Changes

|summary=On the coast of Santa Cruz, Patti Smith enters the lunar year of the monkey - one packed with mischief, sorrow, and unexpected moments. In a stranger's words, ''Anything is possible: after all, it's the year of the monkey''. As Smith wanders the coast of Santa Cruz in solititudesolitude, she reflects on a year that brings huge shifts in her life - loss and aging ageing are faced head on, as it the shifting political waters in America.

{{Frontpage|class-"wikitable" cellpaddingisbn="15" Walton_Ask|title=Ask For Blues<!-- |author=Malcolm Walton -->|-rating=3.5| stylegenre="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"Autobiography|[[image:Walton_Ask.jpg|left|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1788038053/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Ask For Blues by summary=Malcolm Walton's book is clearly a memoir about his introduction to the Trad Jazz scene of the late 1950s and early 1960s, but he has chosen to write it in the form of a novel, claiming in his prologue that this would give the book a different approach to the music memoir. His protagonist 'Martin' takes on Malcolm Walton]]=== [[image:3's mantle and begins with his first discovery of the Salvation Army band with his grandfather.5star This catapults him into a love of music, initially taking piano lessons, and later delving into his true love – the trumpet.jpg|link=Category:}}{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:AutobiographyFrontpage|Autobiography]], [[:Category:Entertainmentisbn=Moore Bientot|Entertainment]], [[:Category:General Fictiontitle=A Bientot...|author=Roger Moore|General Fiction]]rating=4|genre=EntertainmentMalcolm Walton's book is clearly a memoir about his introduction to |summary=The news of the Trad Jazz scene death of the late 1950's and early 1960's, but he has chosen to write it Sir Roger Moore in the form of May 2017 came as a novel, claiming great shock: he was one of those people you knew would go on forever. There was just one small glimmer of light in his prologue the sadness - the news that this would give the book a different approach to the music memoir. His protagonist matter of days before his death he'd delivered the finished manuscript of his book, ''MartinÀ bientôt…' takes on Malcolm's mantle, and begins with to his first discovery of the Salvation Army band with his grandfather. This catapults him into publishers. Just a few months later a love of music, initially taking piano lessons, copy landed on my desk and later delving into his true love – the trumpetI didn't even bother to look as though I could resist reading it straight away. [[Ask For Blues by Malcolm Walton|Full Review]]}}<!-- Moore -->{{Frontpage|-isbn=Maslanka Sherlock| styletitle="widthSherlock: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"The Puzzle Book|author=Christopher Maslanka and Steve Tribe[[image:Moore Bientot.jpg|leftrating=4|linkgenre=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1782438610?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1782438610]]  Entertainment| stylesummary="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[A Bientot... by Roger Moore]]=== [[image:4starWho doesn't love a good puzzle, especially those really fiendish ones that get the brain working extra hard? There really is nothing to compare to that buzz we get from the Aha! moment, when everything falls into place and the solution reveals itself.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Autobiography|Autobiography]]If puzzles are your thing then you may wish to put your grey cells to the test with ''The Sherlock Puzzle Book'', [[:Category:Entertainmentbased on the popular TV series.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=Corcoran_Dylan|Entertainment]], [[title=Do You Mr Jones?:Category:LifestyleBob Dylan with the Poets and Professors|Lifestyle]]author=Neil Corcoran|rating=4.5|genre=EntertainmentThe news |summary=Bob Dylan's award of the death of Sir Roger Moore Nobel Prize for Literature in May 2017 came as a 2016 'for having created new poetic expressions within the great shock: he was one of those American song tradition' proved highly controversial. It inevitably led some people you knew would go on for ever. There in the literary world to take stock and look at his work and reputation with a fresh eye. This volume of essays was just one small glimmer of light first published in the sadness - the news that a matter of days before his death he'd delivered the finished manuscript of his book, ''À bientôt…'', to his publishers. Just 2002, and is now reissued with a few months later a copy landed on my desk and I didn't even bother to look as though I could resist reading it straight away. [[A Bientotnew foreword by Will Self... by Roger Moore|Full Review]]}}<!-- Maslanka -->{{Frontpage|-isbn=Kyncl_Stream| styletitle="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"Stream Punks|author=Robert Kyncl and Maany Peyvan[[image:Maslanka Sherlock.jpg|left|linkrating=https://www4.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1785943030?