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These pages give me an opportunity to tell people what books and music I
like so that they can go out and support the authors and musicians who
have created them. Many of these books and CDs are available at
Amazon.com and other major distributors, but often they are distributed by
independent artists with their own websites. Please support the music,
books and artists that you love. Your support makes it possible for them
to continue with the work that they are meant to do. If you have any
feedback on books or music or other art forms that you think I would like,
please be in touch. Thank you!
Bar's Book Picks:
Updated:
April 05, 2009
by Josh Bazell Little, Brown, 2009 Kazow! I started reading this book the morning after I finished The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (see below), which was intense. Talk about exhausting yourself with the content of words! This is a novel that moves quickly and brutally. It is EXCELLENT! But it's tough. It's a mob based, hospital set, tough-going, hard-hitting, no-nonsense book about an ex mobster turned doctor who's discovered one day by a patient who recognizes him as the man he once knew as "Bearclaw". I can't tell you more. Another book that's a must read for any one who likes a fast, very well written, potty-mouthed books with a ton of insight into worlds you don't want to know about. by Junot Diaz Riverhead Books/Penguine, 2007 WOW! What a book. Holy Camoly. Junot won the Pulitzer Prize for this one and it is WELL deserved. My goodness. It's intense and NOT for the faint of heart. It will inform you, entertain you, break your heart, stun your brain and leave you sitting there on your couch wondering if there is any hope of ever finding goodness in the world, (but indeed you'll probably answer, "YES"!) Junot is an extraordinary writer. This novel is about life as it grows out of The Dominican Republic and finds its way to New York City. I don't know how to describe it. Read this book, but prepare to have your mind blown by it. by Barbara Brown Taylor Harper One Books, 2007 I'm not sure what compelled me to buy this book. I walked by our beloved local bookstore, The Golden Notebook, and as always found myself browsing the shelves. I liked the title of this one, but I thought it was going to be a novel. As it turned out, it's a memoir, which I like even more. The author is an ordained Episcopalian priest who led several parishes before exhausting her devotion to the church (not her faith in Christianity, interestingly enough). She talks candidly about her need to stop doing her job as priest and begin to live again as a regular person. Although some of the book, for me, is overly wondrous and a bit flowery, the end result is that I liked this book very much. Fascinating to think about how huge it must have been to commit to the church in the first place and then to leave it after all. Highly recommended for people who are questioning their own membership in any congregation. I think her questions are provocative and important for all of us to ask ourselves in the privacy of our own hearts (regardless of our affiliation or lack thereof) by Marta Szabo Tinker Street Press, 2009 I met Marta and her partner Fred Poole through the first annual Woodstock Memoir Festival that was held here in Woodstock, NY in February 2009. Marta was a featured writer and read from her new book The Guru Looked Good. The book describes Marta's twelve-year commitment to a yoga guru and ashram in upstate New York, and her subsequent departure from both the guru and the community. A good read. Very insightful for anyone inside or outside a community that revolves around philosophy, religion or any other commonly held belief. Very provocative. I read it straight through over the course of a four-day weekend. For information, please visit www.authenticwriting.com by Paul Newman and AE Hotchner Doubleday, 2003 I read this book a few years ago, but in honor of Paul Newman's extraordinary life, I wanted to include it here now. This is a fun book that describes the evolution and growth of Newman's Own, the food company that is also a good citizen. Paul and his buddy Hotch were determined to make a great tomato sauce that would save the planet. This book describes how they did it. A great read for progressive business builders who want to be more creative about how they do business (and what they do with their profits!) by Tony Horwitz, Henry Holt 2008 What an important read! Horwitz, an historian, realized that there was a massive gap in his understanding of American History between the time of Columbus's supposed discovery of America and the arrival of the Puritans. That gap was 100 years long! So Horwitz set about finding out what happened during that time. He's written this book as he travels around north America investigating the very trails that explorers would have traveled to find what they were (or were not!) looking for. Think about it: we've been taught the wrong history for decades. Horwitz corrects a lot of it, but also fills in that very fascinating period that most of us have overlooked. by Barach Obama What can I say? I love this man. Read this book. by Chaim Potok published by Anchor Books, 1972. I loved, loved, loved this book. I stumbled onto it when I was visiting my sister. The title was vaguely familiar and so