Their name is a palindrome.  Their outfits are (hopefully) not in danger of making a comeback.  And their hair looks like it came from a Prell commercial. None of this makes you think of a 2-CD set with "definitive" in its title.

But with the movie Mamma Mia out in theaters, I’ve got Abba on the mind and feel it’s finally safe to say how much I love their music. I mean LOVE!! For years Abba has been the kind of group most people admit to liking with some trepidition or apology for their musical tastes.

I think it was when I saw Muriel’s Wedding that I realized there is an underlying sadness to Abba’s music, an incredible sound that Generation X takes for granted and music snobs dismiss as "disco". So many of us probably have personal memories of Dancing Queen and the first time we heard it, but if you’ve seen the incredibly funny and sad Muriel’s Wedding (a movie worthy of its own blog entry), it’s forever changed the way you listen to Abba.

Dancing Queen itself has tinges of despair and desperation. Yes, it’s a feel-good song at Karaoke and retro dance clubs (just look at how many people hit the floor when the song plays), but there’s an urgency to it, a self-conviction that everything (EVERYTHING!) will be all right at night when it’s time to go out on the town in search of love and attention. Even so, there’s no escaping that first familiar note and the way it sweeps in over you…pure pop magic decades later.

Money, Money, Money offers up a very cynical approach to romance, far from the sweetness of the love songs you’ll find in 70s hits. The vulgar honesty of the track is saved by infectious beats and that distinctive Abba harmony. It’s so appropriate that the Broadway musical (and movie) take their name from the happiest of Abba hits, Mamma Mia. This song is pure joy and hard to resist. Fernando (a song I haven’t heard in years until recently), is so sweet and beautiful it almost hurts, hardly the stuff of elevator music. And Waterloo just makes me break out into huge smiles, maybe because it reminds me of goofy moments from my childhood. It’s as happy and carefree as Mamma Mia. The Name of the Game marries lovely harmony with heartbreaking plea and vulnerability, while Take a Chance on Me is all about the plug and is full of confidence and you-won’t-be-sorries.

Thanks to the Broadway musical and the reissues of older Abba albums, there’s never been a better time to give Abba another listen. And if you’ve heard all the hits and think you know every Abba song,  why not check out Arrival (Abba’s fourth album) and a recent addition to the Library)?  I thought I’d heard every Abba tune, but there are several tracks on here you may not recognize that certainly deserve a listen. Tiger shows the darker, aggressive side of Abba while Why Did It Have to Be Me? is a cute, disco-meets-country type affair which you might not want to end up liking, but do anyway.

Angie Engles – Savage Branch

As I was browsing recenty, I discovered Winchell, a DVD about the life of the late gossip columnist, Walter Winchell.  “Good evening Mr. and Mrs. America” was a catch phrase of Winchell’s—sound familiar, even if his radio shows were before your time?

This production by HBO Pictures suggests that Walter Winchell sought to connect with the people on the street, as he began his climb from a columnist at the Daily Mirror to instant recognition via his radio broadcasts with the signature opening referring to “Mr. and Mrs. America” and the sound of a Morse code machine in the background. What a PR genius he was to craft a greeting that “grabbed” the attention of his vast audience and held it for decades. Using a writing style full of jargon, Winchell became as much of a celebrity as those he chronicled, using payments for tips and at times being roughed up by minions of the powerful, who were the subject of his columns.

This biopic presents a complete picture of Winchell’s colorful life — from his hardscrabble childhood to his fast-talking efforts to scoop others with celebrity gossip, as well as his use of a ghost writer with academic credentials that he, Winchell, could never claim.

If you want a nostalgic look at the decades of the 1930s to the 1960s with accurate settings, period details, and great acting by Golden Globe winner Stanley Tucci in the lead, look for Winchell in the DVD collection.

Jean Salkeld – Administration Office

I still remember the first time I heard singer Joni Mitchell’s distinctive voice. My friend and I were exploring the West Coast and we drifted to a small farmhouse in rural California. As we sat down to a homegrown meal, Mitchell’s Blue album played softly in the background. I felt an immediate kinship with both the intense emotion in her music and her unique confessional lyrics. Mitchell was to become my high priestess as I navigated the bumpy course through my college years, early adult life…and beyond.

I read a review of Girls like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon- and the Journey of a Generation and immediately placed a reserve on the title. Finally getting my hands on the tome, I remained riveted through each and every one of the author’s 527 pages, all the while willing the book not to end. Sheila Weller presents an exhaustively researched account of the lives of three high profile singer/songwriters. She creates an equally fascinating portrait of their impact on a generation which spawned the counterculture movement and gave feminism a much needed boost.

