On Recommending Books
“Oh, you like books, tell me, what should I read?” is among my least favourite questions in the world. It’s not that I don’t like to recommend books per se – I do, I like doing almost anything book-related and it’s also rather flattering when people see you as some sort of a book whisperer who can pick the right one for them. But that’s exactly the problem: recommending books is a bit like working with vulnerable animals – very tricky and also a huge responsibility. What if I mess up?
Thinking of Beirut
When I visited Lebanon in the end of 2018, I never got around to writing about the trip on the blog. Not because I didn’t like the visit – I adored the country – but sometimes the right moment passes and you think you can no longer do justice to your emotions and experiences. I always half-hoped I would return to the topic at some point, although I never imagined it would be in circumstances like this.
Lockdown Life: Training Like a Madwoman
A Facebook friend recently shared a Sunday Times article about middle-aged middle-class women who are hell-bent on exiting the lockdown with defined abs. I haven’t read the article for two reasons: 1) it was behind a paywall and 2) I was afraid it would hit too close to home. There is no denying I’m spending significant portions of my week strengthening my core. And I have a hunch that these ab-obsessed women do not come out of that article very well.
Lockdown Life: 6 Things To Do For Instant Fabulosity
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It’s funny how a small thing can derail the best-laid
plans. Actually, slash that, it’s not funny, it’s frustrating and really rather
disheartening, even if you know rationally that it’s not the end of the world (which
is plenty obvious a..
Lockdown Life: The Easiest Banana Cake in the Universe
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If all that talk of daily workouts and cleaning the house has made you worry that I’m turning into an ethereal wellness queen, have no fear. In parallel, I’m also baking like there is no tomorrow. I would be baking even more, if there was..
Lockdown Life: 6 Things I’ve Changed My Mind About Lately
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I’m sure we have all been re-evaluating things recently, from our life goals to food choices. At least personally, I don’t know anyone who’s entirely impervious to the current situation, and that makes me quite happy with my choice of fri..
Lockdown Life: Rethinking Things
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Writing this post has proved trickier than I thought: not because I have no views on isolation living or because they are too complex to get down on paper/screen (frankly, they are pretty basic). It’s not what I have to say, it’s the cont..
Life in the Time of Corona
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So, the lockdown is here. The city was quiet and empty when I walked to the office this morning, after a weekend spent at home. Before you get upset with me: I have an obligation to be in the office this week because of the nature of my w..
Best of 2019: Science Fiction & Fantasy
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Yes, I’m aware. It’s almost the end of February, not the time you’d generally expect a best-of list for the previous year to appear. But as discussed, I’m blogging when I want to (and when I can), so end-February it is. If you’re a regula..
6 Things to Figure Out by the Time You Turn Forty
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It was my 40th birthday in the end of January and so far, there’s no mid-life spleen in sight. Rather the opposite: I’ve been in excellent mood recently and I’m excited for both my upcoming party and things I plan to do in 2020. I also fe..