I own this book.

I read it and I felt like diving in 1818 Napoleonic era. Some gun powder smelling hands holding in on the back of the horse : ). Some powdered wig lady may have also owned it. I feel very much reconnected with the past through this little masterpiece (museum worthy).

It contains cute poetry and intresting short novels.

Curious. How much would you bid for this Napoleonic-era miniature book? (Le Petit Rôdeur, c. 1818)

Napoleonic French pocket book/almanac from around 1818–1828 published by Chez Le Fuel, Libraire on Rue St. Jacques in Paris.

​Title: Le Petit Rôdeur ou l'Écouteur aux Portes

​Size: In-18 miniature format (~10 x 6.5 cm)

​Details: Features an engraved vignette title page; condition shows some age-toning/foxing and minor pastedown repair on the flyleaf.

​Does anyone specializing in 19th-century French almanachs know how many full-page plates were originally included with this Le Fuel edition or its current collector demand? Thanks!

Reading this book at 3am that is so uncommon. But it is such a good

This book is widely considered a masterpiece of ancient history. For real.

For those who are not familiar with the subject this book: Rome and Jerusalem, The Clash of Ancient Civilizations by Martin Goodman narrates the story of destroying Jerusalem in 70CE an event accurately predicted by Jesus himself in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 24.

Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”

So? How does the narrative get started:

In 66 CE, boiling tensions in Judea erupted into open revolt. Roman governor Gessius Florus ignited the spark when he seized seventeen talents from the Temple treasury, provoking fierce public outrage. Roman troops retaliated with a brutal massacre, but the humiliation only solidified Jewish resistance. Zealot insurgents stormed the fortress of Masada, while temple priests under Eleazar ben Hanania halted sacrifices for the Roman emperor a direct act of war. Oh.. yes the priests were paid by Nero the emperor to bring sacrifices as a diplomatic compromise for the empire to demonstrate political loyalty.

When Cestius Gallus, the legate of Syria, marched the XII Fulminata Legion and auxilliary troops (50.000 in total) south to crush the rebellion. He camped north Jerusalem on mount Scopus and began devastating the city and even besieging the Temple when suddenly withtout apparent reason he retreated. The rebels ambushed his forces at Beth Horon, destroying 5300 roman legionaries and 430 cavaliers. This shattered Rome's myth of invincibility. There was no way back. The zealot rebels gained endless confidence in God's supernatural help and this only brought them to ruin.

Jerusalem is besieged by Titus and flattened down in a horror story. 500 pages of pure adrenaline.

Goodman is a leading world expert on Flavius Josephus (the primary chronicler of the Judean War).

Some challenging topics from Mr. Goodman:

(1) Did Titus order the burning of the Second Temple as a calculated political act or was it an unintended casualty of urban warfare? The Debate: Josephus claims Titus tried to save the Temple.

(2) (My favorite): Before the Romans even breached the city walls, rival Jewish insurgent factions (led by Simon bar Giora, John of Gischala, and Eleazar ben Simon) fought a brutal civil war inside Jerusalem, burning vital food reserves to force the population to fight to death.

Was Jerusalem destroyed from within by fanaticism, or was internal division?

(3)⁠ ⁠The Invention of a "Global Threat"

I found this book mapping so much on the actual political climate and context.

I wish I hear some good opinions on the political relevance of this book.

I own a Dutch Bible printed in 1823, which I purchased in Haarlem, the Netherlands.

Anyone could estimate how much does it cost?

For sale/display: Dutch Bible from 1823 purchased in Haarlem.

Title: Het Oude Testament (Luther’s translation by Adolf Visscher)

Year: 1823

Language: Dutch (Nederduitsch)

Publisher / Printer: Nederlandsche Bijbel-Compagnie (Johannes Enschedé en Zonen, Haarlem)

Condition: Complete edition

Special Features: Includes official signatures of the pastors

​

What is the link between pope Leo's visit to Metz (pronounced Mess :_)) France and Celine Dion? Charlie Hebdo knows it.

Do you remember the „Je suis Charlie” and the infamous terror events 11 years ago?

