Genres Books

Bob Dylan fans will enjoy this book that features over 100 pages of Dylan quotes on subjects ranging from music, the 60's, drugs, love, his idols, songwriting, and more. Everybody knows that Dylan was a wily and occasionally malicious interviewee, and this book reflects that. I laughed out loud several times at his witticisms directed back at the hollow questiosn that were put to him. However, there are some very pointed answers that he serves up here as well, that seemingly give a real insight into his persona, his life, and his views. There are also a lot of high-quality pictures. My only complaint is that the book is a little short-you can easily read it all in one setting, though it's probably a book that you'll go back to time and again to see what Dylan offered up on a particular subject-it would have been nice, for instance, if it had a section where Dylan commented upon particular songs of his, such as was done in the Leonard Cohen book in the "In His Own Words" series. Still, Dylan interviews are always hard to come by, and this is the best copendium you'll find featuring them.

This is really a (the) great book for the base of a Dylan book
collection. Each of the 112 pages comprising this paperback
has at least one photograph, and many pages have two or three!
In my mind the pictures alone are worth a binding of their own. They
include many of his co-workers, and famous peers. After looking
at all of them for the first time, you really get a "feel" for
the environment in which he has been working (living) for the
last 30 - 40 years.

The entire collection of quotes (quotes and pictures are all you get, folks)
are catagorized by a plethora of topics, which enables quick referencing,
so you really should learn ALOT about his PERSONALITY.
I say "personality" because the quotes are in
conversational mode, candid, ranginging from silly quips and
understatements to very sincere and thoughtful comments; the way
I imagine he shares with intimates. This is not a stilted,
unemotional, professional collection of aphorisms, and I feel better informed
as a result.

This book contains a compilation of Dylan's own words, transcribed from interviews, press conferences, radio, and TV shows. Complete with scores of pictures, In His Own Words is a must for any Dylan fan. Dylan dons persona after persona, and the results are quite entertaining.

A must for any Bob Dylan fan, this book contains an ecclectic collection of Dylan's responses to reporters and others.

This excellent road journal by Texas Rock and Roll icon Joe Ely is an enjoyable, refreshing read. It would make a great gift for anyone interested in music. This year Ely was selected for a lifetime acheivement award by Americana. You can go to NPR.com and key word Joe Ely to hear an interview with the author about this book. There are also songs, of course. I absolutely promise you that you will love this book!

Johnny Hughes, author of the Lubbock novel Texas Poker Wisdom.
Texas Poker Wisdom

Joe Ely has written an epic poem of life on the road, full of wisdom and insanity, that careens from Austin to Denmark, youth to age, and the bright noise of backstage to the profound silence of the stars. Ely has seen it all, done it all, and lived to sing the story in this fine feast of a book. Nibble it or gulp it down, but read it and let it feed your soul. "When a man knows not his next destination, any road he takes will get him there on time," Ely says. With this book, the veteran singer/songwriter arrives in fine style.

I am very pleased with "Bonfire Of Roadmaps" by Joe Ely. It is a book to savor over the years ahead and to take on long road trips when I travel. And, if I stay home, then it is a book that can take me on Joe Ely's road trips.
I feel blessed that I was able to sit in the front row at Joe Ely's multimedia presentation of Bonfire Of Roadmaps at the Texas Book Festival held in Austin on November 3rd and 4th, 2007. The audience was packed and enthusiastic. A line formed at the book signing following Joe's readings and songs and video. I was very pleased to have Joe sign my book for me. Later, Joe Ely and Joel Guzman and Joe's band filled the space around the Texas Capitol steps with their magical music and lyrics. Joe was deep into his songs and making every effort to fill each listener with the unique blend of country, roots, wisdom, adventure, personal challenge, disappointments and triumphs of which his music is composed. Much of the time he sang with eyes closed as he drew from deep down the well of his own life experience. I will always remember this concert and I have the book to bring back the feelings of the road, feelings that Joe Ely was kind enough to share with us all.

Joe Ely is a first class musician. Once you start listening to him, you can't stop, and now he gives us a poetic glimpse at life on the road. Bonfire of Roadmaps delves into the hard life, triumphs, and trials of life as a modern day troubadour, and it is a great read. The chapters flow rhythmically along, bursting with memorable characters, stories, lyrics, and a first hand account of what its like to crisscoss the map playing in dingy bars, auditoriums, hotel rooms, and foreign countries. Joe just keeps going. Do yourself a favor: buy this book, listen to the spoken word cd that comes with it, and then start collecting Joe Ely's albums. He's the best. It's as simple as that.

