Book Review: Nashville

Katie July 5, 2013 0 Comments

Nashville is the story of CeCe Mackenzie who leaves her home in Virginia to head to Nashville to pursue a music career.  On the way there, in her old car Gertrude, she finds herself in trouble with her car on fire.  She is rescued by 2 guys also heading to Nashville – Holden and Thomas.  From this point on, the chapters alternate from the perspective of CeCe to the perspective of Holden.  Thomas is not too keen on the idea of CeCe tagging along, but Holden convinces him.  They end up finding out CeCe’s Uncle was a famous musician and that she really can sing and she ends up joining them for gigs and living with them until she can get back on her feet.

Holden and CeCe are falling for each other, but Holden has a girlfriend Sarah – who shows up one day to visit just as things seem to be heating up between CeCe and Holden.  A strange turn of events finds the 4 of them in a music group with quite an opportunity but things are tense between Sarah, Holden and CeCe.

CeCe ends up going out with a country music stars son and Holden is up all night worrying. Sarah ends up leaving and Holden things that now he and CeCe can be together, until they find something in his bedroom that shocked them both.

I really liked this book it was a quick read and I was very interested in these characters and what was going to happen to them.  The book kind of ended abruptly but I think that is just because Part 3 is not available yet and I am now very anxious to read it to find out what happens! I actually let out a yell when it ended and I had nothing more to read or find out!

I received a free e-copy of this book in order to participate in the book tour. I was not otherwise compensated.

About the Book

Nashville – Part One – Ready to Reach 

Nineteen-year old CeCe Mackenzie leaves Virginia for Nashville with not much more to her name than a guitar, a Walker Hound named Hank Junior and an old car she’d inherited from her grandma called Gertrude. 

But Gertrude ends up on the side of I-40 in flames, and Nashville has never seemed farther away. 

Help arrives in the form of two Georgia football players headed for the Nashville dream as well. When Holden Ashford and Thomas Franklin stop to offer CeCe and Hank Junior a ride, fate may just give a nod to serendipity and meant to be. 

Nashville – Part Two – Hammer and a Song 

CeCe McKenzie grew up dreaming of a life doing what she loves – singing in Nashville. When she and her Hound dog Hank Junior set out to make her dream come true, life takes some twists she hadn’t counted on. Like falling for Holden Ashford, a songwriter with a gift. And also a girlfriend. Can a country music star’s hunky son help her forget about Holden? Or is that even possible when her heart insists on writing the song?

Book Review: Scotty and Elvis

Katie July 2, 2013 0 Comments

Scotty Moore was Elvis’ original guitarist.  Scotty & Elvis tells the story of Scotty, who you may not know too much about.  Well, Scotty, with the help of James L. Dickerson has written this book so that you will know all about him.  It’s been a while since I’ve read an autobiography and it is very refreshing.  At least then you know at least the stories are true, or at least as true as the memory will allow.

The summer of 1955 was when Scotty hit the road with Elvis.  I can’t even imagine what that must have been like – even after reading Scotty’s recollection of it.  Scotty also became Elvis’ manager, and if you are a fan of Elvis you know that later on he was managed by Colonel Tom Parker.  Colonel Tom pushed Scotty out – as manager and as guitarist and it was not until many years later that the two were reunited.

Definitely an interesting look at Elvis from someone who was there with him in the early days when Elvis was a teen.  There are also some photos included in the book which are always my favorite thing in biographies and autobiographies.  I’m not sure what it is, but that just makes the story so much more real for me.  (One of the photos is even the original management contract between Scotty & Elvis! As well as a letter from Vernon Presley about Scotty’s resignation and final wages.  Really cool.

I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated.

About the Book

The true life story of Elvis’s original guitarist, the masterful Scotty Moore

When Elvis Presley first showed up at Sam Phillips’s Memphis-based Sun Records studio, he was a shy teenager in search of a sound. Phillips invited a local guitarist named Scotty Moore to stand in. Scotty listened carefully to the young singer and immediately realized that Elvis had something special. Along with bass player Bill Black, the trio recorded an old blues number called “That’s All Right, Mama.” It turned out to be Elvis’s first single and the defining record of his early style, with a trilling guitar hook that swirled country and blues together and minted a sound with unforgettable appeal.

Its success launched a whirlwind of touring, radio appearances, and Elvis’s first break into movies. Scotty was there every step of the way as both guitarist and manager, until Elvis’s new manager, Colonel Tom Parker, pushed him out. Scotty and Elvis would not perform together again until the classic 1968 “comeback” television special. Scotty never saw Elvis after that.

With both Bill Black and Elvis gone, Scotty Moore is the only one left to tell the story of how Elvis and Scotty transformed popular music and how Scotty created the sound that became a prototype for so many rock guitarists to follow. Thoroughly updated, this edition delivers guitarist Scotty Moore’s story as never before.

Scotty Moore, Nashville, Tennessee, is the sole survivor of the Sun Records sessions of July 1954 during which Elvis Presley, Bill Black, and Scotty Moore, with Sam Phillips at the engineering sound board, blended country and blues into a new art form that would shake up American culture for decades to come. James L. Dickerson, Jackson, Mississippi, is a freelance author and journalist who has published dozens of books.

Book Review: 101 Must-See Movie Moments

Katie July 1, 2013 0 Comments

I am not a big movie watcher. I don’t like going to the theater because you have to deal with all the obnoxious people there who talk through the whole thing or laugh forever when it’s not funny, etc.  I used to buy a lot of movies and watch them that way, every now and then I’ll rent or find something OnDemand but I always feel like I am super, super behind on good movies and anything movie trivia related.  I figured 101 Must-See Movie Moments was a good place to start.  I probably hadn’t seen many, if any, of the moments, so I could make a list of what I considered must-see from the must-see list that Nell has compiled in this book. (It turns out I had seen only 7 of the movies featured.)

Each of the write ups features a little bit about the movie and what goes on in it and then it has a writeup about the moment that is must see.  I liked this approach because even if  the moment didn’t seem to be a stand out to me, I could kind of get the idea of what the movie was about to see if maybe I’d want to check it out or not. It also lists some other movies with similar ideas to them.

A great book for movie buffs  and those who know nothing about movies a like.  See if the 101 moments would be on your list or not if you are into movies or see what movies you might want to check out based on their big moments if you haven’t seen many movies, like me!

I received a free e-copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in order to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated.

About the Book

Movie critic Nell Minow (known as “The Movie Mom”) describes 101 must-see movie moments that illuminate cinematic story-telling, from the DBTA (dead by third act) character there to give the hero a learning experience to the unexpected on-set “mistakes” that turned out better than the script.