November 25th, 2009
Bel Canto (2001) by Ann Patchett
An opera singer becomes a hostage when terrorists take over a concert venue.
“Unhurriedly, even languorously, Patchett brings readers into the minds of the characters.” – Booklist
“If I had to use one word, it would be “poignant”. Since luckily enough, I can use more than one word, it is a beautiful, profound, and ironic story about how a terrible situation can turn into a magical one.” – blogger Betty
Visit Ann Patchett’s site
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November 25th, 2009
An Equal Music (1999) by Vikram Seth
A string quartet member has his life turned upside down when he thinks he sees a long-lost love on a London bus.
“Seth depicts, with Canaletto-like skill, the shimmering air and light of Venice at dawn, even as he neatly reproduces the loving tensions of the Maggiore [Quartet].” – The Washington Post
“[Music is] the strongest element of the book. It acted like a glue holding the story and characters together, and my interest till the end. Seth indulges in the works of Beethoven, Bach, Mozart and Haydn, offering a unique glimpse into the world of chamber music.” – blogger Mahendra
Visit Vikram Seth’s Wikipedia page
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November 25th, 2009
Canone Inverso (1998) by Paolo Maurensig
A mysterious violin offered at auction causes strife for two friends in post-war Vienna.
“Maurensig has created a masterpiece of mysterious tragedy and lingering shadows, a compelling story with a shocking and enlightening ending.” – Booklist
“Paolo Maurensig delivers a powerful metaphysical thriller, culminating in a devastating finale.” – blogger Madalina
Visit Paolo Maurensig’s Wikipedia page | | Film page on IMDB.com
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November 25th, 2009
The Memorist (2008) by M. J. Rose
The search for a magical artifact once treasured by Beethoven leads to danger and murder for the seekers.
“A triumph! A breathtaking, smart and inventive novel that dazzles while it thrills. Part passionate romance, part rousing adventure, The Reincarnationist is one of the year’s best reads.” – Chicago Sun Times
“It has the pacing of The Davinci Code with the literary finesse of The Kite Runner.” – blogger Erika
Visit M.J. Rose’s site
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November 25th, 2009
The Sandy Bottom Orchestra (1996) by Garrison Keillor and Jenny Nilsson
A young adult novel about a Wisconsin town’s desire to have an orchestra perform at their dairy festival.
“Filled with wry, affectionate descriptions of mid-nineties lifestyles, this will amuse those who enjoy Keillor’s whimsical observations of personal quirks and contemporary attitudes.” – Booklist
“The raw honesty between members of the Green family is enviable, and Rachel makes 14 not seem so horrible. In the end, you’ll want to move to a small town and learn to play the violin.” – blogger Amy
Visit Garrison Keillor’s Wikipedia page | | Film page on IMDB.com
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November 18th, 2009
The Spanish Bow (2007) by Andromeda Romano-Lax
A cello prodigy’s great adventures and political intrigue as he travels around the world.
“Romano-Lax makes an impressive and richly atmospheric debut.” – New York Times Book Review
“From the hypocrisies of the courts of Madrid to the terror of Nazi-occupied Paris, Romano-Lax weaves the upheavals of the first half of the twentieth century into an elegy to the simultaneous power and impotency of art, and the contradictions of the human spirit.” – blogger C.W.
Visit Andromeda Romano-Lax’s site | | Andromeda Romano-Lax’s blog, 49Writers
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November 18th, 2009
As It Is in Heaven (1999) by Niall Williams
A love story about a beautiful violinist whose music brings healing to a grief stricken widower.
“Rolls with courage and clarity towards a breathtaking affirmation of magic, miracles, and the power of human love. Read it, and believe in angels.” – The Times (London)
“Page after page of beautiful writing that struck a very deep chord and I didn’t want to put the book down, so I didn’t.” – blogger dovegreyreader
Visit Niall Williams’s site
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November 18th, 2009
The Song of Names (2004) by Norman Lebrecht
A young man searches for his violinist friend who disappeared in the 1950s.
