Tag: Early Review

A Full Net

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Daignault, Susan. A Full Net: Fishing Stories from Maine and Beyond. Islandport Press, 2023

Reason read: as a member of the Early Review program for LibraryThing, I occasionally review cool books.

Disclaimer: I have to say this upfront for the sake of being completely honest. I am not a fishing person. The last time I “fished” for anything, it was off the side of a 7′ skiff with my dad. We were dropping lines (complete with lead sinkers) for mackerel that were running in the harbor of Monhegan. I do not remember eating anything we caught, but I do remember winding up the line and the excitement I felt bringing up those beautiful speckled silver and blue fish. [As an aside, the general store used to smoke mackerel in a converted old fridge. They were delicious.]
Having admitted that I am not an avid fishing fan, it makes sense that I could not fully relate to Daignault’s acute passion/obsession for reeling in the biggest big one or the agony of the one(s) that got away. With the latter, I can only equate it to the pain of a DNF in the world of running road races. [There is nothing more embarrassing for a serious runner than a “did not finish” result attached to your bib number. But again, I digress.]
More importantly, because I am not passionate about fish when Daignault went deep into the fishing terminology I felt like she was speaking a foreign language. Luckily, she translates often.
Aside from fishing, as a person, I found Daignault to be an inspiration. She enthusiastically forged her way through what was considered a man’s world with fishing and her chosen career in the Coast Guard. She was the first woman assigned to the 180-foot buoy tender named Firebush in Kodiak, Alaska. Two years at sea in Alaska is no small feat!
Confessional: Beyond the fishing terminology I found A Full Net hard to read at times only because the stories are all over the place and have a chaotic timeline. One minute she is describing something from her childhood and then the story will jump to the 2020s. There is a bit of repetition I needed to battle as well (How many times could she say her family summered on Cape Cod where she had sand in her toes and salt in her hair?). It was if the chapters were written as stand-alone essays.
One last comment. The subtitle of A Full Net is Fishing Stories from Maine and Beyond. Because Daignault is so secretive about her favorite fishing spots, particularly in Maine, she could have titled her book Fishing Stories from the Southern Side of Pluto. I felt she mentioned other locals such as Costa Rica, Louisiana, Florida, the British Virgin Islands, Alaska, and Cape Cod just as often as Maine.

Book trivia: there is an abundance of photographs which add to the charm of Daignault’s story.

Just Up the Road

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Diehl, Chelsea. Just Up the Road: A Year Discovering People, Places, and What Comes Next in the Pine Tree State. Islandport Press, 2023.

Reason read: This is a very special Early Review book from LibraryThing. I am super excited I won it.

Confessional: I was born in Maine. I have roots in Maine even though I am currently displaced. My family is still in Maine. Needless to say, my heart is still in Maine. And. And! And, mark my words, I will retire to Maine. I predicted I would love Just Up the Road and I did.

I love scavenger hunts. As soon as I read the subtitle of Just Up the Road I had this hope that the book would contain tons people and places I could discover for myself. I was not disappointed. I started a comprehensive list of places to go, activities to try, and restaurants in which to eat. In all, Diehl mentions twenty-three places to hike, thirty-seven activities beyond hiking, and twenty-three restaurants. She also includes a smattering of black and white photographs and fifteen stories of Maine from the perspective of others. Quoting Maine in other people’s words was a touch of humbleness I didn’t expect. While I wanted to call this a guide to Maine, it is most definitely not. There are no maps of the places mentioned. There is no contact information. No hours of operations, emails, or websites. It is a strictly a travelogue/memoir with perfect inserts of Diehl’s opinions, past triumphs, and future dreams with husband, Andrew and daughter, Harper. As an aside, the decision to include Monhegan Island was a no-brainer in my mind, but then again I am uber-biased. Diehl does an excellent job avoiding trope and superfluous flowery language about my hometown. Nowhere in her description does she talk about the magical light or spell-bounding beauty. Blah, blah, blah. She even avoids talking about fairy houses. Bless her heart.
While Diehl is heavy on hiking, she does not seem to be into music. For great places to see music I would add Camden’s Opera House, Rockland’s Strand, Portland’s State Theater, and Brownfield’s Stone Mountain Arts.
Confessional: I wanted to see Home Café in Rockland, the Orono Bog on Bangor, the Rockland Breakwater, or Newscastle Publick House in Newcastle. Just a few of my favorite Maine places beyond music venues.

