soul Music when the inestimable Chuck Berry died last week. This story is an homage to the power and the eternal nature of rock and roll. It is also a study of humanity and fate. Death has been overwhelmed by an expected but unavoidable loss and he goes in search of oblivion, leaving his job to be automatically filled by his sixteen-year-old granddaughter, Susan. One of Susan's first empty hourglasses belongs to Imp y Celyn, a young musician. But, just as she prepares to break the rules and save his life based on a strange feeling of familiarity, she is preempted by a chord. The music instead saves him and takes over his life.

This is one of those books that has SO many references that it is impossible to catch all of them on the first or even the second read. Even the smallest throwaway phrase can be a joke or a play on words. The big ideas though are easy to catch. The music of the universe began with the big bang and rock and roll has the power to change the world. Also, a human would not make a successful Grim Reaper because it's a job that has to be done without emotion, no matter what ... usually. I loved all of the side characters, even C.M.O.T. Dibbler and Ande Supporting Bands. This is a good, solid book that must have taken ages to put together so seamlessly.

Question of the Day: In this story, almost everyone who hears the Music With Rocks In has an urge to play it or worship at its altar. Did you ever dream of a rock and roll lifestyle? What is your musical life story?

My answer? As a kid, I sang in the church choir and in one or two school musicals, played the trumpet for eight years, and studied classical piano for a bit. None of those seemed particularly "cool" though and I always wanted to learn guitar. I tried one lesson but the guy was a 90's metal band type who taught songs instead of fundamentals and it just wasn't the right fit for me. After high school, my daydreams turned to waiting for the day that one of my favorite bands desperately needed me to be a backup singer in the middle of a show. But, no matter how many concerts I went to, they never felt the need to grab my hand, pull me up on the stage, and marvel at my skill. Sigh. Now I just crank up the car radio on sunny days and sing until I'm hoarse.

On the backbeat,

K

New Release: Bad Kid

I have a bunch of books that are going to get group reviews as I play catch up again but I thought that Bad Kid by David Crabb deserved its own post. This is Crabb's memoir of growing up gay in San Antonio, Texas. He was bullied before he had even fully realized what set him apart from many of the other kids. The thing he latched onto as a safe and happy thing was music. (Each chapter is headed with a song title or lyric.) And this is the thing that drew me in to his story because we are exactly the same age (well, I'm 8 months older) and we listened to almost all the same music -- George Michael and Madonna, then Erasure and the Pet Shop Boys, and finally The Smiths, Depeche Mode, The Cure, and Nine Inch Nails. But, while I was a relatively innocent Mormon kid, hanging with my besties, going to church dances, and listening to music in my bedroom in a small city an hour east of Los Angeles, he was sneaking out, going to clubs, dodging skinheads, and experimenting with drugs. It was fascinating to see a life so different than mine that was happening at the same time and to the same soundtrack just a few states away. I may not have been able to relate to pretty much anything he went through or did but I still feel like I knew him somehow. We both had specific places we ate lunch with our friends at school, got excited when friends got cool new cars, and lusted after boys that smelled good.

Even if this wasn't your time period or your music, I think there's much to gain from reading Crabb's story, meeting his friends, tagging along to dangerous parties, and seeing how someone who doesn't fit in to the conventional world finds his own place to belong. The story is sweet and funny and frightening and even sad. I was in tears by the end. This is a quick read that would be worth anyone's time to pick up.

There is a light that never goes out ...
K

Autobiography by Morrissey

I know that it came out a year ago and I bought a copy from the UK the week it came out but somehow time flew and I only ended up reading Morrissey's Autobiography this November. This book will have a specific audience so, instead of trying to convince you to read it, let me give you a few tips if you're already planning on reading about Stephen Patrick Morrissey, from childhood through his most recent album.

