tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92205941466379956362024-02-18T18:56:49.360-08:00Books, Coffee and CakeBook reviews and cake recipes.Halynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08037029947281140281noreply@blogger.comBlogger99125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220594146637995636.post-11048955376283476982024-01-31T07:00:00.000-08:002024-01-31T07:00:00.449-08:00How to read more. A book a day projectI came up with this idea as I was brainstorming for this blog. Now, let me be frank - I'm not the fastest reader out there. Nor the most dedicated reader. I'm prone to hanging onto the same book for months, unable to finish it, but too stubborn to DNF it. More often than not, I've no idea what I want to read. It takes me a while to get into a book, and I've only ever finished a book in a day on one or maybe two occasions. Yet, here we are!<br />
<h3>
Why read more books faster?</h3>I'd like to change my reading habits and become a more consistent and quality reader. Reading a book a day can't possibly be realistic! Right? Then there's the question of whether consuming so much information in a relatively short time benefits a reader. You won't get the point of the whole story. Will you even enjoy it? And you definitely won't remember a thing of what you've read.<br />
<br />
Well, I tend to forget what I've read about no matter how fast or slow I am as a reader. I have a few books I'd like to reread at some point, but if I'm not reading fast enough, I just feel like I'd rather read something new (not necessarily newly published, but new to me). So let's say, this is my first reason for wanting to start reading more and faster.<div><h4>I want to reread books that I liked in the past</h4>
<div>
Each time that you're reading a book, you may discover new platitudes to the story. You'll notice things you didn't notice on your first readthrough. It would be nice to experience this with more stories.</div><h4 style="text-align: left;">I want to expand my horizons</h4><div>My old university professor had this funny catchphrase about filling up 'gaps in your knowledge'. I remember it even years later, mostly on the days when my imposter syndrome gets particularly bad.</div><h4 style="text-align: left;">I want to find my next favourite book</h4><div>As a mood reader, I always find it particularly exciting when a book catches my fancy.</div><div><br /></div><div>Then, sometimes you just long for that feeling of accomplishment while you are engulfed in a tome and don't expect to see the sight of that last page any time soon.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>So, I figured, why not start a new reading challenge to fulfil these ambitions? Of course, this calls for a few ground rules to give me a fair chance.</div><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: left;">How to read a book every day?</h4><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Pick shorter books. </b>Anything between 150 and 200 pages should be good. This means that it's best to choose short story and poetry collections, novellas and essays.</li><li><b>Prepare your TBR ahead of time. </b>Get rid of decision fatigue and stack up some books to last you a week or two.</li><li><b>Dedicated reading time.</b> You can sneak in a page or two throughout the day to progress towards your goal. However, time blocking can help you get through the story and stick to the goal of a book a day.</li><li><b>Snacks!!! </b>No explanation is necessary here.</li></ol><div>That looks like a plan! Now let's read!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTu3qgpLYXNH6vUfKC-XylCNA2NyPE_0DHqgN2ikhy0ribmA-gKpn1zTFs9uyfbs6WzLtkquojyD1qHFDjf6EbF1Mqv_n12BQgXLcSlhr7fbN7HvUgM6x4Kz_69rbZmG9qZ9hTFDFp2TzUvo48z_wG9JoWcwaPhxtHx2KwwjHuD6OqbQ1TxOXnOiAzR_o/s4032/Skype_Picture_2024_01_31T13_02_14_272Z.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTu3qgpLYXNH6vUfKC-XylCNA2NyPE_0DHqgN2ikhy0ribmA-gKpn1zTFs9uyfbs6WzLtkquojyD1qHFDjf6EbF1Mqv_n12BQgXLcSlhr7fbN7HvUgM6x4Kz_69rbZmG9qZ9hTFDFp2TzUvo48z_wG9JoWcwaPhxtHx2KwwjHuD6OqbQ1TxOXnOiAzR_o/w640-h480/Skype_Picture_2024_01_31T13_02_14_272Z.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div></div>
</div>Halynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08037029947281140281noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220594146637995636.post-15486669815046543942024-01-03T05:25:00.000-08:002024-01-03T07:30:16.745-08:00The biggest mistake I ever made since starting a blog...<p> ...was to abandon it.</p><p>Blogging is all about commitment. You are putting yourself out there on the internet, sharing thoughts, discussing ideas, and being vulnerable. Sometimes this means that at times you will feel like quitting. Don't do it!</p><p>Here's my take on it. If you have a blog and at any point in time submit to your negative emotions and randomly quit, go private, or take it off the internet, you might regret it later on when you have a change of heart, try to return, and Google no longer cares about you.</p><p>That's what happened to me.</p><p>After abandoning this blog for about a year, I decided to give it another try. After all, I poured my heart and soul into it. And my blog posts are pretty decent. I used to always pride myself on having good organic traffic.</p><p>So, imagine my shock when I discovered that my blog had completely disappeared from the internet. As I understood, my blog was no longer indexed and I had no idea how to fix it.</p><p>With my cherished WordPress blog, all hope is gone. I don't know exactly what happened, but at some point WP.com decided to no longer allow the freeloaders to have full functionality of their blogs, so being indexed is now a privilege only for premium users (don't take my word for it though, I figured as much as I needed to decide that I will no longer be trying to revive my WP blog).</p><p>Why am I still here, you ask? Well, I think my Blogger might be recovering. There is still hope! Funny how that happened just a few days after I started a new one, also here on Blogger. I think, that I'll use it for drafts and planning, all the things you don't want to see here.</p><p>And I'll be slowly coming back to my tiny cozy place on the internet. Welcome!</p>Halynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08037029947281140281noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220594146637995636.post-86123032276084977422023-11-05T20:55:00.000-08:002023-11-05T20:55:22.692-08:00On Censorship And Adaptive Translation | Cancer Ward by A. SolzhenitsynNot so long ago I've read Solzhenitsyn's Cancer Ward and there was one particular dialogue that I really liked. In fact, I liked it so much that I wanted it to be my first post in the Dissecting Literature series. I've read the book in Russian so I needed to either translate the quote into English myself, which would have been easier and quicker, or try to find the English version of this quote. And here's the fun part. When I tried looking for some quotes in English, it turned out that the dialogue I had in mind is quite different in translation and for whatever reason two pages longer.<br /><br />At first I thought that it could be due to censorship, but some parts in the English version made me think that it might also be the translator's attempt at adapting the book for the western reader.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAieexHdxoBrYqWwAdce70-cj1DioQLGr15I6PvzIBnyvjzc55h-0tZOv11AVvw7fqS0NzA4wiqm1Ks25NAZRLffjREBf1aW3Pt8v8yVzKm7nETqLjTxHEM13mYDNigZLyMtiTkrH0-u4V/s1600/CensorshipTranslation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="452" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAieexHdxoBrYqWwAdce70-cj1DioQLGr15I6PvzIBnyvjzc55h-0tZOv11AVvw7fqS0NzA4wiqm1Ks25NAZRLffjREBf1aW3Pt8v8yVzKm7nETqLjTxHEM13mYDNigZLyMtiTkrH0-u4V/s640/CensorshipTranslation.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><h3>So what it's all about</h3>The quote in question is the dialogue from chapter 30 The Old Doctor, where they're talking about the free healthcare system. I've found the English version of the quote on Goodreads and here's what it looks like.<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">“That’s all very well, but how many family doctors would you need? It simply doesn’t fit into the system of a free universal national health service.”</blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">“It’ll fit into a universal national health service, but it won’t fit into a free health service,” said Oreshchenkov, rumbling on and clinging confidently to his point. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">“But it’s our greatest achievement, the fact that it’s a free service.” </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">“Is this, in fact, such a great achievement? What does ‘free’ mean? The doctors don’t work for nothing, you know. It only means that they’re paid out of the national budget and the budget is supported by patients. It isn’t free treatment, it’s depersonalized treatment. If a patient kept the money that pays for his treatments, he would have turned the ten roubles he has to spend at the doctor’s over and over in his hands. He could go to the doctor five times over if he really needed to.”</blockquote>It starts out the same as in the original but starting from the forth paragraph the translator (as I suspect) started adding his own five cents to the discussion.