“Lebrecht’s deep knowledge of music, his insights and his verbal inventiveness enliven the book.” – Publishers Weekly
“Lebrecht offers a first-rate glimpse into the business of classical music, as well as provoking the reader to think of the consequences of treating music as competitive sport.” – blogger Marjorie
Visit Norman Lebrecht’s site
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November 18th, 2009
Psalm at Journey’s End (1996) by Erik Hansen
The story of a string quartet’s fateful voyage on the Titanic.
“He writes with fierce energy, creating emotional landscapes that may make one think of the evocative scenes and brilliant colors of Turner paintings. In all, it’s a brilliant piece of storytelling.” – Publishers Weekly
“Hansen’s melancholy tale tells of the passion, the triumph and tragedy of the Titanic better than any recent movie could hope to.” – blogger Mitchell
Visit Erik Fosnes Hansen’s page (English) on Norwegian site Cappelen Damm
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November 18th, 2009
Funeral Music (1998) by Morag Joss
A murder mystery where cellist turned amateur sleuth Sara Selkirk is on the case; first book in the Sara Selkirk series.
“As well plotted as Ruth Rendell and with all the psychological complexity you find in the great P. D. James…Beautifully written, it manages to be witty and touching at the same time.” – Bath Chronicle
“I now have a definite soft spot for [main character Sara] Selkirk. In fact, I would like to be invited to her house for tea.” – blogger Sara
Visit Morag Joss’s page on RandomHouse.com
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November 11th, 2009
Disturbances in the Field (1983) by Lynne Sharon Schwartz
A pianist tries to balance her career and family, only to find music as her only refuge from tragedy.
“Wonderful…. It goes beyond literature and philosophy to a tough, battered truth.” – New York Times Book Review
“Schwartz succeeds in making the story as much like life as one can–with attendent tragedy and charm; the result is not a beach read. Unless you don’t mind sunbathers staring as you cry into the pages.” – blogger Ali
Visit Lynne Sharon Schwartz’s site
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November 11th, 2009
The Mozart Season (1991) by Virginia Euwer Wolff
A young adult novel about the struggle to win a music competition.
“Her season of discovery—of Mozart, her own roots, and the creative balance between life’s traumas and trivia—marks a fine achievement.” – Kirkus Reviews
“During [the main character’s] final performance, as she plays, she envisions her great-grandmother and feels one with her through the music. This conclusion is a truly beautiful moment. In my opinion it, is one of the most serene, most tranquil, and most heart-warming as well as heart-wrenching moments in any book I have ever read. It is simply beautiful.” – blogger Gabriel
Visit Virginia Euwer Wolff’s page on Scholastic
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November 11th, 2009
The Soloist (1994) by Mark Salzman
A gifted cellist becomes disillusioned with music until he ends up serving as a juror in a murder trial.
“Salzman’s handling of his weighty theme–the passing of torches as the ennobling essence of civilization–is unfailingly light and delicate: this is lovely, offbeat movie material.” – Kirkus Reviews
“The Soloist ends beautifully, restoring the reader’s hope for music, mankind, and every character in the book.” – blogger Tanen
Visit Mark Salzman’s page on RandomHouse.com
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November 11th, 2009
The Student Conductor (2003) by Robert Ford
A conductor travels from the U.S. to Germany to study his craft, only to find himself in the midst of political and personal turmoil.
“There is hardly a wrong note, from the moment Ford lifts his baton to the final refrain.” — Booklist
“Ford successfully creates vivid characters who are bound together not only by their relationship to music, but by their secrets.” — blogger Rebecca
Visit Robert Ford’s site
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November 11th, 2009
Vienna Prelude (1989) by Bodie and Brock Thoene
An Austrian violinist joins the Resistance and uses her connections to help Jews in WW II Vienna; first book in the series.
