Written by Jon Williams
As we wait
for spring to kick into full gear, it’s never too early to start thinking about
summer beach reading and audiobooks for long trips. There is a wonderful slate of
books scheduled for release later this spring and into the summer, but June
looks to be a monster, with highly anticipated new titles coming from two
juggernauts of the literary world.
It was
recently announced that June 24 would bring The
Silkworm by Robert Galbraith. This will be the second crime novel
featuring private detective Cormoran Strike. The first Strike novel was last
year’s The
Cuckoo’s Calling, in which Strike investigated the death of supermodel
Lula Landry, the adopted sister of his childhood friend. That book, of course,
made news (and jumped to the top of the bestseller lists) when it was revealed
that Robert Galbraith was, in fact, the pen name of J.K. Rowling, the wildly
famous author of the Harry
Potter books. After that series concluded in 2007, she made her first
foray into writing for adults with 2012’s The
Casual Vacancy. When that book was an automatic bestseller, she decided
to use a pen name for her next book in order to see how it would perform on its
own merits. That plan was foiled shortly after The Cuckoo’s Calling was published; however, it was drawing rave
reviews even before the truth about its authorship was revealed. The Silkworm promises to pick up where
the first book left off, with Strike this time investigating the case of an
author gone missing before the publication of a devastating tell-all.
Before that
comes out, though, June 3 will bring a new novel from Stephen King. Like
Galbraith’s crime novels, King calls Mr.
Mercedes his first “hard-boiled” detective novel, with his own
signature macabre twist. The tale deals with a killer who operates by driving a
stolen car into crowds of people, and the retired police officer on the trail
to track him down before he can strike again. This is King’s first novel since
last year’s Doctor
Sleep, the long-awaited sequel to his early classic The Shining, and it kicks off a busy month
for the horror master. On June 30, Under
the Dome returns to CBS, a show based on King’s 2009
tome about a small town mysteriously trapped under an invisible force field
that completely seals them off from the outside world. The second season’s
premiere episode was written by King himself. In addition, later this year (November
11) King will publish Revival,
a story more typical to his roots in the horror genre.
And of
course, this is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of great stories coming
out this spring and summer. Are there any titles you or your patrons are
particularly excited about? Let us know in the comments section below.
Written by Jon Williams
Disney’s Frozen was released into theatres on
November 27, 2013, intended as a delightful holiday treat for the kids. It
quickly turned into a phenomenon. It pulled in over $110 million at box offices
around the world just during its opening weekend, no mean feat for a film with
a $150 million budget. Even more impressive has been the film’s staying power.
It was #1 at U.S. box offices three different times, the latest being its seventh
week of release, challenging and beating other movies that were more likely
blockbusters. As of today, it has earned close to $398 million domestically and
over $1 billion worldwide. The movie came out last week on DVD
and Blu-ray,
where no doubt it will be hugely popular as well.
Frozen’s popularity extends beyond the
film itself, though. If you pay attention to the music charts, no doubt you’ve
noticed the Frozen soundtrack hovering at or near the
top since its release. It’s been in the top ten
for seventeen weeks, and at #1 for seven of them—including this week. Like
the film, the soundtrack has challenged or beaten out albums more likely to be
at the top of the charts. Led by the Academy Award winner for Best Song, “Let
It Go,” the soundtrack has captured the hearts (and ears) of young ones
everywhere—and their parents.
“Let It Go”
in the movie is sung by the character Elsa, the snow queen, voiced by Broadway
star Idina
Menzel. She is joined on the soundtrack by actress Kristen
Bell (the character Princess Anna), best known for her recently resurrected
role as Veronica
Mars, as well as Jonathan Groff (Kristoff) from Glee
Josh Gad (Olaf), and Demi
Lovato, who performs the single version of “Let It Go.” The soundtrack also
features pieces from the score by acclaimed film composer Christophe
Beck.
At this
early date, the soundtrack is already set to be one of the biggest (if not the biggest) selling CDs of 2014. And
for those who just can’t seem to get enough, it is also available in a two-disc
deluxe edition that includes 23 additional tracks, featuring demos and
outtakes of several songs, plus additional pieces from the score. It has also
inspired an
edition in the Disney
Karaoke series, allowing kids (or whoever) to bring the music home and perform
their own renditions.
Needless to
say, Frozen fever is at its peak and
shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon—especially with news that the hit film is in the planning stages for an adaptation on Broadway. If you don’t have the movie or the
music on your shelves, what are you waiting for? Just head on over to our
website, where you can find it all, as well as plenty of other always-popular
Disney films and soundtracks.