<br /><br />And it goes on like this for another two pages. The old doctor ruminates on the problematic free healthcare system and at some point says "And for the clinics that do charge fees, the turnover's even faster than in the others." which makes little sense in the context of Soviet Union.<br /><br /><h3>That's not how it works! That's not how any of it works!</h3>From what I know, "clinics that charge fees" was a big "no-no" in the Soviet Union. I've asked my parents about it and they agreed that it's absurd. And even if there were private clinics, those were for the elite. No one would go there just to get "a chit a certificate or a sick leave or an invalid's pension card", as it says in the English translation.<br /><br /><h3>Got away with censorship? Beware of translators</h3>I also wasn't able to find any information about the uncensored version of Cancer Ward, and whether some parts of it were censored in the first place. It only says that they were refusing to publish it altogether, and later the book was self-published. As Wikipedia explains, the first English translation was unauthorized and it was published in 1968 by The Bodley Head in the UK, and then by Dial Press in the US. The snippets I've found and used in this blog post are from the UK edition, so I'm not sure if the US version is any different from it.<br /><br /><h3><b>Why do we read books about other countries anyway?</b></h3>What really surprizes me is the reasoning behind this changes. That is, I have no idea why would they feel the need to do something like this. This surprizes me in every translation that is adapted for the target audience to the point of loosing it's original purpose. I always believed that the whole point of reading a book about a different country is to learn about these differences. In my opinion this is especially true for books like Cancer Ward.<br /><br />I'm very lucky to know several foreign langueges and be able to read many books the way authors have intended them to be. That's what I appreciate most about books. A book speaks from its author's heart and experiences. I want to hear that voice, not muffled by translator's attempt to make it easier for me to understand (thank you for treating me like a narrow-minded idiot who can't tell one country form another). And what would be even worse, put his own opinions on the matter into the translation.<br /><br /><b>Dear Translators! Please stop ruining good books with cultural adaptation.</b><br /><b><br /></b><b><br /></b>This started out as a post about book translations and turned into a little rant. Sorry about that! I feel strongly about misinforming the readers. And that's exactly what adaptive translation does in my opinion.<br /><br />Tell me how do you feel about that in the comments!Halynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08037029947281140281noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220594146637995636.post-27076531773722724572023-11-05T20:54:00.000-08:002023-11-05T20:54:06.875-08:00Zucchini Bread with Carrots and Cottage Cheese<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzxkC-xVdV2WX5YMM5tCSMkKhZHJFzUIgWwcxxDiFm0Z4HO8DpXvAKAONMO2DjufLHWsoQJ6WrI6GkP57QxhMcWXUzZuVeKchP9VkyRyQNp-ZBRH7E3WcIAVguwBwp1mdYImB4rQFVmMA/s1600/DSC_3164.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Zucchini Bread with Carrots and Cottage Cheese" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzxkC-xVdV2WX5YMM5tCSMkKhZHJFzUIgWwcxxDiFm0Z4HO8DpXvAKAONMO2DjufLHWsoQJ6WrI6GkP57QxhMcWXUzZuVeKchP9VkyRyQNp-ZBRH7E3WcIAVguwBwp1mdYImB4rQFVmMA/s1600/DSC_3164.jpg" height="426" title="Zucchini Bread with Carrots and Cottage Cheese" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<h2>
Zucchini Bread with Carrots and Cottage Cheese</h2>
<div>
<i>Prep. time: 20 min. Baking time: 50 min.</i></div>
<h3>
Ingredients</h3>
300 grams all-purpose flour<br />
100 grams sugar<br />
1/2 tsp salt<br />
1 tsp baking powder<br />
1 tsp baking soda<br />
2 eggs<br />
150 grams vegetable oil<br />
1 zucchini<br />
1/2 carrot<br />
100 grams cottage cheese<br />
<h3>
Instructions</h3>
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.<br />
2. Peel and grate the zucchini and half of a carrot (feel free to add more carrots, I just used all I had in the fridge for the moment). Add cottage cheese and the wet ingredients.<br />
3. Combine all the dry ingredients in a separate bowl.<br />
4. Mix the dry and wet indredients together.<br />
5. Put the mixture into a greased pan and bake in the oven for 50 minutes.<br />
6. Check if the zucchini bread is ready by sticking a toothpick into the middle of the bread. If it comes out clean the bread is ready.<br />
7. Let it cool down in the pan before eating.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Enjoy!</i></div>
Halynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08037029947281140281noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220594146637995636.post-73331627579632116292023-10-31T00:05:00.001-07:002023-10-31T00:05:06.608-07:00[RE] Starting a Personal Blog in 2023<p> I created this draft in February 2023 and am finally ready to make it into a blog post. Somehow, with the clocks set to wintertime and the year coming to an end, I got my reading mojo back and that lingering desire to pour my thoughts into my cosy corner of the internet (and since my favourite WordPress blog is beyond recovery in Google SERP, I'll be hanging around here for now).</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUWurPP621QgfdDoXBfq8tJxlW5lYuoi8qZ2-A7r_aHdMvezY7NaLnLj_FvrAZcPq01Zxwa92n7Sjbr8RZmJxNYkRcsDoAmTpndnUq9bEDN_hIbVwbwdVFMI3x4Khv16fvuWUixYBipax-QqUB6vtYpky3N8v6QgKlMmuKziZ895xkfr-AiJBYQasAxq4/s2048/892FE0BB-BF0A-4E5F-AAD8-86C82AF3C5E0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUWurPP621QgfdDoXBfq8tJxlW5lYuoi8qZ2-A7r_aHdMvezY7NaLnLj_FvrAZcPq01Zxwa92n7Sjbr8RZmJxNYkRcsDoAmTpndnUq9bEDN_hIbVwbwdVFMI3x4Khv16fvuWUixYBipax-QqUB6vtYpky3N8v6QgKlMmuKziZ895xkfr-AiJBYQasAxq4/w640-h480/892FE0BB-BF0A-4E5F-AAD8-86C82AF3C5E0.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Archie enjoying a nap next to my laptop and planner.</td></tr></tbody></table><p>My plan for the rest of the year 2023 is pretty straightforward:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>stay on top of work tasks</li><li>read a few more books</li><li>work on my creative writing</li><li>relaunch my YouTube channel (?)</li><li>work on my art</li><li>better myself</li></ul><p></p><p>For the last few months, I've been going to an art studio, so now I'm very motivated to continue painting in my own time and space. I even got the thing that holds your phone over the table for bird's eye view videos. You can probably tell that I'm bursting at the seams with plans and ideas.</p><p>What can I say to that? Finally! Spending the last few years in waiting mode wasn't the best for my mental health. Or is it the other way around? Either way, I feel my motivation coming back and I'm trying to grab it and make sense of it while I can.</p><p>So, when it comes to this blog, I'll probably pick up where I left it and continue posting life updates and book reviews for the most part. Then I can share some of my writing process, art and DIY projects... and remember that time when this was going to be sort of a cooking blog? Well, if I ever decide to cook something, you'll be the first ones to know.</p><p>At the end of the day, this is my safe space where I can vent and pour out my thoughts. I'd like to give it more of a direction eventually but as long as I'm writing I'll be fine.</p><p>That's it for an update! Hope to talk to you soon!</p>Halynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08037029947281140281noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220594146637995636.post-63423917971426555272020-11-08T13:31:00.001-08:002020-11-08T13:36:57.692-08:00On Timing (to all the strangers in my DMs)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivz33opJfr4xrtITDzDtUiChQpq5Jy1Mo3E3UIC6Tg8AxfxRn5v0syt1QMsxDpSYLkXr8DYE-yHSlMTFKDUVvvbPAibWUaMmNDQ5Yps5NcS7fn9SKxQmAJ0VG28Q5n6hO4NkgoNJoxnNU/s2048/IMG_20201108_220151.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivz33opJfr4xrtITDzDtUiChQpq5Jy1Mo3E3UIC6Tg8AxfxRn5v0syt1QMsxDpSYLkXr8DYE-yHSlMTFKDUVvvbPAibWUaMmNDQ5Yps5NcS7fn9SKxQmAJ0VG28Q5n6hO4NkgoNJoxnNU/w640-h426/IMG_20201108_220151.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>Some time ago I got a message request on Facebook and today I finally got to reading it. The DM was from some stranger who apparently found my blog. Not this one though. The Ukrainian blog which I've abandoned years ago due to the lack of support and unnecessary criticism on the part of likewise random strangers who thought that since I haven't majored in x, y, or z, my opinion is not valid. Moreover, the strangers who straight out told me to shut up - I've got the screenshots to prove it.</p><p>Strangely, this time it was a message of praise. The girl told me how she liked my blog. And how she went to my FB page and was astonished by the abundance of artwork and whatnot. And that she, sadly, couldn't find my YT channel (of course, not - I've hidden all the Ukrainian videos I was getting hate for because, again, I'm not an English major).</p><p>Yadda. Yadda. Yadda.</p><p>I read the message and deleted it without replying.</p><p>Too little, too late.<span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p>I'm tired of being ahead of my time. No, not even that. I'm tired of people shooing me away because I tell them the exact same things that they come to discover two-three years from now.</p><p>It used to happened with my close ones, and with random strangers on the internet, all the same.