Review 603: The High Desert

The High Desert by James Spooner
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When I saw this book at my library I had to read it. I was not a punk, but did listen to some of the music and saw some punk bands play a few times. Also in the 90’s, the era of the book, I spent some time in Apple Valley where this book takes place. I did not go to the high school there, nor knew anyone who actually lived in Apple Valley. But I did have a friend who had a house that he rented out, when empty a group of us would go up for a weekend sometimes. So this book has some familiarity.

Through the whole time reading the book I felt for James Spooner. He had it tough and as a teenager there’s already a lot going on. Moving as often as he did wasn’t helpful for finding long-term friends. On top of it the horrendous racism he encountered, he was a mixed-race kid. Spooner found himself identifying with the punk music and fashion, the way it presented itself, and in this crucial year he was learning.

Over the Christmas break he spent it at his dad’s in New York City. There he ran into a few punks that helped educate him which was pivotal in his life. The more Spooner learned about punk, the more it resonated with him. Back in Apple Valley still feeling lonely, never getting the girl. The attempt at being in a band didn’t work out, his friends were also going through some rough times. It didn’t help that they hung out with racist skinheads.

I was happy to see that SHARP (Skin Heads Against Racial Prejudice) was mentioned, and the history of how skinhead culture got coopted by racists.

This was a personal memoir but it also speaks to being other.

Review 523: The Prague Sonata

The Prague Sonata by Bradford Morrow
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

My favorite of the year! At least for fiction.

Update: July 2025:

This book was one of my favorites of 2024. At the time, and often, I seem to have a hard time writing some notes about my favorite reads. So here goes another attempt. 

The book has a bit of a mystery about an old sonata. Meta was given just a part of a sonata. Since she can no longer perform as a profession, she went on a search for the other two pieces. Well, she did get a little obsessed by this piece of music, knowing there was more and wanting to hear it, understand it.

 A large part of the book takes place in Prague, and Morrow did an excellent job of writing the feeling of that old city. I could see the place.  No other fiction book I’ve read (so far) has done such a good job of placing the setting. 

The writing was clear. There is a bit of relationships with Meta, one that had a falling out and another that began. Then there was also the music. One of those books I wished I could hear what was being talked about. 

I don’t know much about classical music, but apparently it was a long piece of music with three sections, or parts. They were split apart in Prague during WWII, the owner of the piece, Odylie, had married a Jewish man, Jakub.  When the war broke out he immediately became part of the resistance. Odylie wanted the music to survive, to save it from plundering, so she split it apart, kept the  first part.  She gave the second part to her best friend, and the last went to her husband. However, since he was in the resistance she could not see him directly, it was given to an intermediary and she hoped it found it’s way. Then Odylie left Prague for England.

In the modern time, it was a mystery for Meta trying to find the three pieces of music: where were they, what happened? The book gave us the past, so we knew more than Meta on what had happened, but the past was also revealed slowly so there was still some unknown aspects. Another mystery was who actually wrote this masterpiece of music?  Was it Beethoven, was is someone unknown genius in music, or was it more modern than it appeared?

I put off reading this one for a while (about six years) because of its length, while it took some time to get through it, I did not mind as I savored the book. One of the better fictional books I’ve read in a while.

Review 431: Into the Groove

Into the Groove: The Story of Sound From Tin Foil to Vinyl by Jonathan Scott
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is a history of recorded sound. Initially the inventors, Edison and others, thought this would benefit businessmen the most, as they could record their notes or whatnot. Reporters could record an event then dictate off that recording for their articles. The inventors didn’t foresee how music would dominate.

Jonathan Scott had done incredible research about the recorders and players, and the formats for these devices. In the early days it wasn’t clear if the cylinder, which was most popular, or the disc would win out. Later there were format wars of speed of the discs, and of course the materials used until we land on vinyl that is used today.

