BOOKS

All the Sinners Bleed

S.A. Cosby

A Black sheriff in a racially divided small Southern town is having a hard enough time containing the all-we-need-is-one-spark pyrotechnic tensions. Then it emerges that a serial killer is among them. Cosby’s mastery of plot, atmosphere and escalating tension are marvelous things to behold. Take a deep breath. It’s gonna be rough before it gets better.

— Rick Koster

I'm Glad My Mom Died

Jennette McCurdy

Despite the snarky title, this memoir from former child actress McCurdy is a nuanced look at growing up under the thumb of a real stage mom. McCurdy views her mother with a sense of grace that makes this book fascinating. And the author’s wonderful comic sense finds humor in even the most fraught situations.

– Kristina Dorsey

Losing Music

John Cotter

Cotter, a Norwich native and former writer-in-residence at the James Merrill House, delivers a memoir that delivers in dazzling fashion. At the heart of the book is Cotter’s ongoing experience with a challenging illness that’s been diagnosed as Meniere’s Disease. Unfortunately, that malady loosely includes a variety of symptoms from degrees of deafness, pain, vertigo and more. Cotter, with wit, honesty and power, explores the history and treatments of Meniere’s in the context of his own experiences and observations.

— Rick Koster

Tom Lake

Ann Patchett

Patchett, who also wrote “Dutch House,” weaves essentially dual stories here, one about a family living together on their farm during the pandemic, and the other a tale the mother tells her adult daughters during that time, about her relationship with an actor who became a superstar. Patchett is such a deft writer that I found myself looking forward to the next time I could immerse myself in the “Tom Lake” worlds she created.

– Kristina Dorsey

Somebody’s Fool

Richard Russo

Following “Nobody’s Fool” and “Everybody’s Fool,” Russo sets the time period of this finale in his North Bath Trilogy a decade after the death of original protagonist Sully. That’s OK. Sully is with us in spirit and flashbacks, and a fine ensemble cast of life in the troubled, small town of Schuyler Springs in upstate New York has plenty of heart and heartbreak and humanity to spare.

— Rick Koster

My Name Is Barbra

Barbra Streisand

It might seem that 900-plus pages is too long for a memoir, but not when Streisand has this much life to cover. There’s fascinating detail about her work and her relationships.

— Kristina Dorsey

Small Mercies

Dennis Lehane

This titan of American crime fiction says “Small Mercies” is his farewell to books, that he’ll henceforth focus on television and film. That makes me sad, but by God he left us with one of the best efforts of his estimable career. A stubbornly resilient single Mom in the poor Southie neighborhood of Boston refuses to give up the search for her missing daughter. Brutal, noble and sad all at the same time.

— Rick Koster

The Devil Takes You Home

Gabino Iglesias

After the death of his daughter and afraid of losing his wife, a desperate man in Texas undertakes a longshot journey with two questionable compatriots. Their task? To rip off a cartel’s drug operation. Swirling with violence, day-glo intensity, folk religion, astonishing characters and a sparkling writerly style, “The Devil Takes You Home” belongs in its own category of amazing fiction.

— Rick Koster

Shrines of Gaiety

Kate Atkinson

This one was just fun, though, in the hands of Kate Atkinson, it was also well-written and smartly plotted. In 1926 London, a young woman looking for adventure finds herself as a spy in the midst of a criminal enterprise. The world of 1920s and its glamorous nightclubs are as much characters as any actual person.

– Kristina Dorsey

City of Dreams

Don Winslow

The second in the Danny Ryan novels — Winslow’s farewell-to-publishing trilogy — is simultaneously a righteously addictive page-devourer and a remarkable bit of literary sleight of hand. While the first book, “City on Fire,” had the gritty density of East Coast noir through the prism of Providence’s mob turf wars, “City of Dreams” finds Ryan, a basically decent low-level mobster thrown into a war of survival, on the run. He lands in Los Angeles and climbs slowly to success — and Winslow’s shift in tone, style and narrative to reflect the glitter-spangled SoCal elite is an astonishing accomplishment.

— Rick Koster

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CDs

Luminescence

Bruce Soord

Soord, the intimidatingly impressive leader of the Pineapple Thief, occasionally forays into solo material as on this breathtakingly beautiful record. The hipster world is full of folks mesmerized by “thoughtful” singer-songwriters such as Sufjan Stevens, Father John Misty and so on. No problem there. Soord’s “Luminesence” occupies similar territory — it’s just that his melodicism and lyrical focus resonate in a different and, to me, far more accomplished fashion.

— Rick Koster

The Forest Sessions

Jonathan Hultén

A curiously large number of Scandinavian metal dudes reach a certain point when volume and deviltry don’t do it anymore. Often, as with ex-Tribulation guitarist Hultén, they turn in a soft, Pagan direction and contemplate woodland deities from distant times. On “The Forest Session,” Hultén indeed sounds like he’s living in a copse of pine trees near the Arctic circle, delicately offering songs to conjure and placate the Ancient Ones.

— Rick Koster

Chemistry

Kelly Clarkson

Kelly Clarkson turned her high-profile divorce into this eloquent album. It starts with the plaintive “Skip This Part,” about wanting to fast-forward past a painful breakup. The music follows, more or less, her coming to terms with it all and finding new love (“Favorite Kind of High” is a highlight). Clarkson’s voice remains emotionally rich and viscerally powerful; she’s one of the best in the business.

– Kristina Dorsey

The Harmony Codex

Steven Wilson

If Beethoven grew up on Abba, David Bowie and King Crimson, and lived in our present time when the technological landscape has transformed music, he’d say, “Man, I wish I was Steven Wilson!” Why would he do that? Take a listen to “The Harmony Codex.” It’s an ambitious, diverse but somehow sonically connective set of masterful songs that enchant as well as point out the possibilities of modern music — when most artists and producers are using the same tools to go simplistically and depressingly formulaic.

— Rick Koster

Weathervanes

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit

Is this man the best lyricist in rock/Americana today? Probably. Jeez, he’s a substantially empathetic storyteller. As per “Weathervanes,” he (and his badass band) continue to raise the bar on the musical side of the songs in a fashion that’s as good as it gets.

— Rick Koster

The Quiet Rebellion of Compromise

Oak

Knowing a conceptual work based around suicide and mental health would possibly attract disapproval, the Norwegian art/pop band Oak did a substantial amount of genuine research and consultation with professionals in the field before they wrote and recorded. This album is thoughtful, poignant, sad, beautiful, hymn-like and respectful. Can a listener walk away thinking it’s too morbid? Possibly. But to me it’s a remarkably ambitious and rewarding album.

— Rick Koster