</p><p>I am done thinking "I told you so" and watching others reap benefits from something I've predicted years and years before.</p><p>I wanted to blog and make videos in Ukrainian in 2013. No one wanted it.</p><p>I said that ARCs are a thing. A certain Ukrainian publisher wouldn't believe me. Then two years later, they all started doing it because the Ukrainian Booktube picked up and they wanted in on the game.</p><p>I wanted to be friends with my cousins ten years ago. They didn't want it. And now they have the audacity to claim that I have some responsibilities to them because suddenly they've remembered that we are faaaamily. Well, mostly it only concerns my sister. They've flushed me down the drain years ago. And I'll be happy if I never have to see them again.</p><p>I've always tried to do my part, but if people don't appreciate it, I'm gonna leave.</p><p>I only have so much patience and energy to spare.</p><p>People say to do things without expecting anything in return. That's pure manipulation. Even simple acts of kindness that go without saying... If you open a door for someone and they tell you to eff off, you're not gonna do it the next time. That's common sense.</p><p>I'm tired of these mental games. I've stepped away from the Ukrainian blogging and vlogging scenes. I have nothing to do with them anymore.</p><p>At least, when I'm blogging in English, they don't expect me to check certain boxes. I can just be me. That is... as long as I'm not blogging about politics!</p><p>Just now, I went and privated all of my blog posts. Гніздечко Гальці no longer exists. Almost two hundred posts, Jesus! Finally, I can be at peace.</p><p>To tell the truth, with all the effort and love I've put into that blog, now, when I get these seldom messages that "hey, your blog isn't complete garbage", it just pisses me off. I ditched it five years ago (not counting a few private journal-type posts before I started journaling somewhere else). I've moved on. I don't need any more reminders of that failed project.</p><p>That goes for any of my failures.</p><p>Cut off the loose ends.</p><p>At least one pleasant bonus after having abandoned my blog and YT channel is that I no longer get an array of children and parents in my DMs demanding to do their English homework. Good riddance!</p>Halynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08037029947281140281noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220594146637995636.post-45419534503062629332020-10-17T15:53:00.001-07:002020-11-08T13:37:38.187-08:00Back for good: Moving from WordPress to Blogger (again)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNxi1IsAIf_AQBMfHh1SatNa9NTHrWm2xM-EUf0s2aVzCJv_X2O8W0nCjwJHcspFIxyCDbRCVdupMooFyXaU_X2oLXQheXyWjEduA1S32zojP8coHmTiR0l9qU2MdzR8dw1tpkDBg0qSs/s1280/blog-684748_1280.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNxi1IsAIf_AQBMfHh1SatNa9NTHrWm2xM-EUf0s2aVzCJv_X2O8W0nCjwJHcspFIxyCDbRCVdupMooFyXaU_X2oLXQheXyWjEduA1S32zojP8coHmTiR0l9qU2MdzR8dw1tpkDBg0qSs/w640-h480/blog-684748_1280.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>Sorry for the radio silence!<p></p><p>I have a very bad habit of jumping from one blog to another and not being consistent. In fact, it's so bad that I even wrote a blog post about it... in my other blog on WordPress.</p><p>On the bright side, I will now be merging ALL of my blogs together right here and staying with Books, Coffee and Cake for good now.</p><p>Seriously. This time for real. I promise.<span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p>That was the plan in February 2020. I've no idea why that changed and why I kept posting on that WP blog? Maybe because it was associated with my real name and I thought of it more like a professional blog. But since neither of my blogs have any consistent traffic of any kind and I'm not very serious about promoting them (yet), I figured, it won't hurt to dump everything into one place, start writing and posting regularly, with time get my mess of a blog sorted out and see where I'm going with it.</p><p>I've looked through all my options and came to the conclusion that staying on Blogger would be most convenient in the long run. Here's my reasoning, in case anyone's curious.</p><p>1. <b>Admin dashboard</b> is easy to use. I used to like WP more. It's changed. It has lead to many moments of frustration when I endlessly click around and can't find what I need. It probably sounds silly, but the dashboard was the main reason I stuck to WP for so long. I just really liked it back in the day.</p><p>2. <b>Hosting</b>. I don't want to bother setting up a whole website of my own. I've tried it before with my sister's pet project (that I kind of manipulated her into starting; sorry!). It's too much hassle. I'd rather just write.</p><p>3. <b>Custom domain</b>. Only available for Premium WP users. It's way easier on Blogger.</p><p>4. <b>Custom theme</b>. I can customize a Blogger theme easy-peasy. I've done simple tweaks before. On WP I'd need a Premium account for that.</p><p>5. <b>Monetization</b>. I got my AdSense account thanks to Blogger. I just need to get some traffic going and I'll be golden. WP? Do I need to say it? Premium only! And I'm not even sure if it's available for my country anyway. Probably not. Most definitely not.</p><p>So, that's pretty much all my reasons. I've long fallen out with the blogging community so nothing is really keeping me tied to one blog or another. All the blogs are on the same playing field when it comes to traffic and exposure. I'm starting from scratch. Let's hope for a rewarding journey!</p>Halynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08037029947281140281noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220594146637995636.post-73986684102800084962020-08-29T06:00:00.037-07:002020-11-08T13:37:58.810-08:00Ways to cut expenses when going on a financial diet<p><span style="color: #1e1e1e; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: white; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>originally published on my WP blog - I'm gonna be slowly migrating to keep everything in just one blog</i></span></span></p><p><span style="color: #1e1e1e; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; white-space: pre-wrap;">I can imagine that this is going to be a running list that's gonna be getting updated now and then. But the point being, as I've mentioned in one of my previous blog posts, I'm going on a financial diet and looking closer at my expenses. Mostly, it's because I need to have some savings for health emergencies and just because. Then there are some expensive "needs" and "wants" that will require saving up. So in order to get where I'm going, I need to start implementing some changes to my life.</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #1e1e1e; font-family: inherit;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #1e1e1e; font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2aAgVtBnGZ3azMCOKDmbv2moPmqzwnm9LFA8euhL63LAcqdz8NMEW2xTAmAtzcYnh-X1I9GoJ2blRFSV8_1ciBzP_HNdQkZg8hIyWwrSbUqDjXfLlsSOTJzOjaO19L-uisKjFcPREKCU/s2048/freestocks-_3Q3tsJ01nc-unsplash.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="427" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2aAgVtBnGZ3azMCOKDmbv2moPmqzwnm9LFA8euhL63LAcqdz8NMEW2xTAmAtzcYnh-X1I9GoJ2blRFSV8_1ciBzP_HNdQkZg8hIyWwrSbUqDjXfLlsSOTJzOjaO19L-uisKjFcPREKCU/w640-h427/freestocks-_3Q3tsJ01nc-unsplash.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><p></p><p><span style="color: #1e1e1e; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span></span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><span style="color: #1e1e1e; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; white-space: pre-wrap;">Here are some of the ideas about how to cut unnecessary expenses.</span></span><p></p><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="color: #1e1e1e; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Beauty products.</b> This means makeup, expensive skin and hair products, that fifteenth bottle of red nail polish that you won't use all up anyway. You get where I'm going with this. With the lockdown, it's not like you need to wear a full face of makeup every day anyway, so that's where it's easy to cut extra expenses. Only buy the necessary stuff like shampoo or moisturiser, and an occasional mascara (I tend to lose those so putting it on the list of "allowed" items). And nothing too expensive. Anything that's over $20 - hell no!</span></span></li><li><span style="color: #1e1e1e; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Beauty services.</b> A few months before the lockdown I started going to the hair and nail salon for the first time in my whole life because that's not a thing that you do on the regular if you're broke. It felt nice while it lasted. I wanted to treat myself once a month and do my eyebrows and nails. But after I started working from home, I forgot about it. Yes, I cut my own hair. The hairstyle that I have right now is really simple, so it's not exactly rocket science to get the cut right. Also, I have this irrational fear that the hairdressers it going to give me layers and feathered ends and I'm going to look like a Karen. I want to go with a simpler 20s look and so far it's been working great with just a home cut and my mums help to get the back of the hair look even. I may reconsider having my nails done because I really liked my nail lady but that's not gonna happen any time soon.