For all the music lovers out there

A music lover writing about his love of music for other music lovers? YES, PLEASE. 

Reading The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music by Dave Grohl right after finishing up Paul McCartney's The Lyrics was absolutely the best decision I could have made. Firstly, Dave is a huge Beatles fan (and a friend of the man himself!) so there were tons of references to him and his music making it feel like I was enmeshed in an almost surreal literary musical infinity loop. Secondly, the parallels to their musical journeys are undeniable (and fascinating). Thirdly, both books absolutely engrossed me and fired up my imagination. [A/N: And since I've had a fairly slow start reading wise this year I am eternally grateful to these two men for this.] 

The Storyteller is exactly what the subtitle claims it to be: Dave Grohl's musical journey from his childhood playing "pillow drums" in Virginia, leaving on tour as a teenager with the band Scream, making music history with the super band Nirvana, and creating his own label with his bandmates the Foo Fighters. Reading this book felt like watching a behind the scenes documentary of the 90s punk scene. It's gritty and devastating at times, full of heart always, cheeky (I definitely laughed out loud multiple times), and just an all-around excellent book for anyone who has ever felt overcome by the power of music. 10/10

Source: Amazon.com

What I'm currently reading: What Just Happened: Notes on a Long Year by Charles Finch

**If you're interested in buying any of these books or any books really, you can click here. This will re-direct you to AbeBooks which is a site I use all of the time to find used books at an excellent price. A lot of the time I don't even pay for shipping! Full disclosure: I will receive a commission on all sales made through this link. You will not be charged anything additional for my commission. I wouldn't recommend a site that I didn't use and you are under no obligation to purchase anything. :-) **

The man, the myth, the legend: Sir Paul McCartney

I should have known that I wouldn't be satisfied with simply borrowing a copy of The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present by Paul McCartney (with help from Paul Muldoon). Even though I've only had a chance to look at the first volume which covers his songs from A-K I know that this book set is one that I will most definitely be adding to my personal collection. Beautifully designed and executed, this is exactly what it purports to be: a collection of the lyrics that he's written from 1956 to the present day. I guess it must have been Paul Muldoon who suggested they arrange the songs alphabetically which was an excellent decision as it allows the reader to feel like they're sitting with Paul and hearing his reminiscences rather than a backlog of albums chronologically. Arranged into chapters by letter, each song lists the writer(s), vocal artist, recording studio, album, and year along with the entire lyrics. Following that is a short recollection from Paul about the story behind the song as well as various photographs and ephemera (some of which has never been seen before!). This is a gorgeous masterpiece of literature in my opinion. [A/N: And if you love a book that lays down flat then you're going to melt with rapture.] As you could probably guess, this is a 10/10 from me (and I haven't even gotten my hands on L-K yet!).

Source: USA Today

What I'm currently reading: The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music by Dave Grohl

**If you're interested in buying any of these books or any books really, you can click here. This will re-direct you to AbeBooks which is a site I use all of the time to find used books at an excellent price. A lot of the time I don't even pay for shipping! Full disclosure: I will receive a commission on all sales made through this link. You will not be charged anything additional for my commission. I wouldn't recommend a site that I didn't use and you are under no obligation to purchase anything. :-) **

What's that joke about a gorilla and a typewriter?

I love a good Swedish to English translation (except for that one time I attempted Wallander) so I thought that The Murderer's Ape by Jakob Wegelius would be no exception. However, I cannot unequivocally state that I loved this book...or that I loathed it. The book is told from the standpoint of a gorilla who has been christened Sally Jones. She's been around humans her entire life and therefore not only understands what they are saying but can read as well. She's a gifted engineer who the reader discovers has the ability to figure out most mechanical devices be they accordions or airplanes. (This is integral to the storyline.) Her best friend is a (human) man she refers to as Chief and who took her on as a partner when he got his own ship. But all of this was before they ran into some trouble. Without giving too much away, the two are separated and Sally is forced to adapt in order to survive. At its heart, this is an adventure story with a lot of drama. What I enjoyed were the illustrations which were done by the author and accompanied the heading of each chapter as well as a gallery of character portraits at the very beginning. Some of the issues I had with this novel were in its dealings with race, religion, and ethnicity. It was hard for me to pinpoint if the problems I had could be explained by viewing it through the lens of the time in which the novel took place but I found them unsettling nonetheless. Overall, I wasn't totally blown away but I wouldn't throw it out of an airplane door either. 4/10