odd in a way, that I felt I needed to read it. The story is about an orthodox Jewish boy who discovers that he is remarkable artist. His search for artistic inspiration and education eventually takes him away from the Jewish community that he loves so much. The book beautifully describes the conflict between an artist and the culture he finds himself in. The author does an incredible job of allowing the reader inside the head of this artist. I found myself empathizing throughout the book. Highly recommended for anyone who is the creative arts. by my friend and extraordinary writer, Alison Gaylin Obsidian, 2008. I read this book when it first came out last year. It's GREAT! Alison writes chilling and sometimes funny and weird murder mysteries. She often reads sections of her books in progress at our weekly writer's group, and it amazes me how powerful and good she is. Her details are fabulous. Her imagination for story lines is unique and compelling, and one of her greatest skills is her ability to write/create dialogue - not an easy thing to do! by Alyson Gaylin What a great book! Written by a woman in the writing group that I'm a member of. It's a funny and outrageous murder mystery. I loved it. Her new book, which will come out in September, is FANTASTIC too. We've been hearing bits and pieces of it over the course of the last few months. Keep an ear out for this woman. She is a really good writer. I've already given my copy away so I don't have the publisher on this book, but you'll find it at your local Barnes and Noble or where ever you buy books. by Abigail Thomas Published by Sterling, 2008 I love this book! Abby is the guru of the weekly workshop I take part in. I love her writing and I particularly like this book. It was published by Sterling - AARP to inspire seniors to write memoir, but it is a book that anyone thinking about memoir should read. She offers tons of great exercises and anecdotes from her own life to make this a great place to start or get fed if you're writing or will be writing your own story. by David McCullough Published by Simon and Schuster, 2001 WOW! This book is a commitment. I read it on the heels of watching the HBO TV series entitled John Adams that aired for 7 weeks in early spring. McCullough is the father of a college friend of mine, so I've always had an eye out for his work. BUT I've never taken the time to actually read one of his books. Too demanding, I thought. What I found out from watching the TV series was that our history is VERY relevant to what is happening right now in our own times: war, politics, compromise, lack of compromise, tyranny, revolution, taxes, the economy etc etc etc. We're still talking and fighting about the same things that our forefathers and mothers were talking about 200 years ago. I strongly recommend this book especially to those of you who are like me - which is to say, those of you who have never had an interest in history in your entire life time. It's a good read and has lots of personal stories about the characters who formed this country. Enough to keep you reading night after night. Written by Nicole Krauss Published by W. W. Norton and Co I'm not sure what to say about this book except that it's one of the best books I've ever read. It's odd. It's different. It's unusual and it’s incredible. Nicole is a gifted writer and has a wonderful knack for bringing her oddball characters to life. This story is convoluted and meandering and so incredibly cool that I just couldn't put it down. It’s a book that I know I will read many more times just to make sure that I have every detail down. It's not a heavy book particularly, but you will want to be reading it somewhere that allows you to focus and not be interrupted or distracted. Enjoy, and let me know what you think! Written by Thad Carhart Published by Random House If you love pianos even a little bit, read this book! It's a delightful true story about one man’s passion for pianos that takes him through lots of hidden alleys in Paris. Thad shares a lot of piano lore and piano facts as well as piano technique, composition and theory – all housed in this delightful book that reads more like a fiction than non-fiction. Highly recommended for musicians and music lovers. Written by Anne Morrow Lindbergh Published by Pantheon This book is one of my all-time favorites. Anne Morrow was a famous and wealthy mother and wife writing this book in the 1950s. (The book is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year). She wrote it while taking a 2-week hiatus on an island by herself. It is a simple and beautiful collection of reflections on her life to date. I don’t know what to say about it except that I love her courage and her willingness to open herself up to all of us. It’s a period piece in many ways, but also timeless. The 50th anniversary issue has a very loving introduction written by her daughter, Reeve. Written by Jodi Picoult Published by Washington Square Press. Wow! I just finished this book late last night and it was quite a ride for me. The basic story line is that a little girl named Kate is diagnosed with a difficult and possibly terminal leukemia at age 2. Her older brother, Jesse, is not a donor match for her, so the parents decide to have another child who will be genetically engineered to provide the perfect stem cells for Kate which will be taken from her umbilical