🚢🚢🚢 THE ODYSSEY by Homer 🚢🚢🚢

 

The Odyssey by Homer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

ALWAYS GO BACK TO THE CLASSICS.

This has been a marvellous listen narrated by the iconic Claire Danes. What a treat!

What amazes me the most about it is the fact that it is a "SIMPLE" plot told in such an EPIC way that it has become FOUNDATIONAL in every aspect.

Storywise, it is Odysseus's journey back to his homeland and the many tribulations he encounters along the way. On the island of Ithaca, Penelope is waiting ever so PATIENTLY for 20 years for his beloved husband to come back home. Telemachus, their beloved son, consoling his mother and venturing in a quest to bring his father back. In between, the suitors trying to marry Penelope and siege the land and take profit from every side possible.

Literaturewise, the fact that it is supposedly a spoken tale that has been collected over the years and Homer is believed to have put it all together in such a unique way - it being in the form of verse none the less - is remarkable.

Culturally, it has become iconic in such a way that modern literature is often based on this story to make up new stories. The themes, symbols, props, characters, gods and goddesses, the sea, the ships, and so on and so forth.

You can read an adapted or abridged version as a child or the fully unabridged version as an adult and you will still find it inspiring, authentic, fascinating and very much REAL.

If you haven't read it because you feel it is boring, old or any other preconceived notion please reconsider. You will not be disappointed. You may like it more or less but I find it very difficult that you do not like it.

If you have read it, it is always refreshing to go back to it no matter when you do so. It has grounded me in more ways than I thought of.

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🌼🌼🌼 THINGS WE NEVER GOT OVER 🌼🌼🌼 by Lucy Score 🌼🌼🌼

 

Things We Never Got Over by Lucy Score
My rating: 5 of 5 stars 

"My wish for all of us is that we love whole-heartedly and are present enough in our relationships that when we part our only regret is quantity not quality" AUTHOR'S NOTE.

I really loved this story. The tiny tiny thing I was a bit reticent about but eventually got over is the voice actor for the role of Knox. In my head I imagined his voice being different so every time I got to listen to his side of the story it felt a bit off and therefore I couldn't follow as attentively as I did with Naomi's POV.

Leaving that aside, the story is beautifuly written. It made me tear up a bit in the end so that's always a plus. Naomi is very much like myself almost throughout the story and whenever I read a female character I can relate to I will always vouch for her and the author behind it.

I do not like comparisons but considering that my top romcom author is Emily Henry, Lucy Score has so far done more than enough to gain a spot next to her.

I'm always invested in sagas so I'm really looking forward to reading the next book in the installment.

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🌠🌠IN ASCENSION by Martin MacInnes 🌠🌠

 

In Ascension by Martin MacInnes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The greatness of this book lies not in the plot - because at sometimes it can get a bit sluggish or dragged or you just want to skip parts and move a bit forward faster - but in the overall concept behind it.

The structure of the narrative allows you to travel from earth into outer space and experience life in its smallest of details. I truly enjoy the journey, the knowledge, the transition of moving upwards with the narrator.

One aspect I find really intriguing is the correlation with the stages of consciousness as the narrator goes through each of the parts in the book: ENDEAVOUR, DATURA, KOUROU and NEREUS (ASCENSION)

ENDEAVOUR focuses on childhood, family, oceans and marine ecology. DATURA explores biodiversity and the amazon rainforest expedition. KOUROU already discusses the site for the Space launch and the propulsion breakthrough and finally NEREUS (ASCENSION) delves with interstellar voyage aboard the spacecraft.

The ARRIVAL finds the narrator discovering alien microbial life and the realisation of life continuing across scales.

I had to stop and rewind many times to try and understand the concepts. I even asked AI to help me navigate it but all in all I think it's worthwhile if you are interested in science through fiction.


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BOOK REVIEW: "The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity" by Carlo M. Cipolla

 

The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity by Carlo M. Cipolla
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is one of the craziest and most interesting pieces of nonfiction I've read so far. I've always been interested in psychology in all its forms but most precisely in the fields of mental illnesses and behavioural economics.

I've read and studied a lot of the latter via Coursera with the amazing course on Irrational Behaviour taught by Dan Ariely. This book by Carlo M. Cipolla is the closest second best I've come across in the field of behavioural psychology.

The fact that there are LAWS for HUMAN STUPIDITY is so very wild but once you get into it it's so common sense that you start thinking why you did not come up with this yourself. It's everything you see and people you meet every day analysed in such a microscopic way with the simple notion of defining some people as STUPID.

This should count as mandatory reading for people in politics mostly but it can be applied to your neighbour as well.

