Hot This Week: March 26

A couple of acclaimed movies join this week's list in I, Tonya and The Disaster Artist. A new solo album from Talking Heads frontman David Byrne tops the music chart with new albums from classic artists Judas Priest and Jimi Hendrix as well. A new NUMA adventure from Clive Cussler and Graham Brown tops the fiction list, while a new investigation of Russian influence on the 2016 U.S. election edges Fire & Fury down to #2 in non-fiction.


Movies

1. Thor: Ragnarok (Blu-ray | 4K)
2. Coco (Blu-ray | 4K)
3. I, Tonya (Blu-ray)
4. Murder on the Orient Express (Blu-ray | 4K)
5. Daddy's Home 2 (Blu-ray | 4K)
6. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (Blu-ray | 4K)
7. Wonder (Blu-ray | 4K)
8. The Disaster Artist (Blu-ray)
9. Lady Bird (Blu-ray)
10. Darkest Hour (Blu-ray)

CD

1. David Byrne, American Utopia
2. Black Panther: The Album
3. Judas Priest, Firepower
4. The Greatest Showman Soundtrack
5. Migos, Culture II
6. Jimi Hendrix, Both Sides of the Sky
7. Ed Sheeran, Divide
8. Post Malone, Stoney
9. Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats, Tearing at the Seams
10. Imagine Dragons, Evolve

Fiction

1. The Rising Sea, Clive Cussler and Graham Brown
2. The Great Alone, Kristin Hannah
3. The Escape Artist, Brad Meltzer
4. Little Fires Everywhere, Celeste Ng
5. The Woman in the Window, A.J. Finn
6. An American Marriage, Tayari Jones
7. The Flight Attendant, Chris Bohjalian
8. Caribbean Rim, Randy Wayne White
9. Fifty Fifty, James Patterson and Candice Fox
10. Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Jason Fry

Non-Fiction

1. Russian Roulette, Michael Isikoff and David Corn
2. Fire and Fury, Michael Wolff
3. Educated, Tara Westover
4. I'll Be Gone in the Dark, Michelle McNamara
5. Astrophysics for People in a Hurry, Neil deGrasse Tyson
6. Enlightenment Now, Steven Pinker
7. The Last Black Unicorn, Tiffany Haddish
8. Killers of the Flower Moon, David Grann
9. Leonardo da Vinci, Walter Isaacson
10. Born a Crime, Trevor Noah

TV Revivals Are All the Rage

Written by Jon Williams

Next week, on Tuesday, March 27, Roseanne will return to television screens. The beloved sitcom originally ran for nine seasons from 1988 through 1997. Now it’s coming back with a nine-episode season that will feature the show’s original cast—which creates some interesting dilemmas, since two actresses played the character of Becky (the second, Sarah Chalke, will appear as a different character) and Dan, played by John Goodman, died in the original final season of the show (he’s back). Other familiar faces returning to the show include Laurie Metcalf, fresh off her Academy Award nomination for Lady Bird, Sandra Bernhard, Big Bang Theory star Johnny Galecki, and, of course, Roseanne Barr herself.

Television is widely considered to be in a new golden age, with an incredible amount of high-quality content being created. With the rise of streaming services producing shows of their own in addition to more traditional cable and broadcast channels, competition for viewers is at an all-time high, and the television industry is frequently looking to the past to fill its slate. Everything old is new again as reboots and revivals, like Roseanne, are popping up everywhere. Another popular sitcom that has returned is Will & Grace, which originally aired from 1998 through 2006. After a ten-minute one-off proved to be wildly popular in 2016, the show was brought back to series in the fall of 2017. The first revival season will come to a close next week, and the show has already been renewed for a second and third season. Likewise, Full House, which ran from 1987 through 1995, has been brought back as Fuller House, following the adult lives of the characters who were children in the original show. The new show is three seasons in and going strong.