1. Be prepared to read a book that has no chapters. This is one long, verbose, sometimes poetic, sometimes obtuse, narrative. It is, as you would expect, lyrical. It is also somehow self-effacing and conceited at the same time. "There is no reason for anyone to notice me" can be quickly followed by "Did you see how they all love me".
2. The longest and most detailed part of the book (50 pages) is a very bitter diatribe about the Michael Joyce vs. Morrissey/Marr Smiths-related money lawsuit. To be sure, it was a terrible court case and was the true nail in the coffin of the Smiths, but I would have liked more about Morrissey in the book and less about the horrid Judge John Weeks. Still, this is obviously still a very tender and gaping wound.
3. You cannot read this book with the book alone. You are going to want a computer right next to you. You will need to regularly press play on this Spotify playlist by Greg Thorpe that includes almost all of the non-Smiths/Morrissey music mentioned in the book (59 tracks). You will also need to get out all of your Smiths and Morrissey albums (which you will have because why else would you be reading about Morrissey if you didn't care about the music). You will want the link to the Suedehead video because so many cool things come together when you read about how/when it was made while watching it. It will also be to your benefit to have a search engine nearby because Morrissey likes to mention people without giving any background biographical information about them. A good Google search fills in many a blank.
4. Get the UK Penguin version. The American Putnam edition is apparently slightly sanitized and it does not have the brilliant Penguin Classics cover that Morrissey demanded.
5. Don't eat meat while reading the book. I have a feeling that he has a way to find out.

Reading this book was definitely an experience. There were times when my heart broke for Morrissey and other times when I wanted to slap him. Overall, this book proves that he's human and he needs to be loved just like everybody else does. (Sorry.) I think that the first person that needs to learn to love him though is the one residing in his own skin. Still, I will be queuing up for tickets the next time he is in town to see him (for the fourth time) and let him bask in my adoration.

Trudging slowly over wet sand,

K

Sometimes Mere Scales Can Be Beautiful Music

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman. I LOVED this book. I loved this book so much that I want to tell you all to read it right now. You don't have to take my word alone for it either. Ask anyone else who has read it. They'll also sing its praises because it's just that good.

Now you probably want to know what it's about. Well, I'll be honest. It's a little different. It's about humans ... and dragons. But don't let that scare you if dragons aren't your thing. They happen to be dragons that have the ability to change their appearances to look like humans. So most of the time this story is just about people of different races because, really, that's all they are underneath. Some of those people want peace between the races and others can't accept anyone who is different and they actively cause trouble. And then there's Seraphina. She is a new musical apprentice in court and she has a secret that keeps her distant from everyone else, a secret that could change the relations between the two groups. So this is a story about music and identity and it's got a bit of romance and politics and it's just really, really smart. And yes, it has dragons.

I hope that I've convinced a few of you to give this book a try. There is a sequel coming out a year from now so the only complaint I (and others) have is that that date is too damn far away!

Waiting impatiently to hear the music again,
K

Note: This was my first read for the Once Upon a Time Challenge.

New Release: Unknown Pleasures

When Peter Hook's book, Unknown Pleasures: Inside Joy Division, showed up at my house, I squealed with delight at the gorgeous black cover, demi sleeve and black page edges. Then I noticed that the front of the book had faint lines imitating the pattern of Joy Division's first album. It blew me away before I even opened the book. (Well done, It Books.)

Then I began reading and was swept away by Peter Hook (bassist extraordinaire) and his conversational style of writing. It felt as if I was actually able to sit down with him for a friendly chat about Joy Division and to finally learn more of the story of a band that was forced to dissolve in their prime, one day before an American tour. This isn't a tell-all--many juicy stories are hinted at but not told--which I believe shows the respect that Hook still has for his former bandmates and colleagues. Still, there's enough meat in the story to make any reader feel like an insider.

Peter Hook, Ian Curtis, Stephen Morris and Bernard Sumner

I came to Joy Division a bit backwards as a New Order fan, the band formed by Hook, Morris and Sumner after Curtis' suicide in 1980. But, as I was five when this happened, it's not unexpected. And still, after discovering Joy Division, I only ever really listened to their most well-known songs -- "Love Will Tear Us Apart", "Atmosphere" and "Dead Souls". So one of the best experiences of the book was reading Hook's two chapters covering Joy Division's studio albums, Unknown Pleasures and Closer, with the instruction "I really recommend listening to the record while you read". I took his advice and listened to each track as I read his words about them and it was an amazing experience and I can say that I'm now truly a Joy Division fan.

If you want to learn more about Ian Curtis and Joy Division, you can watch the brilliant 2007 film Control by Anton Corbijn. Hook mentions it more than once in his book as being fairly accurate. It is, of course, sad as it deals with the death of a bright young man, husband, father and musician at the age of 23. Whatever caused him to do it (which nobody truly knows), it is obvious that it still haunts his friends and family. Hook doesn't even state it outright until almost halfway through the book, as if he can't bring himself to visit those painful memories until it is essential for the narrative. I also highly recommend this book for fans of British music as you will get numerous tidbits about other musicians/bands of the time like Sex Pistols, OMD (one of my all-time favorite bands, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark), The Cure, U2, Stephen Morrissey of The Smiths and more. It's also just a touching and funny story about four young men who put their hearts and souls into some of the most beautiful and haunting music ever written.