</span></span></li><li><span style="color: #1e1e1e; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Supplements.</b> Putting this here because I've been considering buying some vitamins but changed my mind. And I can't order the ones that I like anyway so why bother? And anyway, if you ask any doctor, they'll tell you that if you are not malnourished and eat a balanced diet, there's no need for extra vitamins or supplements whatsoever. It may be different for athletes, but I'm not one so who am I to judge? If you feel like you might need supplements, it's better to consult a doctor (NOT a naturopath, nutritionist or any of the alternative medicine mumbo jumbo).</span></span></li><li><span style="color: #1e1e1e; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Online subscription and streaming services.</b> Sis and I had Netflix for a few months. Not worth it. Living in Ukraine, we couldn't watch any of the good stuff. And I watch way too much Youtube so where am I even supposed to find time for movies and TV shows? It's more productive to read a book, talk to a friend or even just take a nap.</span></span></li><li><span style="color: #1e1e1e; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Eating out and take out.</b> Never do it anyway. And while corona is still around, I can't imagine it being very safe.</span></span></li><li><span style="color: #1e1e1e; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Sweets, snacks and soda.</b> I'm conflicted about this one because I do love my Oreos. But it's healthier to eat an apple with some peanut butter and just as delicious. If you really need something crunchy to munch on, just cut up some bread and dry it in a pan with some herbs or just salt and butter is good enough. I once made a whole batch of dried rohalyk and coated it with powdered sugar. Heavenly. And there's always popcorn. Make your own to avoid added flavouring and too much salt.</span></span></li><li><span style="color: #1e1e1e; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Clothes, shoes, accessories.</b> After years of thrifting and stuffing my wardrobe with clothes that neither fit properly nor match my style, I've now closed my gestalt and can be more level-headed when shopping for myself. All the necessities, I think I have enough of. When I just started my day job, I splurged a little on shoes and clothes. And looking back at the rags I was wearing, I really needed it at the time. But for now, I'm golden. And now I see that it's better to get one or two things that are maybe a little more pricey but good quality that gonna last me for years to come. As for shoes, I've now decided to never get anything cheaper than 2k hryvnias (that's $72 with the current exchange rates). Cheap shoes only last for one season and hurt my feet. With clothes, I'm lucky that I get to have stuff that my sister no longer wants to wear so this winter I'll be sporting a lot of oversize sweaters.</span></span></li><li><span style="color: #1e1e1e; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Books?</b> It's a hard one. I can never resist buying a book. I still end up reading some random thing on my phone, but physical books are a whole nother aesthetic. The online shops I usually get my books from right now have crazy sales so it's really hard to resist. But the gist is - read the books you've already got! I need to write this on my whiteboard as a daily reminder. Working on it. And if you're in a first-world country, it's easy to get just about any book you want from the library. I hope to live to see the day when I can use Libby.</span></span></li><li><span style="color: #1e1e1e; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Taxi, uber, etc.</b> This one is my personal pet peeve. I _hate_ taxis and the Ukrainian version of Uber. Every time you get a different car, it smells weird, the driver sometimes randomly doesn't shot up and won't pick up the phone. I'm used to our family car. Any other means of transportations sets my anxiety off the charts. I don't understand people who see personal cars as a luxury. It's a necessity. In the last two weeks, my cat wasn't feeling good so we had to go all over the city to get tests, x-rays, saw half a dozen doctors. I can't imagine doing it without a car or even asking someone for a lift. Not like we've got someone to ask (looking at you, cousins). So personally, I think that it's worth investing in a car rather than spending money taxis and whatnot and NOT being comfortable.</span></span></li><li><span style="color: #1e1e1e; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>to be continued...</i></span></span></li></ol><p></p><p><span style="color: #1e1e1e; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; white-space: pre-wrap;">So yeah. You could say that this list is of ways to budget but not really. The flesh is weak and I'm a material girl. At the end of the day, my personal philosophy is always to earn more. That one is a topic for another blog post.</span></span></p><p><br /></p><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #1e1e1e; outline: 0px;"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; outline: 0px;"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; outline: 0px;"><div class="block-editor-block-list__layout is-root-container" style="box-sizing: inherit; outline: 0px; position: relative;"><div class="block-list-appender" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "Noto Serif"; font-size: 16px; outline: 0px; position: relative;" tabindex="-1"></div></div></div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #1e1e1e; font-family: "Noto Serif"; font-size: 16px; outline: 0px; position: fixed;" tabindex="0"></div>Halynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08037029947281140281noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220594146637995636.post-17382591535324868362020-02-20T09:33:00.001-08:002021-02-27T11:22:29.168-08:00On coming back and plans for the future<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Hey there, guys!</i></div>
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Do you even remember me? Probably not. I think it's been two years since I've last posted on this blog. I've no idea, what I've been up to all this time... Probably, "cheating" on this blog with other projects, procrastinating, reading, buying more books, cuddling with my pets, and thinking about the futility of life.</div>
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So, anyway... I've decided to revive Books, Coffee and Cake and give this blog a bit of a vintage twist. I'm still gonna be posting book reviews and recipes but mainly focus on vintage stuff. Also, I may or may not add a category for DIY projects, because I want to get back into sewing. I may do lookbooks and post more pictures of my beautiful city (sister has already agreed to help me out with that).</div>
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This is just a general idea that I have in mind for now. Let's just give it a go and see where it gets us!</div>
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Blogging has always been very dear to me and not having any blog projects at the moment is seriously breaking my heart. But since I'm a little prone to swinging into depressive moods, I'd like to be more positive with the things that I post here. This is going to be my happy place!</div>
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One more thing is that I'd like to engage more with other blogs, so I'll look for some challenges to participate in like the <a href="http://bookscoffeeandcake.blogspot.com/2016/01/the-classics-club.html" target="_blank">Classics Club</a> and Back to Classics that you've already seen on this blog. I'd like to be more active in the community. Maybe I'll even start my own challenge. I have a few ideas, just need to sort out the organizational stuff.</div>
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So yeah, I’m back! I know. I can’t believe it either.<br />
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Halynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08037029947281140281noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220594146637995636.post-49574457553173784962018-03-03T21:58:00.000-08:002021-02-27T11:22:07.688-08:00The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne | Book Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b>The Scarlet Letter</b> by Nathaniel Hawthorne<br />
(<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12296.The_Scarlet_Letter">on Goodreads</a>)<br />
My rating ★★★☆☆<br />
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I finished listening to this audiobook a month ago but couldn't gather my thoughts to write a review until now. I'm not sure what to write about. Except for a general opinion, because I feel like I've slept through half of the narration. I don't know if it's because of the style of the book or was it something about the recording I was listening to.</div>
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I think everybody knows the plot of this book. Hester Prynne has a child out of wedlock and has to wear a scarlet letter A on her chest which stands for "adultery". And so she lives her life, shunned by the society. I remember hearing somewhere that Hester is supposed to struggle with the stigma and die at the end, and that her daughter is persecuted after her death or something sad like that happens. But I don't remember any of that in the actual audiobook that I listened to, and a quick glance at SparkNotes also tells me that that's not how the book ends.</div>
