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My Monthly Newsletter

Newsletter No. 35 (July/August 2024)

Published about 1 year ago • 1 min read

Books, Blogs, and Brain Clouds

Newsletter #35 - July / August 2024

The Beginner Books Encyclopedia

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In I Can Read It All By Myself, I wrote about every single Beginner Book. Since Random House continues to trickle new Beginner Books into the world, I continue to write about them. The latest is a sequel to last year's How to Love a Pony, by Michelle Meadows and Sawyer Cloud.

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Check out the ongoing Encyclopedia update here.

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We Only Do '80s Joel, Sir!

On my blog, 3 Minutes 49 Seconds, I'm doing reverse-chronological-order reviews of Billy Joel's album. I've made my way through the 1990s and am now working on the 1980s. I've written about Storm Front, Greatest Hits I & II, and The Bridge, with An Innocent Man (my fave), The Nylon Curtain, and Glass Houses still to go!

What I'm Reading

I'm nearly finished reading the entire oeuvre of a (mostly) YA author from the sixties and seventies named Karen Rose, whose work I came across in a very interesting way. I'll share more in the next newsletter.

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Meanwhile, Theo are almost done with the second book of Lloyd Alexander's Westmark Trilogy, The Kestrel. It's pretty brutal for a kids' book, so of course Theo loves it.

Hopefuls Song of the Month

Storyhill - "What Was Wrong" (2002)

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Storyhill's 2002 "comeback" album is an embarrassment of musical riches, from "Seven Sisters" to "Worst Enemy" to "Soon." But my favorite song is "What Was Wrong," a tune John Hermanson wrote upon the duo's initial breakup in 1997. The lyrics reflect on the feeling of lightness and release after Johnny and musical partner Chris Cunningham decided to go their separate ways.

To have them harmonize on a song about their own troubles is pretty cool. As a bonus, it features future Hopefuls drummer Eric Fawcett!

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Give it a listen here.

New Kid Dakota!

Speaking of the Hopefuls...Darren Jackson has just released his seventh album as Kid Dakota, Praegustator.

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Here's Darren's description: "Not for the faint of heart, this dark brooding album focuses on themes of alienation, addiction, inequality, and environmental catastrophe."

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I've only had time for one listen (it literally came out yesterday), but I'd say the above may be true of the lyrics, but the music goes down pretty smoothly!

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And Finally, a Brain Cloud

Peace, love, and thank you for reading.

paul.allen@gmail.com
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