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1785943030]] 5| stylegenre="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"Entertainment|summary===[[Sherlock: The Puzzle Book by Christopher Maslanka and Steve Tribe]]=== [[image:4starI watch quite a lot of YouTube.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category: Entertainment|Entertainment]] Who doesnI play music videos when I want to listen to a particular song I don't love a good puzzle, especially those really fiendish ones that get the brain working extra hard? There really is nothing already have in my collection. I use it to compare find out how to that buzz we get from do things, with the Aha! moment, when everything falls into place and the solution reveals itselfinstruction videos they seem to have for pretty much anything. If puzzles are your thing then you may wish to put your grey cells to At the test with ''The Sherlock Puzzle Book'gym, I'll stick it on on my phone, based prop it up on the popular TV series. [[Sherlock: The Puzzle Book by Christopher Maslanka cross-trainer and Steve Tribe|Full Review]]<br> <!-- Corcoran -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Corcoran_Dylanwatch some behind the scenes interviews with the cast of my favourite shows. And sometimes I'll treat it as if it is Netflix, to watch series with new episodes releasing every few days, exclusively on YouTube.jpg|left|link=https://wwwHaving a new smart TV adds an extra, easy way to watch without having to plug in my laptop or squint at a small phone screen.amazonSo yes, I like YouTube and I use YouTube. But I didn't know a whole lot about the site it until I read this book.co.uk/gp/product/1784706809?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1784706809]]}}{{Frontpage| styleisbn="vertical-align: top; text-alignJVDK_Swing|title=We Can Swing Together: left;"The Story of Lindisfarne|author=John Van der Kiste|rating=4.5|genre=Entertainment|summary=[[Do You Mr Jones?: Bob Dylan with the Poets It all began with a group of youngsters in North Shields. Rod Clements, Simon 'Si' Cowe, Ray 'Jacka' Jackson and Professors by Neil Corcoran]]=== [[image:4.5starRay Laidlaw formed ''The Downtown Faction'', soon changing the name to ''Brethren'' when they were joined by singer-songwriter Alan Hull.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category: Entertainment|Entertainment]] Bob Dylan As a US-based group had a similar name they opted to change the name again - and ''Lindisfarne's award of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2016 'for having created new poetic expressions within (with the great American song tradition' proved highly controversialname taken from an island off the Northumberland coast) was born. It inevitably led some people in the literary world to take stock More than forty years on and look at his work and reputation with a fresh eyenumerous changes of personnel the band is still very much around. This volume They might not be touring or producing much in the way of essays was first published in 2002new material, but they still perform, and is now reissued with a new foreword by Will Self. [[Do You Mr Jones?: Bob Dylan Rod Clements, one of the original members on his fourth stint with the Poets and Professors by Neil Corcoran|Full Review]]group.}} <!-- Kyncl -->{{Frontpage|-isbn=JVDK_ELO| styletitle="widthElectric Light Orchestra: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|Song by Song[[image:Kyncl_Stream.jpg|left|linkauthor=https://www.amazon.coJohn Van der Kiste|rating=4.uk/gp/product/0753545926?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=0753545926]] 5| stylegenre="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"Entertainment|summary===[[Stream Punks by Robert Kyncl My memories of pop music in the early sixties revolve around guitars and Maany Peyvan]]=== [[image:4drums, sometimes the piano with only occasional excursions into strings and brass.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Lifestyle|Lifestyle]]Pop music rarely stands still and it wasn't long before the basic instruments were seen as constraints and The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Beach Boys began to experiment, [[:Category: Entertainment|Entertainment]] I watch quite a lot of YouTubewith other groups following where they led. Amongst these groups was The Move and their lead guitarist and songwriter, Roy Wood. I play music videos when I want Wood wanted to listen to a particular song I dondevelop the group's sound by adding more instruments but was prevented from achieving what he wanted by cost limitations and because the rest of the group didn't already have in my collectionreally share his enthusiasm. I use it to find out how to do things, with }}{{Frontpage|isbn=Watkins_Lets|title=Let's Make Lots of Money: My Life as the instruction videos they seem to have for pretty much anything. At the gym, I'll stick it Biggest Man in Pop|author=Tom Watkins|rating=4|genre=Entertainment|summary=Who on on my phoneearth