Hot This Week: February 25

The smash hit blockbuster following the life and career of Freddie Mercury and the band Queen tops the week's movie listing. Ariana Grande takes over the music chart with her newest release, while Kacey Musgraves returns following her big Grammy night, including Album of the Year. Yangsze Choo's new novel The Night Tiger debuts on the fiction list, while newcomers in non-fiction include books from actor Gary Sinise and author Toni Morrison, as well as a look at the aftermath of the Parkland shooting from Dave Cullen.

Movies 

1. Bohemian Rhapsody (Blu-ray | 4K)
2. Nobody's Fool (Blu-ray)
3. The Grinch (Blu-ray | 4K)
4. Widows (Blu-ray | 4K)
5. The Girl in the Spider's Web (Blu-ray)
6. Hunter Killer (Blu-ray | 4K)
7. Crazy Rich Asians (Blu-ray)
8. Happy Death Day (Blu-ray)
9. The Sisters Brothers (Blu-ray)
10. A Simple Favor (Blu-ray | 4K)

CD

1. Ariana Grande, Thank U, Next
2. Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper, A Star Is Born Soundtrack
3. Queen, Bohemian Rhapsody Soundtrack
4. Post Malone, Beerbongs & Bentleys
5. Travis Scott, Astroworld
6. 21 Savage, I Am > I Was
7. Drake, Scorpion
8. Kacey Musgraves, Golden Hour
9. Meek Mill, Championships
10. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Soundtrack

Fiction

1. Where the Crawdads Sing, Delia Owens
2. Black Leopard, Red Wolf, Marlon James
3. Connections in Death, J.D. Robb
4. An Anonymous Girl, Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen
5. The Silent Patient, Alex Michaelides
6. The Reckoning, John Grisham
7. Fire and Blood, George R.R. Martin
8. The Night Tiger, Yangsze Choo
9. Liar Liar, James Patterson and Candice Fox
10. The Wedding Guest, Jonathan Kellerman

Non-Fiction

1. Becoming, Michelle Obama
2. Educated, Tara Westover
3. Grateful American, Gary Sinise and Marcus Brotherton
4. The First Conspiracy, Brad Meltzer and Josh Mensch
5. Maid, Stephanie Land
6. Let Me Finish, Chris Christie
7. Team of Vipers, Cliff Sims
8. The Source of Self-Regard, Toni Morrison
9. Astrophysics for People in a Hurry, Neil deGrasse Tyson
10. Parkland, Dave Cullen

Hot This Week: February 18

There are plenty of new titles this week in both movies and audiobook fiction. The top three movies are all new, led by the latest adaptation of Dr. Seuss's beloved Christmas story. Half of the fiction list is made up of newcomers, with Alex Michaelides taking the top spot and the buzzed-about fantasy novel from Marlon James making it as well.

Movies 

1. The Grinch (Blu-ray | 4K)
2. Widows (Blu-ray | 4K)
3. The Girl in the Spider's Web (Blu-ray)
4. Hunter Killer (Blu-ray | 4K)
5. The Sisters Brothers (Blu-ray)
6. First Man (Blu-ray | 4K)
7. The Hate U Give (Blu-ray | 4K)
8. Crazy Rich Asians (Blu-ray)
9. Venom (Blu-ray | 4K)
10. Halloween (Blu-ray | 4K)

CD

1. 21 Savage, I Am > I Was
2. Travis Scott, Astroworld
3. Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper, A Star Is Born Soundtrack
4. Post Malone, Beerbongs & Bentleys
5. Meek Mill, Championships
6. Drake, Scorpion
7. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Soundtrack
8. Queen, Bohemian Rhapsody Soundtrack
9. The Greatest Showman Soundtrack
10. Luke Combs, This One's for You

Fiction

1. The Silent Patient, Alex Michaelides
2. Where the Crawdads Sing, Delia Owens
3. Connections in Death, J.D. Robb
4. Black Leopard, Red Wolf, Marlon James
5. An Anonymous Girl, Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen
6. The Wedding Guest, Jonathan Kellerman
7. The Reckoning, John Grisham
8. Fire and Blood, George R.R. Martin
9. Liar Liar, James Patterson and Candice Fox
10. The Last Romantics, Tara Conklin