I didn't get this book until my daughter turned 14 months old. I wish I had it earlier then she would be introduced to more than just "Rock-a-Bye, Baby" for her first 14 months. Now, every night, I sing three of four different songs to her from this book. My favorites so far are "All the Pretty Little Horses," : All Through the Night," and "Huna Blentyn (Sleep, My Baby)." The music notation is great for me, a musician, to practice sight singing when trying to learn a new tune. I think this is a great book and I am looking forward to buy more song books from the First Steps series.

I can't read music and was just hoping for a book of simple songs to sing to my baby. This has a lot of lullabies from other countries and that I have never heard before the book. Since I can't read music, they don't do me a lot of good. If you can read music, this would be a beautiful book.

An almost comprehensive collection of lullabies from around most of the world. None from Native America or the Pacific Islands. Both music (the melody line) and lyrics are provided. This is a great book for those who wish to sing to their child Those interested in the lullaby as a music form, perhaps the earliest songs of humanity, will find this collection very useful, but information about the sources is lacking. I read music and can play most of these on Native American flutes, and I am sure the player of any instrument could play them as well. The chording is not indicated, but any musician can figure out what chords to play to accompany a singer or someone playing these simple tunes.

I love this collection of lullabys. It contained all the lullabys that I knew but didn't know the words to. It also contained several that I had never heard before but have since become part of our bedtime routine. It is beautifully notated and easy to read, however you should be able to read music to make use of this book.

"Susan Ballard gets it right and Borrowed Time is a hoot and a half."
--Bob Boze Bell
Executive Editor, True West magazine

One of the best books I've read in ages! Most books I've read on the old west are generally written more about the Earp family and their story with John "Doc" Holliday as a side character. This book really focuses on Doc's life and humanizes him in a way I've never seen before. He was more than just a gunslinger and gambler. He was a man tormented by the fact that he had a deadly disease, and lived his life like everyday might be his last. The story is so well written that you find yourself engulfed in it and the characters. The friendship between Doc and Wyatt Earp is so real and so natural, it's almost like you know them personally. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone! A really fantastic read, I couldn't put it down! I'm really looking forward to the next book in the series!

Being a fan of all things Old West and in

particular "Doc" Holliday and the Earps, I decided

to pick up a copy of "Borrowed Time".



Almost instantly I found myself teleported back in

time to places rich in detail and atmosphere. From

the rolling plains to the bustling cowtowns, I could

clearly envision myself in these settings. The

descriptions were vivid as well as historically

accurate which as a student of the Old West I found

very satisfying. I could almost smell the smoke

filled saloons, or feel the cold wind blowing in

from the plains.



Doc Holliday, usually portrayed as a one

dimensional, almost abrasive character in books and

film was brought to life in Ballard's story as a

living, breathing, complicated man complete with

real emotions and a depth that's severely lacking in

most other characterizations. This not only applies

to Holliday but all of the other characters as well.

I particularly enjoyed the banter between Doc and

Wyatt, conversations that seemed as natural as any

you might have with a best friend. None of their

interactions seemed contrived or stiff.



The story telling, besides being richly

descriptive, also had an easy going style and a nice

flow, balanced nicely between dialog and action.



This was one of the few stories I've read, Western

or otherwise that I felt connected to the characters

and cared about them as well.



It was an engrossing novel I simply couldn't put

down. A winner for sure and honestly I can't wait to

read the second book in this series and anything

else that S.M. Ballard writes.



---J. Place

Winooski, Vermont

Borrowed Time, a novel by S.M. Ballard Reviewed by J.D. Harkleroad

Borrowed Time is S.M. Ballard's first in a trilogy about the life and times of John Henry "Doc" Holliday. Before I read this novel, my first thought was What more can be said about Doc Holliday than has already been said? Boy, was I wrong! Until now (with the notable exception of Val Kilmer's portrayal of Doc in the movie Tombstone), Holliday has only appeared as a shadowy appendage peripherally attached to Wyatt Earp's coat-tails. Ballard, however, brings Doc Holliday to life in his own right, fleshing the man out while revealing little-known layers of his life. The reader feels as if he is observing first-hand Holliday's transformation from his genteel, cultured background as Dr. John Henry Holliday to the hot-tempered gunman/alcoholic who came to be known as "Doc" Holliday.

Ballard has thoroughly researched her subject and it shows. The Tombstone Times, Arizona's History and Information Journal, has published numerous non-fiction articles by Ballard, many of them about Doc Holliday. The character so engrossed her that the concept for a Holliday trilogy was born.