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I got an impression that Hester's punishment wasn't as severe, and that townspeople grew to respect her in some ways, despite the fact that she did something sinful and very shameful. She was skilled in embroidery and also did a lot of charity work. And she took good care of her daughter.</div>
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There aren't that many events described in the book, even though the story goes on for many years. Pearls character seemed too adult for her age. At times I felt as if she's just used to deliver clever metaphors. The language of the book is very figurative. There's quite a lot of symbolism. I guess that's why this novel is taught in schools.</div>
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To sum up my review, it was okay. I loved some metaphors. But maybe I'll have to re-read it sometime in the future to get a better grasp on this story.</div>
Halynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08037029947281140281noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220594146637995636.post-33368699475473554042018-01-21T19:00:00.000-08:002021-02-27T11:22:40.687-08:00Quotes | War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy<div align="center">
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Today I wanted to share with you this quote from War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. </div>
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"Doctors came to see her singly and in consultation, talked much in French, German, and Latin, blamed one another, and prescribed a great variety of medicines for all the diseases known to them, but the simple idea never occurred to any of them that they could not know the disease Natásha was suffering from, as no disease suffered by a live man can be known, for every living person has his own peculiarities and always has his own peculiar, personal, novel, complicated disease, unknown to medicine—not a disease of the lungs, liver, skin, heart, nerves, and so on mentioned in medical books, but a disease consisting of one of the innumerable combinations of the maladies of those organs. This simple thought could not occur to the doctors (as it cannot occur to a wizard that he is unable to work his charms) because the business of their lives was to cure, and they received money for it and had spent the best years of their lives on that business. But, above all, that thought was kept out of their minds by the fact that they saw they were really useful, as in fact they were to the whole Rostóv family. Their usefulness did not depend on making the patient swallow substances for the most part harmful (the harm was scarcely perceptible, as they were given in small doses), but they were useful, necessary, and indispensable because they satisfied a mental need of the invalid and of those who loved her—and that is why there are, and always will be, pseudo-healers, wise women, homeopaths, and allopaths. They satisfied that eternal human need for hope of relief, for sympathy, and that something should be done, which is felt by those who are suffering. They satisfied the need seen in its most elementary form in a child, when it wants to have a place rubbed that has been hurt."</blockquote>
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I love watching pseudo-science debunking youtube channels, so this quote from War and Peace really caught my attention. It also makes me think about mental health and how we're handling it nowadays.<br />
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Halynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08037029947281140281noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220594146637995636.post-50464879348665499272018-01-21T02:28:00.000-08:002020-03-09T09:25:00.642-07:00Spreading Myself Thin<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">previously published on my Halcja's Place blog</span></i><br />
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I think I've already mentioned before on this blog that I have way too many projects for my own good. I have many hobbies and interests. I like to keep my mind busy. But all this comes at a cost. Because I'm trying to juggle too many things at the same time, I oftentimes feel like I'm not succeeding in any of them. This feeling has been especially vivid in the last year or so. I feel like I'm not accomplishing anything. And okay, partly it's because I've been ill for a long time so I haven't always had the energy to do all the things that needed to be done. But because I already had limited energy there was no way I could divide it among my many projects and hobbies.</div>
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The same can be said about social media. I engage with different people on different platforms but I can't be active on them all at once. There are not enough hours in the day for that.</div>
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Another problem that goes along with this one is that I try to compartmentalize. That's what I'm doing with my blogs right now. That's what I was trying to do with YouTube until their new requirements for the partnership program changed my plans. So I'm abandoning my two smaller YouTube channels for good and keeping the main one.</div>
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When it comes to blogs, I want to keep them separate at least for now. I'll keep updating my <a href="http://bookscoffeeandcake.blogspot.com/">book review blog</a> throughout this year because of the challenges I've signed up for. I don't think I really need a book blog. Book blogging isn't really my thing. I don't read any of the new releases. Many of the books I enjoy will never be translated into English. And who would want to read about Soviet middle-grade or YA propaganda books anyway? No matter how much I enjoy my guilty pleasure books, you don't need to read about them.</div>
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And then there're portfolio blogs for my writing. Right now as I'm thinking about it, I need two of them. One for my fiction and poetry and one for potential clients to post sample articles and links to websites with my published articles or blog posts. But for now, I'll leave both of those hanging in the air and come back to this matter once I have more relative content to post there.</div>
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One last thing I wanted to include in this blog post is this illustration from the book <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18077875-essentialism">Essentialism by Greg McKeown</a> that I obviously need to read.</div>
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Halynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08037029947281140281noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220594146637995636.post-44871095193517813862018-01-18T02:35:00.000-08:002021-02-27T11:34:05.896-08:00Not right | My Poetry<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">previously published on my Halcja's Place blog</span></i><br />
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Why is it still "not right"?<br />
Why it's always that way?<br />
Am I destined to this forever?<br />
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On my own once again.<br />
Back to old ways, yet now<br />
I won't wait for a sign from heaven.<br />
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How long can you go on<br />
Carrying in your heart<br />
Hope that one day you'll get your "maybe"?<br />
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Years, decades, a lifetime<br />
And quite soon you’ll lose count<br />
For the moments that never will be.<br />
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">November 30, 2017</span></i><br />
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></i>Halynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08037029947281140281noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220594146637995636.post-32550666949433320212018-01-14T19:00:00.001-08:002023-11-05T20:55:45.532-08:00Dissecting Literature Series Intro<div style="text-align: justify;">
[originaly published at <a href="http://halcja.blogspot.com/2017/01/dissecting-literature-series-intro.html">Halcja's place</a>, January 19, 2017]<br />
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Hello there, friends! Today I'll tell you about what I have in mind for this blog when it comes to book-themed posts and reviews. What I've noticed from my previous blogging experience it's common practice to review books, be it ARCs or something you've picked out from your home library, giving the potential reader a general idea of what to expect from the plot and characters. Personally, I was never able to do that sort of book reviews.</div>
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When it comes to books it's always personal for me. Books trigger something in me, provoking thoughts and bringing out feelings from deep within. Every book has something that goes beyond the story. It has a piece of the author's heart and soul. The more I read the more I see how many books are written from the personal experience of the author, which they often admit themselves. Books are a reflection of the author's personal surroundings. And you can notice it in every book once you start paying attention. Whether it's a romance story, a dystopia or a memoir. Okay, it's probably obvious with that last part, but still, it's a fact not easy to discard that each author leaves a piece of himself in every book he writes. After all, they say that you should write what you know.</div>
