now reading...

A cookbook, a novel that considers, among other things, the weight of choices in our daily lives, a book about Texas and one about Irish musicians: these are four of the books I'm reading this week. How about you? What are you reading, and why?

The book about Texas is Pat Green's Dance Halls and Dreamers. It's a big coffee table book, and I've been given it to review for a print publication. Country singer Pat Green, storyteller Luke Glliam, and photographer Guy Rogers III look at what life in Texas dances hall is like, in front of a behind the scenes. I've been to some of these places, spoken with some of the people they talk with myself, and so far, they are doing a good job of getting the idea in to print and image. Just one thing though: I've been there when a number of women musicians kept the music going at Texas dance halls, Tish Hinojosa, Kelly Willis, Rosie Flores, Elana James to name just a few -- it's maybe a different skew on things, but one that could have, maybe should have, been included. We'll see, as the book unfolds.

Why am I reading something called the New England Soup Factory Cookbook in the height, and heat, of summer? I read cookbooks for ideas, inspiration, and to see how the cook thinks, rather than to find specific recipes. Hit the jackpot here, as chef Marjorie Drucker, storyteller Clara Silverstein, and photographer Ron Manville get together to share Drucker's recipes and stories. Small drawback: Drucker uses a lot of cream in her soups, something I think I'll be finding substitutes for -- I am just not a cream soup fan, for reasons of both taste and health. Whatever her ingredients, though, the comments and stories are engaging and give great insight into the creative process of thinking about food and cooking. Besides -- Cranberry Pumpkin Soup? How good does that sound? There's also section about sandwiches and other things to go along with soup. I've just gotten to that and it looks intriguing so far too.

Those to are first time reads. I'm re reading Nora Roberts novel Heaven and Earth. It's the second book in a trilogy about three women living on an island off the coast of Maine. the men in their lives, and how each of them deals with their individual demons, physical and spiritual. Roberts is a master of story and character, no doubt. Though I recognize that, not all her stories interest me. This one, about island deputy Ripley Todd and how she comes to terms with justice and her own temper and vulnerability on several levels, is one that I occasionally return to. It's intriguing to see how the lives of the three women intertwine and unfold over the course of three books. One thing that makes Roberts such a great storyteller is that she sets her main characters amidst equally strong primary characters -- the women and the men in their lives, in this case -- and secondary and even peripheral characters who are just as well realized. They make up a town you could easily believe exists off the coast of Maine, and Roberts takes care to make the physical setting real and unique too, another aspect she often addresses in her books.

Celtic Women in Music is another book I am revisiting. It's a series of interviews conducted by musician Maireid Sullivan and written up question and answer style. It was published about ten years ago. I know some of these women well and have interviewed others, and some I've crossed paths with since the book came out and some, like Sullivan, I've yet to meet. Though it''s necessarily a bit dated it's also filled with good answers, reflections on music, good questions, and background on how a range of top Celtic musicians chose their paths in music and how they are working them out. More than two dozen women are interviewed, among them Dolores Keane, Sheila Chandra, Natalie MacMaster, Karen Matheson, Cathie Ryan, and Loreena McKennitt.

That's part of my reading list this week. What's on yours?

You'll find music content from many genres and plenty of other music fans at Gather Essentials: Music. For Kerry Dexter's Voices columns, look here. It's published on Thursdays.

Kerry Dexter, Music Correspondent Kerry's credits include VH1, CMT, the folk music magazine Dirty Linen, Strings, The Encyclopedia of Ireland and the Americas, and The MusicHound Guides. She also writes about the arts and creative practice at Music Road and contributes to Fred Bals' Series of Tubes.