The phenomenon isn’t limited to sitcoms. Earlier this week, the second revival season of The X-Files came to a close. Originally running from 1993 to 2002, the sci-fi series about a pair of FBI agents tracking down leads on alien visitation was brought back for a six-episode limited event series in 2016 before this year’s ten-episode set. With Gillian Anderson bowing out and David Duchovny open to returning, it’s unclear if the show will continue further. In the drama category, Twin Peaks was also revived for a limited event series in 2017 following two seasons in 1990-91 and the movie Fire Walk with Me in 1992. And the dramedy series Gilmore Girls was brought back for the four-episode miniseries A Year in the Life in 2016 following its original seven-season run from 2000 through 2007.

And there are more revivals in the works. It was recently announced that Murphy Brown will be back on television later this year, with Candice Bergen and the show’s original cast returning to explore the state of television journalism in the current climate. Although nothing has been finalized, Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt are in talks to team back up for new episodes of Mad About You, nineteen years after that show’s seeming end. And don’t forget about reboots, in which series concepts are reused in different, usually updated circumstances, starting with a new cast. Some of those we can look forward to include Cagney & Lacey, Magnum P.I., Charmed, The Greatest American Hero, and Lost in Space, not to mention recent rumors about Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

With all of these classic shows returning to small screens in one form or another, and more sure to follow, patrons will be looking for the original shows to catch up or just to relive old favorites. You can find them on our website, and count on us to bring you the revivals and reboots as they become available. Are there any other series no longer on the air that you’d like to see brought back? If so, keep the faith—it just might happen!

Hot This Week: March 19

There are some huge new movies on this week's list, which also sees the animated hit Coco jump into the number one spot. In music, the Black Panther soundtrack reigns supreme again, with a new album from Tory Lanez making its debut. Brad Meltzer's latest thriller leads the way in non-fiction, with a couple of blockbuster movie novelizations joining as well. And in non-fiction, a memoir from theatre legend Andrew Lloyd Webber comes in at #7.

Movies

1. Coco (Blu-ray | 4K)
2. Thor: Ragnarok (Blu-ray | 4K)
3. Murder on the Orient Express (Blu-ray | 4K)
4. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (Blu-ray | 4K)
5. Daddy's Home 2 (Blu-ray | 4K)
6. Wonder (Blu-ray | 4K)
7. Lady Bird (Blu-ray)
8. Darkest Hour (Blu-ray)
9. A Bad Moms Christmas (Blu-ray)
10. Just Getting Started (Blu-ray)

CD

1. Black Panther: The Album
2. The Greatest Showman Soundtrack
3. Tory Lanez, Memories Don't Die
4. Migos, Culture II
5. Ed Sheeran, Divide
6. Post Malone, Stoney
7. Imagine Dragons, Evolve
8. Camila Cabello, Camila
9. Kendrick Lamar, DAMN.
10. Bruno Mars, 24K Magic
    

Fiction

1. The Escape Artist, Brad Meltzer
2. Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Jason Fry
3. The Great Alone, Kristin Hannah
4. Little Fires Everywhere, Celeste Ng
5. The Woman in the Window, A.J. Finn
6. Fifty Fifty, James Patterson and Candice Fox
7. An American Marriage, Tayari Jones
8. Burn Bright, Patricia Briggs
9. Still Me, Jojo Moyes
10. The Shape of Water, Guillermo del Toro and Daniel Kraus

Non-Fiction

1. Fire and Fury, Michael Wolff
2. I'll Be Gone in the Dark, Michelle McNamara
3. Educated, Tara Westover
4. Enlightenment Now, Steven Pinker
5. Astrophysics for People in a Hurry, Neil deGrasse Tyson
6. The Last Black Unicorn, Tiffany Haddish
7. Unmasked, Andrew Lloyd Webber
8. The Future of Humanity, Michio Kaku
9. Killers of the Flower Moon, David Grann
10. Leonardo da Vinci, Walter Isaacson

Come See Us at PLA!

Next week we’ll be at the PLA 2018 Conference in Philadelphia, and we’d love to see you there! You can find us at Booth #837 from March 20-24. Here’s what you can expect when you come by our booth.

Golden Ticket Giveaway

Free candy AND a chance to win…who can resist? Stop by our booth anytime to pick up a chocolate bar and a chance to win a great prize! This offer is only good while supplies last, so come early to make sure you don’t miss out.