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Letters, my love language... part I

 Dear Hudson,

How are you feeling these days? I hope you are healthy, happy and surrounded by people who love you and nature that grounds you. There are so many things I want to say to you but the most important one is THANK YOU FOR BEING YOU every single time. Thank you for always uplifting your loved ones; Thank you for speaking your truth with no shame; Thank you for taking care of yourself so beautifully; Your acting, writing and directorial skills are out of this world. I have been following and supporting your journey every step of the way and I'm never going to back down. You are a wonderful soul who deserves every bit of happiness and success as everyone you wish it for. You have inspired so many people around you and overseas it is now impossible to look away from your light. I keep wishing to meet you one day just for the sake of giving you a hug and listen to you talk about whatever you want to talk about. In your own words: never lose your spark of madness. Love and light,

Signed,Carla.

🌟🌟🌟 THE GIVER OF STARS by Jojo Moyes 🌟🌟🌟

 

The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I didn't think it would enthrall me this much but it actually did!!!

I was hoping for an angsty romance and ended up delighted listening to Julia Whelan narrate so beautifully as she always does the vibrant and empowering story of these remarkable young women who decided to transform people's lives with their amazing travelling library.

Give it a go if you are looking for a wonderful mix of history, romance, love of books and female empowerment.

Once again the extraordinary power of audiobooks and the lasting effect they leave on you when the one giving voice to them is committed in making you feel for all the characters.

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BOOK REVIEW: OUTLANDER by Diana Gabaldon

 

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I remember when the TV adaptation came out I immediately delved into it without any hesitation. It was Scotland, romance, history and fantasy all entangled up beautifully together.

As the season progressed I became more interested in the plot and the character development. So much so that I decided to give it a go much much later in the seasons to start reading the books. It was a different approach than the one I generally take with book adaptations because in this specific case I had found out it was based off the book after watching the premiere so the concept of starting the series took a bit longer once I got hooked with the TV adaptation.

I got the first two books as a Christmas gift a couple of years ago and I started reading. I don't know whether it was the fact that I was not reading synced with the TV show; or the book edition or whatever but, surprisingly, it took me AGES to read ONE single chapter. I dragged it along so so much that I eventually decided to stop reading.

A couple of weekes ago I got hold of the audiobook and seeing that I had it unfinished on my nightstand I was determined to give it another go and finish it so I resumed my reading but this time along with the listening experience and THANK YOU DAVINA PORTER for imprinting such a nice change in the pace and the atmosphere of the story.

I can proudly say I finished the first book in the series. I have the second one on print as well so I'm planning to stick to the same routine of getting the audiobook, reading and listening to it simultaneously and moving forward with the other ones.

Lesson learned: long historical fantasy romance novels are not my cup of tea but I would still give them a go if there is audio to go with them.

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YAGA by Kat Sandler -

 

Yaga by Kat Sandler
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This has been a wonderful play to read and experience. I hadn't been so amused reading a play since The Importance of Being Earnest by the one and only Oscar Wilde.

I came across this play because of Hudson Williams's casting announcement in the soon-to-be Crave's TV adaptation.

Kat Sandler is magnificent. I'm of the idea that if I truly enjoy reading work from an author/playwright I'll keep reading everything in their repertoire to have a full understanding of them. Having stated that, I'll be reading past and future works of hers.

I highly recommend it for the laughs you'll get, the horrors you may encounter, the nonsense in between and the historical background of a folk tale/myth/legend? You name it.

---------
"You say these things and now it’s time to listen.

She leans forward impossibly slowly, as if to tell us a secret, suddenly, terrifying:

ARE YOU LISTENING?

Blackout."

(YAGA - YOU SAY - page 13)




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💖💖 💖 THREE OF US - A scene taken from "YAGA" by Kat Sandler - 💖💖💖

💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖

YAGA: Three is a good number. Three wishes, three witches, three words. Three parts of a story. Three bears, three fates, three Stooges. 

You can make decisions with three—you can get things DONE. 

So, every so often, there must be a baby. Now, we all have a say, but the youngest decides, it’s her body—we only ask that she not take too fucking long. 

First you have to find the man. That sounds easy, but it’s not, because there are so many men, and so many of them are stupid. Stupid men make stupid babies. And nobody wants a stupid baby. So it is important that he is clever.

The other important thing is that he’s handsome—being handsome doesn’t make a better baby, but it doesn’t hurt. Besides, we have to fuck him and that’s more fun if he’s good-looking, that’s just the truth.