Playlist: “We’re Off to See the Wizard”, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno”, “the Family Madrigal”, Ella Fitzgerald (spelled wrong), Bessie Smith, “Pretty Woman”, and “Shake Rattle Roll”.

Author fact: I am pretty sure this is Diehl’s first nonfiction.

Book trivia: I know I said Diehl doesn’t include maps or any other business information related to the places she goes, but she does include beautiful black and while photographs.

Vegan Snack Cookbook

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Riley, Jordan. The Vegan Snack Cookbook.

Reason read: As a member of the Early Review Program for LibraryThing, I sometimes review books. This time, it is an e-cookbook.

A few disclaimers first. I am not a vegan. From time to time I chose a vegetarian meal, but that is far as it goes. I am not pinching my pennies or concerned with the cost of food. That is not to say I am wealthy. I am just not always looking for the most economically recipe. Since Riley mentions writing this book for those audiences (vegan and frugal), I am reviewing this book from a completely different perspective. I want my food to taste good. Period. While the internet is crawling with free recipes I was curious about what The Vegan Snack Cookbook could do for me. Let’s start with the beginning. The cover is delicious. Pun totally intended.
Confessional. Here are my headscratchers: recipes are snacks intended for four people. That surprised me until Riley acknowledged that makes this cookbook different from most snack-based cookbooks. The term “kid safe” also took me by surprise until I realized she meant no knives or fire. Can you tell I don’t have children? I think Riley could have done away with the history of veganism. Chances are, if someone is interested in a vegan snack cookbook, they already know what it means to be vegan. That is something that should come as an insert with the mailing and not take away from the length of the actual cookbook. The Vegan Snack Cookbook is short enough as it is. Same with the repetitiveness of the promises of what The Snack Cookbook will deliver. Riley literally says the same thing twice within a few pages. One last criticism – troubleshooting. How do I know what the original recipe tastes like to determine that my version does or doesn’t come close? I appreciate the pictures so I can make visual comparisons, but the success of the snack is not determined by how it looks on a plate. As I said in the very beginning, I want my food to taste good.
I did appreciate the section on leftovers. I am constantly trying to figure out what to do with them. I also thought the list of vegan essentials was critical. Having said all that, the recipes (finally) start on page 40. After perusing all the recipes I think they all sound wonderful, but I wished they were grouped a little differently. for example, why not put al the nut snacks together? The veggies snacks and dips in one chapter would be nice. Same with beverages.
The total headscratcher was the section on cooking and mental health with references. Why not lead with that information and make the cookbook even more unique?

America’s Best Ideas

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Oswald, Michael J. America’s Best Ideas: My National Parks Journal. Stone Road Press, 2023.

Reason read: As a reviewer for the Early Review Program, I sometimes review very cool books for LibraryThing. This is one such book. Confessional: I think I am becoming a certified Mike Oswald groupie. This is my second early review (via LibraryThing) of his. I loved the first book I reviewed and this journal is just as cool.

In order of discovery: I loved the color of the cover. It is a perfect shade of green to remind me of a park ranger’s uniform. On purpose? If so, well played, Mr. Oswald. Well played.
“This journal belongs to:” reminded me of the little pink diary I used to have when I was a kid. [It came with a teeny tiny key, but if you lost that, no worries. You could pick the lock with a paperclip.]
The journal is chock full of information. Maps, a national parks checklist, a list of parks by size, a list of parks by most to least visited, a list of parks by most to least number of hiking trails, crowd information, personal favorites of Mike’s (and room for yours), and finally each park in alphabetical order. Each park has an info page which includes the date the park was established, its size, visitation statistics, number of trails, and a list of interesting things to do or see within each park. Being from Maine, I paid the most attention to Acadia’s list of interests. Throughout the entire journal are cute drawings by one talented illustrator and one not-so-talented illustrator. Okay, the whole publication page gave me a giggle. Bonus points for a humorous disclaimer section.

As an aside, even though I could “journal” about parks I have been to before receiving My National Parks Journal but I think I am going to start fresh…even Acadia (despite the fact I was there less than two months ago).

Animals

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Gray, Ava. Animals: An Adult Coloring Book with Lions, Dogs, Horses, Elephants, Owls, Cats, and Many More! AvaGrayColoring, 2023.

Reason read: This was an interesting win from the Early Review Program for LibraryThing.

Reviewing a coloring book in e-format is a little strange. You don’t get a sense of how well the images are printed or the quality of the paper. Because you print images at home, those elements are dependent on the type of printer you have and the stock of paper you use. One element of Animals I didn’t like: the ability to “unlock” an $85 art activity collection for free. This seemed a little gimmicky to me.

In order of discovery, here are the details I liked about this coloring book:

  1. The zebra test page is a great idea. Test your colors on the stripes of this animal. You will end up with a rainbow beast.
  2. This is a coloring book that supports the adoption of animals. Good idea. Although, which rescue initiative receives the money is not exactly clear.
  3. Every animal you can think of is represented in Animals (and even some you didn’t think of, like water buffalo and meercat).
  4. The illustrations are gorgeous and fun. I could tell (for the most part) what each animal was supposed to be.

Dayhiker’s Guide to the National Parks

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Oswald, Michael Joseph. The Dayhiker’s Guide to the National Parks. Stone Road Press, 2023.

Reason read: I am very excited about this Early Review pick from LibraryThing. I love to hike. I want to travel around the country and see every national park. I’ll be sure to take this book with me.

First impressions after cracking open The Dayhiker’s Guide to the National Parks:

  • Beautiful color photographs in full page.
  • The copyright is amusing.
  • Easily organized by regions: East, North, South, Southwest (because it deserves its own chapter), West, Alaska, and Remote Islands.
  • Good to know the average distance of hikes is 5.8 miles (almost my favorite distance).
  • Maps are generated from USGS National Map data.
  • Terrain, elevation, trailheads, parking information – including parking spots (?!), and shuttle service information is included where applicable.
  • Elevation information is sourced from Google Earth.
  • Trail map legend is easy to understand.
  • Time zone information.
  • Inclusion of national monuments on historical sites.
  • No index so if you heard of a place but have no idea what state or even region it is in, you are out of luck and will have to scan the entire book only to find it might not be there.
  • Excited to try the online trail location map!

I have a question, though. Oswald makes a list of the best dayhiking parks? What makes them the best? What criteria did he use to come up with that specific list?

As an aside, my spellchecker did not like “dayhiker” as one word.

Author fact: Oswald is a hiking fanatic.

Book trivia: Dayhiker’s Guide to the National Parks includes 198 trail maps. You couldn’t find two more to make it an even 200? Just kidding! 198 is plenty!

People Person

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Williams, Sandy R. People Person: How to Talk to Anyone, Improve Social Awkwardness, and Communicate With Ease and Confidence. 2023.
Reason read: an Early Review pick from LibraryThing.

I decided I would not try to digest every piece of advice or tackle every suggestion Williams made in People Person. It was good enough to start small: smiling at everyone you meet, saying hello with enthusiasm and practice positive self-talk. I don’t know what constitutes a power playlist or how to surround myself with confident people (they are who they are). One of the best reasons to read a self help book is to discover other self help books that might fit you better. In reading People Person I discovered Ty Tashiro.
Warning – the consequences of not being a people person sounds like the warning label on a prescription bottle: if you are anxious, side effects include misunderstandings and missed opportunities; loneliness and depression.
Confessional: I am wary of any book that uses the word transformation. Another disappointment was a plug for reviews at the end of chapter four. Williams could have at least waited until the end of the book for such a self-serving plug.
All in all, I enjoyed People Person. This is the first self help book I have read in a long that I consider more helpful than not.

Less Than

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Long, A.D. Less Than. Zada Press, 2023.

Reason read: as a member of the Early Review program I occasionally review books for LibraryThing. I have to admit, it was refreshing to receive a work of fiction this time around.

When we first meet Evann, he is in the middle of a drug-induced crisis. Memories and flashbacks help explain how he got to this place of desperation. Most of the book is one flashback after another, mostly surrounding the verbal and sometime physical abuse of his mother, a self-centered woman who never wanted him as her first born. Evann’s present life is all about excessive drug use and maintaining an image of normalcy for his oblivious family. It isn’t hard to do. His parents barely notice his existence and his sister, Nicole, is too caught up in being the golden child. Evann is so lost in the sauce he doesn’t have a present-day personality to speak of. His childhood self is innocent, charming, introverted. As a budding artist he shows all the signs of becoming extremely talented. Of course, no one takes this talent seriously. Certainly not, compared to Nicole’s talent as a ballerina.
Towards the end of Less Than, as a means of explanation maybe, Bruce and Ann, Evann’s parents get chapters to justify their lack of love for Evann. Even Nicole tells her story. Their secrets are a little overdramatic and exaggerated, but they prove a point: all families have ghosts; ghosts that could push a good kid into drug addiction. Because of Evann’s lack of adult personality, I wasn’t as vested in his outcome as I should have been.

Author fact: Long has her own website here.

Book trivia: Less Than is Long’s debut novel.

Playlist: Willie Nelson and “Stairway to Heaven” by Led Zeppelin.

Jane Austen Had a Life

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Rutherford, V.S. Jane Austen Had a Life!: a guide to Jane Austen’s Juvenilia. Arcana Press, 2020.

Reason read: this is a selection from the Early Review Program with LibraryThing.

Disclaimer: the book came with a sticky note asking me to email the author my review. That was a first.

On my first reading of Jane Austen Had a Life I came away thinking it was very dense with interesting information from a variety of sources including biographers such as Virginia Woolf, John Halperin, and E. M. Forster. In addition to Jane’s life Rutherford includes small biographies of people to whom Austen dedicated her stories: Miss Lloyd, Francis William Austin, and the beautifull Cassandra, to name just a few. On my second reading I was distracted by repetitive information, the format being strange with choppy paragraphs, and frequent little one-line quotes everywhere. Maybe this is Australian, but style is also very different with italics and unusual spellings.
The biggest draw of Jane Austen Had a Life was not to discover secret love affairs or an exciting social life of Ms. Austen, but rather the summaries of Austen’s juvenilia. Having never read any of it, Rutherford’s compilation was thorough and well researched. This is not for the casual reader.

Author fact: Rutherford calls her own work “interesting and scholarly.”

Book trivia: Jane Austen Had a Life! was previously published in August 2020 by Arcana Press so not exactly an “early” review on my part. The cover photograph of a castle was taken by the author.

Back to Yoga

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Kelley, Steve. Back to Yoga: A Whole Body Routine You can Do Anywhere in 30 Minutes or Less to Increase Energy, Focus, Relief Stress, Lower Anxiety and Improve Flexibility, Balance and Strength. Amazon Books, 2023.

Reason read: I am a member of LibraryThing and occasionally I review books. This is one of them.

One of the first things you learn when starting to read Back to Yoga is that you will get a free gift if you jump through the tiny hoop of emailing the author. You also learn Back to Yoga is not written by a professional practitioner. All of Steve Kelley’s information comes from someone else. His biggest source of information is an article found in Medical News Today (a health website that pulls primary research from other sources). Did I mention you get a free gift when you email the author? Kelley makes it clear he offers no warranties or professional advice. The standard disclaimer: you must see a medical professional before starting his routine. Instead, the purpose of Back to Yoga is to show busy people that no matter their schedule or lifestyle, they can practice yoga. Despite that goal, Kelley never explains how to carve out that time.
As Kelley admits, there is a little redundancy to the information he does include (I call this stretching the content). Despite the redundancy I felt there was room for more information. I was disappointed by the number of poses included in Back to Yoga. Kelley only includes one routine of 24 poses. Maybe the idea is to practice these 24 poses until you master them? The best part of Back to Yoga is the section of illustrated poses. They drawings are cute and they were accurate and informative. Not sure what the QR code was all about as I did not scan it, but there was one on every illustration. By the way, if you email the author you will get a free gift. He mentions this no less than five times in Back to Yoga.
Author fact: Steve Kelley also wrote the Grow Your Business with ChatGPT book I reviewed last month. As always, I appreciate his humor.
Book trivia: I think I found a typo. Sync does not rhyme with inch so I think he meant to say cinch.

Attic of Dreams

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Neagley, Marilyn Webb. Attic of Dreams: a memoir. Rootstock Publishing, 2022.

Reason read: this is a pick from the Early Review program with LibraryThing.

Do you remember those View Master toys we used to have as kids? The wheel of photographs would display scenes like Old Faithful, the Grand Canyon, or the craters of the moon. You could swap out the disc of landscapes for one of exotic animals: look at these lions, eagles, and snakes instead! Reading Attic of Dreams was like viewing Neagley’s life through a View Master toy. Small but powerful images. Click. Memories condensed into a few images at a time. Click. Her childhood was punctured by the fangs of an abandonment only alcoholic addiction can bring. Click. The sting is painful. When Neagley isn’t remembering her parents drinking, Neagley had an idyllic childhood full of glamorous aunts, penny candy, and cloud-watching with girlfriends. As an adult, Neagley grows more involved in conservation and fights to establish the now famous educational nonprofit for sustainable living. She marries, have children and travels the world, but never losing the memory of childhood traumas.
As an aside, I am jealous Neagley got to meet Maxfield Parish.

Line I hope Neagley keeps: “Our emotional distance is smoldering” (p 79).

Playlist: “Auld Lang Syne”, Bob Dylan, Cole Porter’s “Begin the Beguine”, “Down By the Station”, “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad”, Jean Redpath, Joan Baez, Jo Stafford, Lawrence Welk, “Look For the Silver Lining”, “Let’s Twist”, Loudon Wainright III’s “Dead Skunk in the Middle of the Road” and “I Am the Way”, Mozart, Nana Mouskouri, Nat King Cole, “On Top of Old Smoky”, Paul Winter, Phil Ochs, “Scarlett Ribbons”, “Seven Shades of Blue”, “Stardust”, “Stormy Weather” “Twelve Days of Christmas”, “Yellow Bird”, “Rock of Ages”, Tchaikovsky’s Concerto #1 and “Where is Love?”.

Author fact: Marilyn Neagley is the director of the Talk About Wellness initiative.

Book trivia: there are no photographs to grace Attic of Dreams.

Grow Your Business with ChatGPT

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Kelley, Steve. Grow Your Business with ChatGPT: The 5-Step Al Blueprint to Generate More Revenue by Automating and Optimizing Your Business Processes Using Artificial Intelligence. Kindle Edition, 2023.

Reason read: as a member of the Early Review Program for LibraryThing I am occasionally asked to review interesting books. My institution is getting into ChatGPT and so I thought I would expand my horizons a little with this review.

Confessional: I didn’t read the fine print about how this book would be delivered. Yes, I knew it was an e-book. Yes, I knew the author would send me a link. No, I didn’t know it would be an Amazon-only product (brought to you by Kindle). I don’t own a Kindle. What if I didn’t even have an Amazon account? I have to log into Amazon as if I am shopping in order to read Grow Your Business with ChatGPT. Amazon’s bots must think I’m doing a lot of browsing, but I never seem to buy anything.

Second Confessional: I don’t have a business from which to generate more revenue. I don’t have a business to automate. I don’t have a business process to optimize. I chose Grow Your Business with ChatGPT: The 5-Step Al Blueprint to Generate More Revenue by Automating and Optimizing Your Business Processes Using Artificial Intelligence because I wanted to come at it from the perspective of someone who is interested in starting a business. A business to automate and optimize and certainly from which to generate more revenue (who doesn’t want that).

I found Grow Your Business with ChatGPT to be very straightforward and dare I say, fun? Kelley writes with a conversational tone when his subject matter could be very dry and technical. Confessional Number Three: I did skip some parts, but only when he told me I could. There is a lot of sound advice and solid information in the parts I did read. In truth, I think Grow Your Business with ChatGPT is best suited for the audience Kelley intended – the folks already in business; the people wanting to stay well ahead of the curve.

Over 50 Exercises

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Keilah, Kalina. Over 5o Exercises That Support Cross Training.

I do not pretend to be an expert on fitness. I am not a certified trainer, but I work out every single day with one. I would like to think I know a thing or two about proper form, proper weight, proper number of reps, and so on. This book fell short in all of these areas.

The subtitle of this book is Revolutionary Guide to Prevent Injury. I kept looking for the evidence of revolutionary. What makes this book revolutionary? The why of it all was missing.
Here were the cons for me:
1. The information was cookie-cutter and very abbreviated.
2. The layout of information was confusing. Starts with Rotator Cuff then Abdominals. What is so important about the rotator cuff?
3. Abbreviations were not explained. What is TA, RA, EO?
4. Not a lot of information about proper form except shoulder winging. No explanation about why shoulder winging is so bad, either.
5. There was no prep on what equipment one would need: dumbbells, stability ball, cables (gym membership?), resistance bands (mini and regular), foam roller, small ball for feet.
6. There were inconsistencies with illustrations as well. Back and glute muscles are clearly defined but not abdominals.
7. Some information was repetitious (not helpful when the “book” is only 88 pages long): what is the difference between “angry cat/flat back” and “cat/cow” or the hamstring stretch on page 61 from the hamstring stretch on page 71?
8. Descriptions about how to perform exercises were lacking. How do you do 10 – 15 reps on each side of angry cat/flat back? Illustrations do not match written instructions.
9. What is a subscapularis and why should I care?
10. Someone could hurt themselves if they do not chose the proper weight or use proper form, but there is no guidance on either.

I did like the section on foam rolling, since I hate foam rolling. The Theragun saved my life.
In short, there was so much more that could have gone into this book.

My Race Against Death

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Rao, Shoba. My Race Against Death: Lessons Learned From My Health Struggles. Indie Books, 2023.

Reason read: as a member of the Early Review Program for LibraryThing I review interesting books.

Rao is fearless. Her need-to-know personality forced her to research the cause of her three different cancers and kidney failure so that she could erase the Why Me pity party from her vocabulary. She needed logic to trump random bad luck. When she found the protein called tumor protein p53 that acts as a tumor suppressor and found a software to read MRI scans, she became my hero. Her ability to stare each death sentence in the eye and not flinch was astounding. She had faith in logic, science, and technological advancements. The downside of such an analytical brain telling the story is that Rao comes across as detached, without much personality. Rao is fearless. Well, except when it comes to cats. Everything she explains is matter of fact. Memories are in fragments. The glimpses of her heart came during the advice section of her book. Her tone becomes warmer when talking about the future. [As an aside, I was reminded of Carrie in Sex and the City when she and the Russian were discussing Samantha’s cancer. Carrie was extremely upset when he compared Samantha’s situation to a friend who did not survive.]

As another aside, when I was reading the part when Rao’s doctor told her not to Google her diagnosis and she does, I was also watching an old episode of This Is Us when the doctor tells Kate’s family not to Google her diagnosis. It is human nature to peek into darkness, not matter how many monsters could potentially be hiding under the bed.

Book trivia: the illustrations are strange. The girl on the toilet is childlike compared to the portraits.

Making the Low Notes

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Harrison, Bill. Making the Low Notes: A Life in Music. Open Books, 2023.

Reason read: as a member of LibraryThing’s Early Review Program, I sometimes review interesting books. This is one of those books.

Bill Harrison always wanted to be a musical Clark Kent…but with an accordion? Nope. A double bass. Something more sexy than the accordion…but not by much. Harrison knows how to laugh at himself and make his readers feel like they are in on the joke. His conversational tone makes his memoir more of a chat over a beer in a quiet bar. You lean closer to hear the confessions of his youth; the early days trying to make his way as a professional musician. Word to the wise. Don’t fall in love with Bill Harrison. He is not here to tell you much about his personal life. A monumental life event like meeting his forever partner and getting married will make barely a footnote. His emergency hospital stay gets more page time than any other momentous occasion. He is all about the music. He admits as much from the very beginning. The most meaningful chapter in the whole book (for me) was the last chapter when Harrison drew comparisons between music and therapy.

As an aside, I always love it when a book makes me connect to my own personal life in some way. When Harrison mentioned a 1966 Ford Galaxie 500 I had to laugh. A friend of mine removed the seats from same said vehicle and used them as couches in his garage. I have a picture of this friend, well into his teens, laughing with his brother on his new “couch.” Fond memories.
And you know I had to draw a connection to Natalie Merchant. Harrison mentions a version of “But Not For Me” but I’m sure Natalie did it better.

Book trivia: the inclusion of photographs was a nice surprise for an early review.

