Elevate Difference

Reviews by Victoria Kroeger

Heartwood

Canadian artist Sora lists Loreena McKennitt as one of her greatest musical influences, a fact that is apparent on her latest musical effort, Heartwood. A beautifully put together collection of songs that conjure up druid celebrations and ancient royal courts, the album is reminiscent of McKennitt's modern Celtic style.

Forbidden Passion

Forbidden Passion is a paranormal romance centered around the relationship of Dr. Marlena Bender and Sheriff Dante Valtrez. Set in the small Southern town of Mysteria, the book begins with Marlena returning home to confront her troubled past. Twenty years before, Marlena witnessed the gruesome deaths of her mother and sister at the hands of two men in the woods.

No Mexicans, Women or Dogs Allowed: The Rise of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement

So often, when studying the history of civil rights in the United States in school, the curriculum concentrates on the struggles faced by African Americans and white women. The plights of other minority groups though, such as Asian Americans or Hispanic Americans, are often omitted from the textbooks. In those rare instances when these other groups are mentioned, their histories are condensed into a paragraph or side note. Cynthia E.

Lesbian Cowboys: Erotic Adventures

Lesbian Cowboys: Erotic Adventures is a collection of fifteen short stories that, as promised, feature lesbian cowboys. On average, the stories run approximately fourteen pages or so, which results in the feeling that there is not much in the way of plot or character development.

2010 Complete Tibetan Calendar

The 2010 Complete Tibetan Calendar is, as calendars go, pretty nifty. It features an astrological forecast for each day of the year, determined by a combination of three factors: element combination, ruling conjunction, and auspicious combination. If you do not know what any of these things are, don’t worry; located at the end of the calendar, in the “About This” section, is a wonderfully constructed chart that explains what each astrological indicator is and how it affects a person’s daily life.

Stagestruck Vampires and Other Phantasms

Recently, during a discussion on the flaws of Twilight, an acquaintance of mine made a rather insightful statement. “The vampire is supposed to die. Period.” Don’t get me wrong, I love a sexy paranormal as much as the next chick, but lately I’ve noticed that a lot of vampires have, for lack of a better pun, lost their bite.

From May to December

From May to December is the story of four women, sisters Lolly and Jen and inmates Nicole and Sonya, whose lives intersect at a women’s correctional facility. As the title suggests, the timeline of the book spans from May to December and each chapter focuses on a different woman’s point of view. Lolly teaches classes to women in prison.

Good Evening

Somewhere, there is an indie coming-of-age film that is just begging to be scored by Nite Jewel. Nite Jewel is the stage name of one Ramona Gonzalez, a songwriter and composer who hails from Los Angeles California. Using a multi-track cassette recorder, keyboard, drums and other various instruments, Nite Jewel’s music is reminiscent of that synthesized techno pop sound that reached its pinnacle in the 1980s.

Call Me Okaasan: Adventures in Multicultural Mothering

Call Me Okaasan: Adventures in Multicultural Mothering is a collection of essays by twenty different women who are all raising children in a multicultural environment. The children in this book mainly fall into three categories: they are of mixed racial heritage, they are being raised in a country to which their parents have immigrated, or they have been adopted by parents from another culture.

Four Queens: The Provencal Sisters Who Ruled Europe

Let me start out by saying that I am not a fan of non-fiction books. Seriously, the only things I read that can be categorized as historical are also categorized under romance. I expected this book to be like the ones I had to read for history classes in college: boring and never ending. It wasn’t an experience I was looking forward to. So imagine my surprise when I started reading and found that not only was the book interesting, it was so compelling that I literally could not put it down. I loved this book.

The Delivery Man

The Delivery Man is the story of Chase, a twenty-something guy living in Las Vegas. The book switches between Chase’s present day life and flashbacks from his tragic Las Vegas childhood.

A Survival Guide for Landlocked Mermaids

Margot Datz’s A Survival Guide for Landlocked Mermaids is a wonderfully colorful picture book for adults - the kind of book that should come with matching postcards, a calendar, and refrigerator magnets. Datz is both writer and illustrator, and she does a delightful job with both. The focus of the book is how women can experience life to the fullest by living like mermaids.

Magic and the Power of the Goddess: Initiation, Worship, and Ritual in the Western Mystery Tradition

The planet is in turmoil and, according to Magic and the Power of the Goddess by Gareth Knight, we can heal it by connecting with the Goddess - the feminine energy that runs though our world.

Pulsa Bath Ball

The Pulsa Bath Ball by Pure Romance, the company best known for taking Tupperware parties to the next level, is your basic, no frills massager. Consisting of a grapefruit-sized loofah with a vibrating motor in its center, the Pulsa Bath is a massager intended for use in the bath or shower. Given how annoyingly loud the massager is when turned on, I would opt for the shower since the running water does a pretty good job of masking the motor’s whirl.

Zodiac Girls: From Geek to Goddess

Zodiac Girls: From Geek to Goddess by Cathy Hopkins is a re-telling of one of the oldest stories around. Girl goes to new school where she doesn’t know anyone, gets picked on by the school bully and fails to make the team, or in this case, the school play. Eventually, through misadventures and valuable life lessons, she comes to love herself, make friends and stick it to the aforementioned bully. What makes this re-telling different from all the others?

Ginger Brooch

Ugly yet endearing, the Damned Dollies brooches have that freak chic element that appeals to the fourteen-year-old goth girl inside all of us. Approximately two inches tall, the handmade brooches are big enough to make a fashion statement yet small enough not to hinder regular movement and can be secured easily to a bag or jacket. As the Damned Dollies website claims, I received a brooch similar to, but not exactly like, the model shown online. The online version of the Ginger Brooch featured a red-haired doll with a white top and pink patterned skirt.
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