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Lists

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  Native American Heritage
  

  November is Native American Heritage Month, and these books offer a rich collection of works that celebrate Indigenous voices, histories, and cultures perfect for the observance.

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  Fall in Love with Cooking
  

Reviews

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  Q : the autobiography of Quincy Jones by Jones, Quincy,

  ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

  RIP Quincy Jones, he passed today so I figured I'd write a review about this book, which I read about five years ago, not knowing a lot about Mr Jones beyond the broad strokes of his bio and some highlights from his absolutely massive catalogue.

  This is a great book, but it is not for the faint of heart. QJ experienced and did a lot of dark stuff in his life, and discusses it openly in his autobio, It is perhaps not as unhinged as Miles Davis' autobiography, but it is close. You will spend a lot of time feeling... unsettled.

  Or that is my recollection at least. And that is not to discount the book, it will be interesting to anyone interested in jazz, pop music, film scoring, the history of music in general. Quincy Jones had a part in a literal ton of highly important recordings and genres of music in general. An absolute legend.

  There are also chapters in this book written by people close to QJ, including his daughter, actress Rasheeda Jones. These serve to offer some outside perspective and intimate details on a smaller scale to the larger than life tales he often tells himself.

  Maybe I should give this book five stars, I think I probably would if I were a bigger film scoring, or big band jazz, or Michael Jackson fan, as those topics might be more captivating for me. But I read this kinda randomly and am more of a small group, abstract jazz, underground music kind of person. so while I found this book very interesting and a solif read to be sure, it wasn't didn't grab me the way that, say, the autobiographies of Miles Davis or George Clinton did. That may be a me problem, I'd still definitely recommend this to anyone interested with my above caveat that you're in for a troubling, though fascinating, ride.

  Reviewed by Kyle P on Nov 4, 2024

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• 

  Coltrane : the story of a sound by Ratliff, Ben.

  ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

  This is a phenomenal book! I am a saxophone player myself and I feel like I got better just from reading this,

  Do be aware, this is not a biography. It spends very little time discussing John Coltrane's upbringing and personal life, only really mentioning these things in passing. Instead, author Ben Ratliff delivers a detailed history of who Coltrane played with when, who he looked up to, who he studied with, what he practiced, and how these things changed his playing and compositional style. It is all very detailed and insightful.

  The first half of the book focuses on Coltrane's approach and his music, and the people he played with. The second half examines how that music affected jazz, the world at large, saxophonists and musicians at the time and up to today. It ocntains thoughtful discourses on Free Jazz and jazz education, and the power of ,music to change the world (or not...).

  A really truly great read. All that being said, this may not be the right book for some people. I would hesitate to recommend it to someone who is not a musician or at least knowledgeable / curious about music theory and the innterworkings of music. There are lots of parts of this book that do not focus on these topice, but, particularyl in the first half, there are large parts that focus on them greatly. If you are curious about the life of John Coltrane I would find a different book. If you are curious about jazz history in general though, there is a lot to learn here, and if you are someone very interested in John Coltrane this is a must read,

  Reviewed by Kyle P on Nov 4, 2024

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• 

  Music is history by Questlove.

  ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

  This is an absolutely amazing book IF you are a big music nerd (which I am). Despite knowing really a whole heck of a lot about the genres and eras of music discussed in this book, I still did not know who many of the musicians mentioned were.

  I super enjoyed the personal and historical contexts Questlove placed familiar songs / artists / albums in, and likewise enjoyed learning about some new (old) music to check out.

  All of that being said, I'd like to reiterate that to get the most out of this book, you really need to have at least a strong interest in, if not a strong knowledge of, hip hop, classic rock, funk, R&B, jazz, soul, etc. It is not uncommon for the author to be discussing a particular sample in a hip hop song and then spend a paragraph talking about how the rhythm guitar player on that osng also played on a different song from earlier in the book, and oh yeah his dad was so and so who was in a band with his dad in the fifties, and so on.

  It is a fascinating web that bounces from pop culture meta narrative, to personal stories about growing up in West Philly. A+ 10/10 book for the right person.

  Reviewed by Kyle P on Oct 4, 2024

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• 

  Black sun by Roanhorse, Rebecca

  ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

  This is a good book! In prose and structure it reminded me of a cross between Game of Thrones, but it is less complex than that (not necessarily a bad thing). If you're looking for a compelling fantasy novel in a non European setting this book is enjoyable, intriguing, not too diffictult to read. I enjoyed the second book as well and am looking forward to the thrid.

  Reviewed by Kyle P on Oct 4, 2024

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  Miles, the autobiography by Davis, Miles.

  ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

  This book is a must read for jazz fans and fans of incendiary celebrity autobiographies.

  Be warned though, this book contains graphic descriptions of violence, drug use, sexual content, abuse, and like 20% of the words on every page are swears.

  I read it in college, like 15 years ago, and I'm kinda afraid to revisit it, because it is heavy, and pretty messed up.

  It is probably the best musician auto biography that I have read though, and that is a genre that I truly love.

  Reviewed by Kyle P on Oct 4, 2024

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• 

  Children of time by Tchaikovsky, Adrian,

  ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

  This review contains spoilers! Click to reveal...

  The concept of this book was fascinting and well executed, but I did not findi it emotionally compelling enough to give it five stars,

  I found it kinda hard to empathize with most if not all of the characters. I think this is largely due to the structure of the book, in which you experience the life of a different spider in each spider chapter (due to the length of their lives). It is compelling to experience the evolution of spider society in this way, but the drama rarely felt personal.

  I also struggled with the human characters just being generally unlikeable. I dont really like military sci fi and the human side fo this felt a bit too close to that for me.

  This may be a personal problem! I have heard many friends praise this book (one gave it to me) and seen tons of people recommend it online. If you have a particular interest in ecological, biological, or military sci fi, maybe even a bit of horror, Children of Time may land better for you. I still enjoyed it a lot but some sections were kind of a slog.

  Reviewed by Kyle P on Oct 4, 2024

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