would be a manager in the larger than life, prop it up on the cross trainer and watch some behind the scenes interviews with the cast here today gone tomorrow world of my favourite shows. And sometimes I'll treat it as if it is Netflix, to watch series pop? Anybody with new episodes releasing every few daysan ego, exclusively on YouTube. Having a new smart TV adds ruthless streak, an extra, easy way opportunity to watch without having embrace the chances and accept that it's not going to plug in my laptop or squint at a small phone screenlast, evidently. So yesTom Watkins is just one of several to have walked the fine line and, for part of the time, I like YouTube and I use YouTubequite successfully. But I didn't know a whole lot about As his memoirs suggest, part of the site it until I read this booktime was achievement enough.[[Stream Punks by Robert Kyncl and Maany Peyvan|Full Review]]}}<!-- JVDK -->{{Frontpage|-isbn=Kendrick_Scrappy| styletitle="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"Scrappy Little Nobody|author=Anna Kendrick[[image:JVDK_Swing.jpg|linkrating=http://www3.amazon.co.uk/dp/1781555893/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] 5| stylegenre="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"Entertainment|summary===[[We Can Swing Together: The Story Celebrity autobiographies. It's a genre long tainted by the examples of Lindisfarne by John Van der Kiste]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Entertainment|Entertainment]] It all began with a group of youngsters in North Shields. Rod Clementspeople who clearly didn't deserve to be a celebrity, let alone have a ghost-writer create their book, Simon 'Si' Cowe, Ray 'Jacka' Jackson and Ray Laidlaw formed ''The Downtown Factionand by those who did so little but managed to churn out five memoirs before they were even thirty. But more recently it's become a way of staking a claim to importance for female comics. They've not all written autobiographies, as Bridget Christie proved, soon changing the name but enough have to ''Brethren'' when they were joined by singerprovide for a rapidly-songwriter Alan Hullfilling shelf at the bookstore. As a US-based group 2016 we had Amy Schumer winning a similar name they opted to change the name again - GoodReads award, Lena Dunham's been at it, and we've also got Anna Kendrick. Now she'Lindisfarne'' (with the name taken from an island off the Northumberland coast) was born. More than forty years on s not a strict comic – not all of her films are designed to make you laugh, and with numerous changes some of personnel the band is still very much around. They might not them that are just don't – but this has to be touring or producing much in the way of new material, but they still perform, with Rod Clements, one of the original members on his fourth stint with the group. [[We Can Swing Togethersame bracket.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=Ropek_Tragic|title=Tragic Magic: The Story Life of Lindisfarne by John Van der KisteTraffic's Chris Wood|Full Review]] <!-- jvdk -->author=Dan Ropek|-rating=4.5| stylegenre="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|Entertainment[[image:JVDK_ELO.jpg|linksummary=http://wwwChris Wood was a member of Traffic, the group formed by Steve Winwood in 1967 after he left The Spencer Davis Group.amazon.co.uk/dp/1781556008/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Electric Light Orchestra: Song by Song by John Van der Kiste]]=== [[image:4A gifted musician best known for his flute and saxophone work, he also played keyboards, bass guitar and contributed backing vocals as well as having a hand in writing several of the songs and one or two instrumentals.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}This biography takes its title from the name of one of his compositions for their fifth album.}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Entertainment|Entertainment]]{{FrontpageMy memories |isbn=Dolby_Sound|title=The Speed of Sound|author=Thomas Dolby|rating=4.5|genre=Entertainment|summary=From struggling post-punk musician to pop music in the early sixties revolve around guitars and drumsstar, from Silicon Valley innovator to university professor, Thomas Dolby has had a remarkable if not unique career, sometimes often reinventing himself on the piano with only occasional excursions into strings way. This memoir is based on his extensive notes and brassjournals. Pop music rarely stands still and it wasn't long before the basic instruments were seens as constraints and }}{{Frontpage|isbn=Morris_Legion|title=The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Beach Boys began to experiment, with other groups following where they led. Amongst these groups was The Move Legion of Regrettable Supervillains: Oddball Criminals from Comic Book History|author=Jon Morris|rating=5|genre=Entertainment|summary=As much as I like comics – and their lead guitarist and songwriterI do, Roy Woodwhether superhero ones or not – I have to admit one thing, namely that the villains in them are a bit pants. Wood wanted to develop What is The Penguin but the groupworld's sound by adding more instruments but was prevented from achieving what he wanted by cost limitations and because the rest worst Mafioso, with a hobby of the group didn't really share waddling along like his enthusiasm. <!pet birds? Where else do you win an Oscar of all things by playing a two-bit killer who just fell in a vat of random chemicals and changed colour, and got mardier as a result (although recently he's become a nanotech genius – but let's not go there)? And what is it with the gimp in the see- Watkins -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Watkins_Lets.