There’s an extensive glossary at the back, which I perused but didn’t thoroughly read. Links and pointers to old archives and the earliest recordings are included. All in all an extensive book and interesting, however it didn’t hold up to extensive reading. The writing style at times was a bit hokey, gimmicky with trying to make puns and otherwise funny remarks, but they fell flat for me. Not sure it matters terribly, but the writer is based in England so there was a focus more on the UK than the United States, so a little slant away from my own experience.

Musicophiles and those dedicated history buffs about things or stuff, may find this a more engaging read than myself.

Fun fact: Jazz was first known as jass but everyone thought the letter J would be too easily erased, so they switched the last letters to Z so we have: JAZZ.

Review 391: This Bird Has Flown

This Bird Has Flown by Susanna Hoffs
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars



This looked like a fun book, I guess it was but it confirmed that this genre is not for me. I was attracted to the book as the author is from the band The Bangles and is about music.

The relationship angst is the part that I don't particularly enjoy in books. This follows the standard pattern. What I did like were the music interludes between chapters and the literary references!

There are some well written sentences, but for me the plot is just not my cup of tea. I'm sure people who enjoy this genre will enjoy this book more than myself.

The audiobook is the way to listen, dual narrators with Hoffs being the main character and all the other voices by a professional narrator. Plus all those musical snippets to begin each chapter. Now that part was fun!


Thanks to Little, Brown and Company and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book.

Unfortunately, the audiobook was better.

Review 290: The Violin Conspiracy

The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb
My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars

Not quite a mystery, although at center of the book is who stole Ray’s heirloom violin? Much of that aspect is put aside to tells Ray full story, not in linear time either. The format sort of works.

My heart kept breaking for this guy. He had no one in his family to support his music except his grandmother. His mother was so distant and rejected him yet doted on his twin siblings, makes you wonder about why…yet was never addressed, nor anything about his father. Nearly no one outside of his grandmother seemed to support Ray, although he does win over an aunt later.

Ray is on his own, figuring out life, but all he wants to do is play the violin. His grandmother gave over her grandfather’s violin that turns out to be a rare one worth millions of dollars that now brings more grief to Ray as the family expects him to hand over money he does not have.

Later in the book the repetition of these ills, the racism and travesties thrown at Ray who only wanted to play the violin, was repetitive. The story bogged down, got boring even. It was a trudge to get through. The bright spots were the lyrical descriptions of the music when Ray was playing. It kept me reading.

The book needed more editing, cutting or adding different material. A tighter book would have soared. It read like a first novel that could have been better as a short story or novella.

2.5 stars.  A good effort for a first-time novelist whose real passion lies in music.

Thanks to Anchor/Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book.

Review 262: The Spectacular

The Spectacular by Zoe Whittall
My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars

The book did not live up to its name. It did start out strong but the second half of the book somewhat lost it for me. The premise was about three generations of women striving for real freedom. But what does that mean? In this book it came down to children.

The youngest is Missy, a musician who starts off the book on tour and definitely does not want kids, wants the same freedom of the male counterparts in her band. The doctors won’t tie her tubes, claiming later in life she may change her mind. And in the later part of the book she does, well…she’s on the fence. One day, yes, another day maybe.

One issue that bothered me was the transformation Missy undergoes from the first part of the book to the second. It was a jump in time, but also in her character. We never get the growth, how did it come to be this way?

We don't have much of the oldest generation, the grandma of either parent. Her mother we have some, but it is mostly Missy’s story here, which wasn't very strong throughout.

I got the sense the writer had an agenda with this book, and that made for a weaker read. Perhaps the real freedom wasn't the question of children but sexuality? If so, this book missed the mark on that aspect as well.

Thanks to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book.

Review 236: Mary Jane

Mary Jane by Jessica Anya Blau
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A charming book set in the 1970s, Nixon Era about a transformative summer for young teenage Mary Jane Dillard. She decides to get a summer job and looking after Izzy for the new family in the posh Baltimore neighborhood seemed perfect. Unfortunately, the Cone family isn’t the respectable family as her parents expected, starting with them being Jewish. Mary Jane’s conservative family and private school upbringing shielded her from so much, that when she heard about sex addiction, she assumed she was a sex addict, despite never even having kissed anyone. 