Source: American Library Association

Examples of the illustrations. [Source: Playing by the book]

What's Up Next: Golda Meir: A Strong, Determined Leader by David A. Adler

What I'm Currently Reading: The House With a Clock in Its Walls by John Bellairs

**If you're interested in buying this book or any books really, you can click here or here. The first will re-direct you to AbeBooks and the second will re-direct you to The Book Depository. These are great websites for purchasing books (AbeBooks carries inexpensive used and out-of-print books and The Book Depository ships free everywhere in the world). Full disclosure: I will receive a commission on all sales made by following either of these links. I wouldn't recommend a site that I didn't use and you are under no obligation to purchase anything. :-) **

Fear-mongering, transformation, and awakening

Much like when I read The Historian, I was unable to decide if what I was reading was fiction or nonfiction. (Of course, there were no vampires in this book so maybe this isn't the best comparison except for the way they both made me feel.) I couldn't put down Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien despite how much I sometimes wanted to in order to spare myself further heartbreak. This is the story of those who lived through China's Cultural Revolution and their successors a world away in Canada...at least a tiny little slice. Our main characters rotate between Sparrow, Kai, and Zhuli who lived during Mao Zedong's reign of terror, Ai-Ming who took part in the demonstrations of Tiananmen Square, and Marie who wants to piece everything together in present day Canada. This is also about music and its power to lift the soul or to mire it in secrets. A lot of sensitive topics are touched on in this book including but not limited to torture, public humiliation, and sexual assault. This is not just a work of historical fiction but also a mystery about people, events, and a book that keeps resurfacing. Intricately woven with details which seem to make the story come to life in vivid color right before your eyes this book is one that I think everyone should experience. This is the hallmark of excellent historical fiction. 10/10

For a nearly complete list of the classical music mentioned in the book: Spotify.

Source: Goodreads

What's Up Next: A Veil of Shadows by Michael W. Garza

What I'm Currently Reading: Roald Dahl's Book of Ghost Stories

**If you're interested in buying this book or any books really, you can click here or here. The first will re-direct you to AbeBooks and the second will re-direct you to The Book Depository. These are great websites for purchasing books (AbeBooks carries inexpensive used and out-of-print books and The Book Depository ships free everywhere in the world). Full disclosure: I will receive a commission on all sales made by following either of these links. I wouldn't recommend a site that I didn't use and you are under no obligation to purchase anything. :-) **

Obsessed with Brian Selznick: A Masterpost

There has been a book languishing on my shelf at home for years which I finally decided to read. (I wish I could say that's an exaggeration but the book was published in 2007 and I'm fairly positive I bought it when it came out.) *cue swelling violin music as I look into the distance with a single tear running down my cheek* I recently read and reviewed Frindle which prompted me to finally pick this sad book from its obscurity on my bottom shelf (far right corner if you're visualizing) and give it a shot. Have you guessed what it is by this vague beginning? It's The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick! Selznick was the illustrator of Frindle and I really felt like his illustrations lent a lot to that storyline so I thought I would dust off my book by him and give it a shot. (Full disclosure: I actually read The Marvels before I read The Invention of Hugo Cabret but I wanted to write this introduction and this felt more dramatic.)

I'm guessing that if you haven't read The Invention of Hugo Cabret then you've at least seen the film Hugo starring Asa Butterfield and Chloë Grace Moretz. The movie adaptation is actually very faithful to the book. If you're unfamiliar, it's about a boy that is living in a train station in Paris and trying to put together a clockwork man. In order to do so, he has to stoop to thievery, sneaking, and subterfuge. But it's not simply the storyline that sets Selznick apart from the pack. It's his use of illustrations and words that make reading his books so enjoyable. There are full-page spreads with no text whatsoever that are absolutely breathtaking. Generally, his illustrations are done in pencil and without color. They're gorgeous and I love them.Themes explored include but are not limited to: loss and redemption, solace in the written word, trust of children over adults, and orphaned children. Out of the three I'm reviewing today this one was my least favorite but that might have been because I already knew the story from seeing the film...or that he was still experimenting with his style with this earlier work. However, I'd still rate it a 9/10. 

