NON-FICTION – Page 14 – Looking For a Good Book

June 18, 2018

DIARY OF A BEATLEMANIAC – Patricia Gallo-Stenman

Fandom … of any sort, really … looks pretty much the same, no matter what the generation or what the object of a fan’s interest might be. Patricia Gallo-Stenman, now an adult, spent her teenage years keeping a diary which chronicled her fanaticism for all things Beatles, as well as the typical teen-girl musings on… Continue reading

ENTERTAINMENT, MEMOIR, NON-FICTION, Uncategorized

5 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Entertainment, Memoir, Music, non-fiction, Reviews

June 15, 2018

SATELLITES IN THE HIGH COUNTRY – Jason Mark

Satellites in the High Country is a collection of seven essays by journalist-adventurer Jason Mark. Mark asks the question “What is wilderness?” and wonders if ‘wilderness’ might be different from ‘wildness’ and the seven essays here have him looking for wildness or wild places where one might get away from the touch of mankind for… Continue reading

NON-FICTION, Uncategorized

4 stars, Book Reviews, Books, Nature, non-fiction, Reviews

May 28, 2018

LOOTED BEAUTY – Anthony Amore and Karl Stevens

Like its counterpart, Stolen Beauty, which I reviewed back on March 19, 2018, this book has artist Karl Stevens recreating particular works of art in simple line art form, suitable (sort of) for coloring. Anthony Amore has done some fine research and has collected the information on a number of works of art that was… Continue reading

ENTERTAINMENT, NON-FICTION, Uncategorized

5 Stars, Art, Book Reviews, Books, History, non-fiction, Reviews

May 23, 2018

MY LUCKY LIFE – Dick Van Dyke

There aren’t very many performers/actors that I admire as much as I do Dick Van Dyke. I grew up watching this man. On television it was The Dick Van Dyke Show and then The New Dick Van Dyke Show. On the big screen it was Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. His talent, to… Continue reading

ENTERTAINMENT, MEMOIR, NON-FICTION, Uncategorized

3 Stars, Biography, Book Reviews, Books, Entertainment, Memoir, non-fiction, Reviews, Television

May 17, 2018

LIFE IS LIKE A MUSICAL – Tim Federle

Tim Federle’s Life is Like a Musical appears to be targeted toward the audience for his Young Adult books, but the advice he offers up is pertinent to everyone. Although many who read this book will know Federle as the author of popular books such as Tequila Mockingbird: Cocktails with a Literary Twist and the… Continue reading

CHILDREN’S, ENTERTAINMENT, NON-FICTION, Uncategorized, YA

5 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Children’s Books, Entertainment, non-fiction, Reviews, Theatre, Young Adult

May 9, 2018

SHORT NIGHTS OF THE SHADOW CATCHER – Timothy Egan

My only regret with this book is that it took me so long to read it. Edward Curtis was a photographer in the very early days of photography. Apprenticed as a photographer in St. Paul, Minnesota, he later moved to Seattle and became interested in photographing Native Americans. He was often and long supported by… Continue reading

ENTERTAINMENT, MEMOIR, NON-FICTION, Uncategorized

4 stars, Art, Biography, Book Reviews, Books, Entertainment, history book, Memoir, non-fiction, Reviews

April 20, 2018

IRVING BERLIN, THE IMMIGRANT BOY WHO MADE AMERICA SING – Nancy Churnin

This children’s picture book about one of America’s greatest songwriters – who wasn’t actually born in the United States of America – is an absolutely marvelous biographical tribute. Author Nancy Churnin somehow manages to tell the entire Irving Berlin life story in thirty-two gorgeously illustrated pages, hitting the highlights, catching the struggles and the passions… Continue reading

CHILDREN’S, MEMOIR, NON-FICTION

5 Stars, Biography, Book Reviews, Books, Children’s Books, History, non-fiction, Picture books, Reviews

April 11, 2018

LEAR – Harold Bloom

Anyone who’s read much Shakespeare apologia has certainly encountered the works of Harold Bloom. Lear: The Great Image of Authority is the third book in Bloom’s “Shakespeare’s Personalities” series. I had quite enjoyed the second volume on Cleopatra and looked forward to this volume. Unfortunately this one did not work quite so well for me.… Continue reading

ENTERTAINMENT, NON-FICTION, Uncategorized

2 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Entertainment, non-fiction, Plays, Reviews, Theatre

April 5, 2018

EYE SEE YOU – Angelo Madrigale

I grew up in the 1960’s and remember quite well the psychedelic posters of Peter Blake and Victor Moscoso and Wes Wilson and Peter Max and others. I haven’t stayed interested in the psychedelic pop at scene over the past fifty years, but when I saw the style of art that Oliver Hibert was doing,… Continue reading

ENTERTAINMENT, NON-FICTION, Uncategorized

3 Stars, Art, Biography, Book Reviews, Books, non-fiction, Reviews

March 23, 2018

THE CAVE AND THE LIGHT – Arthur Herman

Arthur Herman’s book, The Cave and the Light, is an ambitious book of philosophy, history, sociology, rhetoric, and politics. The general idea behind this Pulitzer Prize Finalist book is that all of Western Civilization’s philosophy (and by extension, society and politics) comes back to the ideas put forth by Aristotle and Plato. And at the… Continue reading

NON-FICTION, Uncategorized

3 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, History, non-fiction, Reviews

March 19, 2018

STOLEN BEAUTY – coloring book

I love almost everything about this book. I have been fascinated (and horrified) by the crime of art theft ever since I came across an article about one of the big art gallery thefts a number of years back. Since then I’ve learned that there have been a fair number of large-scale heists, but if… Continue reading

ENTERTAINMENT, NON-FICTION

5 Stars, Art, History, non-fiction, Reviews

March 12, 2018

FINDING BIX – Brendan Wolfe

I first became aware of Bix Beiderbecke when I heard him on a tune played on Public Radio and I immediately went out to purchase a few CDs that featured his horn. I enjoy listening to a Beiderbecke song, but part of that comes from the fact that I’ve been a fan of jazz music… Continue reading

ENTERTAINMENT, MEMOIR, NON-FICTION, Uncategorized

4 stars, Biography, Book Reviews, Books, Entertainment, History, Memoir, Music, non-fiction, Reviews