[...] ageing is nothing to be ashamed of especially when the entire human race is in it together although sometimes it seems that she alone among her friends wants to celebrate getting older because it's such a privilege not to die prematurely (on living in a squat): the Marxists demanded they set up a Central …
Continue reading Girl, Woman, Other – Bernardine Evaristo – Quotes
One of the two winners of the Man Booker Prize for 2019. I bought all the shortlisted books, so I will slowly make my way through them. I tend to be a bit apprehensive about the Man Booker Prize nominees. I always think they will be extremely difficult to read, even though I enjoyed The …
Another book I brought from my trip to Dubai in July 2019. It seems so far away now, that the whole world has locked down and after three months is only hesitantly relaxing the measures. Other books I bought there were more focused on Arabic literature. But somehow Murmur caught my eye. It is based on the …
'It's not easy writing about nothing' That's how Patti Smith starts her book. The words uttered by a cowpoke in her dream. A kind of challenge that she accepts. Before I proceed with the review bit, I need to make a small disclaimer. I have seen Patti Smith live on All Points East in 2018, …
I got this book from my mum for Christmas I think, or my birthday. In Polish edition, it has a beautiful cover, so I was tempted to read it, but at the same time deterred by its size. Finally roaming my shelves during lockdown in April I got to it. It is an odd choice …
Continue reading Wanderlust: A History of Walking – Rebecca Solnit
It is one of the four books on city planning I got from my mum last Christmas. I have Polish editions, but where I can identify the English version I'll refer to it for convenience (it saves me re-translating the title). My mum is a civil engineer and I am an art historian by education. …
Continue reading Happy City: Transforming Our Lives Through Urban Design – Charles Montgomery
The doctor's surgery is full of men and women who do not know why they are unhappy. 'Take this,' says the Doctor, 'you'll soon feel better.' They do feel better because, little by little, they cease to feel at all. Of course we have romance. Everyone can see how useful romance is. Even the newspaper …
'There's no such thing as autobiography, there's only art and lies' This was my fifth book by Winterson. I absolutely loved Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?. Christmas Days made me all warm and fuzzy in that special time of year. Only to be slightly disappointed by Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit. And then to be …
I have a strange feeling I already wrote a review of this book, but I cannot find it anywhere. I write some reviews by hand first, but it's not in any of my notebooks. It's not in WordPress and I don't have it saved as word doc anywhere. Still, in my mind, I feel like …
Continue reading Lionel Asbo: State of England – Martin Amis
Welcome to week six! I hope you are all still safe and healthy. After last week's relatively depressing fare I wanted to treat you this week to some of the most moving books I've read since I started writing this blog. Some of them are funny, others full of hope, yet others are tragic. What …
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