Devon Fredericksen

The Playlist of My Life by Devon Frederickson is a nice book of journal prompts that centers the role of music both in living our lives and remembering our past.

I've had journals most of my life, and many of my friends have also kept journals, so I was unaware for a long time that journaling wasn't common. I understand that it has become popular again, though I don't know how much of it is keeping a journal as I remember it and how much is having a book of thematic prompts and filling it out. Either way, journaling is both fun and beneficial, so I'm glad it is making a comeback.

All of that background is to say that I can see this being used a couple of different ways. One is exactly as it is presented, a book for one to fill in using the prompts. The other, and the way I have used it, is to largely take the prompts and respond to them in my ongoing journal. I think either way is fun, and I actually did a hybrid, I incorporated a lot into my ongoing journals (I keep several, each for specific purposes from life in general to thinking through complex ideas) but also put a lot into the book, which will be stored with the rest of my journals and books of thematic journal prompts.

When you get to a certain age (and simply have a mental block to having A single favorite anything), it becomes hard to make a short list for anything. I enjoyed modifying some of the prompts to suit how I am. For instance, how do I make a valid comparison between my favorite rock artists and my favorite R&B performers? So I made many of my lists genre specific. This avoided the pitfall, for me, of comparing The Beatles, Wilson Pickett, Prince, and Billy Joel. Well, except when I went off on a tangent from the protest song idea, which became broken down into several types. Yes, my friends know I will always give a long answer to any question they ask, but they also know I give a lot of thought to my answers as well.

Any music lover will enjoy this book. Whether your love is for one genre and spans mostly the last couple of decades or you like something in every genre and your music experiences cover over a half a century (oh my God I'm old!). In filling it out, I even revisited a memory that technically isn't mine, my parents met dancing to Benny Goodman while he was in the Navy during WWII, so I owe quite a bit to music!

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.… (més)