This volume explores the importance and significance that music has in our lives. The relationship between music and identity is based on conceptions about meanings and identification, especially powerful when connected with youth and popular music. We narrate ourselves in a musical way and we must study ‘music as culture’ rather than ‘music in culture’. The contributions to this book attend to emerging phenomena such as the rise of the Reggaeton music around the world, the importance of music in anime media, and music industry changes and uncertainties in the new millennium. Music is art, but it is also an industry and a business, and the two are intertwined: through the sale of tickets, original formulas are obtained and, in the same way, products (not just musical, but multimedia) are born from alternative culture, eventually becoming mainstream. In addition, this book also takes into account iconic artists such as Nirvana, David Bowie or Miley Cyrus, and the important contribution of music to the narrative and success of popular TV series, analysing cases such as Babylon Berlin and Vikings. From Blade Runner (1982) to current television mainstream productions, the music-image alliance does not only satisfy and distract us, but also challenges us and forces us to rethink our view of the world.

"Compiles most of [the author's] long-running comic series of the same name, serialized in the largest Chicago alternative weekly, the 'Chicago reader,' every other week, for over a decade"--An author's not

Southern music historian Michael Buffalo Smith presents a series of interviews with some of country music's biggest stars, assembled from his archive of over 15 years of conversations. From Cowboy Jack Clement to Bobby Bare, Jerry Reed to Shooter Jennings, the volume is filled to the rim with country music history, stories and photographs.

Would you give your first love a second chance? Justine Thomas and Maddie Kind met at university and were the couple most likely. Everybody said so. That is, until Maddie left without saying goodbye. Ten years later the pair are reunited at a friend’s funeral, and now Justine can’t shake Maddie from her life. But why is she back? Why did she disappear? And more importantly, is she interested in the whole cake, or just one last slice of Justine? Strap in for a novel that deals with life’s big topics: love, death & cake. Clare Lydon is the queen of British romantic comedy, and this stellar lesbian romance is guaranteed to give you all the feels. Quite simply, it’s unputdownable.

In the thrilling sequel to One for Our Baby, the Chicago mob is looking for Al Capone’s lost treasure—and former ace fighter pilot Joe Buonomo holds the key to finding it. When Joe Buonomo returned from World War II, he chose to settle in California rather than go back home to Chicago—and he didn’t plan on revisiting his old stomping grounds any time soon. But when Frank Sinatra asks you to fly him to the Windy City for a gig, you don’t refuse. And so, reluctantly, Joe finds himself strolling down memory lane and rekindling relationships with his estranged family. But where Joe goes, trouble tends to follow. Rumor has it that a man named Butch O’Hare was in charge of hiding Al Capone’s fortune, but Butch is long dead, and warring mob bosses seem to believe his old war buddy Joe knows more than he’s letting on. Joe is forced to join the ridiculous quest to find the gold, but the more the search of Chicago’s seedy underground drags on, the more Joe thinks the treasure might not be a myth after all—and he may be the only one who can uncover the truth. For fans of historical fiction, action, and noir, My Kind of Town is a hardboiled crime thriller that captures the beat of Chicago in the sixties, complete with gangsters, hot dogs, and bocce.

Patrick Riordan always thought that nothing could match the adrenaline rush he gets from his job as a Navy pilot. But this Christmas, Patrick's pulse is "really" racing after he meets Angie LeCroix. Original.

Born to Greek Cypriot immigrants and raised in a staunch Orthodox home, Irene feels the pressure of having to marry a suitable Greek man, despite her gay tendencies. In her quest for a conventional life, she falls in love with and marries Italian Mario, believing their love will last forever. While raising their four children, the turmoil builds as she tries to stay sane in a marriage characterised by incompatibility. When Irene’s attraction to Sarah is uncovered, she – and her community – are forced to come to terms with her sexuality. Irene and Mario’s final attempt to reconcile is ill-fated when she meets Emma – a meeting that will change the course of her life.