Author Signings

Three popular authors will be making appearances at our booth. Visit our booth during the times listed below to get a book signed, and spread the word about their incredible work to your patrons!

Wednesday, March 21

4:00 – 5:00 p.m.

LAURIE MORRISON

Co-author of the middle-grade novel Every Shiny Thing

Thursday, March 22

11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

CLAIRE LEGRAND

Author of the YA fantasy novel Furyborn

Thursday, March 22

1:00 – 2:00 p.m.

BEATRIZ WILLIAMS

Author of the historical novel The Summer Wives

Champagne Toast

We’re looking forward to celebrating hoopla’s five-year anniversary with our library partners. We’ll be hosting a champagne toast at our booth on Thursday, March 22, at 3:00 p.m. Join us!

Alexa, Meet hoopla!

We’re excited to announce a cool new bit of hoopla functionality—integration with Amazon’s personal assistant, Alexa! We’ll have a number of devices at our booth, so be sure to come get a full demonstration of all the ways Alexa will allow patrons to interact with hoopla just with their voice.

Come by our booth for any or all of these events, or to learn more about all the ways Midwest Tape and hoopla can benefit your library. We hope to see you there!

Hot This Week: March 12

What's hot this week is movies! There are four new ones, led by the latest Disney-Pixar blockbuster, the Academy Award-winning Coco. A new tour announcement helps to land Bon Jovi's latest album back on the chart well over a year after its release. A pair of new novels make the list in fiction, while the late Michelle McNamara's final true-crime exploration makes its debut in non-fiction.

Movies

1. Daddy's Home 2 (Blu-ray | 4K)
2. Coco (Blu-ray | 4K)
3. Wonder (Blu-ray | 4K)
4. Darkest Hour (Blu-ray)
5. Just Getting Started (Blu-ray)
6. A Bad Moms Christmas (Blu-ray)
7. Hangman (Blu-ray)
8. Geostorm (Blu-ray)
9. The Star (Blu-ray)
10. Only the Brave (Blu-ray)

CD

1. Bon Jovi, This House Is Not for Sale
2. Black Panther: The Album
3. Migos, Culture II
4. The Greatest Showman Soundtrack
5. Ed Sheeran, Divide
6. Post Malone, Stoney
7. Imagine Dragons, Evolve
8. Kendrick Lamar, DAMN.
9. Vance Joy, Nation of Two
10. Justin Timberlake, Man of the Woods

Fiction

1. The Great Alone, Kristin Hannah
2. Fifty Fifty, James Patterson and Candice Fox
3. The Woman in the Window, A.J. Finn
4. An American Marriage, Tayari Jones
5. Little Fires Everywhere, Celeste Ng
6. Raspberry Danish Murder, Joanne Fluke
7. Still Me, Jojo Moyes
8. The Hush, John Hart
9. Origin, Dan Brown
10. The Wife Between Us, Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen

Non-Fiction

1. Fire and Fury, Michael Wolff
2. I'll Be Gone in the Dark, Michelle McNamara
3. Educated, Tara Westover
4. Enlightenment Now, Steven Pinker
5. Astrophysics for People in a Hurry, Neil deGrasse Tyson
6. Killers of the Flower Moon, David Grann
7. The Last Black Unicorn, Tiffany Haddish
8. Born a Crime, Trevor Noah
9. Leonardo da Vinci, Walter Isaacson
10. The Future of Humanity, Michio Kaku

Hot This Week: March 5

The Will Ferrell/Mark Wahlberg comedy sequel Daddy's Home 2 comes in atop this week's movie list. The Black Panther soundtrack has another strong week in music to match the movie's strong showing at the box office, while Nipsey Hussle and Brandi Carlile land new albums on the chart. James Patterson's new collaborative novel with Candice Fox is the top newcomer in fiction, while new audiobooks from Tara Westover and Michio Kaku make their non-fiction debut.

