The Arts

This short ebook is an excerpt from a longer work, but it stands well on its own. The author takes a road trip to visit "land art" in the American west, and interweaves travel writing, personal essay, and art criticism in her account of the trip. This excerpt covers her first stop, which is to see a piece called Spiral Jetty on the shores of the Great Salt Lake in Utah. I enjoyed the way the book helped me understand the art better, but it there is still a fair amount of art criticism jargon. I was able to make sense of it, and I think most other non-experts will, too.

This is a musician's meditation on the meaning he finds in composers' late works, but that description doesn't do it justice. Jonathan Biss has an extraordinary ability to write about music, and help us lesser musicians and non-musicians appreciate how music speaks to him and for him. When I read his writing about a piece I know, I feel I understand that piece more deeply. When I read his writing about a piece I don't know, I want to listen to that piece immediately.

This is a solid piece of science writing masquerading as movie reviews. It is a lot of fun to read, and you'll learn some biomechanics along the way. However, you may never look at movie monsters in quite the same way again.

This is the perfect length book about Hank Williams for someone (like me) who is curious about Williams and his life, but not to the extent of reading a full length biography. Williams played a pivotal role in the development of country music, and this book explores and explains that along with providing the basic story of Williams' life. Fans of country music will probably enjoy this book, but don't skip it just because you aren't a country music fan.

This is the amazing story of the birth of a huge music festival in the deserts of Mali, the two men at the center of its creation, and what happens when radical Islam comes to Mali. If you've never heard Malian music, this book will probably make you want to listen to some. If you have, this book will probably make you appreciate it all the more. It may also make you rethink what one "ordinary" man can accomplish.

This book provides a fascinating view into the world of instrument making, intertwined with an exploration of friendship and what really matters in life.

Part memoir and part advice for writers, this book was an interesting and inspiring read. Even people who are not aiming to be professional authors are likely to find some useful ideas and advice.

An engaging history of the haiku form of poetry and the life of Basho, the poet who developed it.

A fascinating look at the process of making and recording music, from the standpoint of an accomplished pianist who is undertaking a project to record all of Beethoven's piano sonatas.