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Book reviews and concert previews brought to you by Betsy Burton, co-owner of The King's English Bookshop, and Austen Diamond, producer of 13% Salt. Books & Beats airs Saturdays at 7:35 a.m. and 9:35 a.m. during NPR's Weekend Edition.

Books & Beats: May 30, 2015

Courtesy of the Artist
Quintron & Miss Pussycat play at Urban Lounge on June 3, 2015

Author Kent Haruf died last November.  His final novel Our Souls at Night(Knopf) finds him reflecting on old age. Louis, a long-time widower, gets a knock on his door one night. It’s a widow who was once friends with his late wife. And she has a proposal for him. In her review, Betsy Burton says, “If Kent Haruf’s previous novel gave benediction to our final act, death, Our Souls at Night provides a tender and haunting grace note.”

If you like dancing, puppets and wild homemade instruments, you’ll be in for a treat at Urban Lounge this Wednesday. Quintron & Miss Pussycat have been making raucous dance music for more than 15 years. Their show is Austen Diamond’s top pick this week.

Rapper Jon Bellion performs at The Complex on Monday, June 1.

And alt-rock band The Helio Sequence plays at Urban Lounge on Thursday, June 4

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