Now, how it works: the man is drawn to us. Pheromones, smell, how our hips sway: magic. He devours us with his eyes, breathes us in, and imagines fucking us with his very soul. As for the fucking, I don’t have to tell you about it. It’s very good. We are fantastic in bed. Sometimes we throw in tricks, we have a nice time. Once is enough, for the baby. But sometimes we do it more. If we want. Me, I always want. So sue me, it’s fun. 

And of course, there are magic words. And let me tell you, magic is fucking hard. But a baby is magic, so it’s worth it: Without her, there can be no beginning, no middle, no end. So there must be three because three is forever.

And timing . . . is everything: You can’t fight time. It always runs out. Tick tock.

💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖

💖💖💖💖 Buy it from: Amazon.com: Yaga eBook : Sandler, Kat: Tienda Kindle 💖💖💖💖

CHILDLESS WITCHES - A scene taken from "YAGA" by Kat Sandler -

YAGA comes across the stage. We’re still in house lights. She speaks directly to us, getting us to sit down, etc. She pours and takes a few shots of Ukrainian vodka over the course of this monologue.

YAGA: Hey! Hey! Hey! Let me ask you. (light shift) Do you have child?

Or are you childless?

What a thing to say. As if you’re somehow less without child.

But, let’s talk about childless witches.

Childless witch helps two kids escape their shitty parents, lets them eat

her nice candy house, she gets burnt to a crisp.

Childless witch helps royal couple get child, doesn’t get an invite to the

christening, organizes a nice long nap for princess, witch gets sword

skewered by a prince.

Childless witch protects young girl by putting her in a nice tower, girl

gets knocked up by prince, witch loses her forever.

Things do not work out well for childless witches.

But can you think of any other kind?

When was the last time you heard of a wicked witch . . . with a baby? A

mother witch? I mean honest-to-God practises-magic-dances-with-the

devil witch . . . who is also a card-carrying member of reproductive

society?

Never.

So, we get pushed into ovens, stabbed with swords, and chased by

dwarves—little fuckers.

So, why not just have kids? Why not pop out a few buns, if only to

delay the stake, the cross, the rack.

WHY NOT?

Is it a biological issue? Are we all somehow, truly barren? When you

make that deal with the devil does she take your uterus?

She takes a shot.

No! Of course not.

Or is it that no one will fuck us? Because we are evil, or have bad

manners and don’t floss?

She takes a shot.

No! Of course not!

Is it because we are old, and ugly, as the stories KEEP REMINDING US?

Because we have teeth where our pussies should be?

No! Of course not!

We have magic, motherfuckers—we are fascinating and sing

beautifully. We talk to the trees and have MANY EXOTIC PETS.

Then is it . . . that the men who tell our stories are . . . scared of us?

And a witch with a child . . . that would really scare them . . .

Because they know that through children we will live forever.

And they’d rather we . . .

Poof.

Disappear.

Better to say we eat children than that we have children.

So it seems to me, to us, that the first thing you should concern yourself

with, as a witch—

She raises the final shot to us.

Is how to live forever.

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

You can buy the extraordinary play here.

💖💖 What do I know about LOVE? by Camila Cabello 💖💖

What do I know about love?

Nothing

Where does the love go when it runs out?

When does it leave?

Why does it die?

Do you kill it in one violent blow?

Or is it a million unattended

Unhealed little cuts and scratches?

What do I know about love?

Everything

It creeps into my chest

Uninvited and untameable

I know love has no mercy on anyone

Rich, poor

Independent, codependent

Confident, insecure

It'll bring you to your knees if you did it right

What I know for sure about love is

That you never come out of it the same

The other person is a chemical and I am a chemical

And we both will come out as different people than when we met

I know when you're in love, kissing is everything

'Cause words aren't the only way to tell someone how you feel

I know when you fall in love you feel like you're the first

And only two people in the world

Every kiss, every touch, every caress is like something you feel

Nobody has ever felt before

And you think, has everybody that's fallen in love before just walked around this nonchalantly the whole time?

You're at a restaurant with your friends and you can feel it

The secret under your tongue

Burning like fire

But sweet

And it creeps up to your cheeks and makes you smile

And suddenly you look down and you see your heart's veins reaching

Reaching

Clinging to someone else's heart

I've learned a lot about love in my 20s, but

Not enough to maintain any control in the face of its power

And for every new thing I learned

There was something else I couldn't understand

All I know is love changes you

If you're lucky, to something better

What I know for sure is falling in love with life itself

Makes an artist out of everyone

I thought I was making art before

Writing songs was me making art but

Now I want my life to be the work of art

And my songwriting to be the camera

That I take a picture of it with

It's what I'm living

That's the art

What do I know about love?

Maybe nothing

And that's why it's everything