Borrowed Time is not another "shoot-em-up-Tony." While action abounds in this novel, two other story-lines run parallel to the main plot. One illuminates Doc's interpersonal relationships: his abiding friendship with Wyatt Earp; his love/hate relationship with "Big Nose Kate" (Fisher) Elder who, by the way, did not have a big nose; his antagonistic relationships with both Bat Masterson and Wyatt's brother Virgil. The other story-line revolves around Holliday's struggle to live as normal a life as possible while dealing with an illness that, in that time period, proved fatal more often than not. The reader, however, gets so caught up in the Doc Holliday character that, even knowing how the trilogy will ultimately end (we all die sometime) is in no way a deterrent.

Borrowed Time is a great read that will appeal to both men and women, and I'm eagerly looking forward to Holliday in Tombstone, the second in Ballard's trilogy due out in 2008.

Great book. If you are a British Invasion fan, this is a "must have" item.

While the majority of the world saw February 9, 1964 as the start of the so-called British Invasion, the reality was that British bands had been around for several years before that date. Only handful of these bands are remembered even by devotees of the genre, whether on this side of the Atlantic or the other. Many were at best "one-hot wonders." Others came and went like a cool afternoon breeze leaving barely a trace of their passage. In some cases, groups disbanded - after being fully succesful, slightly successful or complete failures - to have their memebers gain worldwide acclaim later on.

British Beat: Then, Now And Rare 1960-1969 by Terry Rawling tracks the overwhelming majority of these bands through their lives during the critical first nine years. He describes the band's origins, their activities during the period under study and their demise and/or current status.

While the coverage could be considered superficial, it is far from that for those interested in the music of the British Invasion period who can and should use it as a guidebook for more in depth study.

One final truly touching thing about the book is found on the inside back cover. Author Rawling shows several score photos of members of some of bands as they appeared in recent times. The images are a fitting close to the period and to this very information and entertaining volume.

In Britain during the 1960s there was a massive cultural upheaval, that was spurred by American rhythm and blues imported albums and singles. Prompted by the huge success of the Beatles and the rich youth culture, many of kids took up guitars, basses, drums, organs, harmonicas etc and formed rock and roll combos across the Isles. Most of these bands never saw the inside of a recording studio, however, many more of them were picked up by major record labels due to the success of the Beatles, the Stones and other English acts. Out of the few that had recording contracts even fewer had hits in their homeland, and fewer still had hits stateside. This book covers them all. Through evident exhaustive research the author chrolnicles in encyclodia form the histories and not so histories of many English bands, many of whom most, at least American readers, are not familiar with. Also with a virtual treasure trove of rare pictures, this book can serve as a complete study of a time when creativity was alive and thriving in music, fasion, and thought. I recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in the British Invasion genre of music, as well as to anyone who wants to broaden their knowledge of rock and popular music. This book was a mindblower, and I love it very much, I think you will too!!

it's a very nice book with loads of cool pictures...although, as it is quite natural, it's forgotten a few good ones, like Billy Nichols...

What a read! I first sought this book out after reading elsewhere about Chuck Berry throwing Keith Richards off stage at a peformance where Keith was sitting in. This book was the cited reference for the incident. Intrigues, I sought out and bought this book. I knew very little about Chuck Berry, the man, previous to reading it. While his career was sadly sililar to many rock stars, the rise, the fall, the cheats, the double crosses, and the tragedy of it all, it still was all original enough to hold my interest. Well written and an easy read, if you are interested in Chuck or just good Rock and Roll stories, by all means, buy this book!

Great Book. Very informative. A thorough body of research was completed in order to have this book published. I thought I knew all about Chuck Berry until I read this book. I would recommend it to anyone who is a fan of Chuck's. The book is balanced and pulls no punches. No wonder the biography is unauthorized. It contains information that is both provoctive and endearing.

I've been reading this book for the last few months (it's been my reading material on the train on the weekends hehe) and it's been an enertaining read of the life and hard times of Chuck Berry.
Previous to reading this book, I had only heard Chuck Berry's music and loved it, but did not know much about the man himself.
Bruce Pegg has done a good job of detailing Chuck's life, from the early days in The Ville, his begginings in music, Racism in the USA in the 50's, Chuck's relationship with Chess Records, concerts, all his court appearances (the Mann Act Trial, the Southern Aire Restuarant Video Tape Scandal (which I first heard about on E! News!) plus much more.
There are some great photos in the book which i'm not sure have been seen before.
Pegg also has also rounded up all the important people in Chuck's life and they all give interesting comments.
I haven't read Chuck Berry's offical Autobiography, but upon reading this, i'm sure this gives a much better view into his life.

