Alias Grace, by Margaret Atwood, is historical fiction based on a real murder case, that of wealthy Thomas Kinnear and his housekeeper (and mistress) Nancy Montgomery in Ontario, Canada. The accused were other household servants, James McDermott and Grace Marks. This was fun to read around Halloween - I read the hypnotism scene (near the end of the book) that night, and finished the book on All Souls Day.
Playlist: The Rebels and Revolutionaries of Sound by James Rhodes - early reviewers, young adult, nonfiction - is an introduction to classical music appropriate for those of middle school and high school age. As one who could be a grandmother to such readers, and not a music aficianado, I'm not the intended audience for this book - yet I learned a lot from it. I am approaching this review from the point of view of a librarian tasked with providing books for K-12 students or music teachers.
The book itself is eye-catching. It is approximately the size and shape of old 33 rpm vinyl records, with a rather plain black cover (further evoking that comparison), but a psychedelic dust jacket by Martin O'Neill, furthering the revolutionaries/rebels/rock stars theme. O'Neill's illustrations throughout the book use collage with ephemera and mixed media, photographs, silk screen, and digital media.
Inside, after an introduction and a page about the playlist (more on that in a bit), Rhodes, a professional pianist, has selected seven composers to write about, as well as two compositions by each. Each composer has eight pages alloted to him - a double-page illustrated spread with the composer's surname and a nickname Rhodes gives him (I especially liked Ravel: Shock and Awe), followed by biographical information on the next spread, including some contemporary artists and soundtracks that have used his work (I do agree with other reviewers that some of these could become dated with time).
This is followed by double-page spreads on each of the compositions, including notes on what to listen for (although sometimes the times given are a bit off) and Rhodes' interpretations of the music. Interspersed between the composers are spreads on the orchestra and a timeline of Western classical music, and the book ends with a glossary of musical terms used within the book (the terms were printed in boldface in the text) and an index. I would have liked to see at least a short bibliography as well, to know the sources of some of Rhodes' information.
Not being a musical expert, I won't quibble with the selections by Rhodes, which naturally favor piano. Of course he includes the big three of classical music, Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart. I agree with another reviewer that an aria from one of Mozart's operas (since he is famous for those) would have been a better choice than an overture, and I would have liked to see a harpsichord piece for Bach (I am a fan of those).
Now, for the playlist: it's available on Spotify. As another reviewer noted, this makes it unavailable to readers under age 13 (seventh grade for most students), without either an illegal registration, or the aid of an adult. I don't have a Spotify account, and don't want to register for yet another site I won't use, so (again, like another reviewer - thanks for the suggestion!) I found eleven of the selections specified by Rhodes on YouTube, and one on Earsense (the Piano Trio No. 2 in E-flat major by Schubert). I also couldn't find the specific version of Rachmaninoff's Prelude No. 5 in the playlist, but substituted another on YouTube that Rhodes suggested watching (not just listening to) in his text.
For the one piece I couldn't find in either place (Chopin's Étude Op. 10, No. 1 in C Major performed by Zlata Chochieva), I ended up chosing the performance by Valentina Lisitsa, who did the other Chopin piece selected by Rhodes. This turned out to be a good choice, because the video was of Lisitsa actually playing the piece, and I could see the pianist's hands - something Rhodes spoke about in extensively in his text.
I would like to see the playlist offered in other formats besides Spotify. I suspect some music teachers out there still use CDs, which are easy enough to include in a printed book. Videos (such as on YouTube or a similar free site) that show the actual performance are also an advantage to visual learners (like me), who learn better when they can see as well as hear.
I will be recommending this book for my university library's curriculum collection, used by future teachers.
Carpet Diem by Justin Lee Anderson and read by Matthew Lloyd Davies, is a fantasy audiobook that won the 2018 Audie Award for Humor. Simon, the main character, has an old rug that an angel and a demon, representatives of God and the Devil, are fighting over, and he has to decide which one gets it. Only the rug is stolen - so he has to find it first. The book is full of funny characters and situations, and was inspired by Neil Gaiman (according to an author interview). I enjoyed Davies' voicings, but I didn't care for his rendition of Simon's aunt Harriet - too screechy!
South of Broad by Pat Conroy - realistic fiction. Leopold "Leo" "Toad" Bloom King is the narrator of this story of high school friendship and adult problems. In the summer of 1969, just before his senior year of high school in Charleston, South Carolina, Leo is coming to the end of probation on a drug charge, after ten years of mental illness sparked by his older brother's suicide at age 10. His former-nun mother (now high school principal) orders him to make contact with nine incoming seniors: Ike, the son of the new - and black - football coach; Sheba and Trevor, twins moving in across the street; rich kids Chad, his sister Fraser and girlfriend Molly, kicked out of their prep school for drug possession; and orphans Niles and Starla (who are siblings) and Betty (who is black). Not surprisingly, by the end of part 1, this group of misfits are all friends.
Parts 2 and 3 are set in 1989, when Sheba - now a movie star - comes back to Charleston to enlist the help of her friends (who ended up marrying each other) in finding her gay brother Trevor in San Francisco. Part 4 goes back to 1969-70 and the group's senior year in high school, and part 5 returns to 1989-90.
I liked this book despite the stereotyped characters and the sometimes-too-witty repartee. Maybe because it reminded me a bit of my own high-school group, although we were nowhere near as close 20+ years post-graduation. Even better though were the lyrical descriptions of Charleston, so much so that now I'd really like to visit it. I found the plot to be interesting and I did not see the revelation at the end coming - although I should have.
I'm Not Dying with You Tonight. by Gilly Segal Author & Kimberly Jones, read by Brittany Pressley and Channie Waites. This is one of Overdrive's Big Library Reads, a much better choice than Flat Broke With Two Goats in April 2018, but not quite as good as The Other Einstein in June 2017. In any case, the e-audiobook was readily available with no wait and short enough for me to listen to on a six-hour drive, so I checked it out. Campbell is a white girl whose parents are divorced. She recently moved into her dad's neighborhood when her mother sent her to live there due to a job-related move out of the country. Lena is a popular black girl at Campbell's high school. They are thrown together after a race riot during a football game, trying to make their ways back home through turmoil.
Brave with Beauty - paperback, childrens, early reviewer, biography, picture book - An illustrated biography of Goharshad, the real early-15th-century Persian queen of what is now part of present-day Afghanistan, who was responsible for the construction of a beautiful mosque (still standing) as well as a religious complex that is mostly gone. Aimed at ages 7-9, its text-heavy story, topics, and vocabulary place it more at ages 10-12. Colorful illustrations and an activity guide for educators are a plus.
Ahab's Wife by Sena Jeter Naslund - historical fiction - Naslund took a brief reference in Moby Dick (which you don't need to read first) to the wife of Captain Ahab, and created an entire life for that character. Una Spenser is a little too modern for the era, in my opinion, but that gave the author the opportunity to bring up all the causes and concerns of the day (for example, religion - Quakers, Unitarians, Universalists) and have Una interact with various famous people of the early- to mid-1800s (Frederick Douglass, Maria Mitchell, etc.), primarily on Nantucket island. The first half of the book, about Una's life on an island lighthouse near New Bedford, and her decision to disguise herself as a cabin boy to follow two men she admires onto a whaling ship, is more interesting. The second half of the book, after she marries Captain Ahab, really drags, and could have been shortened considerably (the book is 666 pages as a trade paperback), particularly after the death of Ahab is confirmed.
© Amanda Pape - 2019
