Day: September 12, 2016

New CDs for September

- Bill Leave a comment

Jason Aldean — They Don’t Know

A decade into his career, Jason Aldean has scaled the highest level of country superstardom, including being named the 2016 ACM Entertainer of the Year. Now he releases his sixth studio album, which includes Lights Come On.

 

Bon Iver — 22, A Million

Bon Iver releases their first new album in five years. Justin Vernon embraces the use of electronics by using a sampler-base synthesizer for this new project.

 

 

Casting Crowns — The Very Next Thing

The Grammy winning band releases a collection of intimate songs as well as upbeat, fresh sounding tracks with impactful lyrics centered around identifying and acting on what’s right next to you. Includes Oh My Soul, a song Mark Hall wrote in response to his journey through a cancer diagnosis

 

Idina Menzel — Idina

Tony Award winner Idina Menzel, the voice behind Frozen’s massive hit song Let It Go, releases her fifth studio album. Her latest includes the single I See You.
Of Mice and Men — Cold World

After a lot of hype, anticipation, and a two and a half year wait, Of Mice & Men return with a brand new album. They deliver thirteen aggressive rock anthems that will satisfy their ever growing fan base.

 

Regina Spektor — Remember Us to Life

Singer-songwriter Regina Spektor is back with her first new album since 2012’s What We Saw from the Cheap Seats. The first single, Bleeding Heart, has already been featured in NPR’s All Songs Considered.

The Arsonist by Sue Miller

- Stephanie Leave a comment

the arsonistThe Arsonist by Sue Miller is my latest foray into audiobooks. Miller has weaved a suspenseful story full of family drama and community intrigue within a small New England town.

Frankie Rowley has returned to Pomeroy, New Hampshire, the small village and farmhouse where her family has always spent the summers. Frankie has worked in East Africa for the last 15 years, but came home after she realized that she has never really quite fit in over there. The adjustment back to the states is hard on Frankie, leaving her walking along a country road on her first night back. Waking up the next morning, Frankie discovers that a house up the road has been burnt to the ground. Fires keep popping up around the community, putting people on edge and dividing the town even further.

In addition to the community drama around the fires, Frankie’s mother Sylvia is becoming more concerned over her husband’s erratic behavior. He is forgetting more and more some days, while on others, he seems just fine. Frankie and her sister, Liz, are trying to help, but Liz has a family of her own to deal with now and is hoping Frankie will help relieve her stress. Frankie, herself, has fallen for Bud Jacobs, a Washington DC transplant to Pomeroy, who has taken over the town’s small newspaper. All of these relationships become even more entangled in a very small town under great stress due to all of the arson activity and the divide between the summer people and year-rounders.

The Arsonist is the second book that I’ve listened to where the author has been the narrator and the stories really benefit from the author’s telling. The author is able to truly tell how she wants the characters to talk and how she sees them interacting with each other. You also notice a distinct connection between the narrator and each character because the author cares more about and has a more vested interest in how the characters are being portrayed. Check this book out and let me know what you think!

This book is available in additional formats: