Smoke This (+ Book) - Ian Gillan

Advantages: Jeff Healey (RIP) and Jon Lord
Disadvantages: Steve Morse, et al. See above.

...First of all, what is 'dual disc'? Well its a double-sided disc with a CD on one side and a DVD on the other. Neat. Except some players cannot play it. Its slightly thicker than either a standard DVD or CD so if you have slot-in loading system rather than the more traditional slide-out tray you could be out of luck trying to play a dual disc. Be careful. OK. Gillan's Inn. Well, I saw Gillan at a very small venue (Healey's in Toronto) while he was recording this album. We were about 6 feet from the stage and he was nothing short of exceptional. His voice range and power undiminshed by the ravages of time so I had high hopes for this album. The album is basically a collection of Ian's favourite songs from down the years re-recorded with some of his mates. (I'm not going to put a track list/personel list up - its on Amazon etc... Read review

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Advantages: Wonderful characters and fantastic prose
Disadvantages: 336 pages just isn't enough

...Having undergone the abject horror that was 'The Death List' for the sake of all you good folk I was in need of some picking up and so turned to a mysterious little number I found nestled away in a dark corner of the library called 'The Case of the Missing Books' by Ian Sansom. Here was an author I had never heard of and a book which, apparently, is the first in a series of stories regarding 'The Mobile Library' - hardly a title to instill hope and excitement into most people but I'm nothing if not valiant and so left the place with it neatly tucked under my arm. Israel Joseph Armstrong is a short, chubby, vegetarian Jew who until recently has worked in a bookstore in the Lakeside Shopping Centre in Thurrock (just off the M25) and has arrived in Tumdrum, Northern Ireland, to take up the post of town librarian. Or 'Outreach Support... Read review

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Advantages: Another great story involving a hotel fire and an unidentified body.
Disadvantages: May have to read the previous books to get a good feel for the characters.

... The Inspector Rebus series The Black Book is the 5th book in the Inspector Rebus series written by Ian Rankin and it lives up to the quality we expect from the books in this series. I have been slowly making my way through the Inspector Rebus series in order, and I am thoroughly enjoying each book. Ian Rankin's first Rebus novel, Knots & Crosses, was first published in 1987 and the Rebus books are now translated into several languages and have grew in popularity in the states. The series in set in Edinburgh, where Rankin lives, and he always manages to bring the city to life in his books, this one being no exception, and showing the reader the darker sides to the city that the tourists never see. The Plot In The Black Book a close friend and colleague of Rebus has been brutally attacked which is when Rebus discovers... Read review

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