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0753541971/ref=nosimthrough plant pot because he is the embodiment of cold?tag=thebookbagAnd that's just some of the better-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Letknown enemies of ''Batman''s Make Lots , one of Money: My Life as the Biggest Man in Pop by Tom Watkins]]=== [[image:4starbetter goodies. You can imagine how awful the baddies related to the bad goodies can be. And if you can't, this is the perfect primer.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Entertainment|Entertainment]]}}Who on earth would be a manager in {{Frontpage|isbn=Fletcher_Midnight|title=In the larger than life, here today gone tomorrow world Midnight Hour: The Life & Soul of pop? Anybody with an egoWilson Pickett|author=Tony Fletcher|rating=4.5|genre=Entertainment|summary=Tamla Motown groups and singers apart, a ruthless streak, an opportunity to embrace in the chances and accept that it's not going to last, evidentlymid-sixties there were three major names in the soul music field who mattered above all. Tom Watkins is just one James Brown was something of several to have walked a cult name who rarely bothered about or troubled the fine linesingles charts, and for part Otis Redding was on the verge of shooting into the time, quite successfullystratosphere when he died in an aeroplane crash. As his memoirs suggest, part of The other was the time was achievement enough. [[Letman from Alabama, 's Make Lots of Money: My Life as the Biggest Man in Pop by Tom Watkins|Full Review]]wicked Pickett'.}} <!-- Mourby -->{{Frontpage|-isbn=Paling_Reading| styletitle="widthReading Allowed: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|True Stories and Curious Incidents from a Provincial Library[[image:Mourby_Rooms.jpg|left|linkauthor=https://wwwChris Paling|rating=4.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1785782754?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1785782754]] 5| stylegenre="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"Entertainment|summary===[[Rooms with I once made a comical faux pas in a View: The Secret Life of Great Hotels by Adrian Mourby]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Travel|Travel]], [[:Category:History|History]] Adrian Mourby has given us a flying visit to each of fifty grand hotels, from fourteen regions library when I was younger, but it certainly didn't put me off returning. I once declared in a self-important way that I would start at the beginning of the worldbooks for young children and not stop til the end, with then do the hotels in each section being arranged chronologically rather than by region, which helps to give something of an overall picture. So what makes a hotel same for those for the older children – 'grand'? The first hotel to call itself and then do it all over again with them'grand' was in covent Garden in 1774 and it ushered in the beginning , I said, pointing at the large-print shelves. ''I hope not'', was the response – but little me was only aware of a period when a hotel would be a lifestyle choice rather than a refuge need for those without friends and family conveniently nearby. The hotels we visit all began life in different circumstances and each faced a different set of challenges. We begin in the Americaslarge font for my fellow whippersnappers, move to the United Kingdom, circumnavigate Europe, briefly visit Russia and Turkey then northern Africa, India and Asia. Australia, it seems, does not go for the grandany other reason. Since then I've needed libraries, and going to them has been second nature. [[Rooms with a View: The Secret Life of Great Hotels by Adrian Mourby|Full Review]] <!-- Kendrick -->|-| style="width: 10% On the dole I made sure I could use the free Internet they provided to pay me back for my council tax; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Kendrick_Scrappylater I was intent on finding out if a Senior Library Assistant girl was worthy of her title, and of course, it saved a fortune on books for study and fun.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1471156834/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Scrappy Little Nobody by Anna Kendrick]]=== I'm not alone in sharing the warmth of both their heating system and the very thing they were born to provide – books, but there was still a huge step up between my level of use and knowledge of them to actually working in one. Which is where Chris Paling comes in.