Blogcritics Editors' Picks: September 27 through October 3

This week the Books section celebrates the first online Book Fair by examining the wonderful world of reading and taking a closer look at the relationship between reader and book. Books mean different things to different people, but we all seem to agree that they have a lasting impact on our lives. We share the best of them here, and encourage you to check out the rest.

Elsewhere, we bring you the best in music and concert reviews, discuss the good side of product placement, watch the best, and sometimes the worst, of TV, take a look at what's swirling around in this week's political maelstrom, and cover sports and gaming with our usual charm and acumen.

It's all here. What else could you possibly ask for?

MUSIC

Modern Pea Pod wishes a happy birthday and gives a corporate and musical history in 25 Years of Touch and Go Records. This wonderful review is full of information and memories.

Thank you, Joan Hunt for taking all of us to the Festival Del Mar with you. If you haven't checked out her Concert Review: Festival Del Mar - September 23, 2006, you should.

Sombrero Grande does a terrific job filling the reader in on the results of his "solid research" regarding the effectiveness of the CD in Music Review: Bedtime Beats - The Secret to Sleep.

From Asst. Music Editor A.L. Harper:

Is Benny Goodman Big Geez's doppelganger or do glasses and bad haircuts just confuse the issue? Find out in Was Benny Goodman A Doppelganger?

Is Ike Turner just a domestically abusive, cocaine-addicted has-been? See what Zach Hoskins has to say in The Modern Pea Pod's Music Review: Ike Turner - Risin' With The Blues.

BOOKS

Those who've been paying attention to the books section this week will know that we've been having a special focus on the nature and process of reading, as part of celebrations for the first online Book Fair. There's a full round-up of the articles here on Blogcritics, but I've been left with the tough task of picking out two from those, and some other excellent reviews this week.

Finally, I settled first on Roberta Rosenberg's account of the first library book she ever borrowed, Miranda on the Verandah. I'm astonished, but greatly impressed that "some 40 plus years later", she can "remember the look of the book ... with its line drawings washed and highlighted in pastel lavendar."

Secondly, and more seriously, Donnie Marler wrote about how books had been
central to two parts of his life — dealing with a long period convalescing from a broken neck, and helping to maintain a sometimes difficult relationship with his father when he was a teenager. This is real writing from the heart.

Article Author: Lisa McKay

Lisa McKay is Blogcritics' Executive Editor. At BC she can usually be found hanging out in the film section. She recently started food blogging at Will Kill for Food.

In her spare time, she watches movies, listens to music, reads, and caters to the whims of two spoiled cats. …

Visit Lisa McKay's author page — Lisa McKay's Blog