Like every other sensible blogger out there, I plan to take a few days away from this to enjoy the holidays. In the meantime, I decided today's post, which will likely be the last of '07, should include all the little tidbits I've been saving for possible longer posts over the past few weeks. Here goes:

Shearwater plans a new album in early '08. Rook, if the photos on the band's web site of the recording session are any indication, will include strings and woodwinds, meaning Jonathan Meiburg's creative muse should be fully engaged yet again. Meiburg told me in an interview earlier this year that he has been excited by the range and ability of the band. "Sometimes it feels like every time we play, the whole thing opens up just a little bit more. We got together and rehearsed a few weeks ago and I was just delighted at the way this group of people works together musically – it's very special."

Harlan Coben's next book will be another stand-alone thriller, Hold Tight, due in April. As he describes it: "In a quiet suburb, the lives of five families collide in surprising, tragic and even violent ways." He also shares that Cope, the lead character in The Woods, has a "small part" here, so the ending of that book might make a bit more sense after you read Hold Tight.

Cover art and a publication date have been posted for the forthcoming third collaboration between Ken Bruen and Jason Starr, The Max, from Hard Case Crime. The book, which follows Bust and Slide, is due in September.

The Hard Case folks also share that they'll kick off 2009 with yet another Lawrence Block reprint, promising that "not even seriously dedicated Block fanatics, know about this book; and it is quite possibly the single most audacious book we'll ever publish."

Michael Connelly's next book will be a follow-up to The Lincoln Lawyer featuring attorney Micky Haller. That novel, tentatively scheduled for October, finds Haller taking over the law practice of a colleague who is murdered. Continuing Connelly's engaging way of crossing the paths of his key characters, Harry Bosch catches the case.

The ever-prolific Robert Pollard can't stop won't stop in 2008, with three releases already on the schedule. First comes a solo mini-CD, Superman Was A Rocker in late January, followed by a second Psycho and the Birds album in late February, We've Moved. Finally, he also plans another Circus Devils disc with the Tobias brothers, Ataxia, to be released sometime later in the year.

Nick Lowe's back catalog has been ripe for reissue for a long time, and his current label, Yep Roc, will start things off with a reissue of his first album, Jesus of Cool. The disc was issued as Pure Pop for Now People here in the U.S., but will come out under its original name with the February reissue (marking its 30th anniversary!). Press about the reissue claims it contains 10 rare bonus tracks, but any fans of the Basher have long since heard these still-worthy tracks.

Labels: books, music