The Cone household soon included two more, a famous married couple, a tv star and her rock star husband who Dr. Cone treats for addictions. Mary Jane quickly overcomes being star-struck over the couple and ends up being the only adult in the house as no one else cleans or knows how to cook, although there is a lot of love. This love and affection are something Mary Jane is missing from her home, and didn’t even know it.

The book is surprising and has a touch of humor throughout. Little Izzy is such a delight! And I love how the book showed the growth and transformation of Mary Jane. The writing was deft and seamless so you are just immersed into the story, as it should be.

I listened to the audiobook, and it had a surprise at the end, an original song that is mentioned in the book, near the end. For this reason I would recommend listening to the audio as the best way to read this book.

Review 215: The Final Revival of Opal & Nev

The Final Revival of Opal & Nev by Dawnie Walton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book is a fictional music biography that focuses its lens on Opal Jewel and Nev Charles, particularly with the event in the ‘70s that propelled them to stardom. One of their first big gigs ended up in a riot where the drummer Jimmy died. Turns out the narrator, who is researching for her book is the daughter of Jimmy, who died before she was born. Also, Opal was having an affair with Jimmy. 

What caused the riot is racism.

There is much to love in this book, but also places that became a bit tedious, at times. The format of the book is similar to several others, an oral history with multiple voices, while once was unique and exciting, with this book which mimics the format, it becomes a bit stale. 

Yet, I did enjoy the book in the end. It is hard not to cringe and rejoice at the strong character of Opal Jewel. 

Thanks to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book.

It's hard not to love the strong young woman Opal Jewel!

Review 158: With or Without You

With or Without You by Caroline Leavitt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I fell for this book. I really enjoyed reading it. It is very much a relationship book. A couple in their early 40's are having the fight, get married, have a kid or not, settle down?  Simon is a musician and has an opportunity across the country, while Stella, Simon’s long-time girlfriend, wants him to give that up and get something more stable, and live a more normal life. The night before he leaves Stella ends up in a coma and Simon must decide if he will stay with her or go try following his musical heart.

Quickly we find the answer to that question. There is such a strong sense of all of the characters, not only Simon and Stella, but also her friend and doctor. I liked the viewpoint of Stella while she was in a coma, then in recovery too. I love the growth we see here as well.

 Something here grabbed more. Maybe it was just a better book than the string I've recently read.

Thanks to Algonquin Books and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book.

Review 141: My Struggle: Dancing in the Dark

My Struggle: Book 4 - Dancing in the Dark by Karl Ove Knausgård
My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This installment of the series is mostly about Karl Ove's one year teaching, when he was 18 to 19, in Northern Norway. There is some backwards looking, and briefly going forward, but mostly around that time of teaching. It's a very small town where he is teaching. They always have young temporary teachers, people don't seem to stay. Since his age was only a couple years older than some of the students he has attractions, but doesn't act on anything. He does briefly go out with a 16 year old that is going to school in another town close by and his students remark on it. Karl Ove breaks it off quickly, before anything really develops with her.

The book is mostly linear, but there are some points when he goes back in time, and also briefly forward. One part he said years later, maybe eleven, he wrote a novel (his first) about that time as a teacher, most of it was the school, town and the characters. He worried what the people from the town would think. Then two girls came to see him speak, from the town. They had met up at a coffee shop. Karl Ove was nervous, of course, and one was the young girl in the school that he liked, and wrote about. They discussed it briefly and turned out to be okay. Nothing every happened either, by then he was married.

The book is still continuing the relationship with his father. A large part of the digression from the main story line was about the time when his parents split up, his dad started drinking a lot. Karl Ove is drinking a lot in this book as well, and there seem to be similarities that aren't discussed.

I found myself getting a little bored with some of the teenage boyhood desires for a date, for having sex with someone, anyone. It occupied more of the books pages than I wanted to read. I'll still continue on the series, most likely, but it may be some time before I get to the next book. Hopefully not three years like this one took.