}}{{Frontpage[[image:3.5star.jpg|linkisbn=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:AutobiographySpringsteen_Born|Autobiography]], [[:Category:Entertainmenttitle=Born to Run|Entertainment]]author=Bruce Springsteen|rating=5Celebrity autobiographies. It|genre=Entertainment|summary=No, you haven's t stumbled into a genre long tainted by music review from the examples of people who clearly didn1970s, I't deserve to be a celebrity, let alone m talking about The Boss's autobiography. Lots of books have a ghost-writer create their bookbeen written about Springsteen by folk who knew him, worked with him and by those others who did so little but managed to churn out five memoirs before they were even thirtyhave only read the cuttings. But more recently it's become a way of staking a claim to importance for female comics Over the last seven years he has been going about – not putting the record straight, exactly – but telling it from his own perspective. They As he puts it: ''ve not all written autobiographiesWriting about yourself is a funny business''. By his own admission, as Bridget Christie provedit isn't the whole truth, discretion holds him back but enough have to provide for ''in a rapidly-filling shelf at project like this, the writer has made one promise, to show the bookstorereader his mind. 2016 we had Amy Schumer winning a GoodReads award, Lena Dunham's been at it' ''In these pages, and weI've also got Anna Kendricktried to do this. Now she's not a strict comic – not all of her films are designed to make you laugh, and some of them that are just don't – but this has to be in the same bracket. [[Scrappy Little Nobody by Anna Kendrick|Full Review]]}}<!-- Dolby -->{{Frontpage|-isbn=JVDK_Beatles| styletitle="width: 10%; vertical-alignA Beatles Miscellany: top; text-align: center;"Everything You Always Wanted to Know About the Beatles but Were Afraid to Ask|author=John Van der Kiste[[image:Dolby_Sound.jpg|linkrating=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1785781952/ref5|genre=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] Entertainment| stylesummary="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Speed You might have thought that just about everything which could be said about the Beatles had been said and certainly, there's been no shortage of Sound by Thomas Dolby]]=== [[image:4books about what went wrong, what happened to the money and even what went right.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[But what I've never seen before is a 'miscellany' - all those little facts which are so hard to track down and this is where historian John Van der Kiste comes into his own:Category:Entertainment|Entertainment]] From struggling post-punk musician to pop star, from Silicon Valley innovator he's a man with an eye for detail and the ability to university professor, Thomas Dolby has had bring everything together into a remarkable if not unique career, often reinventing himself on very readable whole. It's a wonderful collection of the waysmall facts. This memoir is based }}Move on his extensive notes and journals. to [[The Speed of Sound by Thomas Dolby|Full Review]] <!-- Ropek -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Ropek_Tragic.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1910773190/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Tragic Magic: The Life of Traffic's Chris Wood by Dan Ropek]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Entertainment|Entertainment]] Chris Wood was a member of Traffic, the group formed by Steve Winwood in 1967 after he left The Spencer Davis Group. A gifted musician best known for his flute and saxophone work, he also played keyboards, bass guitar and contributed backing vocals as well as having a hand in writing several of the songs and one or two instrumentals. This biography takes its title from the name of one of his compositions for their fifth album. [[Tragic Magic: The Life of Traffic's Chris Wood by Dan Ropek|Full Review]] <!-- Morris -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Morris_Legion.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1594749329/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Legion of Regrettable Supervillains: Oddball Criminals from Comic Book History by Jon Morris]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Graphic Novels|Graphic Novels]], [[:Category:Entertainment|Entertainment]] s much as I like comics – and I do, whether superhero ones or not – I have to admit one thing, namely that the villains in them are a bit pants. What is The Penguin but the world's worst Mafioso, with a hobby of waddling along like his pet birds? Where else do you win an Oscar of all things by playing a two-bit killer who just fell in a vat of random chemicals and changed colour, and got mardier as a result (although recently he's become a nanotech genius – but let's not go there)? And what is it with the gimp in the see-through plant pot because he is the embodiment of cold? And that's just some of the better-known enemies of ''Batman'', one of the better goodies. You can imagine how awful the baddies related to the bad goodies can be. And if you can't, this is the perfect primer.