"Little Green" (Doubleday), by Walter Mosley   From the moment he first appeared in "Devil in a Blue Dress" in 1990, Easy Rawlins, was an instant favorite of discerning...

Natalie Maines, "Mother" (Columbia)   Natalie Maines' first solo album continues her movement into a deeply considered, provocative form of polished adult rock heard on her...

Palma Violets, "180" (Rough Trade)   There were lots of whispers and mumbles about Palma Violets before the release of its debut album '180' in home country Great Britain,...

Here are some bare details of the author’s life. 1935: born in Algiers. 1962: along with thousands of panic-stricken Europeans, fled Algiers to seek refuge in Marseilles. Lives today in southern...

At first hand, this slim lightweight booklet about the national anthem looks like an essay turned into a booklet, a slight excursus such as one would expect at university level.   Instead,...

LL Cool J, "Authentic" (429 Records)   LL Cool J knows how to play well with others.   On his 13th studio album, "Authentic," he delivers an eclectic mix of...

"Star Trek Into Darkness" is like fan-boy fiction on a $185 million budget. It's reverential, it's faithful, it's steeped in "Trek" mythology.   It's also...

"Seduction: a Novel of Suspense" (Atria Books), by M.J. Rose   "Seduction," M.J. Rose's follow-up to her acclaimed "The Book of Lost Fragrances," seduces...

Iron & Wine, "Ghost on Ghost" (Nonesuch)   Sam Beam, the South Carolina-born musician who releases music as Iron & Wine, first made his mark with sparsely arranged, mostly...

The people of "Peeples" make a better impression than most collections of oddballs in the weary mold of comedies centered on meeting the prospective in-laws.   They still overstay...