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I started thinking about it. And I thought a lot about how books should not be taken out of the context of the time when they were written. Every time I read a book I would simultaneously read up on the author's biography, what was going on in his life at the time he was writing and how it had affected it. This helped me look at these stories from an entirely different perspective.</div>
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Another thought that came to my mind was that many books I am reading are truly timeless. Their morals and problematics can be applied to my everyday life even though these books were written fifty years ago. Is this what they mean when they say that times change but people stay the same?</div>
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Whenever I read a book and review it I want to focus on specific topics that struck me as particularly important or problematic. They may have little to do with the main plot and characters. Sometimes it's just a short dialog in a subplot or even a very well-said quote.</div>
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A book is so much more than what can be said in its synopsis.</div>
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That's how I came up with "dissecting" literature. What I'm going to do here is basically pick out a thought or a quote that lead me to thinking about something beyond the story and write about that. Apply the wisdom of the books to everyday life's struggles.</div>
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I'm really fond of this idea because it means that I can come back to one book as many times as I like, discovering more and more layers of the story. That's what I think reading a really good book should be about. <b>What do you think?</b><br />
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Halynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08037029947281140281noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220594146637995636.post-971213770483606352018-01-14T10:01:00.000-08:002021-02-27T11:22:59.605-08:00On the Road. Jack Kerouac | Book Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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On the Road by Jack Kerouac<br />
(<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/70401.On_the_Road?ac=1&from_search=true">on Goodreads</a>)<br />
My rating ★★☆☆☆<br />
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This book is probably on every must-read and top-100 list I've ever come across. So I'm happy to finally have it behind it. At last, I know what's all the fuss about and have my own opinion about it.<br />
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<b>On the Road</b> is an autobiographical novel about Jack Kerouac's years traveling the North American continent with his friends. They have this fascination with going south and eventually reach their final destination somewhere in Mexico. This book is an ode to booze and jazz.<br />
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Good thing that we have audiobooks, because I don't think that I would have managed to finish this book weren't I listening to the audio version of it. It's not that it was bad, but I didn't really enjoy it. Most of the time I found myself bored and distracted. I guess I'm not a fan of the lifestyle described in this novel. I don't find drinking your life away all that exciting. While I was listening to the audiobook, I'd often think that a story of that sort can be interesting either to kids who are not yet allowed to run wild like that or to adults who have similar interests or lifestyle. I'm' not judging. All I'm saying that for me it was neither relatable nor interesting.Halynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08037029947281140281noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220594146637995636.post-47553830763992946762018-01-14T01:00:00.000-08:002020-03-09T09:26:51.843-07:00Writing Gigs And Some Math<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">previously published on my Halcja's Place blog</span></i><br />
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This week I was offered a writing job. It was supposed to be something steady and longterm, unlike the writing gigs that I do on Fiverr. The guy wanted me to write 20 articles per week, 500 words each. He asked, how much it'll cost him, even though I linked him to my other gigs. I guess, he thought that since he wants to buy these articles in bulk, it should cost him less. Right now I have an active comment writing gig where I write somewhere around 250 words worth of comments for $5. I figured that article writing is more work than commenting on blog posts and decided on the price of $10 per article. And I never heard back from that guy. I was probably out of his budget. I can only speculate, but I don't think it would be a stretch to assume that he wanted to pay $5 per article or something like that.</div>
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A quick google search told me that "most intermediate to advanced freelance writers charge between 10 cents and $1 per word". So that would be a minimum of $50 for a 500-word article. But, of course, that is for the "cool kids". Further investigation showed that prices can range from $0,03 to $0,30 per word. I'm guessing, that's for beginner writers. And that's still a minimum of $15 per article</div>
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I'm not a native English speaker, so I stand even lower in this hierarchy.</div>
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But to give the guy credit, at least he only offered me a writing job. Whenever Ukrainian companies approach me, they not only want me to write the articles. Nope. I have to do website maintenance on top of that. Bonus points if they want me to build the website as well. And they always ignore the big bold "Freelancer" in my CV and act surprised when I ask if I can work from home.</div>
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If I had a steady writing job, my life would be so much easier. Right now my work doesn't even feel like work sometimes. More like gambling. I know that it needs time. It'll get better eventually.</div>
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Halynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08037029947281140281noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220594146637995636.post-31879299275360843482018-01-11T01:00:00.000-08:002021-02-27T11:34:16.016-08:00Respect | My Poetry<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">previously published on my Halcja's Place blog</span></i><br />
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You make me stare, want my attention<br />
But what you get is grief and tension.<br />
You don't deserve my piece of mind<br />
Yet you still grab it, though not kind.<br />
My kindness well has dried out for you.<br />
What's left is spite, annoyance, fumes<br />
Of anger sometimes rise as well<br />
As you keep poking at my good will.<br />
Get out of my sight. Out of my mind.<br />
You don't deserve not even a speck of my time.<br />
How dare you want it, come and demand<br />
To give you praise when you yourself are blind<br />
To others' sorrows and celebrations.<br />
How dare you want respect that you don't have for others?<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>June 27, 2017</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span>Halynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08037029947281140281noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220594146637995636.post-77731875166048098942018-01-07T10:11:00.000-08:002021-02-27T11:33:51.135-08:00The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams | Book Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b>The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy</b> by Douglas Adams<br />
(<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/386162.The_Hitchhiker_s_Guide_to_the_Galaxy">on Goodreads</a>)<br />
My rating ★★★★☆<br />
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It's only the second of January and I've already finished reading my first book of the year 2018. It was The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams and it was actually the audiobook version. I've rediscovered audiobooks last year and I plan to listen to them a lot in 2018. Hopefully, this way I'll get a lot more books on my "read" shelf because I'm a slow reader. It may sometimes take me months to finish a book that I'm not particularly fond of and I don't really like dropping books or putting them on-hold (even though I regularly do so). But back to the topic! This audiobook was only four and a half hours long but it still took me the whole day to listen to it. Probably because I'm not that familiar with sci-fi so I had to take breaks and it took me a while to get into it. But by the end of the narration, I really enjoyed it.</div>
