ABOUT ME

My name is Joanna, and this blog is a quiet space for book reviews, musings on literature, gentle travels, and reflections on art and slow living. These small vignettes are meditations on the books I return to for comfort, and on the places I wander in search of calm and solace, especially in anxious times. I hope you will discover stories here that speak to you, and feel inspired to read a little more, and perhaps a little more slowly.

“Earth seemed a desert I was bound to traverse, seeking to find the old familiar faces.” – Charles Lamb

I also hope that these small vignettes from the world I inhabit will offer you moments of peace and quiet comfort, gently soothing the mind as they cultivate a space that is loving, inclusive, and tender to all who wander here.

“We are like books. Most people only see our cover, the minority read only the introduction, many people believe the critics. Few will know our content.” – Emile Zola

As for my reading life, it is wonderfully eclectic. I seek out voices from both East and West, moving between fiction and non-fiction, and across genres. Above all, I cherish books that stir something deep within me – those I can connect with on an emotional level.

I am an introvert, often in need of solitude. Reading is one of the ways I turn inward, in search of peace and quiet calm. To be surrounded by the gentle glow of my inner world, and the warmth of my own thoughts, brings me a deep and lasting joy.

“…in the quiet corners of the world, amidst the ordinary lives, there exists an unspoken beauty in the unnoticed souls…” – Jhumpa Lahiri

Literature allows me to step into the shoes of the “other,” to listen to voices from distant places, and to encounter lives I might never otherwise meet. I am especially drawn to stories of those who have been forgotten or marginalised, who exist at the quiet edges of society. Reading becomes a bridge connecting me to the wider human experience, while also guiding me inward, helping me understand both my own inner world and the mystery of otherness beyond it. I hope you will find joy in this space, and feel inspired to read some of my favourite books and wander through the places I hold dear.

There are small rituals that bring me instant happiness: a cup of bergamot Earl Grey with a slice of lemon, cloves, and a cinnamon stick; or a cup of cardamom coffee with oat milk.

“After all, what can a first impression tell us about someone we’ve just met for a minute in the lobby of a hotel? For that matter, what can a first impression tell us about anyone? Why, no more than a chord can tell us about Beethoven, or a brushstroke about Botticelli. By their very nature, human beings are so capricious, so complex, so delightfully contradictory, that they deserve not only our consideration, but our reconsideration—and our unwavering determination to withhold our opinion until we have engaged with them in every possible setting at every possible hour.” = A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

Some of my beloved books are: The Books of Disquiet by Fernando Pessoa, The Emigrants by W.G. Sebald, anything by Fyodor Dostoevsky and Patrick Modiano, especially his Honeymoon, Istanbul and The Black Book by Orhan Pamuk, Madonna in a Fur Coat by Sabahattin Ali, The Last Summer of Reason by Tahar Djaout, Stories of Sahara by Sanmao, Lucky Breaks by Yevgenia Belorusets, The Lost Shore by Anna Langfus, A House of My Own: Stories from my Life by Sandra Cisneros, Latecomers by Anita Brookner, Whereabouts by Jhumpa Lahiri, Brian by Jeremy Cooper and The Teacher by Michal Ben Naftali.

Some of my favourite movies are: The Man Who Sleeps (1974) by Bernard Queysanne and George Perec, Abbas Kiarostami’s Taste of Cherry (1997) and Close-up (1990) and all his films, Lee Hyun-seung’s Il Mare (2000), Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma (2018), Victor Nunez’s ‘Ruby in Paradise’ (1993), Jean-Jacques Beineix’s Betty Blue (1986), Krzysztof Kieslowski’s ‘Double Life of Veronique’ (1991), Wong Kar Wai’s ‘In the Mood for Love’ (2000) and all his films, Agnes Varda’s Jean B (1988), all films by Andrei Tarkovsky, My Liberation Notes by Kim Seok-yoon, Ken Loach’s ‘I, Daniel Blake’ (2016), Levan Akin’s Crossing (2024), all films by Nuri Bilge Ceylan (especially Winter Sleep, Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, About Dry Grasses), all films by Theo Angelopoulos and Yasujiro Ozu, Museum Hours (2012) by Jem Cohen and Perfect Days by Wim Wenders (2023).

Music I like listening to: the Turkish folk singers: Selda Bagcan, Birsen Tezer, and Kâmuran Akkor, the Lebanese singer: Fairuz,the Swedish folk singer: David Norgern, the Israeli singer: Ofra Haza, the American artist singing in Spanish: Danit, the Mexican singers: Chavela Vargas, Silvana Estrada, and Carla Morrison, the Tuvan throat singer: Sainkho Namtchylak, the French-Armenian singer: Charles Aznavour, the French band: Noir Desir, the Burundian artist: Khadja Nin, the American artists: Chet Baker, Miles Davis, Jeff Buckley, Louis Armstrong, Nat King Cole, Norah Jones, Mazzy Star, and Kansas, the French singer: Sacha Distel, the Serbian artist: Goran Bregovic, the Polish artists: Marek Grechuta and Paktofonika, the Senegalese singer: Ismael Lo, the Spanish singer: Buika, the Italian artist: Ornella Vanoni, the Malian singers: Fatoumata Diawara and Rokia Traore, the Angolan artist: Bonga, the Venezulean artist: El Canserbero, the Cuban band: Buena Vista Social Club, the Algerian artist: Cheb Mami and the American-French artist: Josephine Baker.

Hugs!

“The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep.”

– Robert Frost