In addition to the historical significance of the era, the book is brimming with intimate life details. Read all about the women’s relationships with Gerry Goffin, Jackson Browne, Graham Nash, Mick Jagger, James Taylor (with King, Mitchell, AND Simon) – to name just a few of the glitterati. And, finally, if you’re still puzzling over the subject of Carly Simon’s "You’re So Vain", check out Girls Like Us for the definitive answer!

Fritzi Newton – Miller Branch

I always look forward to spending some time with Jack Reacher. Life around this guy is pretty darn exciting, and downright dangerous.

Reacher, a former military policeman with the rank of Major, mustered out of the service after only thirteen years. When asked why, he said, "Just lost interest, I guess. The defense cuts were happening. Made the Army seem unnecessary, somehow. Like if they didn’t need the biggest and the best, they didn’t need me. Didn’t want to be part of something small and second rate. So I left. Arrogant or what?" He now drifts about, setting wrongs right. Although he never looks for trouble, it inevitably finds him. He carries a folding toothbrush, a passport, an ATM card, and the clothes on his back.

Jack Reacher is the creation of author Lee Child. Readers frequently ask if they should read his books in order. Child says you may start the series with any of the titles. However, I say to read them in the order that they were written, starting with The Killing Floor.

The Enemy, which is the prequel to the Reacher mysteries and the winner of the 2005 Nero Award for literary excellence in the mystery genre, takes place in the 1990s and is Child’s eighth book in the series. The Cold War is coming to an end and Reacher is the Military Police duty officer when a call comes in reporting a dead soldier. Not any dead soldier, but a two-star general in a flea-bag motel who was also supposed to be in Europe. Missing from the general’s effects is a briefcase that contained an agenda for a secret meeting of army honchos connected to an armored division. Then the general’s wife is found bludgeoned to death at her home.

I hope you will become as much of a fan of this series as I am.

Eve Olsen – Central Library

In 1924, the dispassionate savaging of Jews in Turov, Russia, is like a prelude to the Holocaust. Lillian Leyb, at twenty-two, is a victim of such a ruthless pogrom, and although she heeds her Aunt Miriam’s advice to flee to America, she takes, as most immigrants did, very little in the way of belongings, save the memory of her family’s slaughter. The other memory she takes is the last kiss she gives her little daughter, Sophie, before tossing her out a window to escape the carnage.

Lillian finds her way, as many did, to the Land of Opportunity on the Lower East Side.

Resilient, smart and instinctive, she soon realizes that her best friends in America are her Webster’s Dictionary and Roget’s Thesaurus. With them in hand, and a deep reserve of good humor, she learns quickly that staying a ‘greenie’ is not unlike being a victim – and Lillian will never be a victim again. But when she discovers that her beloved Sophie may still be alive and living in Siberia, she makes a decision that will take her on an impossible overland journey to find the child of her heart.

“Are you doing this because she belongs to you?” asks her friend, Yaakov.

“No,” answers Lillian. “It is because I belong to her.”

Author and psychotherapist Amy Bloom has her ear tuned, not only to the human condition, but to our past. Greed, longing, fear and love are dazzlingly personified through a crazy quilt of characters that range from a gay Yiddish actor to a Chinese con artist – all necessary participants in Lillian’s journey to become part of the American spirit. Breathless and beautiful, this novel will truly sweep you Away.

Aimee Zuccarini – East Columbia Branch

I have a confession to make – I’m not a Beatles fan. So why on earth would I listen to a soundtrack from the movie Across the Universe?

When the movie was released I saw ads that piqued my curiosity, but not enough to pay close to $10 to see it in the theater. But once the library bought the DVD, I thought I’d give it a try. While watching the movie I enjoyed the cast’s and producer’s versions of classic Beatles songs.

For those Beatles fans who are purists, I say give it a try for one or more of the following reasons:

• Talented folks such as Julie Taymor (also the director of the movie), Jimmy Iovine, and T. Bone Burnett as executive producers .
• Cast of amazing, but not necessarily well-known singers. Dana Fuchs, in particular, stands out as a modern-day Janis Joplin.
• Cameo performances by Joe Cocker, Bono, and Eddie Izzard (better known for his standup comedy or his role on the TV show The Riches).
• Range of Beatles tunes selected.

I now find myself humming Beatles tunes after watching the DVD or listening to the soundtrack. Beatles purist or not, this soundtrack should appeal to all.

Beth Tribe – Central Library

Is it snake oil or bona fide advice? This is a question that runs through my mind every time I pick up a self-help book. I don’t want to waste time reading a book that, in the end, will have little or no impact on my life.

I found The Key by Joe Vitale both interesting and helpful. Its utility for you depends on whether you find books about the law of attraction useful, or even believable. If you are at all familiar with The Secret and found it relevant, you will probably like the message of The Key: The Missing Secret for Attracting Anything You Want. The author, Joe Vitale – also one of the contributors to The Secret - details ways to attract the things you really want from life. Better still, the book provides indispensable techniques for making "attraction" work in your life.