Don't walk away in silence,

K

Books for Dad

If you're like me, Father's Day is sneaking up on you and you still don't know what you're getting for the fathers in your life. Here are a couple of books that came through our house recently that I would definitely consider.

Atlantic by Simon Winchester has one of the longest subtitles I've seen--Great Sea Battles, Heroic Discoveries, Titanic Storms, and a Vast Ocean of a Million Stories--and yet it still seems inadequate for a book that has such an incredible amount of history packed in. I'm about half-way through this book and anticipate it taking quite a while longer to finish only because I can't read more than a few pages in one sitting before I am overwhelmed with the amount of information that has been presented. There is so much that I want to remember, so much to ponder that I want to savor it rather than rush through and miss things. I started this book right after seeing (and accidentally stepping in) the Atlantic Ocean for the first time and so this book also just means something a bit special to me now.

This is my second read by Winchester and I'm impressed again by the combination of in-depth research and an easy, conversational tone. Any father that loves stories of the sea will be fascinated by this book. And, I'm sure it's obvious that this book isn't just for dads. This might even be an appropriate grad gift for someone in marine biology, anthropology or history.

The book I'm most likely to send to the younger dads in my life is The Geek Dad's Guide to Weekend Fun by Ken Denmead. Also with an impressive subtitle (Cool Hacks, Cutting-Edge Games, and More Awesome Projects for the Whole Family), this book's strength comes from its wide variety of projects and clear instructions. Some of the activities are even done with things that a good geek dad should already have around the house like massive amounts of spare Lego. The dad in my house is eyeing the Backyard Zip Line project (although the idea makes me rather nervous!).

There's a cute animated trailer for the book that happily features both a daughter and a son spending an entire day with their dad, making all sorts of fun projects. So, this could be a gift for you as well when you get a free day while dad is busy building a trebuchet with the kids. With over two dozen projects there's also something for just about every age group so that even the littlest ones can have fun making homemade rootbeer or playing Pokemon bingo.

And finally there's The Greatest Music Stories Never Told: 100 Tales From Music History to Astonish, Bewilder, and Stupefy by Rick Beyer. This is the next in a series of books that are published in conjunction with the History Channel. The other books focus on General History, War, Presidents and Science and you can look at them here.

Though labeled as music stories, this is more of a general history book that is packed full of trivia that just happens to relate to music. I learned that Benjamin Franklin gave guitar lessons and about the origin of the Billboard music charts. There's also a companion webpage where you can play videos and sound samples that pair with the stories. The only thing that I would warn is that the cover of the book is a bit misleading as it lists names that seem like modern songs but are, in fact, the titles that are applied to historical events in a bit of a punny way. New York State of Mind is not about Billy Joel but rather the story behind the Sinatra hit New York, New York. Still, this book has a lot to offer including a wealth of historical photos and tidbits.

Hoping not to forget to buy gifts in time,
K


Support our site and buy Atlantic: Great Sea Battles, Heroic Discoveries, Titanic Storms, and a Vast Ocean of a Million Stories, The Geek Dad's Guide to Weekend Fun: Cool Hacks, Cutting-Edge Games, and More Awesome Projects for the Whole Family and The Greatest Stories Never Told: 100 Tales from History to Astonish, Bewilder, and Stupefy on Amazon or find them at your local library. We received uncorrected proofs of these books for review.

Book v. Movie: Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist

I put off watching Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist for the longest time because I was annoyed that they copied the names of my beloved Nick and Nora from The Thin Man movies. Then one night I was awake far too late, nothing else was on and so I stayed up for hours longer watching this movie. It's not an all-time favorite but there are things about it that I love (like Kat Dennings and the Yugo). It's a story of second chances, accidental love-at-first-sight and choosing your best future. I've watched it once or twice more in the wee hours of the night/morning (because I can't stomach the whole Caroline and her gum thing when I'm fully awake) and enjoyed it each time. Then, inevitably, I figured out it was a book.

In fact, I figured that it was probably the type of book that wasn't really for me -- me being stodgy and married and from the opposite coast and all. And then I saw the book for a dollar at Half Price Books and couldn't resist. I breezed through the short novel--written by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan as alternating chapters between the titular Nick and Norah--and have made it through relatively unscathed and of the opinion that this book was actually more for the adults than the kids. It's quite full of profanity and sexuality and was surprisingly lacking in music. The kids talk like they're in their twenties instead of like teenagers. Money keeps magically appearing for these kids who don't seem to have jobs. And yet, it made me a bit nostalgic for the problems of teens -- the wondering, the firsts, the fights, the friendships. That's why I think that adults might ultimately find it more interesting than teens.