Previous books read in series:

• My Struggle: Book 1: Death in the Family 
• read: May.06-24, 2016
• My Struggle: Book 2: A Man in Love 
• read: July.05-Aug.08 2016
• My Struggle: Book 3: Boyhood
• read: May.15-24 2017

All rated 5 stars

Review 138: Sigh, Gone: A Misfit's Memoir of Great Books, Punk Rock, and the Fight to Fit In

Sigh, Gone: A Misfit's Memoir of Great Books, Punk Rock, and the Fight to Fit In by Phuc Tran
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book took me much longer to read than it should. I kept putting it aside. Was it the book or me? I tend to think it was the book. While it was written well, there didn’t seem to be a strong thread pulling the story forward that made me want to keep going. Once a chapter finished, it could have been the end of the story, for each chapter.

The frame of the chapters was a great choice, starts out with a classic literature book, then relates how that fit into his life at that time. For example: The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka is compared to his teenage transformation, he cannot control and his body does something different and his family treats him differently, much like Gregor Samsa when he turned into a bug with his family reaction.

I particularly enjoyed one of the later chapters “The Autobiography of Malcom X” and Tran’s look at racism. For me that was his most powerful chapter. I wanted to call it essay, since that is what this felt like, a group of essays, that also happen to follow Tran as he ages, starting young when the family left Vietnam to when he graduates high school. Oddly enough, I wanted more post-high school, how was college for him, how did he change?

The book is very readable and relatable.
Overall rating 3.5 stars, and rounded up.


Thanks to Flatiron Books/Macmillan and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book.

Review 123: The Fortress of Solitude

The Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem
My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I picked this book up due to the title…seemed appropriate for the times we are living through right now with social distancing, some people are holed up in solitude in their homes. I’m lucky to have another human with me.

The title of this book comes from the comic books, Superman and his Fortress. Comics are one of the underlying themes, as a young boy our main character Dylan Ebdus connects with other young neighbor boys with comics. When Dylan is slightly older he comes across a real life super-hero, who also is homeless and a drunk. He gives Dylan the ring that allowed him to fly as Aeroman.

Music is another theme throughout the book, with Dylan’s best friend Mingus Rude whose dad was a singer, Barrett Rude Junior. Music haunts Dylan when the song by Wild Cherry came out Play that funky music (white boy) came out. The backdrop is Dean Street, in Brooklyn that Ebdus is one of very few white families in the neighborhood. Being thrown into public school he was one of two or three white kids in each school he attended. Yes race is an important theme here too, how could it not. Later when Dylan is an adult he is a music critic.

There were a few quirks to the book, like the characters names were nearly always written out in full, each time. The separation from reality is where I always have difficulty with books. Without going into deep analysis of the book, why it was necessary, I’d like to say instead that it was not, that the book would be better without. Yet it did give the story momentum, occasional purpose, and the book title does call out to the superhero genre.

The book is long, yes overly long for me. I was relieved to finish reading it. There are good parts within, enough that it keep me going. Most of the book is taken with Dylan growing up, and when he became an adult it felt like the book was slipping, not quite as interesting. The final portion does help wrap up the story, closes a few loops. In the end, I'm just happy it's done and over.

READING PROGRESS

March 22, 2020 – Started Reading

March 23, 2020 – 

page 8

 

 1.57% "barely started. this book has been sitting around my bookshelves since 2004 and picked it up, finally, since the title seemed appropriate for the current situation right now. no idea what I'm getting into, other than it's a long book."

March 25, 2020 – 

page 54

 

 10.57%

March 27, 2020 – 

page 76

 

 14.87%

March 28, 2020 – 

page 96

 

 18.79%

March 30, 2020 – 

page 183

 

 35.81%

March 31, 2020 – 

page 197

 

 38.55%

April 1, 2020 – 

page 233

 

 45.6%

April 2, 2020 – 

page 275

 

 53.82%

April 3, 2020 – 

page 300

 

 58.71%

April 5, 2020 – 

page 321

 

 62.82%

April 6, 2020 – 

page 349

 

 68.3%

April 7, 2020 – 

page 366

 

 71.62% "now our main character is an adult, and my enjoyment of the book is lessening."

