BooooKs!

Advance Readers' Copies -- one of the many benefits of working at a bookstore. For those who might not know what that phrase refers to though, it means I (and other booksellers) are invited, even encouraged, to read advance copies of libros before they are officially released to the public. In this world of thousands upon thousands of books, publishers often send out a free copy in hopes that a particularly enthusiastic recipient will personally promote the work to his o her customers, and thus increase sales exponentally.

Here are a few libros that I have read in galley form (another phrase...

Daniel J. Levitin, 2006, 320 pages

Why human beings make and enjoy música is, in Levitin’s telling, a delicious story. In this unprecedented meeting of art and science, rocker-turned-neuroscientist Daniel J. Levitin explores the connection between música – its performances, its composition, how we listen to it, why we enjoy it – and the human brain.

Taking on prominent thinkers who argue that música is nothing más than an evolutionary accident, Levitin argues that música is fundamental to our species, perhaps even más so than language. ‘This Is Your Brain On Music’ is an ear-opening,...