Non-Fiction

1. Becoming, Michelle Obama
2. Educated, Tara Westover
3. From the Ground Up, Howard Schultz and Joanne Gordon
4. The First Conspiracy, Brad Meltzer and Josh Mensch
5. The Library Book, Susan Orlean
6. Let Me Finish, Chris Christie
7. The Truths We Hold, Kamala Harris
8. Team of Vipers, Cliff Sims
9. Maid, Stephanie Land
10. 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, Yuval Noah Harari

Hot This Week: February 11

An action flick starring Gerard Butler and Gary Oldman tops this week's movie listing, which sees two other new titles make it. In music, a new album from the Backstreet Boys jumps to #1. Fiction sees a couple of familiar favorites make a return, while in non-fiction a trio of new political audiobooks make their debuts.

Movies 

1. Hunter Killer (Blu-ray | 4K)
2. First Man (Blu-ray | 4K)
3. Night School (Blu-ray | 4K)
4. Halloween (Blu-ray | 4K)
5. Goosebumps 2 (Blu-ray | 4K)
6. Venom (Blu-ray | 4K)
7. The Wife (Blu-ray)
8. The Nutcracker and the Four Realms (Blu-ray | 4K)
9. The Hate U Give (Blu-ray | 4K)
10. White Boy Rick (Blu-ray)

CD

1. Backstreet Boys, DNA
2. Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper, A Star Is Born Soundtrack
3. Post Malone, Beerbongs & Bentleys
4. Meek Mill, Championships
5. 21 Savage, I Am > I Was
6. Travis Scott, Astroworld
7. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Soundtrack
8. Drake, Scorpion
9. Queen, Greatest Hits - Platinum Collection
10. Bring Me the Horizon, Amo

Fiction

1. Where the Crawdads Sing, Delia Owens
2. An Anonymous Girl, Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen
3. The Reckoning, John Grisham
4. Liar Liar, James Patterson and Candice Fox
5. Crucible, James Rollins
6. Fire and Blood, George R.R. Martin
7. Circe, Madeline Miller
8. Turning Point, Danielle Steel
9. The New Iberia Blues, James Lee Burke
10. Nine Perfect Strangers, Liane Moriarty

Non-Fiction

1. Becoming, Michelle Obama
2. Educated, Tara Westover
3. From the Ground Up, Howard Schultz and Joanne Gordon
4. Team of Vipers, Cliff Sims
5. Let Me Finish, Chris Christie
6. The First Conspiracy, Brad Meltzer and Josh Mensch
7. The Truths We Hold, Kamala Harris
8. The Library Book, Susan Orlean
9. Maid, Stephanie Land
10. 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, Yuval Noah Harari

Hot This Week: February 4

We kick off the month of February with three new movies on the list, led by the Neil Armstrong moon landing film First Man. Major label debut albums from Maggie Rogers and Cody Johnson are new this week on the music chart. James Rollins and Alan Bradley land new novels on the fiction list, while Stephanie Land's exploration of income inequality is the only non-fiction newcomer.

Movies 

1. First Man (Blu-ray | 4K)
2. Halloween (Blu-ray | 4K)
3. Night School (Blu-ray | 4K)
4. Goosebumps 2 (Blu-ray | 4K)
5. Venom (Blu-ray | 4K)
6. The Hate U Give (Blu-ray | 4K)
7. American Renegades (Blu-ray)
8. White Boy Rick (Blu-ray)
9. The House with a Clock in Its Walls (Blu-ray | 4K)
10. The Equalizer 2 (Blu-ray | 4K)

CD

1. Maggie Rogers, Heard It in a Past Life
2. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Soundtrack
3. 21 Savage, I Am > I Was
4. Meek Mill, Championships
5. Post Malone, Beerbongs & Bentleys
6. Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper, A Star Is Born Soundtrack
7. Cody Johnson, Ain't Nothin' to It
8. Travis Scott, Astroworld
9. Drake, Scorpion
10. Queen, Greatest Hits - Platinum Collection