April 8, 2020 – 

page 393

 

 76.91%

April 9, 2020 – 

page 406

 

 79.45%

April 12, 2020 – 

page 426

 

 83.37%

April 13, 2020 – Finished Reading

Review 91: The 33 1/3 B-Sides

The 33 1/3 B-Sides: New Essays by 33 1/3 Authors on Beloved and Underrated Albums by Will Stockton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

These are short essays each by a different author on a favorite album that wasn’t one that was popular with the masses, the “B sides.” The small book features 55 different musicians (counting the introductions.) If you enjoy music these essays will remind your favorite album and how it affected you.

Many, or at least the ones I read, seem to feature the author reminiscing back to their youth, when music first started taking hold, and the album they listened to over and over, that became a constant.

I didn’t read this entirely, just dabbled here and there with the artists I’m familiar with. I tried reading one or two of ones I don’t know and it didn’t do much for me. I love the concept of the series and will be looking for one of the full-length books dedicated to a favorite artist.


Thanks to Bloomsbury Academic and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book.

Review 60: Doxology

Doxology by Nell Zink
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is a generational book, that covers the late 1980's to today. Pam is the main focus, for the first part, a young rebellion who leaves her hometown of Washington DC as a senior in high school to do "art" in New York City. Along the way she stumbles into a coding job and two life-long male friends for life. One, Daniel, becomes the father of her child. It's years before she reunites with her parents, but they end up being important . The child Flora becomes the focus of the later part of the novel.

A lot of ideas are pumped into this novel, and symbolism as well. Look at the title of the book; Doxology: a liturgical formula of praise to God. Then you have Daniel's last name of Svoboda which is a political party in the Ukrainian and also means "freedom". Anyway, undertones abound in this book. At first the art project is music, then it shifts and perhaps the daughter is the ultimate project. Yet she doesn't live her life like theirs.

There's a lot to like and enjoy in this book, the focus on music then on climate change and resting on politics, particularly the Greens. Yet...I think it's the writing style that gets me, makes me reluctant to wholeheartedly embrace this book. I'm not a fan of the writing style. The sentences are short and clipped, and somehow it reminds me of Neal Stephenson. It feels more like a bunch telling and not much showing. I think there's a lot missing, that could have made it better.



Thanks to the publisher Ecco/HarperCollins Publishers. I received a free copy of this book at a library conference. I was not required to write a review, but felt like it and, of course, the above opinions are my own. Somehow I also got a copy on NetGalley, so double thanks to the publisher.

Review 16: Daisy Jones & The Six

Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book is out today and already has a huge fan following and tons of love, and for good reason. There is a lot to love in this book. Unfortunately, I wasn't someone who found it absolutely amazing. I enjoyed a lot of the book but I wasn't completely floored.

The book opens with an "Author's Note" which is the fictional author writing this biography of the music band Daisy Jones & The Six. It states this book is an attempt to portray why this band split up mid-tour during the height of their fame in July 1979.

The book is told as an interview style, which means lots of words and back and forth between the different characters. This is one of the problems, we are told the story not shown. As I got into the book I noticed that often there is one character saying the words for another, particularly with the two main people: Daisy Jones and Billy Dunne, saying each other's words. It started pulling me out of the story noticing this happening.

There was one point where the "author" interrupted the story and inserted herself even with disclaimer's and this section I thought was very awkward, it should have just been rewritten leaving the author out of it. I don't think anything in the story was gained by that move.

Personally I thought the story went on too long, dragged out when it could have been tightened up. I'm happy there was more than just Daisy and Billy, but even more with some of the other characters would have been helpful.

I can still recommend the book, it was fun. I loved the lyrics for their hit album provided at the end of the book. I read them before starting the read, then again in the middle and at the end. Plus, RandomHouse made a playlist on Spotify to listen to while reading the book. How awesome is that?

Book rating: 3.5 stars rounded up for the additional material

Thanks to Penguin Random House and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book.