Kim's Picks
River Falls Public Library

• Books
     Classics - Modern - Nonfiction

• Movies
     Modern Comedy - Modern Drama - Classics
     Documentaries - Foreign - Directors

• Music
     Modern Pop/Rock - Modern Folk/Country
     Older Pop/Rock - Older Folk/Country - Jazz

• Websites
     Useful - A complete waste of time - Home brewed

Books

Classics

1. The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - a study of the human soul

2. War and peace by Leo Tolstoy - an epic of the Napoleonic invasion of Russia which explores the boundaries of humanity's experience

3. The possessed by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - anarchy, nihilism, and atheism, what more could you want?

4. Moby Dick by Herman Melville - humanity's relentless, yet futile battle against nature

5. Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu - an ancient life philosophy, even more valid today

Modern

1. The town and the city by Jack Kerouac - Keroac's first novel, the least appreciated great American novel

2. Shilo and other stories by Bobby Ann Mason - short portraits of the real modern American life

3. The yellow arrow by Victor Pelevin - a modern parable, stuck riding on a train that never stops, heading for a broken bridge

4. White noise by Don Delillo - captures the neurosis of modern life

5. Cowboys are my weakness by Pam Houston - tales women who fall for the wrong man but the right adventure

Nonfiction

1. Winterdance: the fine madness of running the Iditarod by Gary Paulson - the story of Paulson, a new comer to the sport of dogsledding,  training and running this great Alaskan race with both hilarious and breathtaking accounts of his adventure

2. Beer in America: the early years, 1587-1840, beer's role in the settling in America and the birth of a nation by Gregg Smith - in the settling of America, beer was safer than water and every town had at least one brewery. perhaps America could not have survived its early history with out our favorite malt beverage

3. Beer blast: the inside story of the brewing industry's bizarre battles for your money by Philip Van Munching - an intriguing tale of beer industry in the last half of the 20th century from an insider of the business

4. Smoke and mirrors: the war on drugs and the politics of failure by Dan Baum - details the costly, both in fiscal and human terms, of the failed war on drugs, an eye opener that documents the futile drug policy of every administration since Nixon

5. The New Complete Joy of Home Brewing by Charlie Papazian - the best guide for those new to the art of home brewing, also handy information for those more skilled

Movies

Modern Comedy

1. Party Girl - slacker party girl becomes a librarian

2. High Fidelity - this is what happens to those hipster guys working at the record store

3. Flash Gordon - a great, cheezy adaptation of the comic book hero with a soundtrack by Queen

4. Slackers - follows the loosely, connected lives of folks hanging out in a college town

5. Dazed and Confused - for all of us children of the 80s who wish we were born just a few years earlier

Modern Drama

1. The Red Violin - follows the fate of a 17th century violin from its tragic birth to the modern day 

2. In Country - based on the Bobbie Ann Mason novel, the story of a Vietnam Vet and his niece who lost her father in the same war, with a great performance by Bruce Willis and Emily Lloyd

3. Short Cuts - Robert Altman's collage of life in 1990's Los Angeles

4. Galipolli - set during WWI, the story follows two young Australians and captures the futility of war

5. Eyes Wide Shut - Kubrick's final film, based on a Arthur Schnitzler novella titled Traumnovelle (or "Dream Story", a wonderful tale of jealousy and danger

Classics

1. Citizen Kane - an obvious #1 but still the best of the oldies

2. North by northwest - a suspenseful tale of mystery and Cold War espionage

3. Key Largo - film noir at its best

4. Arsenic and old lace - the funniest of old movies

5. The sound of music - who can resist the story and music?

Documentaries

1. Nova: Alaskan Huskies - if you love huskies, you'll love this movie

2. High lonesome - documents the development of blue grass music around the life and career of Bill Monroe, much of the music and footage is for the U of NC Southern Culture Library, the best music documentary I've ever watched

3. Crumb - a biography about the life of cartoonist Robert Crumb, explores his bizarre yet accurate portrayal of modern life

4. Degenerate art - during the Nazi reign in Germany, modern art was displayed as "degenerate" and many artists either left Germany or were persecuted, this film illuminates the failed art of Hitler and the subsequent fate of modern art and artists during Nazi rule

5. Merchants of cool - a PBS Frontine special that explores the symbiotic relationship between marketing and pop culture

Foreign Films

1. Babette's Feast - a moral tale of sharing, sacrifice and friendship set against the beautiful backdrop of fine French cuisine

2. Camille Claudel - the tragic tale of artist Camille Claudel and her affair with Auguste Rodin

3. The Emigrants and the New land - a realist portrayal of the Swedish emigrant experience to Minnesota

4. Kahlo - based on the life of artist Freida Kahlo,  her life with Diego Rivera, and the politics of revolution

5. Red, White, Blue trilogy - three films surprisingly interviewed, save Red for last

Film Directors

1. Alfred Hitchcock

2. Coen brothers

3. Martin Scorsese

4. Orson Welles

5. Stanley Kubrick

Music

Newer Pop/Rock Music

1. Substance - New Order - I've been listening to this as a favorite since it's release in 1987, the best of this band's techno beat

2.  Substance - Joy Division - the best of the band that later became New Order after the suicide of lead signer Ian Curtis, a darker, pre-techno spin on the last 70s

3. To bring you my love - JP Harvey - a primal, haunting soul scorcher

4. I could live in hope - Low - minimal, quiet, thoughtful and seductive,  the Duluth, MN trio debut album

5. Cure for pain - Morphine - film noir as a three piece jazz combo

Modern Folk/Country Music

1. Revival - Gillian Welch - Welch, a singer/songwiter, along with sidekick David rawlings, debut on this fantastic modern ode to old time country

2. Car wheels on a gravel road - Lucinda Williams - the biggest commercial hit by a longtime country alternative, not a bad cut on the album

3. Whites off earth now - Cowboy Junkies - a debut album Canadian Cowboy Junkies featuring remakes of old folk and blues tunes, very much inspired by Bruce Spingsteens' Nebraska, lots of bass and feedback

4. O Brother, Where Art Thou soundtrack - featuring Norman Blake, Emmy Lou Harris, Gillian Welch, John Hartford, Ralph Stanley and others, is the music that inspired the movie, and perhaps finally some good country/old time music will finally get some air time

5. Violent Femmes - Violent Femmes - Wisconsin's own folk punk sensation's debut album

Older Pop/Rock Music

1. Anything by Janis Joplin - queen of 1960s of rock and roll blues

2. Anything by Gram Parsons - the wayward son of country rock

Older Folk/Country Music

1. Anything by Johnny Cash- the voice of the last half of 20th century America

2. Anything by the Carter Family - the roots of country

3. Anything by Ralph Stanley - ancient, timeless old-time music

4. Anything by Hank Williams - the father of country

5. Anything by Bill Monroe - the father of bluegrass

Jazz

1. Anything by Charles Mingus - moody, bass player

2. Anything by Theloneous Monk - revolutionized the piano

3. Anything by Django Reinhardt - gypsy jazz guitar

4. Anything by the Squirrel Nut Zippers - a modern,  jazz sensation from North Carolia

5. Anything by Billy Holiday - the sweet voice of the queen of jazz

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