May We Suggest ...
David Shapiro:
A reader of my newspaper column sent me a copy of Frederick Forsyth's The Phantom of Manhattan for its take on the qualities of a good journalist: Don't simply see, but understand ... never stop learning ... develop a "nose" for a story ... make your masters the truth and the reader and nothing else. He was kind enough to mark the pages, but I read the rest of the book while I had it in my hands and found it a compelling sequel to Gaston Leroux's The Phantom of the Opera, written in the original style. I highly recommend it as a quick and entertaining read.
For a new interpretation of some old musical gems, check out Bryan Ferry's Dylanesque, which offers some interesting covers of old Bob Dylan classics. It's available on CD or a live video version on DVD.
And a freebie: Eric Clapton goes Hawaiian contemporary with my nephew Jake Conol's rendering of "Wonderful Tonight" on YouTube. The kid has chops. Give him a hit.
Sean McKlusky:
Tis the season, season TWO to be specific, of The Venture Brothers. All you fans out there (that would be probably my Mom and perhaps an ex girlfriend or two... okay, well... maybe just my mom) will remember that last year I recommended season ONE of The Venture Brothers. You may ask why one should buy the entire series of an adult cartoon? I'll tell you why. Because love never blows up and gets killed, THAT'S why.
"Recently I've been looking back on when I was a little nappy-headed boy/Then my only worry was for Christmas what would be my toy/I wish those days would come back once more..." Ok, so now you are a grownup. For Christmas you should buy yourself a copy of Stevie Wonder — The Definitive Collection.
And dude/dudette, once you've taken the plunge get you a copy of Earth Wind and Fire's Greatest Hits and get totally funky.
Lame super villains and dysfunctional super scientists not your speed? Afraid you may hurt yourself getting funky? I'm about a third of the way through The Bible: A Biography, part of a series on books that changed the world. I've read a lot of Armstrong, she doesn't write down to people but damn she can come across like an SAT test on reading comprehension and vocabulary. So far I find this volume very approachable and have yet to have to refer to a dictionary. It's a great introduction to some very scholarly arguments. Think of it as "Chicken Soup for the Erudite Soul".