Written by Jon Williams
I can hear
the shrieks of frustration over this headline, as News and Views readers look
at their calendars. “Wasn’t yesterday the equinox?” I hear you asking. “Isn’t
winter finally over?”
In one
sense, yes, that’s absolutely true. In another sense, however, the harshest
days of winter are still on the horizon. “Winter is coming” are the words of
the Starks of Winterfell, one of seven families locked in a war that has swept
through the kingdom of Westeros in HBO’s hit series Game of Thrones. The show’s
fourth season premieres on Sunday, April 6, at 9:00 p.m.
The first
season of Game of Thrones made
its HBO debut on April 17, 2011. It quickly won acclaim from viewers and
critics alike. The first episode (itself titled “Winter Is Coming”) scored 2.2
million viewers, and that number grew to over three million before the season
was over. It was nominated for thirteen Emmy Awards, winning two of them,
including Best Supporting Actor for Peter Dinklage, who plays Tyrion Lannister,
better known as “The Imp.”
Upon seeing
the numbers for the first season’s premiere episode, HBO executives immediately
renewed Game of Thrones for a second
season, which began on April 1, 2012. That season built upon the critical
and commercial success of the first, growing to over four million viewers for
the season finale and garnering another eleven Emmy nominations and six wins.
The third
season grew to even more notable heights, averaging more than five million
viewers for its ten episodes, plus sixteen Emmy nominations and two wins. The
ninth episode, titled “The Rains of Castamere,” featured the Red Wedding, one
of the most shocking scenes ever shown on television. I won’t give away any
spoilers, but those of you who watch—you know what I mean.
The series,
of course, is based on bestselling author George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series of fantasy
novels. The first season covers the first book, A
Game of Thrones (originally published in 1996), from which the series
took its name. Likewise, the second season follows the second novel, A
Clash of Kings. The third season, however, only covers roughly half of A
Storm of Swords; the fourth season, reputed to be the darkest yet, will
take on the rest. Two other books in the series have been published: A
Feast for Crows and A
Dance with Dragons. The sixth book will be titled The Winds of Winter; no release date has been announced, but it’s
close enough to completion for Martin to have released excerpts onto the
Internet. The series will conclude with the seventh book, A Dream of Spring.
The Game of Thrones series and Song of Ice and Fire books are extremely
popular right now. Make sure you have them all on your shelves so patrons can
catch up on what’s happening in Westeros in advance of the Season 4 premiere.
Written by Jon Williams
Today the
renowned musician and producer, best known for his work on Michael Jackson’s
biggest albums, turns 81.
Born in
Chicago in 1933, Jones moved with his family to Washington and got involved in
Seattle’s jazz scene while he was in high school. There he met and befriended
Ray Charles when they were both in their teens. Upon graduation, Jones went on
scholarship to Schillinger House of Boston, which is now the Berklee College of
Music. He left school for a professional career when he got an opportunity to
tour as a trumpeter. It was during this time that he began arranging songs as
well, which allowed him the chance to work with a wide range of famous
musicians.
In the
1960s, Jones turned his attention to film scores, beginning with Sidney Lumet’s
The
Pawnbroker in 1964, the same year he broke racial boundaries by
becoming the first African-American vice president of Mercury Records. He
worked on a number of soundtracks and scores throughout the 1960s and 1970s
while also recording his own music and producing albums for other musicians.
Some of the artists he worked with were his friend Ray
Charles, Peggy
Lee, Count
Basie,Sammy Davis Jr., and Frank
Sinatra.
As
impressive as Jones’s career was to that point, he got his biggest break when
he served as musical supervisor on the film The
Wiz, an African-American version of The Wizard of Oz. Although the film
itself did not fare particularly well, it was Jones’s first chance to work with
Michael Jackson, who played the Scarecrow in the movie. When Jackson asked for
suggestions on who should produce his upcoming solo album, Jones offered to do
it himself. That album became the smash success Off
the Wall. The pair would collaborate again on Jackson’s next two
albums: Thriller
(now the bestselling album of all time) and Bad
(the first album to produce five Number One singles).
Throughout
his career, Quincy Jones has woven a rich and varied musical tapestry. To
discover more of his work, SmartBrowse his name on our website.
Written by Jon Williams
Legendary
rock singer Ronnie James Dio passed away in 2010 at the age of 67. Before that,
his powerful and distinctive voice led him through a career fronting a number
of notable hard rock and metal outfits. He got his start with a band called the
Vegas Kings in 1957, a band that would change names several times over the next
several years. His big break came when his band Elf
started touring with Deep
Purple.