cord at birth. Anna’s stem cells are only the beginning, though, and over the course of the next 13 years, Kate needs more and more of Anna’s body to keep her own body alive until Anna says “no more” and hires a lawyer to protect herself. It’s an intense and plausible story for our times, and the author does an incredible job of describing all of the emotional, ethical and heart-breaking issues that have arisen because of the details of her character’s lives. Highly recommended if you like to read stories that push the boundaries of your own thought processes. I regret that I gave this book back to its owner before I wrote down the author’s name and the publisher, so I’ll just comment on the book knowing that you can easily find it on Amazon. It was a National Bestseller in 2007, I think. The basic idea is that the author decides to take a year off from her intensely stressful New York City corporate job at then end of a difficult divorce. She plans to do three different 4-month periods which include (Eat) learning Italian and eating Italian food in Rome, (Pray) living in an ashram in India studying yoga and meditation with her guru, and (Love) living in Bali studying a healer but meeting the love of her life in the process. She’s a fun writer. It’s a inspiring read, but also an entertaining one. I found myself wanting to take a year off myself, but not knowing what I would do if I could. So, I lived vicariously through her. Friends of mine got bored with the “Pray” part of the book – wishing that she would just get it and stop being so repetitive, but I found that section of the book to be particularly important. So, if you like to eat, pray, or love, I think you’ll enjoy this book. I loved it. Written by Julia Indichova Published by Adell Press http://www.fertileheart.com Julia is a dear friend of mine, and a woman on a powerful mission. These two books are a testimony to her family’s life and specifically her successful efforts to conceive her second daughter after traditional medical routes had failed. She finally found her own path using diet, visualization and a very powerful choice to know her own body very, very well. Needless to say, these books are particularly important for couples that are struggling to conceive and need/want support, but I found them to be absolutely relevant to my own life with my own struggle to create music. Creativity is so much about a state of readiness and preparing oneself for the “life” that will follow – be it a child, a book, a painting or a song. Julia has become a maverick in her field. She hosts workshops in various places around the country. You can learn more about her and her work at fertileheart.com. Written by Joyce Carol Oates Published by Ecc0/Harper Collins I’ve never read any of Oates’ books before and didn’t know what to expect. This one took me a few pages to really get in to, but I’m glad I kept at it. The stories in the book revolve around one town in Connecticut who is changed deeply by the death of a single man who lived among them. It’s the story of how the lives of these middle-aged men and women over-lap and intertwine. It’s about middle age and the sort of things that happen during that time. I found that with my upcoming middle age, I could empathize with and understand the rather quirky characters in this book. I could see that I am quirky – that we are all quirky – and more so as we get older and care less about what other people think of us. Not a book for everyone, but if you’re thinking about classic middle age issues, you might find this to be provocative. Written by Kate Mosse Published by Berkley Press If you loved The DaVinci Code, you will love this book, too. Good reading for long winter nights or for vacations that want a book along that you can’t stop reading! Written by Jeff Cohen Published by PoliPoint Press http://www.p3books.com Jeff Cohen is a journalist who has worked for the three big TV News channels and is also a friend. Our kids went to pre-school together. I happened to catch him speaking on NPR on alternative radio and was completely captivated by the content of his message. Suffice it to say that Jeff has been in the trenches with the big guys in television news, and what he reports is not good news for any of us. It’s important to add that Jeff’s job was basically to represent the progressive point of view during shows like Crossfire on CNN – not an easy job, not a friendly crowd! But he did it and he did it well. In this book he discloses how decisions were made at the highest levels of TV that have deeply effected the political direction of our great and not so democratic country. It’s an important read for any one interested in the media process or in the politics of media. Written by Gail Sheehy Published by Ballantine Books What can I say? This book is an important read for women 50 and older (which I am ever so close to, so say 48 and older so that I can be in the club!) Gail interviewed women (and some men) aged 50 – 100 across the country about their sex lives, their sexuality in general and their passions. Hearing what other women are thinking about and what they are doing with their passion was really eye opening for me. I won’t get into it here, but you get the idea. I very strongly recommend the experience of this book to both men and women. Seems to me that Gail does a thorough job of dispelling the myth