2019 Reads
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The Strange Library
What a strange looking book. The front cover opens from the bottom to the top. Underneath it, another flap needs to be folded down. The text on the first page is ridiculously large. It doesn’t quite fit two paragraphs. After that, the text is a more conventional size. There are colourful illustrations throughout as well.…
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Rapper Pens Great Fiction (Supermarket)
Supermarket by Bobby Hall I enjoy listening to audiobooks. I borrowed this one on the Libby App from the public library without really looking closely at it. It was recommended to me by a page I work with. The story captured me from the start and I whipped through the audio book quicker than usual.…
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Sculptor Pays the Price for His Art
The Sculptor by Scott McCloud Scott McCloud wrote an incredible book called Understanding Comics that I highly recommend reading. Even if you are only a cursory fan of the medium, you will get something out of this book. I read it well before I started blogging about every book I read. I will have to…
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The Sun is Also a Star (And it Shines)
The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon I picked up this audiobook from the public library and I am really glad that I did. This is one of those stories that might be best presented in audio form. It has also been made into a movie and I am interested in watching it,…
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Why Teachers Should Embrace Youth Culture Power
Youth Culture Power: A #HipHopEd Guide to Building Teacher-Student Relationships and Increasing Student Engagement by Jason D Rawls and John Robinson Teachers are using hip-hop in innovative ways in the classroom to not only connect with their students but to also give them voice. It’s about time that two musical artists in this genre combined…
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Unknown Anti-War Comics
The Unknown Ant-War Comics Edited by Craig Yoe Many people incorrectly view comic books as celebrating violence and romanticizing war. Others dismiss the medium because they believe the stories in them are trivial and juvenile. However, comics at their best contain powerful stories and comment on their times in striking detail. This collection features comics…
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Writers, Set Your Pages on Fire!
Set the Page of Fire: Secrets of Successful Writers by Steve O’Keefe “Everyone who can read is qualified to write and capable of crafting something in print that is powerful and important.” I took lots of notes while reading this book. The above quote is one of my favourites. So, if you’ve never written anything…
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Write With Confidence in 7 Steps
Seven Steps to Confident Writing by Alan Gelb Everybody could benefit from learning how to express themselves clearly and persuasively in a piece of writing. Unfortunately, many of us see writing as “the thing we had to do back in school that we weren’t very good at it.” That is were Alan Gelb comes in.…
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Brill Building Historical Fiction
I’m Glad I Did by Cynthia Weil The Brill Building is a place where songwriting magic happened. Dozens of professional musicians worked there to churn out some of the most popular songs from the 1950s and 1960s. The author of this book was one of those prolific songwriters. Her work is even recognized by the…
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Technology Changed Everything in Music
Capturing Sound: How Technology Has Changed Music by Mark Katz This was an interesting read and I will write a few posts about the observations I made and things I learned while reading it. The 4 Minute Restriction “For seventy-one years between the invention of the phonograph and the introduction of the long-playing disc (877…