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The book starts with the main character Arthur Dent trying to prevent his house from being demolished to make way for a freeway. Then Arthur's friend Ford Prefect, who is an alien in disguise, turns up to tell him that in a matter of minutes a similar fate is awaiting the Earth. Ford manages to save Arthur and they go on a journey through space, meeting aliens and discovering planets. And on their way, they are consulting The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.<br />
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I was surprised at how many quotes from the book I already knew, even though I never made an effort to find out anything about The Hitchhiker's Guide prior to reading/listening to it. I loved all the jokes and the philosophy in the book. I think, my favorite part was about the answer to the ultimate question of life. Particularly the idea that it's just as important to know the right question and not just the answer itself.<br />
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I think I'll re-read this book eventually, to catch all the details. And then I'll go on to reading the other books in the series.</div>
Halynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08037029947281140281noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220594146637995636.post-29976591176622295942018-01-07T01:00:00.000-08:002020-03-09T09:27:50.229-07:00Too many blogs<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">previously published on my Halcja's Place blog</span></i><br />
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I have a problem with organizing my blogging life. I impulsively create new blogs and try to compartmentalize (<a href="https://halcja.blogspot.com/2017/12/cozy-personal-anonymous-blog.html">with questionable results</a>) my life, my career and creativity, and all that's underneath it. What makes things worse is that I blog both in English and my native language and I just can't let go of the latter one, even though I know that I won't have as much feedback or any at all. The wise thing to do would be to first of all dump my Ukrainian blog and all the other Ukrainian projects. I don't have time for that, especially taking into account that my blog posts and videos get about ten views and sink into the depth of the pit of Ukrainian web. It's not worth it. Ukrainians don't want this type of content. Frankly speaking, I have no idea what they actually want. Maybe some Ukrainian bloggers or YouTubers are successful but I'm not so why do I even bother? I just can't seem to kill the last sparks of hope that maybe my reader or viewer is somewhere out there and I just have to wait for him to find my blog or podcast. They're not but I'm still hoping and wasting my time. Well, but at least I don't worry about it now.</div>
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As for my other blogs and projects... I have this blog, which is a personal/writing blog. Then there's my <a href="http://bookscoffeeandcake.blogspot.com/">book blog</a>. Long abandoned <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKeEM8VuXM8DVtPuGjakjNg">youtube channel</a> that I have no idea what to do with. Do I really need a youtube channel? And if I do, what kind of videos should I post? The simple answer would be - whatever I like. But that's the problem. There are many things that I like. And I only have one life to fit them all in. I should probably make a pro-con list or brainstorm ideas for my abandoned youtube channel. And journal about it on top of that. Maybe that way I'll be able to sort out my thoughts and find out what I really want to do and what blogs and projects I actually need.<br />
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And then I had this idea to make a blog for my poetry and fiction. Something like a writer's portfolio. I'll still be posting <a href="https://halcja.blogspot.com/search/label/my%20poetry">my poetry</a> here, but the idea behind the new blog is to only post there polished poems and short stories. And maybe I could post here snippets from my WIPs. That would be interesting.<br />
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I actually already have a <a href="https://medium.com/@halynaryfyak/">medium blog</a> for my poetry but I keep forgetting about it. Medium is not really my thing. Besides, I wanted to make this new blog on Wordpress. And I can still cross post to all these blogs. Reach out to more people on different platforms.<br />
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The only platform that I don't think I will join, is Wattpad. First of all, because I've already posted my writing in Ukrainian there. I don't think I want to have stories in two languages published in the same place. That would be confusing for the readers. I know that some people do it, but I don't think it's something for me. Besides, I've heard a lot about the pirating situation on Wattpad, so it's better to be safe than sorry. My stories can still be pirated if I post them here or on Wordpress, but at least I haven't heard of this being a "common practice" on other blog platforms.<br />
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<b>What do you guys think? Do you have more than one blog or a youtube channel? Does it make sense to have multiple blogs or do you think that it's better to keep everything in one place? Share your thoughts in the comments!</b></div>
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Halynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08037029947281140281noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220594146637995636.post-86419287301798911512018-01-05T10:00:00.000-08:002021-02-27T11:34:25.168-08:00A Quote by Franz Kafka“It isn't necessary that you leave home. Sit at your desk and listen. Don't even listen, just wait. Don't wait, be still and alone. The whole world will offer itself to you.”<br />
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― Franz Kafka<br />
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<br />Halynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08037029947281140281noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220594146637995636.post-63913117221308132912018-01-04T01:00:00.000-08:002021-02-27T11:34:32.460-08:00Reward | My Poetry<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">previously published on my Halcja's Place blog</span></i><br />
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You sometimes long to forget<br />
And come back to the way you were before.<br />
But life is not here to please you,<br />
It has other plans for you in store.<br />
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You’re trapped in your every day,<br />
Mundane, bleak ’n’ plain in every single way.<br />
You ask: “Will this ever change?<br />
Must I bear with this ’til I fade away?”<br />
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But silence is your response.<br />
You won’t know for sure. You’ll just have to wait<br />
And meet every hit and stare,<br />
Spiteful word and thought. Praise though might come late.<br />
<br />
You’ll think: “Will it ever come?<br />
Is this all in vain? Where is my reward?”<br />
But look around and you’ll see.<br />
It’ll come dressed as those who’ll be your support.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>April 20, 2017</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span>Halynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08037029947281140281noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220594146637995636.post-78408997737879498732017-12-31T23:17:00.000-08:002021-02-27T11:34:40.314-08:00My Life in Books 2017<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I saw this fun little game on <a href="https://roofbeamreader.com/2017/12/13/my-life-in-books-2017-edition/">Roof Beam Reader's blog</a> and decided to give it a go. The rules are to answer the questions with the books you've read this year.<br />
<ul>
<li>In high school I was: Anne of the Island (L.M. Montgomery)</li>
<li>People might be surprised (by): The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (Washington Irving)</li>
<li>I will never be: The Inspector General (Nikolai Gogol)</li>
<li>My fantasy job is: Doctor Dolittle (Hugh Lofting)</li>
<li>At the end of a long day I need: A Simple Heart (Gustave Flaubert)</li>
<li>I hate it when (you): Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim (David Sedaris)</li>
<li>Wish I had: The Queen of Spades (Alexander Pushkin)</li>
<li>My family reunions are: One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (Alexandr Solzhenitsyn)</li>
<li>At a party you’d find me with: The Invisible Man (H.G. Wells)</li>
<li>I’ve never been to: The House on Mango Street (Sandra Cisneros)</li>
<li>A happy day includes: Wonder (R.J. Palacio)</li>
<li>Motto I live by: The Importance of Being Earnest (Oscar Wilde)</li>
<li>On my bucket list is: Around the World in Eighty Days (Jules Verne)</li>
<li>In my next life, I want to have: War and Peace (Leo Tolstoy)</li>
</ul>
<div>
So that's what my life looks like in books.</div>
Halynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08037029947281140281noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220594146637995636.post-10919178721661337072017-12-31T01:00:00.000-08:002021-02-27T11:33:37.478-08:00New Year's Resolutions 2018<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">previously published on my Halcja's Place blog</span></i><br />
<br />
I don't remember if I've ever blogged about my New Year's Resolutions so let's consider this my first time doing so. First of all, I'll talk about my writing resolutions because that's what this blog is all about. So here are my resolutions for the year 2018!</div>
