This just released 9-CD box set includes Bob Dylan’s first eight studio albums: Bob Dylan, The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, The Time They Are A-Changin’, Another Side Of Bob Dylan, Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited, Blonde On Blonde, John Wesley Harding. These albums were originally recorded in monaural, and then years later, re-mixed for stereo. Like the mono box set of the complete Beatle catalog last year, these remastered discs sound superb. If you’re a Bob Dylan fan, this is must-have box set of classic recordings. They never sounded so good! Long live MONO!
FORGOTTEN MUSIC #10: THE ORIGINAL MONO RECORDINGS By Bob Dylan
20 Replies
In our ceaseless quest to stimulate the U.S. economy, Diane and I called on the wizards of Brady Flooring to install a new hardwood floor in our dining room. The dining room had been carpeted, but Diane decided that a hardwood floor would be more dramatic. After two days of hammers pounding and power saws keening, the Jacks Creek Gunstock flooring transformed our dining room. We love the rich color and the warm ambiance. If you’re thinking about a hardwood floor, I’d recommend you take a look at 
Jean Carper’s insightful book gives you an action plan to help prevent Alzheimer’s. Carper is a medical reporter who’s researched the latest approaches to dealing with Alzheimer’s and dementia. Simple actions like drinking more 100% fruit juices (Carper recommends Concord grape juice) to increase blood flow to the brain and going on the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet can help postpone or prevent Alzheimer’s for some of us. Carper lists the danger signals of Alzheimer’s and where to seek treatment that will actually help. I found plenty in 100 Simple Things You Can Do to Prevent Alzheimer’s to explore. If you want to maintain your cognitive abilities during aging, you’ll want to read this book. GRADE: A
Although this book isn’t forgotten–it’s just been published–many of the stories inside these covers have been forgotten. Loren Estleman should be part of any conversation that includes Hammett, Chandler, and Ross Macdonald. Estleman’s long and varied career produced excellent mysteries, westerns, and short stories. Now, we have all the Amos Walker stories in one fine volume. The Amos Walker series brings Detroit and its environs to life. If you haven’t read this series, you’re missing some the finest private eye novels ever written. These 33 short stories capture the excellent writing and sharp characterization of Estleman’s novels. After reading the stories (published from 1982 to 2010) in Amos Walker: The Complete Story Collection you’ll see why Estleman’s work compares with the genre’s greatest.
I’m a sucker for a book like Bound to Last. Thirty writers pick their most cherished book. Ray Bradbury admits in his Introduction that reading Poe’s Tales of Mystery & Imagination turned him into a writer. For Francine Prose, it was Anderson’s Fairy Tales. For Karen Joy Fowler, it was The Once and Future King. Sigrid Nunez picks Mythology as the book she most cherishes. Reading the essays these writers wrote about the books they love make me want to drop everything and read the books they recommend. I bet you’ll feel the same way, too. GRADE: A