On that
tour, Dio’s voice caught the attention of guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, who was
on the verge of leaving Deep Purple. The two teamed up to form the band
Rainbow, which would release three albums with Dio as the lead singer. The
first, Ritchie
Blackmore’s Rainbow in 1975, contained the rock staple “Man on the
Silver Mountain.” Rainbow
Rising followed in 1976, with Long
Live Rock ‘n’ Roll coming in 1978. When Blackmore decided at that point
that he wanted to take the band in a more mainstream, radio-friendly direction,
Dio began to contemplate his own departure.
Dio got his
chance in 1979 when he met guitarist Tony Iommi of the band Black Sabbath, who
had just fired their own singer, Ozzy
Osbourne. Dio soon joined up, and their first album, Heaven
and Hell, was released in April of 1980. Mob Rules (currently out of print), which came out in 1981, was Dio’s
second and last studio album with the band. While they were touring in support
of that album, they recorded the live set Live
Evil, which features Dio performing classic Sabbath hits like “War Pigs”
and “Iron Man.” However, during the production of that album, discord set in
and Dio once again set out on his own.
This time, he
decided to form his own band, named, fittingly enough, Dio. He brought along
drummer Vinnie Appice from Sabbath and bassist Jimmy Bain from Rainbow, then
added guitarist Vivian Campbell (now of Def
Leppard). In May of 1983, they released their debut album, Holy
Diver. The title track and the single “Rainbow in the Dark” received
heavy airplay on rock radio and MTV, propelling the band to popularity during
the rock/metal heyday of the 1980s. Although it would undergo a number of
lineup changes, Dio fronted the band through 2004, releasing ten studio albums
in that time.
In 2006, Dio
rejoined the members of Black Sabbath under the name Heaven & Hell. It
started out as just a reunion tour with no other projects planned, but it soon
grew beyond that. They released The
Devil You Know in 2009 and toured to support it. Plans for further touring
and a follow-up album were never realized due to Dio’s illness and eventual
passing.
After Dio’s
death, the Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund was created to support research in
hopes of ending the disease. Now, a new album is slated to pay tribute to Dio’s
life and legacy, with proceeds going to the Fund. Ronnie
James Dio – This Is Your Life will be released on April 1. Among the
acts to be included are Anthrax,
Tenacious
D (featuring actor Jack Black), Motorhead,
the
Scorpions, and Rob Halford of Judas
Priest. The jewel of the album, though is the “Ronnie Rising Medley,” a
nine-minute track combining the Rainbow songs “A Light in the Black,” “Tarot
Woman,” “Stargazer,” and “Kill the King,” which will be performed by heavy
metal superstars Metallica.
Ronnie James
Dio may be gone, but he hasn’t been forgotten, as this all-star tribute clearly
shows. In today’s music world, his voice is as important as it ever was. Share
his work, and that of these other artists, with your rock-loving patrons.
SmartBrowse Ronnie James Dio or any of these other bands on our website for
albums not mentioned here, as well as concert films, soundtrack appearances,
and much more.
Written by Jon Williams
At the
Academy Awards ceremony last Sunday, Matthew McConaughey took home the statue
for Best Actor for his role as AIDS patient Ron Woodroof in Dallas
Buyers Club. The critically acclaimed film was nominated for six awards
on the night and took home three, including Best Supporting Actor for Jared
Leto in addition to McConaughey’s victory.
It was the
first Academy Award in McConaughey’s 20+ years in acting. He got his big break
when he starred as perpetual teenage wannabe David Wooderson in Richard
Linklater’s cult classic Dazed
and Confused. McConaughey has carried Wooderson with him ever since:
the lines “all right, all right, all right” and “just keep livin’” from the
conclusion of his acceptance speech, come straight from the character’s mouth,
and he created the “just keep livin” non-profit foundation to impact the lives
of high school students.
From there
McConaughey appeared in a number of films, such as Angels
in the Outfield and Boys on
the Side, but it was 1996’s A
Time to Kill that made him a star. In that film, based on a John
Grisham bestseller, McConaughey played Mississippi lawyer Jake Brigance,
who is hired to defend a man who killed two others after they were wrongly
acquitted of raping his daughter. That catapulted him into an even bigger 1997,
when he starred in Contact
with Jodie Foster and Amistad
with an ensemble cast including Morgan Freeman and Anthony Hopkins.
