Book Reviews

When I first heard “Love Spreads” by The Stone Roses in 1995 or so, I was in love, smitten by the song’s supreme icy cool confidence. Turns out, even though The Stone Roses seem like grunge afterthoughts here in America, they are big celebrities in England, on par with say, The Beatles. After a 15-year internal feud following the group’s breakup in 1996, the band finally played a series of reunion shows across the globe in 2012 and co-headlined Coachella last year with Blur. This well-documented book, based on interviews with over 80 people close to the band, tells the story of The Stone Roses’ beginnings and their rowdy rise to fame and influence as the leaders of the “Madchester” movement, a powerful, semi-hippie movement characterized by the movie 24 Hour Party People. The book is also a story of the band’s exploitation by managers and big labels, disappointment, legal battles and arduous stagnation. It also covers, unflinchingly, the band’s stubbornness and arrogance: The arrogance was endearing, but the stubbornness made me want to scream. However, that stubbornness translated into fierce artistic integrity and, post-breakup, helped them resist defeat and go ahead to pursue their individual dreams. The book ends on a high note—I guess you could say it all came up roses for The Stone Roses in the end. –Rebecca Vernon

Vivatera is a good-versus-evil fantasy adventure about a young woman’s discovery of herself, her family and the powerful magic within them. Shades, shape-shifters and other dark magical beings try to eliminate them in order to control the source of their magic—their power stones (or Vivatera). The challenging emotional and physical trials they face just to stay alive had me on edge. I did not want to put this book down and when I had to, my mind often went back to their adventures. It is a mixture of Eragon (minus the dragons) and The Lord Of the Rings. This book allows your mind to escape into a world of familiars, dwarves and elemental magic. This local artist’s stimulating, descriptive writing pulls you in to where you can almost smell and feel what is happening to the characters. –Mistress Nancy