The end of Halloween marks the official beginning of the holiday season for many of us. Before the real craziness starts, take a break and catch up on everything newsy and opinionated here at BC. If you've just finished polishing off a Halloween candy bar, wipe the chocolate from your fingers and settle down to read the best of our week.

MUSIC

Who knew it could be so easy? Jon Sobel delightfully lets women readers know how to decode a man's mystique in All I Really Need to Know I Learned from John Hiatt Lyrics. Oh, and I'm sure the guys will find it an interesting read, too.

John Owen's review of Solomon Burke's Nashville comprehensively explores every angle and niche of the album with all his usual style and grace.

In his review of John Prine's album Fair & Square, Richard Marcus explains the familiarity and intimacy of the CD in his own personal way.

From Asst. Music Editor DJRadiohead:

Zach Hoskins of The Modern Pea Pod took on the KISS Army with his review of Paul Stanley's solo album.

It goes about 50/50 on whether or not I will know who Mark Saleski is talking about in his Friday Morning Listen column. This past week, it was John Zorn, and no, I had not heard of him.

From Asst. Music Editor A.L. Harper:

Mat Brewster had a head cold but still enjoyed Tea Leaf Green in concert.

MTV tickles the Big Geez's nostalgia bone and he share with us his one daddy's fight against MTV in Dads And Daughters - Nat And Natalie Cole.

BOOKS

Three picks in one this week: Tim Gebhart's The Atheist Manifestos series. Books do tend to come along in waves — witness the recent tsunami of boy wizards in boarding schools — but sometimes the authors are surfing the zeitgeist. This particular wave, Tim suggests, reflects a high degree of societal concern about religion's impact. He set out to examine three of the lead surfers: Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins and, from the quirky side, William Hopper. Read these reviews and you'll be on the wave.

From Asst. Books Editor Gordon Hauptfleisch:

Calling it one of the best books she's read all year, Bonnie's compelling review of a true and harrowing account perfectly conveys its emotional and historical depths. The "miscommunications, the bad timing, and the fuzzy procedures" detailed in Curse of the Narrows prompted the urge "to shout at the book, wanting to prevent the inevitable." Which prompted my decision to buy the book so I'd have my own copy to shout at.