Source: Goodreads

The Marvels is his newest work and combines two stories into one. The first half is told entirely through pictures and is incredibly moving and beautiful. If I didn't convey this before, I find Selznick's art highly compelling and capable of telling a story without words being necessary. That didn't stop me from loving the second half of the book which is told from a different perspective and through text alone. The ending is a delightful mixture of the two which makes total sense with the narrative. It's difficult to explain this one without giving anything away but I'll give it my best shot. There's a boy who runs away, a sad man living in a house which has its own lively spirit, a girl chasing a dog, and the pangs of first love. Selznick touches on topics such as abandonment, homosexuality, AIDS, death, and ultimately coming into one's own. It's all about the choices that we make and the people that we want to become. It's phenomenal and maybe my favorite of the lot. 10/10

Source: Booking Mama

I was totally charmed by Wonderstruck because I went into it totally blind as to what it contained. I had a clue from the bolt of lightning on the front cover but even that was just a tiny portion of this stellar novel. The reader follows a boy on a journey from his small town into the bustling metropolis of New York City as he tries to find a clue to his origin story. Once again we are treated to detailed illustrations of not only the New York of the 1970s but of the 1920s as well. And a large part of the novel takes place in one of my favorite places in NYC: The American Museum of Natural History. There's a description of early museums and cabinets of curiosities (look out for a post in the future about this in more detail) which entrance as well as educate. Selznick explores Deaf culture, survival against all odds, and how we are all connected to one another. There is a grounding in true historical events which lends an extra dimension to the narrative. 10/10

Source: Brain Pickings

What's Up Next: The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart with illustrations by Carson Ellis (you'll be seeing her again soon)

What I'm Currently Reading: The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Conrad


**If you're interested in buying this book or any books really, you can click here or here. The first will re-direct you to AbeBooks and the second will re-direct you to The Book Depository. These are great websites for purchasing books (AbeBooks carries inexpensive used and out-of-print books and The Book Depository ships free everywhere in the world). Full disclosure: I will receive a commission on all sales made by following either of these links. I wouldn't recommend a site that I didn't use and you are under no obligation to purchase anything. :-) **

The violinist from Bulgaria

Because I loved The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova, it really wasn't a difficult decision to pick up her newest novel, The Shadow Land. This book takes place in Bulgaria which is a land I am not at all familiar with beyond Viktor Krum and his Quidditch teammates. (I hope you know what that references because if you don't...let me know so I can review them for you.) You couldn't get further from witches and wizards with this book. The main character, Alexandra, is an American who travels to Bulgaria with emotional baggage (which I honestly could have cared less about) and an intent to teach English. Instead she stumbles into a mystery and a lot of dramatic intrigue. The cast of characters includes but is not limited to a wily taxi driver, an elderly artist, a menacing statesmen with flowing locks, and an intelligent street dog. I was expecting a lot from this novel and I have to admit that I came away disappointed. The characters weren't nearly as compelling or detailed as those in The Historian. **Possible spoilers ahead** The entire backstory of the main character turned out to be pointless. I had thought that there would be some kind of twist at the end but that did not turn out to be the case. For the most part, it was pretty predictable. **No spoilers beyond this point** Kostova still remains impressive when it comes to describing setting and events but as mentioned above the characters felt flat and one-dimensional. However, if you're a fan of historical fiction that is chock full of detailed descriptions then you're probably going to be a fan of Kostova's writing and if you're particularly interested in Bulgaria then you couldn't go amiss with this one. For me, I'm sorry to say, it's a 5/10.

Source: Goodreads

**If you're interested in buying this book or any books really, you can click here or here. The first will re-direct you to AbeBooks and the second will re-direct you to The Book Depository. These are great websites for purchasing books (AbeBooks carries inexpensive used and out-of-print books and The Book Depository ships free everywhere in the world). Full disclosure: I will receive a commission on all sales made by following either of these links. I wouldn't recommend a site that I didn't use and you are under no obligation to purchase anything. :-) **