Book Review

The Cambridge Companion to Film Music
edited by Mervyn Cooke and Fiona Ford

This book of essays about film music was really interesting. One of its big strengths is the breadth of films and genres it covers: everything from animated family films to Japanese noir. Although the one caveat about that breadth, also my one main gripe about the book, is that it barely steps outside American and European film making. Even in the section entitled "Music in World Cinemas", three out of the five chapters are about films from central Europe. South American and African cinema are entirely absent.
I found the chapters about spaghetti westerns and Takemitsu's scores for three Shinoda films particularly illuminating in the ways they delve into how specific motives and instrumentations work with the narrative and visuals of the films. I also liked the chapters on music in horror and science fiction films and in noir films.

Book Review

Kiss of Snow
by Nalini Singh

This is the tenth Psy-Changeling novel and it features a romance that has been foreshadowed in a few of the previous books. Hawke is the leader of the SnowDancer wolf changelings. He is haunted by the tragedy that made him leader at a young age, and the belief that he lost his chance at a true mating years ago. Sienna is one of the small group of Psy who defected to the SnowDancer pack a few years ago. She has a rare, powerful, and potentially destructive ability that she fears will overwhelm her and lead to catastrophe. Hawke and Sienna are powerfully drawn to each other, yet resistant to that bond. Thus their relationship is very push and pull and full of tension. It takes a lot of will and for them to overcome their internal barriers, but when they do, they are perfect for each other. There's also a secondary romance plot involving Walker, one of the Psy, and Lara, the pack's healer. It's much more of a slow burn, gentle romance, which makes a nice contrast to Hawke and Sienna's story.
This one was well done and did a good job of tackling how people overcome their own internal barriers to let anther person in. However, Hawke and Sienna's relationship, while a good one that worked well for them, lacked a certain softness that I prefer in my romances. I preferred Walker and Lara's romance. Nonetheless, I did like seeing Hawke and Sienna finally get together after dancing around each other for a couple of books.