My Favourite History Books: Part 1
This is inspired by a (real!) request on Instagram, where the fabulously named @triestobeclassy asked me about my favourite history books. And as I have been thinking about this very topic recently, it presented the perfect excuse to put together a list. Please be mindful that this is not trying to be a ’best of’ list, there are many universally acclaimed history books I have not read and my interests can be niche. So you’ll find little among my picks on American history, the Roman Empire or WWII, while ancient and meta-history are rather well represented.
The Rooster House: A Deeply Personal Love Letter to Ukraine
On the night of 30 October, I was sitting alone in a small train cabin somewhere between Przemysl and Kyiv. It had been about a week since Russia had started to strategically target Ukrainian energy infrastructure, to cause maximum suffering as the winter was approaching. Every morning, there was worse news – 20% of infrastructure damaged. Then 30%. Then 40%. The bombs and drones caused damage faster than Ukrainians could repair it, despite performing miracles with scarce resources while being in constant, mortal danger.
The Colours of This Autumn
I rarely write about trends these days, not because I have a problem with trends per se, but because I find them harder and harder to reconcile with my attempt to buy fewer items and be less influenced by big business. I am still interested in trends, though, and in particular the bigger shifts in mood, silhouette and palette that go beyond one season.
How to Pack for a Work Trip
I have travelled a lot for work through the years, everywhere from the US to Korea and India, from Qatar to South Africa. Now that I work in Luxembourg, I go between Luxembourg and Brussels on a weekly basis. As a result, I have become quite good at packing and out of all the options, packing for a short work trip is possibly my favourite genre.
End of Summer Memo
I was planning to do an Early Autumn Memo for my re-entry into blogosphere, but it’s so warm in Brussels (up to 31 degrees expected in the coming week) that I cannot bring myself to talk about autumny stuff at the moment. Which is, in a way, good news, as I have quite a few things to share from this summer, and as they aren’t necessarily summer-specific, they may still be of use to you. So I am going to get them off my chest in this post, leaving all the talk of chocolate-coloured suede and plush perfumes for the next memo.
February Resolutions
I’m a weird person in the sense that I do not hate New Year’s resolutions. Of course, I don’t think they will miraculously fix all my problems, but there is something very appealing in having a reset, a fresh start. That said, I do not always feel the right energy at the beginning of the new calendar year. Often, I have this vibe in September, when I am rested after the holidays and determined to be more efficient at work and generally better at living.
Things I Want: 2023 Edition
It’s this time of the year again where I think about things I want, without worrying too much about whether I can realistically buy them. As I kept adding things, the list is now rather long. I will therefore stop the introduction here and promptly proceed to present the things I want.
The Best Books I Read in 2022
I had a rather shitty reading year in 2022, thanks, of course, to Vladimir Putin. I only hit my 100-book Goodreads target out of spite, refusing to give Vlad the Small the satisfaction of ruining my challenge. So I went ahead and finished 32 books in December (most of them in the last 10 days of the month), including four volumes of One Piece*, which absolutely count, thank you very much.
Against the Capsule Wardrobe
Ladies, gentlemen [in the voice of Christina Aguilera in ‘Dirrty’], I have found more reasons to be against capsule wardrobes. More?! you cry, how can there be more after this devastating piece 5 years ago? Indeed. I will get to that in a moment.
On Understanding the World
I have been away for more than a week in Indonesia and India. Before you get jealous, let me underline these were work trips with minimal free time and hardly any sleep: I have said before that my job is intense and I’m not joking. This doesn’t change the fact that being able to travel to the other side of the world as part of one’s job is a huge privilege – not just because it’s interesting to see other places (and it’s warm), but because it expands your mind.