Like any decent, self-respecting book about music, there should be a lot of name-dropping of famous musicians as well as well-known songs. Here is the playlist. First, the people:
Al Hirt, Albert Ayler, Art Ensemble of Chicago, Artie Shaw, Bach, Beatles, Beethovem, Benny Golson, Benny Goodman, Bill Evans, Black Sabbath, Blind Faith, Bobby Hutchinson, Buddy Rich, Bunky Green, Cab Calloway, Carol Kaye, Carpenters, Cecil Taylor, Charles Mingus, Charlie Haden, Charlie Parker, Chet Baker, Chick Corea, Chick Webb, Chopin, Christian McBride, Clark Terry, Cole Hawkins, Cole Porter, Count Basie, Cream, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Dave Brubeck, Dave Holland, Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington, Dvorak, Earl Hines, Ed Blackwell, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Eric Dolphy, Fletcher Henderson, Frank Zappa, Freddie Hubbard, Gary Karr, Handel, Graham Nash, Greg Osby, Glenn Miller, Henry Eccles, Herbie Hancock, Herbie Nichols, Ing Rid, Jaco Pastorius, Jack DeJohnette, James Jameson, James Moody, Jefferson Airplane, Jethro Tull, Jim Hall, Jimmy Lunceford, Joe Henderson, John Abercrombe, John Coltrane, John Lennon, Karl Berger, Kinks, Led Zeppelin, Leland Sklar, Leonard Bernstein, Lester Young, Liberace, Lionel Hampton, Louis Armstrong, Max roach, McCoy Tyner, Melissa Manchester, Miles Davis, Milford Graves, Mountain, Mozart, Ornette Coleman, Patsy Cline, Paul Chambers, Paul McCartney, Pharrell Williams, Phil Wilson, Police, Ray Brown, Ray Charles, Ringo, Rob Amster, Rolling Stones, Ron Carter, Ron Kubelik, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Sam Rivers, Santana, Sonny Rollins, Stanley Clarke, Steppenwolf, Steve Coleman, Stevie Wonder, Stewart Copeland, Swan, Talking Heads, Tchaikovsky, Thelonious Monk, Tom Fowler, Tommy Dorsey, Tony Williams, Three Dog Night, Traffic, Vince Guaraldi, Wayne Shorter, Willie Pickens, Woody Guthrie, Woody Herman Band, and I am sure I missed some people.

Now the song list: “Achey Breaky Heart”, “Bad Bad Leroy Brown”, “Beer Barrel Polka”, “Billy Boy”, “Billie’s Bounce”, “Billie Jean”, “Blue Danube Waltz”, “Brick House”, “Brown Eyed Girl”, “But Not For Me”, “Celebration”, “Chicken Dance”, “Christmas Song”, “Close to You”, “Dayenu”, “Day Tripper”, “Dick and Jane” “Do-Re-Me”, “Do What You Like”, Edelweiss, “Donna Lee”, “Ein Heldenben”, Ein Kleine Nachmusik, “Electric Slide”, “Faith of Our Fathers”, “Feelin’ Alright”, “For All We Know”, “Freebird”, “Giant Steps”, “Gimme Some Lovin'”, “Girl From Ipanema”, “Gloria’s Step”, “Good-night Ladies”, “Hang On Sloopy”, “Happy”, “Hava Nagila”, “Hello Dolly”, “Hokey Pokey”, “I Heard it Through the Grapevine”, “I Will Survive”, “In the Summertime”, “Jingle Bells”, “Joy to the World”, “Jumpin’ Jack Flash”, “Just the Two of Us”, “Just the Way You Are”, “Kind of Blue”, “La Bamba”, “Lady of Spain”, “London Bridge”, “Louie Louie”, “Manteca”, “Margaritaville”, “Marines Hymn”, “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy”, “Night in Tunisia”, “O Christmas Tree”, “O Come All Ye Faithful”, “Old MacDonald”, “Old time Rock and Roll”, “Politician”, “Popular”, “Proud Mary”, “Satin Doll”, “Saving All My Love for You”, “So What”, “Some Other Time”, “Sonata in G Minor”, “Song for the Newborn”, “Stablemates”, “Stayin’ Alive”, “String of Pearls”, “Stripper”, “Sweet Caroline”, “That’s What Friends are For”, “There Is No Greater Love”, “Time After Time”, “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”, “Twist and Shout”, “Two-Part Inventions”, “Walkin’ After Midnight”, “Wind Beneath My Wings”, “Yankee Doodle”, “You are the Sunshine of My Life”, and I am sure I missed some songs.