Jan 4 2011

Whole Lotta Led Zeppelin by Jon Bream

I received  Whole Lotta Led Zeppelin: The Illustrated History of the Heaviest Band of All Time by Jon Bream in the mail.  Here is a description of the book from the publisher:

They were the heaviest band ever, creating the blueprint for an entire musical genre and becoming a touchstone for an entire generation and their children. Now, to celebrate their fortieth anniversary and December 2007 reunion, here’s the first-ever complete illustrated history of Led Zeppelin.

This all-star tribute to one of the biggest rock ’n’ roll bands of all time features many of today’s top American and English rock journalists from Rolling Stone, Creem, Billboardand more, as well as reflections on the band’s inspiration from some of rock’s top performers, including Aerosmith, Heart, the Minutemen, the Hold Steady, and others. An appendix features the complete discography.

Glorious concert and behind-the-scenes photography from some of the top names in rock photography covers the band from their first 1968 show as Led Zeppelin through the 2007 reunion. Also included are more than 200 rare concert posters, backstage passes, tickets, LPs and singles, T-shirts, buttons, and more from the United States, UK, Canada, Germany, France, and Japan, all comprising a book as epic as the band it honors.

Created from the ashes of the Yardbirds by guitarist and session wizard Jimmy Page, Led Zeppelin featured virtuoso bass player John Paul Jones, gonzo drummer John Bonham, and Robert Plant, a vocalist like no other before him. The band singlehandedly defined what rock ’n’ roll could be, leaving in their wake a trail of tales as tall or as a real as we wanted them to be.

By Jeff Grim • In The Mail • 1

Jan 4 2011

Airbus A380: Superjumbo of the 21st Century by Guy Norris and Mark Wagner

I received Airbus A380: Superjumbo of the 21st Century by Guy Norris and Mark Wagner in the mail.  Any enthusiast of the airline industry or of aircraft design would be interested in this book.  Here is a description of the book from the publisher:

Poised for takeoff on that hot morning in April 2005, the Airbus A380 had the purposeful, powerful presence of a giant predatory bird. With its enormous gulled wings, imperiously tall tail, and broad, domed forepeak, it looked ready to take on the world. And along the way, it has had plenty of supporters—and critics. No civil airliner since the supersonic Concorde has aroused such emotion, such fascination, and such cause célèbre.

To a confident Airbus and the thousands of awestruck workers who cheered it into that cloudless sky over Toulouse, it means so much more. The European company has been transformed under the broad wings of this incredible project into a single corporate entity—from a loose consortium into a new, more dynamic force to challenge its worthy adversary Boeing in every market sector.

By Jeff Grim • In The Mail • 0

Jan 4 2011

Fame by Daniel Kehlmann

Fame: A Novel in Nine Episodes by Daniel Kehlmann is a switch from the types of books I have been reading lately (mostly YA fantasy fiction and mystery). As the title indicates, it is a novel weaved together through a collection of nine stories.  It is also translated from German.

I don’t like to be pigeonholed in my reading and I find it enjoyable to occasionally read something very different from your normal routine. Fame fit the bill. Plus, it is a quick read – which is a bonus – and it grabbed my attention at the book store.

Here is the book flap blurb that intrigued me:

Imagine being famous. Being recognized on the street, adored by people who have never even met you, known the world over. Wouldn’t that be great?

But what if, one day, you got stuck in a country where celebrity means nothing, where no one spoke your language and you didn’t speak theirs, where no one knew your face (no book jackets, no TV) and you had no way of calling home? How would your fame help you then?

What if someone got hold of your cell phone? What if they spoke to your girlfriends, your agent, your director, and started making decisions for you? And worse, what if no one believed you were you anymore? When you saw a look-alike acting your roles for you, what would you do?

And what if one day you realized your magnum opus, like everything else you’d ever written, was a total waste of time, empty nonsense? What would you do next? Would your audience of seven million people keep you going? Or would you lose the capacity to keep on doing it?

It turned out to be an enjoyable and interesting experiment. You can argue whether the collection of stories really adds up to a novel or whether some of the stories are perhaps a bit too clever but I found them entertaining and even thought provoking. Keep Reading

By Kevin Holtsberry • Reviews • 1 • Tags: , , , , ,

Jan 4 2011

In the Mail: Iron River

Iron River: A Charlie Hood Novel by T. Jefferson Parker

Kirkus Reviews

Deputy Charlie Hood (The Renegades, 2009, etc.) copes with love, war and a baffling being who might be an angel, a demon, conceivably both, or none of the above. Detached from the L.A. Sheriff’s Department, Deputy Hood is sent south to join Operation Blowdown, assembled to war against the much-too-successful Mexican drug cartels. It’s an overwhelmingly difficult job, never-ending and ever-perilous. As evidence of this, Jimmy Holdstock, one of Charlie’s young colleagues, is suddenly snatched by a particularly ruthless cartel-object: torture, mutilation and the kind of prolonged, very public death wickedly calculated to dampen law-enforcement enthusiasm. In the immediate aftermath of the kidnapping, an envelope arrives at Blowdown headquarters, containing a pair of Polaroids. Pictured in one is a dramatically ill-treated Jimmy; in the other, a still-life formed by “a pair of pliers, an electric circular saw, and a long-nozzled barbecue lighter.” Clearly, Jimmy needs to be rescued fast.

Meanwhile, Mike Finnegan, a strange little man who might furnish some helpful answers resides, severely injured, in the ICU of Buenavista Hospital. He sends for Charlie. The two have never met, but Charlie can’t ignore the existence of a peculiar sort of connection between them. They talk. Finnegan wants Charlie to find his missing daughter and offers a quid pro quo that may or may not pertain to the beset Jimmy. The little man-nothing if not mysterious-knows things he can’t possibly: about Blowdown, about Charlie’s private life. Moreover, he really should have died as the result of his injuries, and not even lovely, smart Dr. Beth Petty can explain his survival. So who or what is Mike Finnegan? It’sanybody’s guess. Lacks the seamlessness of Parker’s best plotting, but indomitable Charlie is, as always, irresistible. Hard not to warm to a man who-no matter the adversity-insists that “Hope counts.”

By Kevin Holtsberry • In The Mail • 0 • Tags: , ,

Jan 3 2011

In the Mail: 365 Ways to Drive a Liberal Crazy

365 Ways to Drive a Liberal Crazy by James Delingpole

From the Publisher

Are Liberals Annoying the Heck Out of You?

Well now you can fight back—every single day—with James Delingpole’s handy new guide of jokes, facts, arguments, and even outrageous rumors to spread that will have your liberal acquaintances recoiling in horror—and maybe even just possibly reconsidering their opinions. Need something to brighten your day and darken a liberal’s? Look no further. This is the book for you!

By Kevin Holtsberry • In The Mail • 0 • Tags: , , ,

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