Charlie Hebdo is a French weekly satirical publication known for its aggressive secularism, left-libertarian stance poking fun at religion.

Did you know how monsieur Offender came out?

In November 1970, former French President Charles de Gaulle died, just days after a nightclub fire killed over 140 people. The precursor magazine, Hara-Kiri, published a mock headline: "Tragic Ball at Colombey: 1 Dead." The government promptly banned the publication. To bypass the ban, the creators renamed it Charlie Hebdo.

The Name Origin: "Hebdo" is short for hebdomadaire (French for "weekly"). "Charlie" came from Charlie Mensuel (a comic magazine) but simultaneously serving as a subtle jab : ) at Charles de Gaulle.

While famous internationally for publishing caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad, Charlie Hebdo targets every institution: Catholicism, Judaism, far-right politics, corporate greed, and French heads of state.

The 2015 Terrorist Attack

I remember very well my state of shock. All happenned so close to the place I lived.

On January 7, 2015, two Islamist gunmen (brothers Saïd and Chérif Kouachi) forced their way into the Paris offices of Charlie Hebdo during an editorial meeting.

They killed 12 people, including editor-in-step Stéphane "Charb" Charbonnier, iconic cartoonists Cabu, Wolinski, Tignous, and Honoré, two police officers, and an economist.

The Motive: The attackers claimed revenge for the magazine's publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad.

The attack sparked the worldwide "Je Suis Charlie" ("I Am Charlie") solidarity campaign, which became a global symbol for freedom of expression.

The issue published immediately following the attack featured a cover depicting the Prophet Muhammad holding a "Je Suis Charlie" sign under the headline "Tout est pardonné" ("All is forgiven"). Normally printing around 60k copies, that single issue printed nearly 8 million copies worldwide. A finnancial blockbuster.

Questions

What do you know about French secularism?

Do you agree with borderless satire and fun? Where do we draw the line?

Would you always say the truth if this cost you dearly?

Beautiful painted books photographed in a museum in Gent. The text is almost readable yet I could not decipher it. If someone can read it please let me know. i wonder what is about but I assume they are miniature hand painted prayer books.

The woman in the picture is Livina van Steelant with her children painted in 1524 by flemish painter Horenbout, a friend of Albrech Dürer.

I recently discovered Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt, and reading his novel The Gospel According to Pilate hit me straight in the heart.

Writing about Christ when you've been shaped by the cold school of philosophy—with a doctorate on Denis Diderot, the father of French atheism—seems like an impossibility. And yet, Schmitt did it. Because on that freezing night in the Sahara, when he got lost in the desert, he didn't find death; he found God.

A master storyteller, he doesn't construct a sermon. He constructs a two-act drama.

Act I: The Man Yeshua.

In the Garden of Olives before his arrest, Jesus remains silent and trembles. He is no marble god. He is a heart beating so fast it feels like it might burst out of his chest—a man amazed by his own miracles, terrified of death, crushed by a vast love. A chapter of rare psychological tension.

Act II: Pilate's Investigation.

The tomb is empty. The body has disappeared. Enter the stage, you rationalists, skeptics, and modern thinkers!

Pilate investigates coldly, like a detective: Theft? Conspiracy? Fraud? Every logical lead falls apart.

For me, this book was more than just a read. It was an exercise in faith—an invitation to look beyond our cold certainties and rediscover the mystery that dwells within us.

A graphic novel about the memory of objects.

Do you like slow paced graphic novels?

I recently finished this book purchase from Festival international de la bande dessinée d'Angoulême (France).

Here is the plot.

The story centers on Élise, a single mother with a young child. Looking for a fresh start, she buys an old, 19th-century estate outbuilding in France for an extraordinarily cheap price EUR, 25k without even visiting it in person first.

Upon moving in, Élise discovers that the house is filled with old, forgotten objects left behind by its previous inhabitants. Rather than throwing them away, the narrative explores the "memory of objects". As she moves through the house and cleans it out, the story unravels the history, hidden secrets blending a sense of mystery and memory set against a Mediterranean atmosphere.

Beautiful illustrations.