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<b>Submit my poetry and short fiction to literary magazines.</b> I've only done this once and already got my first rejection. I have to admit, it feels quite refreshing. And I can finally consider myself a real writer. I'm not only talking about writing. I'm actually writing and trying to get my works published.</div>
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<b>Post my poetry and fiction on my blog.</b> I've already started doing that with <a href="https://halcja.blogspot.com/search/label/my%20poetry">my poetry</a>. For now, I've been posting my first clumsy poems. I hope to get better with time. But of course, in order to do so, I have to write and practice my craft. If I know that I have to put something out there on my blog, that will motivate me to write and work on my writing more.</div>
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<b>Work on my novels.</b> Preferably on one novel at a time. I scatter my attention too much. Let's work on bettering that in the new year.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Self-publish a book.</b> This will be either a collection of poetry and flash fiction or a novelette. I want to start small and work my way up. But most importantly, I want to start getting published. I even wrote a blog post about it <a href="https://halcja.blogspot.com/2017/12/writers-ambitions-amwriting.html">here</a>.</div>
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As for my non-writing resolutions, I will...</div>
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<b>Draw 1000 illustrations</b> for my Shutterstock portfolio.</div>
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<b>Work on my own drawing style</b> and post my art on my <a href="http://instagram.com/halcja/">Instagram</a>.</div>
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<b>Read 52 books.</b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Complete reading challenges</b> on my <a href="http://bookscoffeeandcake.blogspot.com/">book blog</a>.</div>
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<b>Take better care of myself.</b></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>Stop procrastinating o</b>r at least find productive ways to procrastinate.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Only work on projects that give me feedback or profit.</b></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>Stop talking to toxic people.</b></div>
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So this is what I'll be up to next year. I want to focus on my writing goals and make my life more rounded up in general.</div>
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<i><br /></i></div>
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<i>What are your New Year's Resolutions?</i></div>
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<br />Halynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08037029947281140281noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220594146637995636.post-62479391798851963092017-12-28T01:00:00.000-08:002021-02-27T11:34:48.559-08:00Put a book in this child’s hands | My Poetry<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">previously published on my Halcja's Place blog</span></i><br />
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Put a book in this child’s hands.<br />
<br />
Trust me — it’ll do them good.<br />
<br />
Give them time with their silent companion<br />
<br />
And you’ll see — something strong will grow out of this seed.<br />
<br />
It’ll give them big words and strong opinions.<br />
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It’ll be annoying, but you’ll get used to it and over time<br />
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They will settle down with solid ground under their feet<br />
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But with minds reaching higher than the sky.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>April 16, 2017</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span>Halynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08037029947281140281noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220594146637995636.post-18775684995897174582017-12-26T11:11:00.000-08:002017-12-26T11:11:15.778-08:00Favorite Books of 2017. Part 2<div>
Here is the second part of my Favorite Books of 2017. You can read the first part here.<br />
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<h3>
The Road Goes into the Distance Trilogy <span style="font-weight: normal;">by <i>Alexandra Bruschtein</i></span></h3>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">My rating ★★★★</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">★</span></div>
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(<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6428231">on Goodreads</a>)</div>
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This autobiographical novel is about Russia just at the rising of the communist revolution. If you don't mind the pro-communism anti-capitalism propaganda, it's a nice children's story about friendship and family, honor and responsibility. It's told from the point of view of little Sasha as she grows up, goes to school and meets new friends.</div>
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<h3>
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich <span style="font-weight: normal;">by <i>Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn</i></span></h3>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">My rating ★★★★</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">★</span></div>
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(<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17125.One_Day_in_the_Life_of_Ivan_Denisovich">on Goodreads</a>)</div>
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<div>
Just as the title suggests, this story is one day in the life of a labor camp prisoner Ivan Denisovich. Solzhenitsyn's style makes it very easy to read which may result in a cognitive dissonance because the themes of the book aren't that easy to swallow. The worries of labor camp inhabitants may seem simple, even primitive, but behind them, there's the tragedy of a human being that isn't even living but barely surviving.</div>
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<h3>
Do You Want Me to Be Your Mother? <span style="font-weight: normal;">by Olesya Likhunova</span></h3>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">My rating ★★★★</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">★</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></span></div>
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(<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35421384">on Goodreads</a>)</div>
<br />
This book is a diary where Olesya Likhunova writes about her experiences of adopting five children and being a mother of 7 (as of now 8) kids. It's very insightful. Olesya writes a lot about children's psychology and how children who grow up in the system are different from children who have a stable family right from birth. I really hope that one day this book will be translated into English because it's a must-read.<br />
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<h3>
The House on Mango Street <span style="font-weight: normal;">by <i>Sandra Cisneros</i></span></h3>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">My rating ★★★★</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">★</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></span></div>
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(<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/139253.The_House_on_Mango_Street">on Goodreads</a>)</div>
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This is a collection of vignettes about the author's childhood years from the moment when she and her family moved to a house on Mango Street. It was a quick read but very enjoyable.<br />
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<h3>
Sputnik Sweetheart <span style="font-weight: normal;">by <i>Haruki Murakami</i></span></h3>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">My rating ★★★★</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">★</span></div>
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(<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9557.Sputnik_Sweetheart">on Goodreads</a>)<br />
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I love Murakami. In fact, I'm listening to one of his audiobooks right now. His style is simple and engaging. The more of his books I read the more familiar I am with his characters. It's as if I'm visiting old friends.<br />
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This book is yet another love story. The narrator tells us about the love life of the girl he himself is in love with. There's even a mystery, and some magical realism is intertwined in the later chapters. And as always, the title of the book has a special symbolism what is mentioned all throughout the book. I've heard that Sputnik Sweetheart is usually recommended for those who are new to Murakami. I think I rather agree with this statement although my first Murakami was Norwegian Wood of which I still have very fond memories.</div>
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Halynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08037029947281140281noreply@blogger.com0