Miss Clueless

I read Sapiens last year, and I still think about it sometimes. Especially these lines... The secret was probably the appearance of fiction. Large numbers of strangers can cooperate successfully by believing in common myths. The pursuit of an easier life resulted in much hardship, and not for the last time. It happens to us today. How many young college graduates have taken demanding jobs in high-powered firms, vowing that they will work hard to earn money that will enable them to retire and pursue their real interests when they are thirty-five? But by the time they reach that age, they have large mortgages, children to school, houses in the suburbs that necessitate at least two cars per family, and a sense that life is not worth living without really good wine and expensive holidays abroad. What are they supposed to do, go back to digging up roots? No, they double their efforts and keep slaving away. History is something that very few people have been doing while everyone else was plo...

I think 59 is a decent number; no speed-reading here, just enjoyment. Here's my list of 59 books I read in 2024. How many do we have in common? ;) A Little Life, Hanya Yanagihara 😭 Pachinko, Min Jin Lee 😍 Yellowface, R F Kuang  Fathers and Sons, Ivan Turgenev  Everything I Never Told You, Celeste Ng One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez 😍 Post Office, Charles Bukowski  The Book Thief, Markus Zusak 😍 Kafka On The Shore, Haruki Murakami🙂 Middlemarch, George Elliot  To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee 😍 Howl's Moving Castle, Diana Wynne Jones🙂 A Gentleman in Moscow, Amor Towles The Catcher in the Rye, J D Salinger🙂 Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie  Later, Stephen King  Notes from the Underground, Fyodor Dostoevsky  All Systems Red, Martha Wells  The Death of Ivan Ilyich, Leo Tolstoy  The Sirens of Titan, Kurt Vonnegut  Piranesi, Susanna Clarke🙂 The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Mark Twain To the Lighthouse, Virginia Wo...

 The Bell Jar—I found it disturbing, simply sad. I was even sadder when I read about Sylvia Plath on Wikipedia. But hey, what do you think of these lines from the book? The book is said to be semi-autobiographical. Perhaps these will tell you a bit about Plath herself. I was supposed to be having the time of my life. All my life I'd told myself studying and reading and writing and working like mad was what I wanted to do, and it actually seemed to be true, I did everything well enough and got all A's and by the time I made it to college nobody could stop me. Perhaps one day I would be able to write great books the way she did. I'd always spoil what I did so nobody would ask me to do it again. (Here Plath is talking about cooking and this is precisely what my sister thinks I do when I cook, but I don't, I swear. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯) The trouble was, I hated the idea of serving men in any way. I wanted to dictate my own thrilling letters. I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this...

I read Orbital by Samantha Harvey, the Booker Prize winner for 2024, and here are a few lines worth remembering from the book, at least for me! Though I enjoy reading and even resonate with many of these thoughtful reflections and lines, I didn't find the book as captivating or impactful as some other books I've read. Rating 3/5. .............. She finds she often struggles for things to tell people at home, because the small things are too mundane and the rest is too astounding and there seems to be nothing in between, none of the usual gossip, the he-said-she-said, the ups and downs; there is a lot of round and round. The strongest, most deducible proof of life in the photograph is the photographer himself—his eye at the view-finder, the warm press of his finger on the shutter release. I love the moon as it is, she said. Yes, yes, he'd answered, me too, but all those things are beautiful, because their beauty doesn't come from their goodness, you didn't ask if pro...

I didn't know about Anne of Green Gables or any books in the series until I watched the Netflix series Anne With An E. I really enjoyed it and I came to adore Anne. So naturally I wanted to read the books and continue Anne's life in my mind, after finishing the series. I'm done wrapping up the 4th book, Anne of Windy Poplars. It's been such a delight. I've picked out some excerpts, and lines from the book here, some of which are my favorites, some that resonated with me, and some that reminded me of pieces of stuff.  1. Anne of Green Gables ~For we pay a price for everything we get or take in this world; and although ambitions are well worth having, they are not to be cheaply won, but exact their dues of work and self-denial, anxiety and discouragement. ~"Dear old world," she murmured, "you are very lovely, and I am glad to be alive in you." 2.  Anne of Avonlea ~Far and wide was a white carpet, knee deep, of hailstones; drifts of them were heaped...

"I like good strong words that mean something." "Have regular hours for work and play, make each day both useful and pleasant, prove that you understand the worth of time by employing it well. Then youth will be delightful, old age will bring few regrets, and life become a beautiful success, in spite of poverty." "I want to do something splendid before I go into my castle, something heroic or wonderful that won't be forgotten after I'm dead. I don't know what, but I'm on the watch for it, and mean to astonish you all some day." "If we are all alive ten years hence, let's meet, and see how many of us have got our wishes, or how much nearer we are then than now." "Love is a great beautifier." "When we make little sacrifices we like to have them appreciated, at least." "You have grown abominably lazy, you like gossip, and waste time on frivolous things, you are contented to be petted and admired by silly ...

So I recently watched the 2017 Russian adaptation of Anna Karenina , an eight-part series by Mosfilm (one of the largest and oldest film studios in the Russian Federation and in Europe, according to Wikipedia). This one takes a unique narrative approach, presenting the story from Vronsky’s perspective.  Let me tell you—I was absolutely enthralled. From the acting to the costumes, the sets to the overall production quality, I liked almost everything about this adaptation, except for a few scenes and bits here and there. The performances felt authentic and moving, capturing the essence of the novel’s characters with remarkable fidelity. So satisfying was this adaptation that I’m not eager to seek out others. Somehow, I feel that no other version could match the artistry of this one. I’d like to explore more films and series by this studio, and I most certainly will. And I don't know why it's got such low ratings: 6.3/10 on IMDb and 17% on Rotten Tomatoes. It DESERVES much higher!...