Via Back to Rockville comes this notice that a new Bob Dylan record is on the way. Lifted directly:

Bob Dylan looks set to release an album of entirely new material in late April. Ten new tracks are expected for the record, which was reportedly recorded in California in October of last year.

The songs have been mixed and sequenced and playbacks are believed to have recently taken place in Sony’s European offices. An Autumn release date was originally suggested but it is understood this was brought forward to coincide with the final stages of Dylan’s upcoming European tour.

According to Dylan fansite Isis, Dylan was approached to write the soundtrack to forthcoming film ‘My Own Love’ song, starring Renee Zellweger and Forest Whitaker. Supposedly, when Dylan went into the studio he was so impressed with the results he decided to record his own album of new material. It is also believed that not all the musicians on the new release are from Dylan’s current touring band.

Nice...Dylan was so impressed with his own music that he decided he wasn't ready to hang it up yet. In a hardcore poet and artist, you gotta like that.

Of course, I am one of those people who thinks that if you don't appreciate Dylan, there are probably deeper issues in your life. So yes, I am kind of pumped. Bob Dylan's latest record to date, Modern Times, was a fantastic late-career album, in my opinion. Can't wait to see what he pulls off with the next one.

The million dollar question is whether he will title it Postmodern Times? OK, probably not.

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I’m a huge fan of online book shopping, and have been ever since I discovered that by surfing Amazon I could prevent my college book store from ripping me off to the tune of $100-200 a semester…a trend that continued in seminary. Tuition is enough of a donation, right?

However, when someone gives me a gift card to Barnes & Noble or Borders, I can easily get lost in there for a couple hours. Yesterday I found myself on the plaza with some downtime on my hands, so I hit up the local B&N. I walked out with a couple books that should make for some great reading.

Agincourt. One of the great come-from-behind victories in history gets a gritty fictional treatment from Bernard Cornwell in this new bestseller. How did the British underdogs pull off an amazing W against the French at Agincourt? Well, you can read Shakespeare’s Henry V (possibly my favorite Shakespeare play), watch Kenneth Branagh’s great film version, check a history book…or read this one. Cornwell embellishes his character’s backstory, but the historical data is for real. Probably not for the faint of heart though. If Finding Private Ryan, Gladiator or Braveheart made you gag, don’t pick this one up. Medieval warfare was nasty.

Orthodoxy. I’ve read and raved about G.K. Chesterton’s superb book before. But this is a book you re-read…and own multiple copies of. I’ve been coveting this hardback, large print, wide-margin edition for a couple years, so when I spotted it, I went ahead and grabbed the only copy I found in the store. If you haven’t yet read this one, expect adventure, humor, biting dialogue, romance, suspense…and all this in a “theology” book. C.S. Lewis comes the closest, but probably no one will ever match Chesterton’s passionate knack for revealing the bright, terrifying, stunning reality in which we live.

Bought any good books lately?

Cross-posted on arieljvan.com.

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