DEAR MR. YOU * VINYL

Dear Mr. You by Mary-Louise Parker - Dear Mr. You received rave reviews in the mainstream sector, but since I don't read them, I didn't know exactly why. Now I do; Mary-Louise Parker is an amazing writer. She writes with sophistication but not pretension. By the time you're to the third chapter/letter, the words in your reading flow. The best thing about it is that you've never read a book like it. In all ways it's a personal journey through the men in her life - who they were or are and how they've played a role in who she ultimately is as she takes something of them into her heart and mind. It's labeled Biography, but it's Bio and Auto and Memoir and Ode. 

Vinyl - Gotta love HBO - they've done it again. This time it's Vinyl, and the new series takes place in New York City in 1973 in the music business. Specifically the record business. I loved my records and still do. There was nothing like bringing home a new 45 or LP and playing it over and over again for days and weeks until the next one. We'd buy them at Korvette on Telegraph and Joy Road because albums were $3.74 - the best price in town. Who knew what was behind the music and that round black vinyl disc? Watch Vinyl for the 1970s and a look back at what was a simpler time, even though it wasn't really. Bobby Canavale is amazing as Richie Finestra; his supporting cast is all over the board, but the story and Bobby are so good that it doesn't matter.