Haunting and Beautiful
919188
We got this game despite the fact that we have the Mario Kart for DS, and after HOURS of kids pleading, whining, cajoling, watching footage on Youtube, etc.

Yes, the music is completely haunting.  That is, since we got this game three days ago, the kids have been continuously playing it and the music haunts us in our sleep, in our pajamas, just outside the bathroom, on the staircase, on the treadmill, at the dinner table, upstairs, downstairs, in the garage, in the car, getting out of the car, wherever there's enough space for a child holding a 3DS XL.  And when there's no space, they just squeeze in anyway.

That said, it is a beautiful experience for the children to pretend to be Mario world creatures, flying through the air, diving under the ocean, on their crazy inane vehicles, careening around in fantastic scenery.  It's not violent and it's not a first person shooter game.  It's funny and fast.  There are no scary monsters, scenarios, or scenery.  And friends who have DS's love playing them together.  I can think of worse ways to spend a rainy day.
1871404
Just read this.

Beautiful and haunting, strange and wondrous.

This is a must read for those who are drawn to Japanese folklore.
1889885
The author captures the time, culture, loyalty and faith of Esther and allows the reader to feel and question the tug and pull that Esther feels her whole life.  A hauntingly beautiful book that will stay with the reader, long after the last page is turned.
4280548
I have not stopped thinking about this book since I finished it nearly a month ago. The prose is so beautiful that several times I had to reread a section 3 or 4 times to soak it in.  The weaving of past and present is poignant, especially given that the central theme of the book is the tightrope walk between the trade towers, which is all the more surreal now that they are gone. The subtle beauty of this book is breath-taking. I will never forget it.
2188087
While slightly more "alive" than After Dark, much of the book felt like a skeleton vetsion of what it could have been.

That said, I really loved it. Not on the level of Windup Bird or Kafka, but still a deeply engaging story. And for me, I didn't realize its true value until its final page. Something about its ending is haunting, and tragic, and happy, and beautiful all at the same time.

It's like a love interest you don't value until she's gone forever. Stirring and worthwhile, for sure.
3644571
This music is so beautiful, so haunting it's hard to believe a mortal could have composed it
3146366
The album "Shepherd Moons" was incredibly beautiful.  The music was frequently ethereal and haunting, almost fragile in its delicacy.  While it may be impossible for most of us to do anything but hum along, here is a book of her music for the CD.  The music for all twelve pieces is included, along with a little background for each piece.

Enya's music is so beautiful, airy and spiritual, that most instruments will yield an interesting interpretation.  However, there are some instruments that will be more suitable than others.  Keyboards of course, since much of Enya's music is on piano, but guitar, recorder, and violin are among the others that can keep various flavors of her music.  I myself prefer the haunting tone of the recorder, keeping in mind that you have to modify the music to accommodate the range of the recorder.  I prefer a deeper voiced recorder, I have a tenor recorder, because the music can be slowed for the more haunting songs and I like the emotion that you can put into a song with a tenor recorder.

As with any music, there are challenging pieces and places, but there is also easier music to play from this CD.  That the pace of much of the music is relatively slow helps for learning and musical interpretation rather than the much faster pace of rock or even a lot of classical music.  Learning to play music from this CD is a fascinating way to enjoy Enya's music.
1139990
One word to describe is haunting. It is one that will stay with you. The time and place is haunting. Based on a true story, set in Iceland back in the early 1800's. Agnes, who has been convicted of murder is sentenced to death. Toti, a reverend who has been assigned to her to guide her spiritually, and the family that is housing her until her death date is set. You are literally transported in time in this story as you begin to connect to the characters and you actually hear, see the person of Agnes. Agnes appears and by town gossip to be guilty of many sins. However, as you learn her story, you realize how much you don't know. Agnes is the about all of us- a story that gets to the heart, we want to be truly known. The reverend, who offers his hand, and the family that finaly accepts her.(less)
742607
I finished Eleanor about three weeks ago, and Im still not sure Ive found the right words to describe how much this novel moved me. As others have mentioned, its haunting and enchanting. Ill add that the prose is poetic and lyrical, often creating a dreamworld so full and lush, you're floating through it too, just as the characters are.

How about thisreading this novel is like an out of body experience. Gurley does an amazing job of pulling you into the story with his fantastic talent, but at the same time, theres a distance there. He wants you to watch, feel, observe, and participate, yet at the narrative core, this is all very much Eleanors world, and were just along for the emotional ride that Gurley takes us on.

The writing is vibrant and rich under Gurleys brushstrokes, so sit back, take in the beauty, and let him pull you into the artwork.
2639924
It amazes me that The Girl Who Fell From the Sky is Heidi W. Durrow's debut novel.  It is poetic, poignant, beautiful and elegiac with the panache of a seasoned writer.  Once I started it, I could not stop thinking about it.  It haunted my days until I finished it.  Durrow has a talent that is rare and brilliant, like the northern lights.

The novel is about Rachel, the lone survivor of a fall from an apartment building.  How did she fall?  What made her family go off the roof-top? Told in different voices, the story unfolds slowly and the reader is let in on family destinies, secrets, shame, and the legacy of alcohol.

The story starts off in Chicago.  It is told from the viewpoints of Rachel, a bi-racial girl who is in fifth grade when the story opens and is in high school at its end.  There is Nella, Rachel's mother, who is Danish, and whose surviving diary tells her story.  Roger, Rachel's father, is a black man in the military who meets Nella in Europe and who leaves Rachel with his mother after the fall.  Laronne is Nella's supervisor at work who comes across Nella's diaries after her death.  And then there is Brick, a young man of the Chicago tenements whose stolen copy of Petersen's Guide to Birds is his most prized possession.