Movies

1. Daddy's Home 2 (Blu-ray | 4K)
2. Wonder (Blu-ray | 4K)
3. A Bad Moms Christmas (Blu-ray)
4. The Star (Blu-ray)
5. Geostorm (Blu-ray)
6. Only the Brave (Blu-ray)
7. Roman J. Israel, Esq. (Blu-ray)
8. Blade Runner 2049 (Blu-ray | 4K)
9. It (Blu-ray | 4K)
10. Boo 2! A Madea Halloween (Blu-ray)

CD

1. Black Panther: The Album
2. Migos, Culture II
3. The Greatest Showman Soundtrack
4. Nipsey Hussle, Victory Lap
5. Brandi Carlile, By the Way, I Forgive You
6. Justin Timberlake, Man of the Woods
7. Ed Sheeran, Divide
8. Kendrick Lamar, DAMN.
9. Post Malone, Stoney
10. Fifty Shades Freed Soundtrack

Fiction

1. The Great Alone, Kristin Hannah
2. Fifty Fifty, James Patterson and Candice Fox
3. The Woman in the Window, A.J. Finn
4. An American Marriage, Tayari Jones
5. Still Me, Jojo Moyes
6. Little Fires Everywhere, Celeste Ng
7. Look for Me, Lisa Gardner
8. Origin, Dan Brown
9. The Rooster Bar, John Grisham
10. Dark in Death, J.D. Robb

Non-Fiction

1. Fire and Fury, Michael Wolff
2. Educated, Tara Westover
3. Enlightenment Now, Steven Pinker
4. Astrophysics for People in a Hurry, Neil deGrasse Tyson
5. The Future of Humanity, Michio Kaku
6. All-American Murder, James Patterson, Alex Abramovich, and Mike Harvkey
7. The Last Black Unicorn, Tiffany Haddish
8. When, Daniel H. Pink
9. Killers of the Flower Moon, David Grann
10. Leonardo da Vinci, Walter Isaacson

Joan Baez Takes a Bow

Written by Jon Williams

Iconic folk singer Joan Baez has had a long and illustrious career, commemorated with her induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017. Now she’s ready for her swan song. The legendary artist has a new album out today, Whistle Down the Wind, her first in ten years. To go along with it, she has embarked on an extensive world tour, starting today in Stockholm and running through November in California. Aptly named the Fare Thee Well tour, it will be her final time going out on the road.

Baez was interested in music from an early age, and was set on her path young when she attended a Pete Seeger concert in 1954. She gave her own first performance in 1958, and a pair of duets with Bob Gibson at the Newport Music Festival in 1959 led to a record deal. Her self-titled debut album was released the following year. She followed it up with Joan Baez, Vol. 2 in 1961. Those albums both attained gold status, as did her 1962 live album, Joan Baez in Concert. Other albums to reach this sales mark are Any Day Now (1968), Blessed Are… (1971), and Diamonds and Rust (1975).

Throughout her career, Baez was influenced by such artists as Pete Seeger and Odetta, and she passed that influence on to a number of other musicians. Her performances with and recording of songs by Bob Dylan were a major factor in his career taking off, and she has been cited as an influence by such artists as Joni Mitchell, Bonnie Raitt, and Emmylou Harris. Although Baez is a songwriter, she is quite well known for songs written by others, including the Band’s “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” and Phil Ochs’s “There but for Fortune.”

She experienced her peak popularity during the tumultuous 1960s, when her music was associated with the civil rights movement and protest of the Vietnam War. Although she slowed down some as the years went on, Baez has continued to record and perform in the intervening years, releasing a total of 25 studio albums, as well as a number of live albums, compilations, and soundtracks. Her previous most recent, Day After Tomorrow, came out in 2008. What has not slowed down is her involvement with a number of causes and issues, including LGBT rights, the environment, and opposition to the death penalty. In 2011, she was honored by Amnesty International with the naming of the annual Joan Baez Award, recognizing artists in any media who “contribute to the advancement of human rights.”

With her work being so closely associated with protest, it is certainly fitting for her to be in the limelight one final time in our current environment. Make sure you have Whistle Down the Wind on your shelves for longtime Joan Baez fans to check out and enjoy, and shed light on her illustrious career with copies of her previous albums as well. SmartBrowse her name on our website to find more, and make sure your patrons know that her new album and her extensive discography are available 24/7 with no waiting on hoopla!