The movie and the book turned out to have little in common and, though I appreciated the book, I have to say that I prefer the movie. I like the story line that they created, the different direction the characters took at times and the more dastardly exes. It was more of The Odyssey and less of The Breakfast Club.

Verdict: These are both decent stories about teen adventure and love. If you want more New York City landmarks, angst and f-bombs (hundreds of them), read the book. If you want more of a dramatic teen adventure comedy (yes, I'm having trouble classifying it!) with that special something that you always get from Michael Cera, watch the film.

Looking back on my relatively quiet teen years with relief,
K


Support our site and buy Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist (the novel) and Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist (the movie) on Amazon or find them at your local library. I watched the movie on cable and bought a copy of the book.

Nothing's Changed, Oh I Still Love You ... The Smiths

I actually remember the first time I heard The Smiths.  I was in junior high and my best friend Heather was making me tapes (yes, this was back in the era of cassette tapes) of music that her older sisters had played for her.  One of the tapes she made me was some forgettable band on one side and then The Queen Is Dead by The Smiths (1986) on the other side.  That album was like nothing I had ever heard before.  Frankly, Mr. Shankly and Cemetry Gates were light and perky melodies with dark lyrics.  I Know It's Over was full of the sort of angst and fatalism that I didn't know yet at 13.  There Is a Light That Never Goes Out was a beautiful blend of love and death and it blew my socks off.  And then, a few months later (if even that), I found out that The Smiths had just broken up (1987).  I was bummed but I was a kid.  It didn't mean that much to me and I started listening to random pop and rock crap which continued through high school.  Then, the summer after high school, I met a boy.  And that's where most stories start, isn't it?  This boy was a big fan of The Smiths and Morrissey and, soon after, so was I.  I was working at a music store at the time and started acquiring albums (cds by this time) and within a few short months was a full-blown fan.  I've now seen Morrissey (lead singer of the band) in concert three times and I still listen to The Smiths regularly.  (Things didn't work out so well with the boy.)

About a month ago, I was looking for an author on my library website and this book popped up -- Please: Fiction Inspired by The Smiths, edited by Peter Wild (called Paint a Vulgar Picture in the U.K.).  Strangely, it doesn't even feature the author that I was looking for so I'm not exactly sure why it came up.  But I couldn't resist checking it out and I've just finished what turned out to be an interesting mix of stories.  Some were awesome, others were, well, not.

There are 24 stories in the volume, each with a Smiths song as the title. However, I found it hard to find a connection with most of the stories and their namesakes -- either thematically or emotionally.  It wasn't until the seventh story and its Scottish brogue and suicidal story that I got the feeling that the author actually listened to and "got" The Smiths.  And then the real joy for me came with the tenth story, Oscillate Wildly, based on song with no lyrics.  This one was what I thought they all should have been -- bleak and moody but also funny!  After all, it featured the stone genitals taken from the angel at Oscar Wilde's grave.

A few more of the stories were close but a bit too serious.  One of the best things about The Smiths and Morrissey is the hidden humor in many of the lyrics.  Morrissey is a man with a great sense of humor.  After all, he's the type who pulled a banana out of the front of his trousers during a concert!  That's why Matt Beaumont's story I Want the One I Can't Have was one of the best of the volume.  It's an author's lament at having received an assignment to write for the "inspired by Duran Duran" anthology instead of The Smiths' one.  It was hilarious.  And Peter Wild's satirical political story was also funny in a dark way and just the sort of thing I can imagine Morrissey laughing at.  And then I hit Cemetry Gates.  This was an amazing story about two people who have fallen in love while both terminally ill.  I loved it.

So, the few gems in the book were worth picking up this book for.  And I have a feeling that this is the sort of book that each reader, Smiths fan or not, will appreciate in a different way.

"There's more to life than books, you know, but not much more." -- Handsome Devil, Morrissey





Spending warm summer days indoors,
K


Support our site and buy Please: Fiction Inspired by The Smiths on Amazon or find it at your local library.  We borrowed our copy from the library.

Hello Japan! Challenge: Music To My Ears

For this month's Hello Japan! challenge, Tanabata asked us to listen to any type of Japanese music.  I was hoping to be able to attend a local Taiko performance but the two Seattle groups had schedules that were not compatible with ours.  Z and I saw a performance by One World Taiko this last summer and loved it.  We were outside on a warm day and had dragonflies zooming overhead.  It was the perfect setting for the performance.  But since we weren't able to listen to this traditional Japanese drum music, we decided to go the opposite way with this post!