This was
followed by a period in which McConaughey was primarily known for starring as
the male lead in romantic comedies. It started with The Wedding Planner, in which he played opposite Jennifer Lopez.
Then he was in How
to Lose a Guy in 10 Days with Kate Hudson, Failure
to Launch with Sarah Jessica Parker, Fool’s
Gold with Hudson again, and Ghosts
of Girlfriends Past with Jennifer Garner (who was also in Dallas Buyers Club). Although the
romcoms were his most visible work during this period, he also managed to star
in other fare, like the action film Sahara
and the football drama We
Are Marshall.
After Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, McConaughey
took two years off, beginning to redefine himself with 2011’s The
Lincoln Lawyer, in which he played an attorney who is the polar
opposite of A Time to Kill’s noble
Brigance. Then he played yet another attorney in yet another Linklater film,
the dark comedy Bernie.
Since 2012, he’s been on another level, with movies like Magic
Mike and Mud,
to say nothing of Dallas Buyers Club
and The
Wolf of Wall Street, which itself was nominated for five Oscars. To top
it all off, McConaughey also stars with Woody Harrelson in the hit HBO series True Detective, which airs its Season 1
finale this Sunday night.
Matthew
McConaughey is a talented, fascinating actor with a long and varied career. For
more of his films, SmartBrowse his name on our website.
Written by Jon Williams
International
Women’s Day began in the early 1900s as part of a campaign for women’s rights,
particularly the right to vote. In 1914, the day was officially observed on
March 8 for the first time. During that year it was used as an opportunity to
rally for peace in the looming face of World War I. On its centennial
celebration, International Women’s Day is now officially recognized by 27
countries around the world, while many more observe it as well. It is now seen
as a day to celebrate the achievements of women, as well as to inspire new
generations to the lofty heights only dreamed of by their predecessors.
One way to
celebrate the achievements of women is through biographies and profiles of
notable women. A number of these have graced the bestseller lists recently,
such as I
Am Malala (about a Pakistani girl’s fight for education) and Lean
In (a memoir from Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg). On a historical level,
women like Jacqueline
Kennedy Onassis and Anne
Frank continue to fascinate, as do the Princesses Diana
and Grace
of Monaco. These are just a few of the hundreds of titles about fascinating
women that can be found here in our International
Women’s Day collection for 2014.
Of course,
hearing their stories is only one part of the equation. Another part is
actually experiencing the work they create. In fiction, women are among today’s
most popular authors. J.K. Rowling, of course, is responsible for the classic Harry
Potter books, and her two novels since then ( The
Casual Vacancy and The
Cuckoo’s Calling) have been huge bestsellers. One of the hottest books
of the past year has been Gone
Girl by Gillian Flynn, and Donna Tartt’s The
Goldfinch and Sue Monk Kidd’s The
Invention of Wings are experiencing similar popularity. Names like Nora
Roberts, Jodi
Picoult, and Janet
Evanovich are mainstays on the bestseller lists, and there are plenty of
classics from authors like Jane
Austen, the
Bronte sisters, and Willa
Cather, to name just a few. And let’s not forget To
Kill a Mockingbird—Harper Lee’s only novel is one of the best of all
time.
In film and
television, one of the buzziest names in pop culture right now is Lena Dunham,
creator and head writer of the hit HBO series Girls,
currently in its third season. (Incidentally, on International Women’s Day this
Saturday, Dunham will be hosting Saturday
Night Live.) In 2008, Kathryn
Bigelow became the first woman to win an Academy Award for Best Director
for the film The Hurt
Locker. Other notable female directors include such names as Penny
Marshall, Nora
Ephron, and Sofia
Coppola. And the list of talented actresses, past or present, would be too
long to even begin.
It’s a
similar story in music, where women are a dominant force in the industry. Taylor
Swift, Miley
Cyrus, Lady
Gaga, and Katy
Perry are some of the biggest stars in the world right now, with New
Zealand teenager Lorde
well on her way to joining them. They follow in the footsteps of classic
artists like Madonna,
Stevie
Nicks, Janis
Joplin, and Loretta
Lynn, again to name just a few. Going back further, there are names like Ella
Fitzgerald and Billie
Holiday. And this is obviously just limited to pop vocal music—there are
plenty of other genres which have seen incredible contributions by women.
So use this
Saturday to encourage your patrons to celebrate the life and work of women all
around the world. You can search for names of individual women on our website,
or SmartBrowse International Women’s Day to find a wealth of material by and
about women to add to your library’s media collection.
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