that women loose libido after the age of 40! Not so. Quite the contrary. Read it and see what you think. Written by Fran Sorin Published by Warner Books Fran is a friend of a friend of mine, and a wonderfully animated, fully alive woman with a ton of great energy. She makes her living as a gardener and garden designer, and has written this lovely book whose subtitle is “Unearthing Your Creative Roots Through Gardening”. Her point is that a person can really find out a lot about himself or herself through gardening – feeling the dirt, picking the colors, digging the holes, placing the bulbs, bringing the garden to life year after year. I am not a gardener, but my mother and father are, and it was wonderful to get a sense of why the art form is so satisfying. There are lots of great ideas and reflections for gardeners and non-gardeners alike. I’ve used several of her ideas in my song writing workshops and have been grateful for her insights. by Lyall Watson Destiny Books, 1991 www.InnerTraditions.com I love this book. I've read it a couple of times and each time I was amazed by the insights of this wonderful writer. The author is a distinguished biologist and nature writer with a sweet and intimate writing style. The stories he tells after spending much time in Indonesia will really open your mind. There is one story in particular: a young woman/girl stays with a beached whale over night and for many, many more hours just so that the whale would have a companion as it left this world. The girl was considered a witch by the people in her village. No one would speak with her, but what I remember about her is her enormous heart and that her priorities were right. These are real stories written in a magical way. by Abigail Thomas Harcourt Press, 2006. There is a great independent bookstore in Woodstock called The Golden Notebook where I buy almost all of my books. I love that I can go in there and ask for a recommendation and walk away with something that I might never have considered on my own. This book is one that I might not have found. Abigail's story is so inspiring. As I am writing my thoughts here I have written and deleted the words "heart-breaking" to describe her book, although someone else might experience her story that way. There are many stories in this wonderful book, but the story line revolves around the author's husband who is seriously injured when he is hit by a car while out running, and how the two of them continue to love and live. Abigail is an amazing writer - the kind of writer that I would like to be: flowing, honest, conversational, transparent and excellent. I fell in love with her and with Rich and her three dogs who ground her so perfectly. I highly recommend this book for those of you who like personal memoirs. by Susan Richards Soho Press, 2006. Another book that was recommended by The Golden Notebook, but also by my friend Andrea Barrist-Stern. This book was written by a teacher at the college where I did an artist in residency a couple of years ago, so I feel like I'm referring you to a friend even though I have never met Susan until I read her book. Her memoir is one that involves a horse which she rescues from the Kingston SPCA. The horse is called "Lay Me Down" and (as life would have it) the horse's personal history is very much like the author's. As with so many wonderful animal/human stories, this one reminds me that love can be experienced with any creature, and that any creature that we are willing to love can heal our heart. This story is great. Susan was and is very lucky to have found Lay Me Down, and Lay Me Down was very lucky to find her. I read it over 24 hours which is something I love to do and which I can only do when I'm reading a great story. Thank you Susan! by David Bayles and Ted Orland Originally Published by Capra Press Now published by Image Continuum Press, 1994 (Now in its 12th printing) One of the most important books I’ve ever read is Art and Fear – Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking written by David Bayles and Ted Orland. It may be a little tough to find, but I did get several copies at Barnes and Noble in 2005. The writers are photography/art teachers in the Boston area, and the book is a collection of their observations and thoughts regarding fear in their students and themselves during the creative process. They touch on all of the things that keep creative people from doing their work. One of the things that sticks out in my memory is the distinction they make between “quitting” and “stopping”. Quitting is permanent; stopping is temporary. Quitting is what you want to avoid! It’s an important read for anyone who is in the process of creating something new or who is struggling with the blocks that we all get stuck on. by Lieutenant William Keegan, Jr. with Bart Davis Touchstone Books, a Division of Simon & Schuster, 2006 www.closure9-11.com If you haven’t read a book about the events of 9-11, I highly recommend Closure – The Untold Story of the Ground Zero Recovery Mission written by my friend Bill Keegan. Bill was a Lieutenant in the Port Authority Police on September 11th, and led the recovery mission for 9 months after the towers fell. He also clocked more hours at Ground Zero than any other recovery person. The book is important because it describes the recovery worker's physical and emotional commitment to survivors in