Daily Archives: August 29, 2007

Wow, Earlimart is bewitching me.

Posted on by

I’m listening to the new Earlimart “Mentor Tormentor” while I am trying to catch up on book reviews tonight, and this album is completely entrancing me. It’s so lilting and melodic and calm yet building. The vocals are lovely. Wow. What a pretty album!

I’ve mentioned their previous album (“Treble & Tremble”) to lots of people and just gotten a blank stare. I listened to that one quite a bit, but I don’t remember there being as many male/female trade-offs in the vocals. There’s a folksy, country twinge to this band, but they’re less rhythmic than most country, and the harmonies feel thicker/stronger (and more pop) than most folk.

Now I wish I would have bought tickets to see them (tomorrow at Schuba’s) but I know I really don’t have the energy anyway (and I knew looking at my calendar, I wouldn’t, which is why I didn’t buy them when they went on sale a few months ago). Eh bien…next time.

For now, I will turn off the lights and listen to this loveliness and dream myself into another world…

DVD: Premonition

Posted on by

Other than the last five minutes, which I thought were total cheeseball (and UCK not necessary!!), I thought this was a totally satisfying (and mentally quite torturously terrifying) movie. Sandra Bullock was completely convincing and I don’t know why no one went to this movie. Although, as I said, it should have ended five minutes earlier.

Such a nice treat to see Julian McMahon (yum!) in something other than Nip/Tuck which has just gotten way too icky and weird for me. He’s delish.

Thumbs up from me, yo.

Fantasy: “Witchery: A Ghosts of Albion novel” by Amber Benson & Christopher Golden

Posted on by

The sequel to Accursed. Things continue to get harder for Tamara and William; the more magic in their lives, the harder all their relationships, even with each other, become. Some really neat stuff. I knew Sophia was asking for trouble, but DAMN I had no idea THAT would happen…. Yay. Can’t wait for another.

And p.s. there is one super super sexy scene that really took my breath away. So you know, there’s that. As well.

Fiction: “Run” by Ann Patchett

Posted on by

Since this book doesn’t come out until October in the US, I was very excited to stumble upon it in Belgium. It’s not that long of a read (it didn’t even last me the entire plane ride from Brussels to Philadelphia), but it was a really rich, satisfying read that has stayed with me since.

One of my favorite reading “things” is when unrelated books you read in short periods turn out to be thematically linked; they become a matched set to me / a good “pair.” As with “The Buffalo Soldier” which I read a week earlier, this is a story of racially-mixed adoption (white parents/black child(ren).

What truly makes a family? What makes a mother? How important are the physical links? Do the emotional ones replace them? Can your hopes and dreams for other people ever STOP hindering them / stop hindering your relationship with them when they don’t work out?

This was just really lovely. I think I’ve now read all Patchett’s books. I’m on the bandwagon. Leading the parade. They’re all really different than each other; they’ve all got at least one breathtaking, beautiful moment. This book had several. Run, Kenya, run…

Fiction: “Seven Types of Ambiguity” by Elliot Perlman

Posted on by

Technically this was my vacation reading but since I didn’t want to carry it on the plane with me on the way back, I didn’t finish the last few pages until a few days after I got back thanks to the luggage screwup.

Ginger loves this book and had recommended it to me several times. Finally she just sent me a copy. Wow. Somewhat like another book I read recently, or a movie like “Memento”, as each chapter unfurls, something takes you by surprise. Yet UNLIKE say the current show “Damages”, the things that happen unexpectedly MAKE SENSE and are not blindsiding you. You weren’t expecting them, or you might not have predicted them, but it’s one of those books where things unfold in such a neat way… You have to keep reinterpreting your previous conclusions as you go.

Carrying the torch of a love long lost can lead one to do things you wouldn’t expect. Yes? No?

It’s a big, thick one. It takes a bit of time. But it’s worth it.

Fiction: “The Buffalo Soldier” by Chris Bohjalian

Posted on by

Although I found some parts of this book weren’t quite where I wanted them to be (didn’t use the Buffalo Soldier analogy enough, touched on it too lightly), I found myself very emotionally attached to Alfred and I had a hard time not crying during the last few chapters. I mean, even the THOUGHT of foster kids could put me on tear’s edge some days, so reading an entire book about one… well. He felt very, very real to me. Particularly enjoyed his relationship with the neighbor, Paul.