Tony Ashton died of cancer in June of 2001. His soulful voice is not unlike Procol Harum's Gary Brooker. In the Seventies he made two great LPs with a band called "Ashton, Gardner & Dyke" which funky, syncopated sound remembers Little Feat. Ashton, Gardner & Dyke (despite their name they are not a trio) toured with Blind Faith. This Best Of weeds out the weaker tunes from their Seventies albums and includes plenty of alternate takes, unreleased tracks, and a couple of live cuts.

Arthur Alexander was a "Soldier of Soul" who lingered in obscurity until his untimely passing. Both The Beatles and The Rolling Stones covered his songs ("Anna" - The Beatles - and "You Better Move On" - The Stones - are probably his best known). Greatest is an essential collection; not only for fans of countrified soul music.  

            MARTIN AMIS: London Fields

             PAUL AUSTER: Leviathan  

Revenge of The Nerd! Armadillo is hilarious and thought provoking. Boyd brings the reader so close to Lorimar Black, his main character, were it not for for his previous works you would scarcely believe the novel is not significantly autobiographical.

             Anthem by Ayn Rand

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Music books

All You Need Is Love : ...and 99 Other Life Lessons from Classic Rock Songs Pete Fornatale, et al

 

A Dreamer of Pictures: Neil Young, the Man and His Music

           Caroline Alexander -Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition

           The American Century by Harold Evans, et al.

          Al Gore: A User's Manual   by Alexander Cockburn, et al.

Donald E. Westlake, named Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America, has written everything from comic capers (the Dortmunder series) to the darker adventures of ace criminal Parker during his long career. But he's never come up with anything scarier or more timely than this story about a downsized executive who decides to kill off the competition. Burke Devore could be your neighbor: a laid-off paper company manager watching his life and family fall apart as he tries desperately to get a job. The plan he finally comes up with involves murdering seven men very much like himself, and Westlake's most impressive achievement is to make the serial killings understandable if in no way justified.

          Donald E. Westlake - Adios, Sheherazade

        Afterburn by Colin Harrison

Along with the return of Lyra, Will, Mrs. Coulter, Lord Asriel, Dr. Mary Malone, and Iorek Byrnison the armored bear (Dark Materials No 1 and No 2), come a host of new characters: the Mulefa, mysterious wheeled creatures with the power to see Dust; Gallivespian Lord Roke, a hand-high spymaster to Lord Asriel; and Metatron.