read more“We leave something of ourselves behind when we leave a place, we stay there, even though we go away. And there are things in us that we can find again only by going back there.”
Mercier, P., Night Train to Lisbon, London: Atlantic Books, 2009
“It is the duty of those who have survived to bear witness to ensure the dead are not forgotten, nor humble acts of self-sacrifice left unacknowledged. (…) I dedicate this book to the MEN AND WOMEN OF GOODWILL who, generously, with unfailing courage, opposed the will to violence and resisted to the end.”
Françoise Frenkel, No Place to Lay One’s Head, 2019, Pushkin Press
If you love literature and, in particular, books by Patrick Modiano, you will love this compelling beautifully written memoir, No Place to Lay One’s Head (Rien ou poser sa tete) by a Polish-Jewish enigmatic writer, Françoise Frenkel (1889-1975) with a preface by Patrick Modiano.
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“your life is your life
‘The Laughing Heart’ by Charles Bukowski
don’t let it be clubbed into dank submission.
be on the watch.
there are ways out.
there is a light somewhere.
it may not be much light but
it beats the darkness.
be on the watch.
the gods will offer you chances.
know them.
take them.
you can’t beat death but
you can beat death in life, sometimes.
and the more often you learn to do it,
the more light there will be.
your life is your life.
know it while you have it.
you are marvelous
the gods wait to delight
in you.”
read more“The path of fiction could easily misled you into the cosmos of stories where everything was fluid, quixotic, and as open to surprises as a moonless night in the desert”
Shafak, E., The Bastard of Istanbul, Penguin Random House UK, 2015, pp. 96 – 97
Wanderer . . .
Bibliophile . . .
Introvert . . .
Exiled Soul . . .
My name is Joanna and this blog is merely a tool for me to express my thoughts about the books I have read, places I have visited and experiences I have lived through.
My reading list is very eclectic. I am trying to read from the East and the West; fiction and non-fiction. I read every genre and I particularly cherish books that I can connect with on an emotional level.
I love spending time in the nature, away from London city life.
I am an introvert who often needs time spent in solitude. Reading is one of the tools that allows me to go within in order to find peace and calmness.
Literature allows me to put myself in the shoes of the “other”, to hear many different voices from all parts of the world and to meet people that I would not be able to meet otherwise. I am particularly interested in reading stories of people who have been forgotten, marginalised and who exist on the peripheries of the society.
Reading allows me to connect with the rest of humanity and my inner self.
I hope you will enjoy this blog and it will inspire you to read some of my favourite books and to visit the places I love.
Two things that make me instantly happy are: a cup of Bergamot Earl Grey tea with a piece of lemon, cloves and cinnamon stick, and a cup of cardamom coffee with non-dairy milk.
My favourite movies are: Victor Nunez’s ‘Ruby in Paradise’ (1993), Krzysztof Kieslowski’s ‘Double Life of Veronique’ (1991), Wong Kar Wai’s ‘In the Mood for Love’ (2000) and Ken Loach’s ‘I, Daniel Blake’ (2016).
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