Jack Johnson | In Between Dreams

I don’t listen to much popular music because I don’t have time to keep up with the hot artists of the day. This CD was a gift, and almost immediately my entire family was humming or singing the mellow sounds and catchy lyrics. Johnson can sing a love song, and does just that many times on this disc. My favorites are the first cut “Better Together” and track 13, “Do You Remember.” Johnson third recording, like his first two, immediately became a hit, debuting at No. 3 on the Billboard Top 100. The guitar playing is unusually simple, and the best tunes are just Johnson and the instrument. The pro surfer-turned-pop star is riding a big wave of commercial success, and it’s easy to see why. The tunes will hook you and roll through your head all day. If you’re going to criticize, it could be said the effort lacks even a small measure of soul and grit. But there are plenty of other artists in the CD files to provide that. This one’s just fun.

Harry Crews | Scar Lover

To move from Jack Johnson to Harry Crews is like chasing a pineapple smoothie with a shot of Jack Daniels. This book by one of the most original novelists of this generation tells the story of Pete Butcher, a man in the throes of horrific guilt because of his role in a tragic accident that left his little brother with brain damage. Pete lives in North Florida and takes up with a bizarre family that includes Sarah, who becomes Pete’s lover, and a mother who has lost her mind dealing with cancer. In one fateful night Pete and this family team up on an unlikely journey with a pair of Rastafarians who like to smoke ganja and search for god. Sarah brings a sort of redemption to Pete, but in typical Crews fashion the ending isn’t very tidy. Crews mixes humor and tragedy as few can, throwing in a healthy side order of the grotesque and the absurd that leaves critics comparing him to Flannery O’Connor and William Faulkner. Crews isn’t in that league, but ever since former SMN book reviewer Gary Carden first turned me on to Crews, I’ve found his books both entertaining and thoughtful.

Eating and drinking outside

When the warm breezes of spring arrive, coax a friend into a meal at some outdoor location. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a restaurant with a patio, a parkway overlook, a front porch or a park bench. Pick up your favorite sandwich and a cold beverage of your choosing and make an occasion out of an outdoor meal warmed by a springtime sun.

— Scott McLeod