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Icon music review - My Gift - Carrie Underwood

A few tunes on My Gift are worth listening to while preparing dinner for the family. But one can skip buying it
Posted by Fred Steiner on Sunday, November 22, 2020

Reviewed by Craig Hoffman
American country music singer Carrie Underwood is out with My Gift. This is her seventh album and first Christmas-themed effort. Underwood won the fourth season of American Idol in 2005.

Her debut single, “Inside Your Heaven,” made her the only country artist to enter at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Underwood’s debut album, Some Hearts (2005), featured crossover hits “Jesus, Take the Wheel” and “Before He Cheats.” She won three Grammy Awards for the album, including Best New Artist. The Christmas album dropped in September. 

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Icon music review – Positions by Ariana Grande

Positions is a solid effort for Ariana Grande, although there is nothing new here
Posted by Fred Steiner on Tuesday, November 17, 2020

Reviewed by Craig Hoffman
Positions is the sixth studio album by American singer and actress Ariana Grande, released on Oct. 30, 2020, by Republic Records.

The album builds on the R&B and trap pop elements of Grande’s earlier efforts, Sweetener (2018) and Thank U, Next (2019). There is also a good amount of hip hop, neo-soul, and funk featured on Positions. 

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The fate of the climate rests upon my generation’s shoulders

It is clearly evident that helping care for the environment is in our own interest
Posted by Fred Steiner on Monday, November 16, 2020

By Amelia Alexander
Note: Amelia, an Ada HS student, is the Icon's newest columnist. Writing twice a month, this is her second column. Click here to read her first column. You will find all her future columns on our "Columnists" page

The fate of the climate rests upon my generation’s shoulders.

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Icon book review: Murder Thy Neighbor- True Crime Thrillers”

I liked this book, and appreciate the local librarian who recommended it to me
Posted by Fred Steiner on Sunday, November 15, 2020

Review by Robert McCool
James Patterson hits it out of the park in this double header.

“The world's best selling author” no longer writes his own books, of which he produces a plethora each year. He “coauthors” with carefully chosen writers, leading to different flavors for each book. In this example, “Murder Thy Neighbor- True Crime Thrillers” (ISBN 978-1-5387-5241-8)  he gives us two different stories of damaged people by two different authors in the same volume.

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Icon music review: Letter to You - Bruce Springsteen

Hard to give anything Springsteen does five stars when compared to his earlier catalogue of classics, but this is darn close
Posted by Fred Steiner on Friday, November 6, 2020

Reviewed by Craig Hoffman
Letter to You is Bruce Springsteen’s twentieth studio album. It is his first record with the E Street Band since High Hopes in 2014. Bruce Sprinsteen is an American singer and songwriter, and leader of the E Street Band. 

The release of Born to Run in 1975 propelled him to worldwide fame. During his over fifty-year career, Springsteen has been  known for his socially conscious lyrics and high-energy stage presence as “The Boss.” From its title down, Letter to You is a message to diehard Springsteen fans, the sound of an artist fighting hard in difficult times. 

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Icon book review: Sanctuary by V.V. James

This book is a perfect example of tension building within a desperate plot
Posted by Fred Steiner on Thursday, November 5, 2020

Review by Robert McCool
 In Sanctuary the tension builds toward the breaking point.

In V. V. James's (The Gilded Cage) latest offering, Sanctuary (Sourcebooks LCCN  2020005118) magic is a well established and regulated trade and Sarah is the head of a coven of three other non-witch women, Abigail, Bridget, and Julia. Her shop specializes in charms and wards, potions and sympathy. She and her daughter Harper then stand accused in the questionable death of Abigail's son, the local golden boy and her life's sole focus, Dan. Things devolve slowly and somewhat predictably from there.

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