Friends! The first month of the year flew by with tons of wonderful books, TV shows, and music! Without further ado, here are my January favorites:
I Read…
Spells for Forgetting by Adrienne Young!
If you’ve been following my blog, you may have already gathered that I’m an unapologetic Adrienne Young fan; she’s an auto-buy author for me!
Spells is another gem in Adrienne’s oeuvre. It’s a deeply atmospheric story about ancestral magic, an unsolved murder, and a second chance at true love. Also, it takes place on an island in the Pacific Midwest, gah! The witchy vibes, the unfinished childhood love story, the murder mystery…mannn, this book has so many things to love!
The story is both dark and comforting, disconcerting and cozy. The undercurrents of magic and the tension between the characters are sooo well done!
I Watched…
I can’t believe it took me this long to watch this series! It is based on Stephen E. Ambrose’s best-seller and recounts the remarkable achievements of an elite team of U.S. paratroopers whose World War II exploits are as incredible as they are true. The series was created by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, who also served as executive producers. Episodes first aired on HBO in 2001. The series won the Emmy and Golden Globe awards for best miniseries.
The series has great casting, great acting, great action sequences, great real-life storytelling, and is very, very emotional. Of course, it’s a series about WW II, so there naturally is a lot of tension throughout each episode—the kind of tension that stiffens your entire body and causes sleepless nights. Still, absolutely worth it!
I Listened to…
Richard Strauss’ An Alpine Symphony conducted by the future chief of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra, Klaus Mäkelä!
The score for this colossal symphony calls for about 125 players (which is A LOT). A typical performance usually lasts around 50 minutes (which is LONG). The piece tells the story of eleven hours (from daybreak just before dawn to the following nightfall) spent climbing an Alpine Mountain, and is based on Strauss’ own experiences in the mountains: he and a group of climbers lost their way heading up a mountain and were caught in a storm.
The acoustics of the Concertgebouw (with its impressive organ), the orchestra’s skilled musicians, and Mäkelä himself (with his extensive tension arcs) had me sitting on the edge of my seat!
The first eruption, the sunrise, the idyllic picture of the alpine meadow, the sweet birds in the piccolo and dangling cowbells, the mountaintop, the storm—I’m still in awe of this piece and this performance.