As a long time fan of Chuck Berry, I have tried to read everything I could find about him, from enclyclopedia's to Rolling Stone Magazine. Over the past 20 years, I have tried to piece together the various differing messages about him, from musical genius to "difficult to work with" entertainer. This book puts it all together in an extremely well written and well documented manner. Pegg ties together all of the pieces with a lot of information and insight otherwise unknown, with interviews of principle persons in Chuck's musical and professional life. He is obviously a fan of Chuck's, but the book is very honest with the facts and never sensational.

If you are a fan of Chuck Berry, please do yourself a favor and get this book. You will not be able to stop reading it! I think it also would be helpful for anyone interested in the social/historical milieu of this time period in relationship to black entertainers in general as well.

Anyone that loves Bush as much as I do will enjoy reading this book. It is really informative to when they were young to how they are now. Not to mention the interesting chapter where Jasmine speaks about her time with Gavin. There might not be that many pics but the words that he speaks makes up more than enough. In one of the lines he says it is like the eye in the calm of the storm. How poetic. Just "Brilliant"

i have this book, along with all of the books about BUSH, and i found this book to be really really cool and entertaining. it has rare facts about the band, and it even has really cute baby pics of everyone.

If you're a diehard Bush fan, you'll have no problem with this bio... but if you're a sometimes Bush fan, you might find it hard to get through... I know it's a bio, but it needs more pictures! Excellent reference for Bush webmasters...

Jennifer Nine is a goddess to Bush fans evrywhere! At last someone gives Bush the credit they deserve. And with such an emotional power! Read it, listen to bush, read it again, listen to more bush, read it....

Really enjoyed this book.... had great characters, character development, was funny but very real-to-life at the same time. The heroine did stupid things that we could all do (!!), but at the same time, she worked through her issues and didn't stagnate. Have been reading romances since junior high, and really enjoyed this one. Will be on the lookout for other books by this author.

Ms. Neale's deft storytelling is in full force here; what starts as a kooky Bridget Jones-style farce grabs your heart at several points and doesn't let go. Neale has created a flawed but smart and witty heroine in Nan, and takes her through a maze of emotional roadblocks. Neale is especially effective in striking a wonderful balance of heart and mirth without losing the essence of the characters in the middle. This may be a "beach" read, but the characters and the story will stay in your head long after summer is gone.

Twenty-eight-year-old Nan Cloutier always thought that, by the time she was twenty-five, she would be living a posh, fabulous life in Manhattan, with a great job, an even greater wardrobe, and the guy of her dreams by her side. Three years later, and Nan still hasn't achieved all of the above, and then some. For Nan's so-called "posh" job is working for Seasonal Staffers, Inc. A corporation where she has held positions as a Cindy-Lou Who impersonator, Easter-Egg Carrying Girl In Bunny Suit, and Valentine's Day Purple Box of Chocolates, among other, much more humiliating titles. Which is why Nan is desperate enough to tell a little white lie. While posing as Cindy-Lou Who at the Merrier-Iverson Department Store Christmas display, Nan tells her boss - Mr. Iverson - that she can speak French, and pretends to converse with a French child, reciting her Christmas list to the English-speaking Grinch. After much praise, Nan is beaming from ear to ear, but her smile slowly fades when Mr. Iverson falls and breaks his leg - the fault of Nan, of course. Quickly getting canned from her Seasonal Staffers position, she is offered a new job - by Mr. Iverson - one that involves baby-sitting his grandson, Colm. However, upon meeting, Nan quickly realizes that Colm is actually her age, and that Mr. Iverson was actually playing "matchmaker" for his grandson, and thinks that the two will make the perfect couple - once they work out a few bumps in the road.

I have read many of Naomi Neale's YA books - published under the name Naomi Nash - which is why I was extremely eager to experience one of her adult chick lit books for myself. I was pleasantly surprised, for, from page one, I found Nan's character to be amusing, what with her somewhat...unusual career choice, and the wisecracks she litters throughout all of her observations on being a Seasonal Staffer, and life, in general. She is the ideal protagonist and keeps you laughing from beginning to end, while the many bizarre people in her life will take readers by surprise - a pleasant one, of course - and lead them on a trip down lover's lane. Neale has done an amazing job of weaving together a tale filled with smart characters, witty storylines, and an emotional roller coaster to top it all off. Nan is a character full of flaws - as well as heart - who will stay with you year-round.

Erika Sorocco
Book Review Columnist for The Community Bugle Newspaper

In New York City, Nan Cloutier believes she is the ideal calendar girl pin-up not because she is Playboy perfect, but because she obtains holiday jobs. Her current temporary work is posing as Cindy-Lou Who at the Merrier-Iverson Department Store Christmas interactive display. When she lies about being proficient in French to avoid window duty, Nan meets store owner Mr. Iverson, but her actions leads to the gentle elderly man breaking his leg.

