Book Review 15 of 24 (Ladies and the Records They Love)

Record Collecting for Girls: Unleashing Your Inner Music Nerd, One Album at a Time
by Courtney E. Smith
Barnes & Noble link

There are not too many women writing and publishing books on  music criticism, or even about the life and times of being a record collector. Well, there are but not enough to balance out what has been a longtime man's game. Music has been mostly about guys and showing off their collections and their knowledge. Us ladies have been treated as ones only casually interested (and stereotypically as only interested in "girly" music) and never being knowledgeable. But, this couldn't be further from the truth. Us ladies can be just as knowledgeable (and maybe even more) and we're into more than "girly" music. We can listen to Sarah McLachlan and have our Creedence Clearwater Revival too. Just don't count Courtney E. Smith as our representative (we're torn between Ann Powers and the late Ellen Willis at the moment).

Book Review: 13 of 24 (First Lady of Rock Criticism)

Out of the Vinyl Deeps: Ellen Willis on Rock Music
Edited by Nona Willis Aronowitz
Barnes & Noble link

This was a book I wasn't sure how to approach when it came time to finally review it. At first, I abandoned the idea of doing this, since it is the first book of its kind that I ever reviewed (here or anywhere else). But after some consideration, the review will go on. This unsung lady of rock journalism shall not go ignored any longer! With a little help from her friends (and daughter too), the late Ellen Willis gets a fitting tribute in this collection of her greatest hits in Out of the Vinyl Deeps.