A guide to music provides recommendations on one thousand recordings that represent the best in such genres as classical, jazz, rock, pop, blues, country, folk, musicals, hip-hop, and opera, with listening notes, commentary, and anecdotes about performers.

“Humorously entertaining. . . subtly thought-provoking. . . . Pratchett’s Discworld books are filled with humor and with magic, but they're rooted in—of all things—real life and cold, hard reason.”—Chicago Tribune Bumbling wizard Rincewind and hapless tourist Twoflower have survived a host of misadventures . . . only to face annihilation as a red star hurtles towards the Discworld in this gloriously funny second installment in Sir Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series (also the second book in the Wizards collection) It’s just one of those days when nothing seems to go right—and a most inopportune time for the first tourist ever to set foot in Discworld—accompanied by the carnivorous Luggage—to extend his already eventful vacation, even if it’s not quite by choice. A monstrous red star is on a direct collision course with the Discworld and the future appears uncertain at best. Discworld needs a hero to save it from total destruction. Unfortunately, it’s got the bumbling Rincewind, still recovering from the trauma of falling off the edge of the world. The alternative couldn’t be much worse. . . . The Discworld novels can be read in any order, but The Light Fantastic is the second book in the Wizards collection. The other books in the collection include: The Color of Magic Sourcery Eric Interesting Times The Last Continent Unseen Academicals

A one-night stand with the boss was never in her plans. Neither was falling in love . . . Return to Jackson Harbor for this sweet and sexy standalone Christmas romance. The rumors are true. I’m a hot mess with an awful track record at love. Single mom. Down on her luck. Yeah, I’m bad news. If the hardest part of moving back home to Jackson Harbor was going to be people talking, I’d be fine. I’ve kept my chin up through worse than their decade-old gossip. I was wrong. The hardest part is resisting my boss. Brayden Jackson is the very picture of tall, dark, and handsome. And thanks to an ill-advised one-night stand we had seven months ago, I know exactly what I’m missing when I turn him down. Every. Single. Delicious. Inch. But I have my son to care for and my job to keep, so I’ll keep on saying no. Until my string of bad luck continues, and suddenly my precious four-year-old and I find ourselves with nowhere to live. At Christmas, no less. It’s for my son that I accept Brayden’s offer to stay at his place. One by one, my defenses are falling, as fast as I am. If Brayden was smart, he’d run, because it’s only a matter of time before he realizes he deserves better than what a girl like me can offer. Unless, for once, my bad luck is leading me exactly where I need to be.

American Lonesome: The Work of Bruce Springsteen begins with a visit to the Jersey Shore and ends with a meditation on the international legacy of Springsteen’s writing, music, and performances. Gavin Cologne-Brookes’s innovative study of this popular musician and his position in American culture blends scholarship with personal reflection, providing both an academic examination of Springsteen’s work and a moving account of how it offers a way out of emotional solitude and the potential lonesomeness of modern life. Cologne-Brookes proposes that the American philosophical tradition of pragmatism, which assesses the value of ideas and arguments based on their practical applications, provides a lens for understanding the diversity of perspectives and emotions encountered in Springsteen’s songs and performances. Drawing on pragmatist philosophy from William James to Richard Rorty, Cologne-Brookes examines Springsteen’s formative environment and outsider psychology, arguing that the artist’s confessed tendency toward a self-reliant isolation creates a tension in his work between lonesomeness and community. He considers Springsteen’s portrayals of solitude in relation to classic and contemporary American writers, from Frederick Douglass, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Emily Dickinson to Richard Wright, Flannery O’Connor, and Joyce Carol Oates. As part of this critique, he discusses the difference between escapist and pragmatic romanticism, the notion of multiple selves as played out both in Springsteen’s work and in our perception of him, and the impact of performances both recorded and live. By drawing on his own experiences seeing Springsteen perform—including on tours showcasing the album The River in 1981 and 2016—Cologne-Brookes creates a book about the intimate relationship between art and everyday life. Blending research, cultural knowledge, and creative thinking, American Lonesome dissolves any imagined barriers between the study of a songwriter, literary criticism, and personal testimony.

Pucker up on the most romantic day of the yearwith three debut contemporary authors andtheir tales of romance, seduction, and . . . Elvis? She's got a hot new makeover . . . and a boss to seduce!For prim and proper Ryan Ashton, sexy has always been an elusive quality. But with a little help from a new friend, she just might snag the one man who can set her seductive side loose inCodi Gary's The Trouble with Sexy. Stuck in a king-size suite with a sexy man . . . What morecould a girl want? But for Julie Dillon, being snowed in at anElvis-themed Memphis hotel with Luke Pearce can't mean anything but trouble. Too close for comfort gets close enough to taste inCheryl Harper's Love Me Tender. Her best friend's brother is shaking up her Valentine's Day!Katie Quinn just wanted to spend the day watching Jurassic Park and eating chocolate. She certainly had no intention of running into Logan Cross–or running for her life! Suddenly caughtin the crosshairs of danger, Katie and Logan must get togetherto find a way out in Jaclyn Hatcher'sLove, Guns, and Heart-Shaped Chocolate.