“I found myself consumed with the story of the Lindheim family. The complexities of a Jewish family in increasingly Nazi Germany are not only the stuff of a good novel but instances of human existence perhaps unparalleled in history.” – blogger Kyle
Visit the Thoenes’ site
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November 4th, 2009
Stradivarius: A Novel (1995) by Donald Ladew
Chronicles the owners of a violin built in 1685 that eventually finds its way to a young boy in rural West Virginia.
“Ladew’s descriptions of the boy’s musical gifts are chilling in their power, and the warmth and self-sacrifice of the characters are evident.” – School Library Journal
Visit Donald P. Ladew’s site
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November 4th, 2009
Murder in C Major (1986) by Sara Hoskinson Frommer
Violist and amateur sleuth Joan Spencer tries to solve the murder of a fellow orchestra musician; the first book in the Joan Spencer mystery series.
“A chatty, easygoing and conventional first novel….Why C major? Because Schubert’s Ninth Symphony, with its great oboe solo in the second movement, is integral to the story.” – New York Times Book Review
Visit Sara Hoskinson Frommer’s site
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November 4th, 2009
Violin (1997) by Anne Rice
The ghost of a former violin virtuoso visits a frustrated violinist and wreaks havoc on her life.
“Sit back and enjoy. . . . The story flows like blood–the life-giving, life-celebrating kind.” – San Francisco Chronicle
“[Rice’s] descriptive writing, and creative mind will always keep me a loyal fan.” – blogger Katt
Visit Anne Rice’s site
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November 4th, 2009
Frost the Fiddler (1992) by Janice Weber
Violinist by day, spy by night; first book in the series.
“Most concert violinists wouldn’t pack explosives in the case along with their Stradivarius. But the narrator of this high-spirited and engaging spy novel is no ordinary musician.” – Publishers Weekly
“[M]y favorite passages are what might be called the “explicit music,” the passages where Weber writes about classical music and what it’s like to play it.” – blogger Tom
Visit Janice Weber’s site
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November 4th, 2009
The Music Teacher (1997) by Robert Starer
A concert pianist turned teacher gets involved in a complicated relationship with one of his adult students, leading him to discover some tragic secrets about his past.
“Starer reveals the behind-the-scenes nature of the concert circuit?getting a manager, planning a repertoire, and booking dates?while contrasting Bernard’s earlier marriage to a rising opera star with his relationship with Lydia, filled with shared enthusiasm.” – Library Journal
Visit Robert Starer’s site
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October 28th, 2009
Glimpses (1993) by Lewis Shiner
A rock music aficionado finds a way to time travel and record some of the greatest moments in the history of the genre.
“A pop-music fairy tale linking the Beatles to Bruno Bettelheim.” — The Village Voice
“In the telling of Ray’s story, Lewis Shiner reflects the mythic nature of the music from a bygone era and yet, at the same time, he reminds us that we are creating our own myths with the music we listen to every day of our lives. “ — blogger J.P.
Lewis Shiner’s site
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October 28th, 2009
Great Jones Street (1973) by Don DeLillo
The story of a rock musician similar to Dylan who leaves the tour bus to settle in the East Village.
“Luminous…finally, a novel that understands rock and roll!” — Jon Pareles, The Village Voice Literary Supplement
“My personal favourite is Great Jones Street about the reclusive rock star and the hack writer who lives in the same building. Years he’s been at it. Success still elusive. And he keeps saying: ‘Fame. It won’t happen. But if it did. But it won’t. But if it did, but it won’t. But if it did. But it won’t.’ Class.” — blogger Adrien in a comment on LarvatusProdeo.net
Don DeLillo’s site
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October 28th, 2009
High Fidelity (1995) by Nick Hornby
A record store owner obsesses over his collection and uses it as therapy to deal with his recent heartbreak.
“Hornby’s amazingly accomplished debut should definitely appeal to music fans (and snobs), but it’s his literate, painfully honest riffs on romantic humiliation and heartbreak that make the book so special.” — Booklist
“I found myself connecting with Rob’s business, with his slowly failing shop, and his attempts (admittedly not very dedicated) to get business through the door.However, persistence is all, and this is what Rob discovers for himself at the end of the book.” — blogger Jane
Nick Hornby’s site
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October 28th, 2009
The Commitments (1987) by Roddy Doyle
A Dublin musician uses James Brown as an inspiration to form his own band to describe the sorrows of his countrymen.
