I have read a lot about this book and probably because of it I actually broke my book buying ban (I got two other books, but this one was I think the main reason). I read it the first chance I got and it was a tremendous experience, especially for the size of the book, …
Continue reading The Optician of Lampedusa – Emma Jane Kirby
This book is a reaction to how 'migrants crisis' is presented in the media. Helene Thiollet together with other researchers takes a look at our common perceptions about migrations and tries to scientifically prove or disprove them. The book is organized around 50 questions, answers to those form separate chapters, the Polish edition of this …
Because I am still faithful to my book buying ban I get other people to buy books for me. This one was bought by my dear mum, she brought it with her when we went for vacation in March, so its technically hers and I just borrowed it. Within a month this was a second …
Continue reading Nine Lives: Mystery, Magic, Death, and Life in New Orleans – Dan Baum
What a book! What a woman! I really wish I can retain this kind of energy throughout my life. Diana Athill invites us to chat with her about getting old. What does it mean to her, when did she realized she moved from middle age to old, how she deals with it. As with Joan …
I have always wanted a pug and now I can't have one, because buying a puppy when you are too old to take it for walks is unfair. Brought up with dogs, I am baffled by those who dislike them. They have been domesticated for so long that cohabiting with us is as natural to …
Continue reading Somewhere Towards the End – Diana Athill – Quotes
It was probably one of the last books I bought on my Kindle before the book buying ban and also the last one in my recent non-fiction reading spree. Now I moved on to fiction, again hoping to find something more uplifting, I had the same hopes for non-fiction earlier and no such luck - …
Continue reading This is London: Life and Death in the World City – Ben Judah
What do you do when the impossible happens? When your husband dies and your daughter is in a hospital in a coma? How do you survive? Joan Didion tries to understand how she did it. She does not offer advice or solutions, it is an honest and brutal vivisection of her own grief. It is …
It is one of those almost coffee-table books, but one that you can still hold in your hands without breaking them under its weight. I am not sure I would agree this is the history of architecture exactly, but it definitely involves a hundred buildings. The thing that instantly made me jealous (and possibly a …
Continue reading A History of Architecture in 100 Buildings – Dan Cruickshank
Most of people have heard about Le Corbusier, he is usually associated with white modern buildings like the ones below: In his book Anthony Flint tries to present Le Corbusier through his work and to do justice to his ideas. He presents Le Corbusier as a visionary and a rebel, a man with holistic vision …
Continue reading Modern Man: The Life of Le Corbusier, Architect of Tomorrow – Anthony Flint
This was again a non-fiction book, quite a lot of those in my January reading stack. I found it utterly fascinating. Before I focus on the book, let me add a word of explanation - PRL was Polska Republika Ludowa aka People's Republic of Poland, the socialist form of the country currently simply as Poland …
Continue reading Nasz mały PRL – Izabela Meyza, Witold Szabłowski
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