Daughter+of+vanth

Calling the ten tunes of Dawnbreaker breakup songs is to hamstring them with elegiac expectations, to paint them as sad-eyed surrenders to loss and grief. Even amid the throes of a life convulsion, there is a wisp of hope and possiblity. The songs range in style from a hushed number that explores the turmoil of being unable to reciprocate the feelings of a wild and shy, tall and fine man to another that is a blossoming country shuffle.

Grace Kennan Warnecke's memoir is about a life lived on the edge of history. Daughter of one of the most influential diplomats of the twentieth century, wife of the scion of a newspaper dynasty and mother of the youngest owner of a major league baseball team, Grace eventually found her way out from under the shadows of others to forge a dynamic career of her own.

There is something special about watching and listening to a band grow before your eyes and ears. Echotest is growing by leaps and bounds. What started out as a seemingly simple project fronted by bassists Julie Slick (whom I’ve admired for quite some time) and Marco Machera — who met at a summer music camp — has developed into a highly sophisticated, deeply experimental, chops-laden and fully progressive rock band. EchoTest started out as an instrumental progressive duo with a rotating cadre of guest musicians. They are now a full-fledged band, having added a drummer and vocalist. Because of this, they have developed a sound all their own, enabling them to take their music to new levels.

This account of growing up with a mentally ill mother “belongs on a shelf of classic memoirs, alongside The Liars’ Club and Angela’s Ashes” (Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times).

Combining the by-the-bootstraps work ethic of Nikki Haley's Can't Is Not an Option with the military pluck of MJ Heger's Shoot Like a Girl, Joni Ernst's candid memoir details the rise of one of the most inspiring and authentic women in the United States Senate.