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I Tried All the Le Labo City Exclusives in Case You Cannot: Part 1

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I Tried All the Le Labo City Exclusives in Case You Cannot: Part 1

I’ve always had conflicting feelings about Le Labo. I really like some of their scents and their aesthetic was truly refreshing when the brand launched. Their gimmicky ways can be irritating, though. I understand that insisting on ‘fresh’ mixing of the perfumes and the confusing naming practices are a marketing strategy (and a pretty successful one, I guess), but I find it annoying. The whole song and dance about their city exclusives is the most ridiculous part of it all in my view.

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Three Weeks in the US: An Introduction

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Three Weeks in the US: An Introduction

After the pandemic, we decided with the family (the family in question being me, my long-time partner J and our daughter L who is 15) to try and undertake one longer trip together every year. Last spring, we did Japan and this August, we went to the US. I confess that the States aren’t necessary my dream destination, but L wanted to go, J wanted to see the Grand Canyon and I had only been across the Atlantic for work, so a decision was made.

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Best of 2023: Fiction & Poetry

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Best of 2023: Fiction & Poetry

Posting my previous year’s favourite books in March must be some kind of a record. But as I shared my absolute faves already, doing the follow-ups by genre seemed less urgent. And then suddenly I was about three months late. Anyway, I have found these summaries very helpful for myself, when people ask for book recommendations or when I need to recall my favourites for any other reason. So I am doing this despite the ridiculousness of the timing.

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9 Ukrainian Fashion Brands to Know

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9 Ukrainian Fashion Brands to Know

Instead of writing this, I should be finalising my 2023 best-of lists for fiction and non-fiction, but have run out of energy – since December, I have been obsessively reading all the 2023 lists in the world, then putting together my own versions, then plotting my 2024 TBR and going over all the ‘most anticipated’ lists, so I just cannot face another book-themed list at the moment. I will get over it, but until then, let’s take a quick detour and talk about Ukrainian fashion.

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Best of 2023: Science Fiction and Fantasy

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Best of 2023: Science Fiction and Fantasy

2023 was a very enjoyable SFF reading year to me, with almost exactly half of the 166 books I read being either science fiction or fantasy or both. And most of them were good. That said, compared to previous years, I didn’t find any new favourites of the same caliber as The Broken Earth Trilogy or Arkady Martine’s Teixcalaan books. There are also some strange absences: I started two of the Sanderson secret projects, but didn’t finish them, despite liking both Tress of the Emerald Sea and Yumi and the Nightmare Painter. I also didn’t read the latest Murderbot, as I was advised to do a Network Effect reread before I tackle System Collapse*. All three are very much on the top of my list for this year.**

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Best Books of 2023

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Best Books of 2023

2023 was a somewhat strange reading year for me – definitely not bad, with 166 books* finished, about 40 000 pages read and some branching out in terms of genre accomplished. But while I read many good books last year, there were perhaps fewer absolute highs than I have had in the past. I was also rather inconsistent: August and December were great with 26 and 23 books respectively (these tend to be my best months every year, simply because I have more free time due to holidays). And then there were weeks when I read only alien romance, as my brain was too exhausted from the translation work I was doing on top of my actual work to focus on anything more demanding.

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