Saturday, October 15, 2005

Disappointments and Anticipations

The Disappointment:

Melissa Etheridge: Greatest Hits: the Road Less Traveled: Don't get me wrong, Greatest Hits is not a bad cd. After all, she does have Tom Petty's Refugee on here as well as Janis Joplin's Piece of My Heart along with some of my favorite ME songs, such as Baby You Can Sleep While I Drive, If I Wanted To, and I'm the Only One. Plus there are some new songs like the breast cancer themed, I Run for Life. And what more can one ask for in a greatest hits compilation, right? Well, I had hoped to finally see recordings of two excellent covers Etheridge has done on television: Rod Stewart's Maggie May and Joan Armatrading's The Weakness in Me. The latter is one of my favorite songs, period, and I didn't expect to like anyone's version but Armatrading's. Melissa Etheridge does herself and the song proud. That's where the disappointment comes in; I'd really hoped to finally have these songs. The Weakness in Me is available on a cd called Ain't Nuthin' But a She Thing, a 1995 cd released to raise money for breast cancer research. I've never found Maggie May available anywhere except on a British import that I wasn't going to pay that much money for just because I wanted the one song. It's not available for download anywhere I've seen, so I really wish she'd put it on this cd.

The Anticipation:

Arthur Phillips' The Egyptologist: I've been looking forward to this book much longer than I'd been wanting to read The Historian, although I read the latter book first. I finally bought The Egyptologist. It's set in Egypt before Howard Carter made what is probably the most famous archaeological find ever -- the discovery of King Tut's tomb. Howard Carter, while not the main character, does make an appearance in this novel. It's funny so far and it immerses me in a world I've always dreamed of being in -- that of the archaeologist. If I'd followed my childhood dreams, that's what I'd be now, so it's fun to read of that world. I'm only a few pages into it, but I'm hoping it will turn out to be a book I'll enjoy.

4 comments:

Dixie said...

You and the Amazon reviews have sold me on the Egyptologist. A mystery with twists and humor is something I always love.

Finish it and then tell me if it held up.

BabelBabe said...

Katya, let me know about The Egyptologist. I bought Prague because of all the great interviews with the author after Egypt. came out, and I was sorely disappointed so never attempted this one. But if you like it, I'll give it a shot. so keep us posted...

Kathy said...

Okay, I'll let you know how I like it. I really hope it's good.

Kathy said...

I think you must be right -- although, I never had the photographer dream -- only the archaeologist one.