There is a huge music festival occurring in town this weekend. Forecastle, now in its 11th year, draws some 30,000 music fans to my fair city. The line up for the three-day event, held at the park by the river, includes over 50 bands that have some really funny names.
I will not be attending. The idea of being jostled by 30,000 people is not my idea of a good time, plus, my music listening hasn't moved much past The Beatles.
Anyway, as the city will be alive with guitars and drummers and singers and listeners, it got me to thinking about books with a musical theme.
I have read La's Orchestra Saves the World, a sweet little book written by Alexander McCall Smith. And I also enjoyed The Piano Shop on the Left Bank by Thad Carhart because, really, any book that takes place in Paris is fine by me.
One that has been on my TBR list for quite a while is Ann Patchett's Bel Canto, about an opera singer who is among a group of people held hostage in an embassy in South America.
Another one to read might be Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres. That story takes place in Italy during WWII and may be a little too intense. A better one perhaps would be to re-read The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather. Or try Amadeus by Peter Shaffer.
Well, it looks like a trip to the library today is in order. I wonder what traffic will be like.