I don't think there is any music category more diverse than anime theme songs.  Many are pop songs but there are also hard rock/metal songs, soaring ballads and more typical rock songs.  Since there are types of anime for all ages and all viewers, I thought I would share the theme songs from some of our family favorites today.

One show that I enjoyed a few years back (and have been thinking about revisiting soon) is Blue Seed.  It's about a high school girl who fights a supernatural plant monster with the help of a mysterious warrior while running from government agents.  The theme song is called Carnival Babel and is performed by Takada Band.  It's definitely a pop song.



The lyrics are very interesting in this one because the first phrase is in English but the rest of the song is in Japanese.  Here are the first four lines and I dare you to make sense of them!

Mysterious Tokyo
Take it easy dangerous night
Mysterious Tokyo
Pick me up foxy night game

The rest of the lyrics relate somewhat to the story and are rather beautiful.  Here is an excerpt --

The moonbeams freeze over, inviting us to another night
The horns are exposed to the beat of the cold city.

A labyrinth has got a silence more tedious than loneliness
Leaving my body for pleasure, this night is gonna shine in a sea of illumination.

The blue, blue moment has begun to melt
My future rises up fleetingly now
Life glitters as much as light, and then it burns off.

One of T's favorite animes is Big O.  This show might have the best lead man ever in Roger Smith.  And the style of this song is much different. It's half in English, half in Japanese and makes ample use of the show title.  It also borrows significantly from the Flash Gordon theme song by Queen.  It's written and performed by Nagai Rui ---whose favorite band happens to be listed as, you guessed it, Queen.



The final one I'll share with you today is Z's favorite anime song and it's the theme song to My Neighbor Totoro, an amazing and adorable film by Hayao Miyazaki.  I'll admit that it's one of my favorite films of all time.  When Z was a baby and would have a particularly bad night, this movie (with the Japanese dialogue) almost always calmed him down.  First here is the English version of Stroll, performed by Azumi Inoue --



And here it is in the original Japanese (with English subtitles).  As you can see, the lyrics were changed quite a bit for the English version to fit the rhythm of the song but both versions are happy and light.



Are there any anime theme songs that you particularly enjoy or is this something completely new to you?

Wondering how long these will be stuck in our heads now,
K and Z

Take a Chance Challenge: Lit Riff

I thought about this challenge element from the Take A Chance Challenge for a long time. Here's the challenge --

Lit Riff (inspired by the book Lit Riffs by Matthew Miele.) Choose a song and then write a brief story that is inspired by or further explains the lyrics of the song.

I wasn't sure I was going to participate in this one because it seemed difficult and possibly boring to write about a relationship or something. And then I had an idea ... a really terribly bad idea (so feel free to leave now).

First, you pick an unbelievably mopey song ...

Lyrics from Apart by The Cure

He waits for her to understand
but she won't understand at all.
She waits all night for him to call
but he won't call anymore.
He waits to hear her say "forgive"
but she just drops her pearl-black eyes
and prays to hear him say "I love you"
but he tells no more lies.

He waits for her to sympathize
but she won't sympathize at all.
She waits all night to feel his kiss
but always wakes alone.
He waits to hear her say "forget"
but she just hangs her head in pain
and prays to hear him say "no more,
I'll never leave again".

How did we get this far apart?
We used to be so close together.
How did we get this far apart?
I thought this love would last forever.

And then you write ...

Childish Games by Kristen M.

Oh my god ... how long have we been here? It feels like only moments ago that we both started out ... him on the ladder, me on the steps. He waits for me to close my pearl-black eyes (Marco!) and then we both start moving. But now he seems so far away (Polo!). Did he get out of the pool? I just couldn't forgive him if he got out. I shout "Marco" and his "Polo" takes so long to come that I'm sometimes afraid that he's actually gone away -- into the house or something. Seriously ... I'm getting really pissed off. I think he's lying about still being in the pool.

Now it's his turn and he wants me to feel bad for him and how long it's taking to find me? (Marco!) Yeah right. Like I could forget how he just left me hanging for like half an hour. (Polo!) I'm not even sure why we're playing this dumb game. When we were kids we used to love it and I thought that love would last forever but I guess we outgrow almost everything. I honestly don't think I'll ever say "I love Marco Polo" again. I think about teasing him with a kiss on the back of the neck but then I swim away from his outstretched arms -- knowing that I'm also going to cheat and get out of the pool.
The End.