“This cheeky first novel by a Dublin native, punctuated with Irish obscenities and quotes from soul classics, informed by righteous working-class anger and youthful alienation, offers the entertaining and insightful chronicle of The Commitments’ rise and inevitable fall.” — Publisher’s Weekly
“[I]t provides a lot of entertainment and flow for an enjoyable read. If you’re a music lover, I’d recommend it wholeheartedly.” — blogger foibles_fables
Roddy Doyle’s Wikipedia page | | the film on IMDB
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October 28th, 2009
Spider Kiss (1983) by Harlan Ellison
A major work of musical fiction fashioned after the career of Jerry Lee Lewis; originally published as Rockabilly.
“Ellison’s players are as finely crafted as ever. They are flawed creatures, some of them beyond redemption, some of them hoping to be more than the sum of their sins, but each of them believable and, in the case of Stag Preston, frighteningly intriguing.” — Dark Horse reviews
Harlan Ellison’s site
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October 21st, 2009
The Armageddon Rag (1983) by George R. R. Martin
Two members of a rock band are murdered and a journalist decides to investigate.
“[The Armageddon Rag] It highlights what was cool and significant in the sixties to show us why there are people who miss it so much they’ll do anything to get it back…” — BoingBoing.net
“It’s about the stage of life that very rarely gets written about, not the transition from youth to adult but the transition from young, idealistic, passionate adult to middle age and acceptance of one’s limitations.” — blogger Liz
George R.R. Martin’s site
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October 21st, 2009
Radio Free Albemuth (1985) by Philip K. Dick
A science fiction story about an alternate U.S. history in which the government tries to censor rock music.
“[A]n engrossing, non-stop excursion into a believable vision of Hell.” — Publisher’s Weekly
“Radio Free Albemuth is easily one of Dick’s most thought-provoking and provocative books. As a novel that includes many of Dick’s personal experiences, and Dick himself as a major character, the story takes on a strange, surreal quality that invades our reality and toys with our perception of the book itself – as fiction or as an allegory of actual events in Dick’s life.” — blogger Keith at Nut in the Shell
Philip K Dick’s site | | Movie adaptation website
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October 21st, 2009
Pink Cadillac (2001) by Robert Dunn
Talented blues musicians come together to cut a successful record, which then gets stolen from them, launching a major effort to recover it.
“[T]he pervasive passion for music [provides] the novel with a steady heat.” — Kirkus Reviews
Robert Dunn’s Wikipedia page
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October 21st, 2009
Nighthawk Blues (1980) by Peter Guralnick
What some feel is the ultimate blues novel.
“…the novel catches very honestly the unique flavor of a black musician’s life, a kind of melancholy swan song.” — Publisher’s Weekly
“Peter Guralnick is my favorite music writer.” — blogger awmercy
Peter Guralnick on Wikipedia
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October 21st, 2009
Sway (2008) by Zachary Lazar
A chronicle of the best and worst of the 1960s music scene and culture.
“Lazar has created a powerful, infernal prism through which to view the potent, still-rippling contradictions of the late ’60s.” — Los Angeles Times Book Review
“Lazar writes extremely well and provides a fascinating take on the end of the optimism of the hippie era, as well as providing deft fly on the wall style imaginings of the birth of the Stones and the death of Brian Jones…” — blogger Chris
Zachary Lazar’s site
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October 14th, 2009
Gone for Good (1998) by Mark Childress
A rock musician’s plane crashes on a mysterious island during a storm, leaving his fans to mourn his disappearance.
“A story that takes off like a 747 and doesn’t let up until the very end.” — San Francisco Examiner
Mark Childress’ site
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October 14th, 2009
The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love (1989) by Oscar Hijuelos
Two brothers in Havana live exciting and sometime outrageous lives amid the 1950’s club scene.
