April 2016

Book Review: Once Upon a Dream

Katie April 29, 2016 No Comments

Once Upon a Dream was a book I thought I would enjoy, a new take on Disney’s Sleeping Beauty.  Unfortunately it was very tough for me to get through and I ended up not finishing it after struggling to get about halfway through.  I had previously read the Aladdin version from this book series and that one was also tough to get through, though I did manage to finish.  I was very excited for this book series but now I’m not sure I will consider reading any others since they are not what I was expecting and hoping them to be.

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

About the Book

What if the sleeping beauty never woke up? Once Upon a Dream marks the second book in a new YA line that reimagines classic Disney stories in surprising new ways.
It should be simple–a dragon defeated, a slumbering princess in a castle, a prince poised to wake her. But when the prince falls asleep as his lips touch the fair maiden’s, it is clear that this fairy tale is far from over.
With a desperate fairy’s last curse controlling her mind, Princess Aurora must escape from a different castle of thorns and navigate a dangerously magical landscape–created from her very own dreams. Aurora isn’t alone–a charming prince is eager to join her quest, and old friends offer their help. But as Maleficent’s agents follow her every move, Aurora struggles to discover who her true allies are and, moreover, who she truly is. Time is running out. Will the sleeping beauty be able to wake herself up?

Book Review: Experiencing the Rolling Stones

Katie April 22, 2016 No Comments

Experiencing The Rolling Stones is a listeners companion. The book opens with a timeline of the band and gives a background on the era when the albums were released. It also has the key tuning for the songs as well which I thought was pretty neat. It also talks about the styles of the songs.  Overall a pretty cool read and probably a lot more interesting for those who are a fan of the band.

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

About the Book

Experiencing the Rolling Stones: A Listener’s Companion looks at the Stones’ music from the inside out. Throughout Malvinni places individual songs and entire albums within the transformative era of the ‘60s, focusing on how The Rolling Stones integrated African-American R &B, blues, and rock and roll into a uniquely British style. Vignettes attempt to describe what it was like to hear the Stones’ music at the time of its release thread their way through as Malvinni goes beyond the usual stories around their significant songs. Tracing the distinctive sound that run through their catalogue, from chord progressions and open guitar tunings, to polyrhythmic Afro-Caribbean beats, to their timbral innovations using non-traditional instruments, he shows how the Stones retain their identity through the decades.

David Malvinni, musicologist and classical guitarist, is adjunct professor of music and African American studies at Santa Barbara City College and author of The Gypsy Caravan: From Real Roma to Imaginary Gypsies in Western Music and Film, and Grateful Dead and the Art of Rock Improvisation

Book Review: New Kids On The Block’s Hangin’ Tough

Katie April 22, 2016 No Comments

I’m not exactly sure what I was expecting from this book, I think I was hoping for more of an album break down like I have read for some other bands.  I just couldn’t get into this book despite being a NKTOB fan (though not a die hard.)  I do have to say that I didn’t realize how many of the tracks that are in their current sets were actually from the Hangin Tough album.  I was pretty young when this album was released. I do think it is more than just nostalgia for why the songs are still in these sets, years and years later.

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

About the Book

Hangin’ Tough, the second album by the New Kids on the Block, has sold more than seventeen million copies worldwide since it was released in 1988. But the album and the band have also been dismissed, derided and deemed uncool by the music establishment.

Almost thirty years later, the New Kids still perform the songs from Hangin’ Tough. Hundreds of thousands of grown women still flock to their concerts to hear—and go bat-shit crazy for—the songs they first heard when they were teenagers. Is this mere nostalgia or can the science of music help explain the enduring success of Hangin’ Tough? What is it about this album that made it so special? Is the music any good or are there other factors at play too?

Journalist and New Kids fan Rebecca Wallwork sets out to analyze the quality of Hangin’ Tough with the help of music cognition experts, critics, producers and music industry pros. This is not a story about crazy fans, boy bands and truckloads of cheesy merchandise; it is an exploration of a watershed album and moment in pop culture history. It is a glimpse into the brain of not just New Kids fans, but into the minds and hearts of anyone who loves music.