Good Monday: Summer books

As I have promised, I am sharing with you the list of the books I read on vacation :) This trip was very calm so I had a chance to read a lot. My favourite books of summer are:

Перевод

Как я и обещала, делюсь списком книг, которые удалось прочесть в отпуске. Поездка была спокойной и тихой, так что мне удалось всласть почитать.Вот мои книги лета:

• Peter Mayle  - "The Provence series"

I literally couldn't stop reading while flying from Kiev and transferring in Athens. Amazing style and plot ;)

If I had to pick up one out of the three, that would be "A year in Provence" :) I was really inspired to look closer at this part of the world and discover this land one day by myself :)

Перевод

Я просто не могла оторвать от нее во время перелета из Киева в Афины и после в аэропорту, пока ждала пересадку. Восхитительная манера письма и сюжет. :) Если бы мне нужно было выбрать только одну книгу из серии, я бы назвала "Год в Провансе". Мне безумно захотелось отправиться изучать эти земли лично.

• "The door into summer" by Robert A. Heinlein 

This book is a little naive, but somehow its last lines matched perfectly my mood at the time I was reading it. The mesmerizing belief in something really good inspires and leaves a pleasant warm feeling inside the heart.

Перевод

• My family and other animals by Gerald Durrell

This is my all time favourite that I read for the first time when I was a kid. No matter how old you are, you'll definitely find it interesting and funny :)

Перевод

Have a good Monday and keep on reading :)

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Good Monday: Fine Wine

I am not a big fan of alcohol. Frankly speaking, I would rather prefer some fresh juice to a glass of red wine. Simply don't get the pleasure of drinking something that tastes bitter on your tongue and makes you sleepy ( that's my reaction to having too many glasses :))

source:pinterest

But recently I've read a book by Joanne Harris called "Blackberry wine". It is a simple story about the childhood dreams, fears and friends. With a little bit of magic;) And, of course, there are lots of descriptions of a true fine wine.

source: pinterest

Don't know what the secret is, but it felt so natural to buy a bottle of light white wine on a Saturday evening. I read the lines about various tastes of this alcoholic drink in the book and wondered about the magic it had over the main characters. I think the mystery here lies in the attitude of the one who drinks it.  So I opened the bottle of Sauvignon blanc, sat on my balcony with my everyday partner in crime cat Yoshius and drank the cold liquid slowly. And I could finally discover apart from nasty alcoholic bitterness some aftertaste of fruits and berries in it. And so the magic began. :) That was one the best weekend evenings I had, even though I didn't leave my flat :) Sometimes it is better to slow down and spend a calm evening alone. :)

source: pinterest

Have a good Monday and treat yourself to some fine wine! :)

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White collars day off

As you might already know, I work for an IT company. Five days a week, like millions of people all over the beautiful planet of Earth,  I wake up early in the morning to get to the office and do my job. The job that in most cases I tend to like than to detest. Sometimes the routine of the everyday similar tasks can put me in a bad mood and frustrate. So after a hard and long week I try to spend more time on the things I love, that help me to revive my spirits and refresh my strength. I'll tell you today what I'm usually involved in on my days-off:) So here is the short list:

• my writing ( I am a writer, you know :)

I write a lot of silly things apart from posts in my English and Russian blogs. Mainly these are the short stories based on my childhood memories.

• working at my blog 

This basically involves not only paying attention to the content, lay-outing, photo shooting and styling new looks, but also embraces surfing through the web in search of inspiration, a very dull SEO part and answering emails.)

• reading

This is the most constant element of my weekends since I learned how to read. I use Amazon Kindle 3, which was my first big purchase after moving from my parents and starting the adult life. It is very convenient and pretty old, but I love it with all my heart. My favourite authors are Ray Bradbury, Ernest Hemingway and Alexander Grin.

 and spending time with my little kitten Yoshi :)
I took him from the street almost a week ago. He was struggling from starvation and had a broken back paw. Now he is recovering from all the bad memories and learning how to behave inside the house :) In Japanese "yoshi" means kind :)

These are just a few basic things I do when I'm out of office. Of course I love watching movies, taking long walks, meeting my friends and swimming in the lovely swimming pool by the place I live. And as I live on,  I discover even more captivating things to spend my leisure time. :)

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