[[The Legion of Regrettable Supervillains: Oddball Criminals from Comic Book History by Jon Morris|Full Review]] <!-- Fletcher -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Fletcher_Midnight.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0190252944/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[In the Midnight Hour: The Life & Soul of Wilson Pickett by Tony Fletcher]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Entertainment|Entertainment]] Tamla Motown groups and singers apart, in the mid-sixties there were three major names in the soul music field who mattered above all. James Brown was something of a cult name who rarely bothered about or troubled the singles charts, and Otis Redding was on the verge of shooting into the stratosphere when he died in an aeroplane crash. The other was the man from Alabama, 'the wicked Pickett'.[[In the Midnight Hour: The Life & Soul of Wilson Pickett by Tony Fletcher|Full Review]] <!-- Paling-->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Paling_Reading.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1472124715/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Reading Allowed: True Stories and Curious Incidents from a Provincial Library by Chris Paling]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Entertainment|Entertainment]] I once made a comical faux pas in a library when I was younger, but it certainly didn't put me off returning. I once declared in a self-important way that I would start at the beginning of the books for young children and not stop til the end, then do the same for those for the older children – ''and then do it all over again with them'', I said, pointing at the large-print shelves. ''I hope not'', was the response – but little me was only aware of a need for large font for my fellow whippersnappers, and not for any other reason. Since then I've needed libraries, and going to them has been second nature. On the dole I made sure I could use the free Internet they provided to pay me back for my council tax; later I was intent on finding out if a Senior Library Assistant girl was worthy of her title; and of course it saved a fortune on books for study and fun. I'm not alone in sharing the warmth of both their heating system and the very thing they were born to provide – books, but there was still a huge step up between my level of use and knowledge of them to actually working in one. Which is where Chris Paling comes in. [[Reading Allowed: True Stories and Curious Incidents from a Provincial Library by Chris Paling|Full Review]] <!-- Springsteen -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Springsteen_Born.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1471157792/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Autobiography|Autobiography]], [[:Category:Entertainment|Entertainment]] No you haven't stumbled into a music review from the 1970s, I'm talking about The Boss's autobiography. Lots of books have been written about Springsteen by folk who knew him, worked with him and by others who have only read the cuttings. Over the last seven years he has been going about – not putting the record straight, exactly – but telling it from his own perspective. As he puts it: ''Writing about yourself is a funny business''. By his own admission, it isn't the whole truth, discretion holds him back but ''in a project like this, the writer has made one promise, to show the reader his mind.'' ''In these pages, I've tried to do this.'' [[Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen|Full Review]] <!-- JVDK -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:JVDK_Beatles.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1781555826/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[A Beatles Miscellany: Everything You Always Wanted to Know About the Beatles but Were Afraid to Ask by John Van der Kiste]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Reference|Reference]], [[:Category:Entertainment|Entertainment]] You might have thought that just about everything which could be said about the Beatles had been said and certainly there's been no shortage of books about what went wrong, what happened to the money and even what went right. But what I've never seen before is a 'miscellany' - all those little facts which are so hard to track down and this is where historian John Van der Kiste comes into his own: he's a man with an eye for detail and the ability to bring everything together into a very readable whole. It's a wonderful collection of the small facts. [[A Beatles Miscellany: Everything You Always Wanted to Know About the Beatles but Were Afraid to Ask by John Van der Kiste|Full ReviewNewest Fantasy Reviews]] <!-- DO NOT REMOVE ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE --> |}