As this haunting novel begins, Brick, a budding ornithologist, is watching for birds to fall in the alleyway of his building.  He is hoping for an egret but usually what he sees are falling trash bags and detritus from the upper floors. This time, he sees what he thinks is a huge bird falling and he runs downstairs to see what kind of bird it is. "He was certain the silhouette of the great egret had passed his courtyard window".  "When he finally reached the courtyard, he saw that his bird was not a bird at all.  His bird was a boy and a girl and a mother and a child. The mother, the girl, the child. They looked like they were sleeping, eyes closed, listless.  The baby was still in her mother's arms, a gray porridge pouring from the underside of her head.  The girl was heaped on top of the boy's body, a bloody helpless pillow."  This sight becomes imprinted on Jamie and effects the course of his entire life.

Rachel is the only survivor of the fall and, after her hospitalization, is sent to live with her grandmother in Portland  With her blue eyes and `good' hair, she becomes very much aware of race.  There are the white girls and there are the black girls.  She fits in nowhere though she tries to make a new self after the fall.  Her mother, "Mor", had done her best to shield Rachel and her siblings from race, to see themselves as unique beings, not as a color.  This was much easier to do in Europe than in the United States.  As Rachel navigates the racial terrain of her new world, she is stymied over and over by the subtleties and outright cruelties of race.

Rachel watches her grandmother drink her `contributions' and sees how the amount of her drinking increases daily.  Rachel is very aware of the impact of alcohol on her family's lives.  Nella was in recovery when she died and her diary begins each day with the number of days she has been sober.  Roger, Nella's father, is an alcoholic, and it becomes clear that Rachel's grandmother has a huge problem with her `contributions'.  Though Roger does not visit Rachel once she is out of the hospital, his story is told through Brick who met him in the hospital.  There, Roger shared family secrets with Brick and made him promise to one day tell these to Rachel.

The story unfolds in layers, slowly and magnificently.  The reader has questions answered page by page until the story of the fall, the family secrets and history, are all given to us in haunting and precious bits.  This is more than a story of a bi-racial girl and her ability to adapt to a new world and the horror of her legacy.  It is a story of resiliency and hope and awareness and insight.  Rachel is one of the strongest and clear characters that I have come across in literature.  This is a book to be treasured and re-read.  It is that good.
1508606
This book is both haunting and beautiful... it hung around and is staying with me far longer than most books do when I've finished them.  I first read Elidor when I was 14 years old, and that book made such an impression that I still remember it 35 years later.  I probably won't be around in another 35 years, but Strandloper will stay with me until then.  This book is a treasure.

As other reviewers have stated, this book requires, nay, demands your full attention, but once you have passed through the first pages and get caught in the rhythm, you will find this book very difficult to put down.
3459617
This book is not for everyone, but it was so beautiful, haunting, heartbreaking, terrifying and intriguing that I could not put it down. I read it in one day and already want to start again. This book was more than a book, it was an experience that I would happily undertake again and again.

My Thoughts
From the second I read the synopsis of this book I was hooked. I love dark and twisty reads, so this was right up my alley. I didn't think that I would fall so hard for Braxton or Jessica. These two broken people found each other in the most messed up of ways, but ended up being better than they could have imagined. For all the darkness and rawness of the story there was an underlying goodness in both Jessica and Braxton that called to me and made me abandon all responsibility and read through this book from start to finish in one day. I highly recommend this book if you want something that is a little different, a lot beautiful, and a little ugly all at the same time
2525246
Beautiful and haunting, this book reached into my heart. It brought me to tears, it made me laugh. It is one book that I will not soon forget.
4258375
Mr. Baker's novel is filled with beautiful, haunting scenes, scenes which reflect the internal, or heart, of the characters struggles. Each character came to represent an archetype for me, the higher self, the wanderer, the distraction. The whole story becomes a journey to understand ourselves, but not in the cliche way common to first novels. In a deeper, richer way.

This book is a must read, both for the high quality of its writing and for the journey you are lucky enough to be included on in its pages.
3778602
Hauntingly beautiful.  Expertly written.
Did not want it to end.  Could not put it down.
Sad and melancholy.
Wonderful story
1418734
While this was a very painful book to listen to/read, it was well worth it by the time the end came near. It is a very profoundly sad at times, and horrifying as well. It is indeed haunting, heartbreaking and compelling. Hosseini is able to take his reader right into the story, and it feels as though one is right there with the characters experiencing it alongside of them. Although this was set in Afghanistan with all the horrors of being a woman there, I believe there is a universality to some of the themes within the story: domestic violence, abuse, helplessness, etc. Hosseini's books have opened up a new culture and experience for me and caused me to have a deep appreciation for Afghani women and their suffering. Even though this is a painful story, there is much beauty within its pages.
3017564
Swanson has penned a book, a majestic rendering of the heart that haunted me long after I put this novel on the shelves among my favourites.  I was touched with the simplicity of his writing, and astounded that such  simplicity is exactly what engages the reader and keeps them glued to the  pages until the book meets its resolve. I think we have all ached for  someone, perhaps found them, and then lost them for reasons that are often  too painful to remember... or so we think, but we do remember them, even if  through subliminal hauntings that carry forward into our adult lives.  Christian is so familiar to me, like a shadow-self who appeared before me  in my sleep to remind me of a someone all too familiar to Reis. If this is  the one book you pick up off the shelf to ponder, beware the strong effect  that it is destined to have on you.  Its intoxication will leave you  breathless, dizzy and aching for someone you thought you said goodbye to  years ago.