Litwitlou

Temp will rise over 50 degrees today. I dug out my sunglasses and will be cruising down the Parkway blasting the tunes and trying to avoid a speeding ticket. Why? Hell, I'm old but I'm not dead.

Male

And this is why I joined a book club. I wish I'd learned all this about Allende years ago.

My Old Kentucky Home -- Johnny Cash

The Quiet American -- Graham Green

Lamp

Moon of Alabama -- Bertold Brecht (Covered by The Doors and David Bowie)

That's all I'm sayin'...

Fire -- Bruce Springsteen

Covered by The Beatles on With The Beatles (1963)

Paraffin

With a Little Help From My Friends -- The Beatles Cover by Joe Cocker English singer Joe Cocker's version of "With a Little Help from My Friends" was a radical re-arrangement of the original, in a slower, 6/8 meter, using different chords in the middle eight, and a lengthy instrumental introduction (featuring drums by Procol Harum's B.J. Wilson, guitar lines from Jimmy Page, and organ by Tommy Eyre). Cocker performed the song at Woodstock in 1969 and that performance was included in the documentary film, Woodstock. This version gained even more fame when it was used as the opening theme song for the television series The Wonder Years.[20] Cocker's cover was ranked number two in UpVenue's top 10 best music covers of all time in 2009.[21] In 2014, a BBC poll saw it voted the seventh best cover version ever.[22] The version heard in the film Across the Universe segues from the original to Cocker's arrangement at the end of the song. In 2001, Cocker's version of the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.[23] (Wiki) Yeah, yeah, I still vote for The Beatles.

No One Here Gets Out Alive by Jerry Hopkins, Danny Sugarman (Jim Morrison was one sick puppy)

Wow. Isabel Allende told you about her life and work. I envy you. Me? While writing for the college paper I covered a Louis Farrakhan speech he gave on campus. He speaks well but to this day I have no idea what his point was most of the time.

The critics like her more than I do but she's good, no doubt When I read fiction it seems I'm reading authors rather than books sometimes. Next a few Margaret Atwood books; then Isabel Allende. After I catch up on my female authors a little I'm going to non-fiction.

If I don't like a book or an author I toss the book in the library donation bin or put it on my shelf for another time. I have no problem disagreeing with book critics. They're right about Jodi Picoult -- though I think they rate her too high. She is very PC, maybe that's why she's getting bonus points.

Kidnapped / Robert Louis Stevenson

I Want to Hold Your Hand -- The Beatles

Halfway through January I have read: Jodi Picoult... The Storyteller Lone Wolf Leaving Time Salem Falls Halfway Through House Rules Jodi Picoult writes beautifully. She spins a good yarn, as they used to say. In fact, if you read just about any review of her work, you will find phrases like, "Natural Storyteller"; or, "Gripping Story." In every book she addresses a topical issue. In The Storyteller she writes about the Holocaust. In Leaving Time, a teenager searches for her mother who disappeared mysteriously. The girl enlists the help of a psychic who is genuinely psychic. Don't be surprised to find a little magic in Picoult's work. Not like a fantasy story -- just a bit here and there. Oh, and there are elephants in this one! House Rules take us into the home of a family whose oldest son has Asperger's Syndrome. And there's a murder mystery, too. Anyway, the critics can't find enough good things to say about her. She writes of serious issues that compel strong emotions yet she's remarkably easy to read. (That's my opinion, not the critics'.) When I finish House Rules I will start on Margaret Atwood books. Happy reading, friends.

Homes

Diaspora

Man

Gloves

Temperature should rise above freezing for the first time since Christmas.

Wagon