Since I’m a book nut, I don’t generally rave about CDs as there are plenty of others more articulate about this format who work for Olsson's, but I know what I like, and I am excited about the new KD Lang release Watershed. This is her latest since 2004 when she recorded Hymns of the 49th Parallel, her covers of songs by Canadian artists, and once again she maintains her exacting studio work, with moody lyricism, her ethereal vocals floating over bluesy instrumentation - liltingly haunting stringed and improvisational-sounding keyboard accompaniment. It’s once again what she prefers to do, the torch song style to which she has returned several times since Ingenue and "Miss Chatelaine". Watershed is on sale now for $16.99 in basic format and $21.99 for the deluxe limited edition featuring an interview and live tracks. A great gift for your moody valentine.

If you need help composing your love letters, we have pocket size selections of Pablo Neruda and Rumi, as well as handy little anthologies such as and "Only Companion: Japanese Poems of Love and Longing" and the Everyman's Library Pocket Poets series which include Love Songs and Sonnets, Love Poems, and Chinese Erotic Poems. Maybe Olsson's can help those poor benighted guys out there save their bacon.

On the flip side, those of us who are unlucky or simply grouchy about love have taken an (unhealthy?) interest in the competitive sales of the off-beat, non--traditional, and quirky DVD selections in the past week. These include CLASSICS like Harold & Maude, Blue Velvet, Emmanuelle, Belle du Jour, Hedwig & the Angry Inch, and Fatal Attraction (for sale and/or rent). Of course, for the romantics among you, we can also supply the traditional fare for a romantic movie evening: An Affair to Remember, What Dreams May Come, Casablanca, Shakespeare in Love, The Princess Bride, and the newly released, brilliantly-conceived, Beatles-inspired, 1970s New York homage, Julie Taymor experience Across the Universe (on sale for $23.99). Help us keep the competition alive - with Lovers vs. Losers, Doubters vs. Dreamers.

And finally, a wonderful little book that makes its appearance at this time every year - Against Love: A Polemic (Random House/Vintage, $12.95) by Laura Kipnis, the notorious cultural studies wonk. She asks the important questions - is it really in our evolutionary interest to become entangled in the emotional roller coaster of romantic passion? And how often do these (perhaps unhealthy) emotions get us into unsavory or even fatally dire predicaments? Don't single people have more fun as well as the ability to look after their own self-interests? Are they just more honest about the demands of relationships and their inability to stay committed? Questions worth asking. Consider what she says, and decide if she has a valid point, or if she's just arguing for the sake of argument.

Andrew