“One lush, tipsy, all-night mambo of a novel about Cuban musicians in strange places like New York City.” — People
“The Fabulous Mambo King.
Serenading all the ladies.
Miss Vanna Vane on his arm.
Drinks for all on his bill,
Festive songs flowing all night long.
Brother by his side,
With his trumpet playing,
Beautiful Maria of my Soul.
Over and over and over.”
— blogger Alexis, inspired by The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love
Oscar Hijuelos’s site | Film page on IMDB
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October 14th, 2009
The Wishbones (1997) by Tom Perrotta
A guitar player struggles with his music career and relationships.
“The Wishbones is a smart, very funny look at one man’s ambivalence toward adulthood and commitment; it also offers a colorful cast of band mates and an obvious affection for its characters and their music.” — Booklist
“It’s got compelling characters, well-placed bursts of comedy, and a surprisingly relatable vibe.” — blogger David
Tom Perrotta’s site
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October 14th, 2009
“Shiner competently vivifies the uncertainties and boredom of the musician’s life, but more impressively, he manages to convey the almost indescribable joy of bringing an audience from a state of apathy to the edge of hysteria.” — Booklist
Lewis Shiner’s site
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October 14th, 2009
The Songcatcher (2001) by Sharyn McCrumb
An old ballad that crossed the ocean into the Appalachian mountains becomes imbedded in the lives of multiple generations; part of the Ballad Novel series.
“McCrumb writes with quiet fire and maybe a little mountain magic. Like every true storyteller she has the sight.” — New York Times Book Review
“Sharyn McCrumb inspires me to go back in [the storytelling] direction, asking new questions.” — blogger Ellouise
Sharyn McCrumb’s site
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October 7th, 2009
The Life of Byron Jaynes (1983) by James Howard Kunstler
A story of the 1960s rock music scene.
“Kuntsler’s knowledge of rock’n'roll comes through on every page. I’ve read it more than once. And I’m always sorry that it ends…” — customer on Amazon
James Howard Kunstler’s site
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October 7th, 2009
A & R (2000) by Bill Flanagan
A music exec struggles to fulfill his job description while remaining fair to the artists he represents.
“Is there a better, funnier, truer novel about the contemporary music business? I don’t think so. A&R is that extremely rare, satisfying thing-ferocious satire with a moral compass.” — Kurt Andersen, author of Turn of the Century
“Flanagan’s a clever writer, and he threw enough curve balls to keep it interesting.” — blogger Alex
Bill Flanagan’s page at Random House
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October 7th, 2009
Meet the Annas (2007) by Robert Dunn
After success with a come-back song, The Annas group is devastated by the death of Anna and the ensuing investigation.
“This is a fully musical work of literature, a book with a beat so good you could almost dance to it.” — author David Hajdu (Positively Fourth Street)
“I’m really glad someone like Dunn exists, someone who has such a sharp imagination, engaging literary style and a genuine love for Rock ‘n’ Roll, a love that’s going increasingly out of fashion as each year goes by. Not to mention a story telling ability that lingers with you for days afterwards.” — reviewer mojo_navigator
Robert Dunn’s Wikipedia page
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October 7th, 2009
The Painted Drum (2005) by Louise Erdrich
A Native American antiquities dealer comes across a magical drum from the Ojibwe reservation.
“Erdrich draws us into her exquisitely detailed world effortlessly . . . Hard to believe, but Erdrich just keeps getting better.” — Kirkus Reviews, starred
“Erdrich’s compassion is coupled with her skill and her wonderful imagination. Once again, she has written another masterpiece.” — blogger/author Ann Victor
Louise Erdrich’s site on HarperCollins
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October 7th, 2009
Seduced: The Life and Times of a One Hit Wonder (1995) by Nelson George
The chronicle of a twenty-year stint in the high stakes music industry.
“George’s style is, well, seductive, luring the reader into a world that takes in the range of black experience funneled through the music industry.” — St. Petersburg Times
Nelson George’s site
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