Well, there was my Lit Riff! What mopey song would you turn into a silly parody? Duncan Sheik's She Runs Away as a game of tag? U2's classic I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For as hide-and-seek?

Getting the sillies out,
K

"The composer is dead."

When I saw that it was coming out, I was determined to take a look at the new Lemony Snicket picture book, The Composer is Dead. We saw it at the library and brought it home. I glanced through the book and it seemed okay but a little dry so I set it aside to look at again later. Then tonight, Z and I popped in the CD (narration by Lemony Snicket and music by Nathaniel Stookey), sat down for a read and found to our surprise that the book came alive.

A composer is suspiciously dead and the Inspector believes the murderer is a member of the orchestra. The book follows his questioning of each section and listening to their alibis. It's a simple book with the standard Lemony Snicket wit and word play. The real gem is the CD. It is not only the narration of the book but a full musical score that accompanies it. The music is fresh and bright and I can imagine a class of school kids sitting and enjoying it together. The content and vocabulary of the book make it appropriate for a slightly older age group than the standard picture book but I think that even Z got something out of it. Luckily, it's one that we can keep coming back to for some time.

Enjoying composers over their dead bodies,
K and Z


Support our site and buy The Composer Is Dead (Book & CD) on Amazon or find it at your local library.

Word Music

Z does not discriminate by section when choosing his books at the library. This week he grabbed one on display in the poetry section and it has turned out to be his favorite and one of my favorites too! The book is Tanka Tanka Skunk by first-time British picture book author Steve Webb and on the front cover it says "Stamp your feet to the Skunka Tanka beat!" The premise is that words have rhythm and you can say different words and make musical poetry. In this case, they use animal names. Here's the jacket blurb which explains the method behind this noisy madness --

Meet Tanka and his friend, Skunk. When you say their names together, they sound like drums.
Steve Webb's innovative and visually stunning picture book introduces young readers to simple rhythms with this riot of shout-out-loud words and cavorting animals. Reading is fun, as the text and animals leap and dance across the pages.

This is an amazing book to read out loud. I will catch Z sitting around saying "lemur, llama, llama, lemur" or many of the other musical animal combinations. This is the perfect introduction to poetry and rhythm for all little ones. I have even used it to teach Z about syllables.

Singing, Reading, Talking, Stomping,
K and Z

p.s. Happy Children's Book Week!


Buy Tanka Tanka Skunk at The Book Depository or find it at your local library.

Music Is My Other Love

Here's another factoid about me. The only thing I love more than books is music. After high school I worked at a couple of different music stores and I was a band geek and a church choir singer when I was younger. I also had the mandatory piano lessons and I wish I had a piano again.

Anyway, tonight I skipped reading and watched Screaming Masterpiece, a documentary about modern Icelandic music. I am a big fan of a few Icelandic bands -- Sigur Ros, Mum, Bjork, Amiina -- and I might be looking up a few others. There is some footage of Iceland in winter which is unbelievably beautiful. Recently I watched a movie about the band Sigur Ros and their footage was Iceland in spring and summer which is amazingly green and textured. My brother and sister-in-law and I have a goal to get to Iceland sometime soon, preferably when we can hear some amazing Icelandic music.

Singing in tongues,
K


Buy Screaming Masterpiece on Amazon or rent it on Netflix like I did.

"I have my books and my poetry to protect me"

-- I Am a Rock, Simon and Garfunkel, 1965

I'm not a total celebrity hound -- well, maybe a little bit -- but I appreciate when I find out that there is more to a celebrity than their career. Apparently, Art Garfunkel is quite the reader -- and maybe just a bit OCD. Today, I found this site that catalogs every book that Art has read since June 1968, at the age of 26, shortly before the release of the first Simon and Garfunkel album. He even has a list of just his favorites. He seems to enjoy classics -- the type of books that would be on a "top books to read" list. His non-fiction tastes go mostly to philosophy and American history. Some of it is quite amusing, like the back-to-back reading of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and Stephen Hawking's The Universe in a Nutshell.

This is the first year that I am recording what I read. I wish I had started it earlier, even when I was a kid. I know what's on my shelves at home and I have a partial recollection of what I read as a kid but I have no record of all my many years of library use. I think I will encourage Z to keep a list when he starts reading chapter books. It will be fun to look back on when he's an adult. Do you keep a list of what you read and when?

Until next time,
K