Fiction

1. Where the Crawdads Sing, Delia Owens
2. Crucible, James Rollins
3. An Anonymous Girl, Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen
4. Liar Liar, James Patterson and Candice Fox
5. The Reckoning, John Grisham
6. Turning Point, Danielle Steel
7. The Golden Tresses of the Dead, Alan Bradley
8. Fire and Blood, George R.R. Martin
9. The New Iberia Blues, James Lee Burke
10. Every Breath, Nicholas Sparks

Non-Fiction

1. Becoming, Michelle Obama
2. Educated, Tara Westover
3. Maid, Stephanie Land
4. The First Conspiracy, Brad Meltzer and Josh Mensch
5. The Truths We Hold, Kamala Harris
6. The Library Book, Susan Orlean
7. 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, Yuval Noah Harari
8. Leadership, Doris Kearns Goodwin
9. Killing the SS, Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard
10. How to Change Your Mind, Michael Pollan

Super Bowl LIII Musical Performers

Written by Jon Williams

This coming weekend, the biggest sporting event of the year will take place. Super Bowl LIII will determine the year’s NFL championship in a matchup between the Los Angeles Rams and the New England Patriots. Beyond its implications for the sport, the Super Bowl has become a huge cultural event, with over a hundred million people likely to watch in North America. Even people who normally don’t follow football tune in—for the camaraderie of sharing the event with friends, for the innovative commercials that air during the broadcast, and, of course, for the halftime musical entertainment.

With such a wide audience, it’s no wonder that the halftime show is such a coveted slot for musicians. The featured performer this year will be multiplatinum rock band Maroon 5. They’ve been a fixture in the music scene since 2004, when singles like “This Love” and “Sunday Morning” propelled their debut album, Songs About Jane, to multiplatinum status. They’ve released five more studio albums since then, all of them selling over a million copies. Their most recent, Red Pill Blues, was released in 2017, driven by singles like “What Lovers Do” (featuring SZA) and “Girls Like You” (featuring Cardi B). Singer Adam Levine has also helped to keep the band in the spotlight by serving as a judge on the hit musical talent show The Voice since its inception in 2011.

Traditionally the Super Bowl halftime show is a collaborative affair, and this year is no different. One musician joining Maroon 5 for the festivities will be rapper Travis Scott. After several EPs and mixtapes, his debut album Rodeo was released in 2015 and went platinum on the strength of singles “3500” and Antidote, as well as guest appearances from stars like Kanye West, Justin Bieber, and the Weekend, to name just a few. He followed that up in 2016 with Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight, another platinum outing. His newest album, Astroworld, was released in August of last year and is still a staple near the top of the Billboard albums chart. Scott is nominated for three awards at this year’s Grammys, which will take place a week after the Super Bowl.

Another musician joining Maroon 5 and Travis Scott onstage will be Big Boi, who hails from the Super Bowl’s host city of Atlanta. Along with Andre 3000 as the multiplatinum hip-hop duo Outkast, Big Boi came into the spotlight in the mid-1990s. The duo has released six albums together and won six Grammy Awards, including Best Rap Album and Album of the Year for Speakerboxxx/The Love Below in 2003. Since their last album together in 2006, Big Boi has focused on his solo career. His debut, Sir Luscious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty, came out in 2010. He’s followed it up with two more albums, the most recent of which, Boomiverse, came out in 2017.

While the halftime show is the musical focal point of the Super Bowl, it’s also an enormous honor for a musician to get the opportunity to sing the national anthem before the game kicks off. This year that honor goes to another Atlanta native, Gladys Knight. With a career dating back to the early 1960s, she is a true R&B/soul music legend, both with her band the Pips and on her own. Known for her early work, she has continued to record, with her most recent album, Where My Heart Belongs, coming in 2014.

With so many people watching the Super Bowl and its musical performances, patrons will no doubt be interested in hearing more from these incredible artists. Make sure to have plenty of their CDs on your shelves, and if your library is a hoopla Digital customer, don’t forget to direct your patrons there as well—they’ll find these artists and more, available with no holds, no waiting, and no late fees.