A Handful of Reviews

The great thing about being unemployed — okay, one of the great things — is the amount of time it frees up for reading. I’m oh-so-bookish and it’s been really nice to finally plow through the piles of reading material that’s stacked up next to the bed. And one of the fun things about being bloggy is that I’m on the receiving end of lots of media — I get books and CDs and music to review. All in all a serendipitous situation for someone with time. Here are a few lighting round reviews.

Blue Latitudes: Boldly Going Where Captain Cook Has Gone Before: You gotta read this book. It was on my list because not only does it cover the travels of the great explorer, but there’s a good deal of research into the unfortunate events that lead up to Cook’s death at Kaleakakua Bay in Hawaii. The book is a great read, part history, part travelogue, it’s funny, entertaining, educational, just read it, already, so we can talk about it.

The Painter from Shanghai: A Novel: This story about a girl who’s sold into prostitution and finds her way out just as China is going into the revolution is well written and engaging, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that I’d read this story before. There’s something all too familiar in the plot elements, a drug addled guardian, a madam with a mean streak, a man with an open heart who can’t quite make the leap, an unconventional girl grown into an unconventional woman… The book is based on the true story of a Chinese artist and it really does capture the time and place, but I was never surprised, not once, by the path the story took. Maybe there’s such a thing as reading too much exotic fiction?

Off the Beaten Path – Newly Revised & Updated: A Travel Guide to More Than 1000 Scenic and Interesting Places Still Uncrowded and Inviting: This big colorful almanac type book has been hanging out on the coffee table for about two months, I’m still flipping it open to see where Reader’s Digest thinks we should go. For most of the states, I can’t confirm or deny the “off the beaten pathedness” of the destinations, but it’s fun and inspiring to look at places I’ve never been. What do I know from Iowa or Oklahoma? This might make a nice gift for the road tripper in your life, it will give them wacky ideas about visiting that giant ball of string or a fourth generation candy factory. I’m for that.

Putumayo Presents: Italia: I know nothing, less than nothing, about Italian pop music, what experience I have with it comes from driving the Autostrada, lost, between the Austrian border and my friend’s place down in Tuscany. When I put this CD in the car, there I was again, pedal to the floor, pointing south towards Roma, but not only that, I was listening to this perfect mix that my perfect imaginary Italian boyfriend made for me so my head would be in the perfect Italian state of mind when I got to his apartment in Porto Ercole, you know the one with the view of the water where he’s making cioppino so I’ll have something for dinner when I get there. Did I mention that I loved this CD? If you don’t have a dreamy Italian boyfriend making mixes for you, you should TOTALLY get a copy.

Enchanted April: This little movie starts out sluggish and weird and I was really distracted by the odd soft focus photography, but about half an hour in, I completely forgot all that and was totally charmed. I don’t know what it is about the Italian countryside that makes the repressed English so much more charming, but, hey, it made me want to rent a place on the Italian coast for a month when the weather is vile here. Maybe in Porto Ercole, where my imaginary Italian boyfriend lives. It’s a nice little vacation of a movie — dreary people go on vacation and come back better humans for it — and hey, that’s a good model to live by.

Note:  All those links go straight to Amazon, so if you decide to get any of this stuff, please click through. Amazon gives me a tiny bit for everything you buy and the prices are the same whether you go through my site or not.