Nona’s Story: Your Story A Guided Journal About You (Book)
by Rosana Sablic (SanaWorks Publishing $34.99)

When Rosana Sablic realized her nona (Croatian for “grandmother”) was dying, she created this journal to preserve her life story—and now invites you to commemorate the lifetime of someone you love. A detailed list of questions divided into four main sections (“Life Journey, “Family,” “Love and Intimacy,” and “Self”), Nona’s Story guides you through the steps of recording your life, or the life of a loved one, for future generations. There’s a decent amount of space for writing down details, plus pages reserved for photos. Also, chunks of Nona’s own story punctuate the book—in case you need a little inspiration.

—Tamara Letkeman

Dial M for Mantra (CD)
by Jai Uttal (Sounds True, $17.98)

“World music is music from everywhere,” says Jai Uttal. “Music that unites hearts and cultures. Music that brings peace.” Uttal, a true pioneer of world music, blends the sacred music of India with modern elements from the West in his latest offering. Dial M for Mantra takes Uttal’s soulful chanting through a metamorphic trip through the realms of soul, lounge, and even funk. A remixed compilation of his earlier music, Dial M is a radical, uncharted departure from his traditional devotional music of India. We predict that after a couple of listens, you’ll irresistibly be drawn into the vibe, especially track 6: “Ganesha Windmix.”

—Bruce Skipper

THINK PEACE: Portrait of a 21st Century Movement
(DVD, Pumpkinhead Production Company/DreamHouse Cinema, $19.95)

Can the modern-day peace movement put a stop to war? That’s the query put to activists, war resisters, journalists, and people-on-the-street in this homegrown documentary, which shines a light on said movement, while examining what went wrong on Feb. 15, 2003, when millions of people marching in more than 800 cities failed to stop the invasion of Iraq. Featuring interviews with Hans Blix (former chief U.N. Weapons Inspector to Iraq), Rex Weyler (co-founder of Greenpeace), and other figures in the modern peace movement, Think Peace gleans most of its footage from Vancouver’s World Peace Forum in June ’06—an event that, interestingly, received little attention from the mainstream media.

—TL