Her former employer offers her a job to baby-sit his grandson Colm. Needing the money with Christmas over, she accepts. When she meets Colm, he is her age and believes she is a hooker. Mr. Iverson explains he was matchmaking because he believes these two delightful youngsters are good for one another. Colm courts Nan, but her personal life is overfilled as she feels she must save her former college boyfriend and fellow member of the Elizabethan Failures Society from an English invader. Still Colm keeps the pressure on and they fall in love even as their respective families try making them over rather than letting them make it.

This is an amusing Manhattan chick lit romance starring a delightful lead female protagonist and a fabulous secondary cast. The story line never takes itself seriously as Nan and cohorts struggles with life, but refuse to believe they are failures. Colm provides a wonderful newcomer into her circle though she wonders if he is a deadly virus or her forever soul mate. Chick lit and contemporary romance readers will laugh with Naomi Neale's naughty and nice tale of a Who who finds love.

Harriet Klausner

Thank you for your excellent service. Even though I had entered the wrong Zip Code you still mailed it to me correctly and answered all of my inquiries, and that reflects on your customer service. Thanks and I will be shopping with you again. Evan K. Cruse

This is an excellent arrangement. Michael Buble sings with a whole jazz band behind him and this music manages to capture the feel of trumpets etc with just the piano.

The arrangements in this book are excellent. They are definitely not for the beginning pianist, however. The rhythms are challenging, but spot on.

The vocal melodies are not integrated into the piano part, but are shown as an individual vocal part in the book. This means that if you were to play the songs purely instrumentally, you would not have the melody explicitly heard - the performer would have to combine the vocal line above the grand staff himself/herself.

But let's say you're listening to the CD while you play the arrangements in the book. They are practically exact to the pianist on the CD! It's such a joy to play along that it's as though you are accompanying Michael Buble himself!

I have in the past purchased the Piano/Vocal Books for the self titled Michael Buble album, and for the It's Time album, and each book is better than the one before. As a pianist, I am overjoyed to find every small detail of the songs written in the accompaniment, not to mention this book does not do what so many others do and write the melody in the piano part. I wish all Vocal/Piano books were written in this style!

As Sutherland points out, the 1835 act prohibited marriage with a deceased wife's sister. However, aside from this, she was not "too young to marry for a month or so." A girl could be married at 12 in Britain until the Age of Marriage Act of 1929, although the age of consent for sexual intercourse was raised 1n 1881 from 13 to 16. Whatever Roger Prynne's reasons for staying away, Massachussetts was not a place "where they like to burn witches and wizards." (They hanged them). I enjoyed combing for nits to pick.

"Can Jane Eyre Be Happy" is only one of the many questions about classical literature you will have answered by this book. Other novels explored include "Great Expectations", "Mansfield Park", "Hound of the Baskervilles," and other novels of that genre and category. Sutherland's insights are simple and straightforward and his questions are probing and answer those sometimes irrelevant things your curiosity won't let you sit on! However, this book loses one star because Sutherland often does try to contradict the author and occasionally discards the author's motive in writing the novel. Also a warning: Don't read through the table of contents before you have read all the books addressed therein. Some of the questions assigned to each book will give away or ruin in part the ending to the novel. Luckily this is not a major setback. I do heartily recommend this book, but the reader must be open to new ideas about some of his or her favorite novels and authors, and must also take Sutherland's ideas with a pinch of skepticism.

Lovers of Mr. Rochester beware - in this, his second book of literary puzzles, John Sutherland turns his considerable powers of literary analysis towards, amongst other things, undoing the good reputation enjoyed by Jane Eyre�s brooding hero. Bronte fans, brace yourself for some idol-smashing. As in his first book of devoted to literary head-scratchers (the wonderful Is Heathcliff a Murderer?), Sutherland here sets himself out to answer some of Western literature�s most intriguing questions. Though you might not always agree with some of the conclusions Sutherland comes to (we have to have a talk, he and I, about Mr. Rochester�s moral integrity) as a writer he is always witty, as a thinker always innovative, and as a guide through literature�s most baffling conundrums, always genial. Buy this book and I promise not only will you learn something (and, if you�re anything like me, get into some very heated debates with fellow literature lovers about Jane Eyre�s prospects for bliss, etc.) - but you�ll also have a heck of a lot of fun.

God, I wish I had the brains John Sutherland. Why the heck don't we think of these things when we read? These puzzles are fascinating. I am amazed at the information John Sutherland brings out in these puzzles. A must for everyone who loves Victorian fiction.