Book Review

The Cambridge Companion to Bach
edited by John Butt

This volume of essays did a good job of covering the immense subject of J. S. Bach, his music, and its importance in Western classical music. Given the vastness of the subject, I very much appreciated that the introduction laid out the context and aims of the volume, since there was no way it could be comprehensive. I especially enjoyed the essays that strove to give a sense of how Bach and his work was situated in the musical world of the 17th and 18th centuries.The discussions of Bach as a teacher were also really interesting.

Book Review

A Conspiracy of Truths
by Alexandra Rowland

This fantasy novel is told from the perspective of an old Chant, a wandering storyteller. During he and his apprentice Ylfing's sojourn in the northern (and Slavic-flavored) country of Nuryevet, Chant is falsely accused of witchcraft and then espionage, thrown in prison, and sentenced to death. Having no desire to come to such an end for things he did not do, Chant uses stories to manipulate his jailers, lawyer, and even the rulers of Nuryevet in order to take down their regime and free himself.
This was an ingenious "stories within a story" novel. Following what Chant was doing and how it worked was very enjoyable. Plus, the characters were amazing. Chant is a cantankerous old man, not always likeable, but I kind of loved him. He was grumpy and often self-serving, but he was also canny and perceptive. Ylfing was really sweet and adorable as teenage boys can sometimes be. I even liked the lawyer Consanza, who was very open about being out for herself and her family most of the time, but she was also very capable and good at working a situation. A Conspiracy of Truths is a really masterful examination of the power of stories and storytelling, which, as an avid reader, I was deeply into.