A Holiday Culture Smorgasboard

Hello all! Hope you all had a good end of year celebration. I'm sorry for the scant updates around here. Anyhoo, here is, as the title suggests, a collection (and subsequent reviews for each.) Let's start with:

My Christmas Gifts:

1. Florence + The Machine, Lungs

I first heard a song by Florence + The Machine on a fan-made music video for the film How To Train Your Dragon. I instantly fell in love with Florence Welch's epic, soaring voice. I waited for my library to receive the album. Unfortunately, they never stocked it. So here I got it for Christmas, yay! Really, Florence is such a powerhouse singer, anyone could fall in love with her instantly. Tracks of Note (Really my favorites): Dog Days Are Over, Howl, Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up), Cosmic Love, Drumming Song.

2. Florence + The Machine, Ceremonials

Florence takes a different, moodier approach to this album. The main inspiration, for it, according to her, drowning: "I'm attracted to the idea of drowning, or rather the idea of jumping off and being enveloped by something, not bad or good, just enveloping. [...]"(From the accompanying leaflet.) The album is very melancholic, but it makes me feel so powerful. Tracks of Note: No Light, No Light, Seven Devils, Only If For A Night, What The Water Gave Me.

3. Hark! A Vagrant By Kate Beaton

This book was listed on Time's list of the top 10 fiction books of 2011. [About Friggin' time, Time! *Shakefist*(End anager rant :-P)]. Beaton makes some of the wittiest comics out there. As a plus they are about history! History! With Napoleon, literature, and whatnot! The great thing is that her comics encourage you to look up the subjects, resulting in a free history lesson! What's not to love? You can find her strip at http://harkavagrant.com/

4. iDrakula By Bekka Black

I haven't actually read this book yet. Whereas Dracula is told in diary entries and letters, iDrakula is told with iPhones, iPads, and other things. I just want to read the original Dracual to get the story.

Have A Great 2012 Everyone! And coming soon: Webcomics! Mermaids! Shooting Stars! Ada Lovelace and Charles Babbage! A few good songs! Adrian Celanto! Vinyl Records! And much, much, more!