The Key is unlike The Secret in that it adds or fleshes out important details for making this technique, termed "clearing", work. Your reading of The Key will lead you to at least fifteen exercises that illuminate the "clearing" technique. Demonstrated examples make it real and credible.

I am back to my initial question about such books. I have to say I learned a lot more about the law of attraction and now have a better idea about what the "Secret" really is. Was it worthwhile for me? Yes, as I at least gained a greater understanding. For you? Read it and let me know what you think.

Herb Malveaux – East Columbia Branch

Mark R. Millikin, author of The Glory of the 1966 Orioles and Baltimore, recreates the excitement and drama of Baltimore’s first World Series championship. He recounts fan memories, Frank Robinson’s signing, and news from local sports commentators of the era. Reading this engaging account brought back memories of attending ball games with my family at the “old” Memorial Stadium in Baltimore.

Elaine Johnson – Central Library

I became aware of author Jasper Fforde through a friend who had been reading The Eyre Affair. I picked it up when I had nothing on my reading list, and have adored Jasper Fforde ever since. The Eyre Affair introduces us to Thursday Next and an alternative world set in England in 1985. The Goliath Corporation rules most things and books are as big and entertaining as sports. Thursday is a book detective, protecting original manuscripts from those who would change them. I enjoyed this book because of the way in which it stresses the importance of  books and their entertainment value. It was also an exciting read, with lots of little inside jokes about classic books.

Lost In a Good Book, number two in the series, features more of Thursday’s time-jumping father, and her brilliant but eccentric inventor uncle, Mycroft. Thursday must save her husband from being erased from time and memory lest she lose him forever. She learns how to travel into the books themselves, which made my heart just ache with the desire for that to occur in real life. Thursday encounters all sorts of fictional characters who may or may not behave as they do in the books from which they come.

In the third installment, The Well of Lost Plots, Thursday temporarily lives as a character in a never-published book inside this selfsame "well" in order to escape the Goliath corporation. She must stop a fictional character who has entered her reality from releasing UltraWord, a sort of "upgraded" book. The sly humor continues as Fforde elbow-nudges us with crafty book references. Something Rotten and First Among Sequels comprise books four and five in the series.

Jasper Fforde is a great author for bookworms and for those who love good humor in their books. I do recommend that you read his books in the order they were published, because Fforde references previous books and even uses characters from the Thursday Next series in his spin-off series, Nursery Crime. These books are for anyone who has ever wanted to walk around inside their favorite book.

Jennifer Johnson – Glenwood Branch 

The semi-autobiographical work of the peerless Cameron Crowe, Almost Famous, is the story of William Miller, high-schooler and rock journalist. Miller’s local articles for Creem magazine, written under the tutelage of Rock n’ Roll journalist Lester Bangs, bring him to the attention of Ben Fong-torres of Rolling Stone magazine.

Assigned to review a Black Sabbath concert for Bangs, the childlike Miller (whose well-intentioned but clueless mother screams “Don’t take drugs” as he walks across the crowded parking lot to the venue) can’t even get into the gig until he earnestly confronts support band Stillwater and provides a comprehensive and passionate critique of their latest album. Convinced by his enthusiasm, Stillwater lets Miller cross the threshold backstage and allows him into their rock n’ roll universe. Fifteen-year-old Miller is down the rabbit hole before he knows it, and when Ben Fong-Torres calls to commission an article for Rolling Stone, the transition from writing concert reviews to total-immersion journalism is complete: Miller sets out on the 1973 Stillwater tour.

Almost Famous boasts a great cast. Jason Lee, pre-Earl, is Stillwater’s charismatic frontman, Jeff Beebe. Phillip Seymour Hoffman is outstanding as Miller’s rock n’ roll loving journalistic mentor, Lester Bangs. Frances McDormand is Miller’s psychology professor mother, and Billy Crudup is Stillwater’s lead guitarist, Russell Hammond. The dynamic between these two characters is central to the movie, as William’s mother is the only person for whom Hammond’s rock star status is not an issue, and who can challenge Hammond to behave responsibly.

Kate Hudson gives an unforgettable and career-making performance as Penny Lane, a “band aid” who tours with the group. Miller is understandably smitten with Lane, and the developing relationship between them is one of the central threads of the movie, as events force both characters to confront the reality of their circumstances.

There’s music, too. This is, after all, a movie about Rock n’ Roll. Almost Famous has a spectacular soundtrack of both contemporary and original songs. The movie also contains one of the greatest musical scenes ever captured on film, as the characters wordlessly reconnect with one another on their tour bus through the shared experience of music, in this case Elton John’s "Tiny Dancer."

This is a total-immersion movie that you’ll enjoy watching again and again. Check out Almost Famous today!

John Jewitt – Savage Branch