the early days, and ultimately to the identification of those killed in New York City on September 11th, 2001. Needless to say, we all had our own personal heartbreaks on that day and the months that followed. For me, it's important to remember that thousands of men and women risked their lives day after day to help all of us make sense of a new and terrible reality. Bill's story is a truly moving account of heroism and selflessness under enormous stress. As many of you know, I have been working with 9-11 families teaching music and helping with their recovery over the course of the past year. Bill's book has helped me to understand a little more about what happened on 9-11, and I think having a little more understanding goes a long way in healing our collective heart. Reviews and more information are available at Bill's site at the address above or at Amazon.com. By Kim Edwards Penguin Books, 2005 I LOVE getting lost in a novel, and this one stands out as one of those that I couldn’t put down. It’s called The Memory Keeper’s Daughter, and was written by Kim Edwards. I don’t want to tell you too much of the story, but suffice it to say that one person’s bad choice can really do some serious harm to a family for years and generations to come! This story is so unbelievable that you will be shocked to know that, in fact, the sort of separation this book’s plot revolves around used to go on routinely. Parents, families and doctors would decide that a particular newborn child would be too difficult to raise, so that child would be sent off to a home and never seen again. This story, though, is uplifting while it is also frustrating and heartbreaking. The heroin is the one who chooses love, and for me that always makes a great story. In my own life, I know one mother who, in the 1950s, would not send her down syndrome child away, and in fact dedicated her life to bringing that child and that child’s friends, out into the world. Read this book! By Anita Diamant Picador Books, a Division of St Martin’s Press, 1997 Years ago I read The Red Tent by Anita Diamant, and I have always thought of it as one of the best books I’ve read in my life. It is a novel, that tells the story of Dinah whose father was Jacob. She is only briefly described in The Book of Genesis, but Diamant brings her into full perspective in this fascinating book. It’s a book that describes the lives of women in Biblical times. Diamant is a true scholar and a wonderful storyteller. For me, the beauty of this book is the depth to which Diamant can imagine how life would have been for women thousands of years ago. She does her homework so thoroughly that there is no question about the validity of her story. Things have changed so completely since then, and yet there’s still this bond that women share and it is palpable and powerful in this evocative book.
Harry Potter books are written by J.K. Rowling No comment. Just do it. Start at the beginning and just enjoy the ride. And if you’re really smart, you’ll be waiting in line at a small independent bookseller’s in your neighborhood at midnight (or 11pm!) the night of JK Rowling’s final book release in 2007 (we hope!). Dress up. Enjoy the vibes! It’s very fun and you’ll be done the book within 48 hours of purchasing it! By Neale Donald Walsch Published by Putnam Books, 1995 This next book may be a little too much for some of you, but I love it and I’ve read it 6 times in the last four years. It’s called Conversations with God, an Uncommon Dialogue, and I love that it makes me think. The author, Neale Donald Walsch, is not a guy that I would necessarily want to go out with, but I love what he’s come up with here. The basic premise is that Walsch is kind of a jerk by his own account. He’s spent his life being somewhat of a loser. Sounds like he treated his wife (wives?) and children pretty poorly over the years. He’s never had any money or a real consistent job. One day, out of misery and frustration, he writes a letter to God in his journal. And lo and behold, God begins to write back! According to Walsch, the pen sort of takes over and a conversation begins. So the challenge we have as readers is whether or not to believe the circumstances under which the book was written. But regardless of whether you buy Walsch’s story, the conversation is provocative and funny and inspiring and right to the point as far as I’m concerned. The thing I like the most about this book is the idea that any one of us can have a conversation with God. We spend the bulk of our days ignoring God (mostly) or, we think of speaking TO God and not WITH God. Isn’t it incredible to think that God actually does speak to each and every one of us all of the time! When my son Forrest died, I found myself at the bookstore looking for anything that would tell me where Forrest might have gotten to, and this book was a real hiatus from my worries and my grief. If you get into Book One, know that there is a whole series of books that follow, each requiring a longer leap of faith. I love leaps and I love this book. Would love to hear from you if you do find yourself reading it. I think it provokes a lot of very important spiritual questions. This is not about religion. This book is about living life as a human being with tons of questions directed right at God.
See also Bar's Music Picks. |
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