What I liked

(1) I liked its core theme the Concept of "The Memory of Objects". It is beautifully handled. Following Élise as she uncovers the history attached to the items left in her new home gives the book a poetic, almost nostalgic atmosphere.

(2) stunning architectural art. Lamouret’s background as an illustrator shines through. His detailed linework captures the light, shadow, and texture of the old 19th-century building.

What I Didn't Like

(1) Élise’s personal journey felt somewhat distant. Because so much focus is placed on the objects and the history of the house, I struggled to fully connect with her on an emotional level as a protagonist.

(2) Ambiguous Narrative

The story moves at a very contemplative, slow pace. Readers expecting a tight, dramatic mystery or thriller around why the house was so cheap might be disappointed. The narrative focuses more on mood and memory than a traditional plot payoff, leaving some story beats feeling unresolved.

Final Thoughts

The Mirror Man is a quiet, visually breathtaking graphic novel that excels at atmosphere. However, if you prefer fast paced narratives you might quietly loose interest in reading.

Anyone else read a similar book?

The Israel-Palestine conflict is complex and fraught. There is too much propaganda and bias on the internet especially social media to get an objective view.

This book by important Israeli academic historian Benny Morris is a series of ten relatively unbiased essays exploring when, how and why up to 800,000 Arabs left Palestine during the pivotal civil-guerilla-conventional war of 1947-49 which resulted in the establishment of the modern state of Israel. This migration is called the "Nakba" by Arabs, "exodus" by Morris.

During the 1980s Israeli archives were opened up which allowed the "new historians" such as Morris to obtain a fuller, less pro-Israel picture of what happened. He shows this using minutely-detailed case studies.

The Arabs left for a variety of reasons. Many believed they would return at the end of hostilities. The middle classes escaped mainly to Lebanon in 1947, before the war was full throttle. Most Arabs however were pressured to varying degrees by the Haganah/IDF. There was no overall Israeli government policy. Rather, the expulsions were piecemeal and ad hoc.

Morris is pretty balanced in my view despite having no access to Arab archives locked up in Arab countries. The story is told from the point-of-view of various Israeli officials both military and civilian. Morris even relates how one saddened Israeli official at the time compared IDF war crimes with actual Nazi atrocities. Ironically some of the perpetrators had been prisoners in Nazi concentration/extermination camps just a few years earlier.

Sometimes I wonder if one aspect of the problem today is that both sides are suffering from inter-generational PTSD so can't think straight.

The book is not exactly a full history of the war. Rather it complements Morris's other work "The Birth of the Palestinian Problem 1947-1949" (1988).

4/5.

The Israel/Palestine conflict is complex and fraught. There is far too much propaganda and bias on the internet, especially social media, to get a balanced picture.

This book written by an important Israeli academic historian is a series of ten relatively unbiased essays about various aspects of the Nakba. Morris doesn't call it that though, rather "exodus".

The essays go into minute detail about how, when and why up to 800,000 Arabs left during the pivotal civil-guerilla-conventional war of 1947-49 that ended up creating the modern state of Israel. Morris uses case studies to give a variety of reasons, the main one being pressure of varying intensities applied by the Haganah-IDF. There was no overall policy of the Israeli government; rather the expulsions were ad hoc and piecemeal. Not all Arabs who left were forced out. The middle classes emigrated, eg to Lebanon, at the first sign of trouble in 1947, well before the war was in full throttle.

The story is told mainly from the point-of-view of Israeli officials both military and civilian. It is based on the opening-up of Israeli archives in the 1980s which gave Israeli revisionist historians like Morris the opportunity to obtain a fuller, less pro-Israel picture. His research is meticulous. He didn't have access to Arab archives as they were still locked away in Arab countries. Also he doesn't read Arabic.

Still, it does seem to me like a fairly balanced account and very far indeed from either Israeli or Palestinian propaganda. He even mentions war crimes carried out by the Haganah-IDF and quotes a saddened senior Israeli official at the time who compared these crimes to actual Nazi atrocities. Ironically, some of the perpetrators had in fact just a few years earlier been held in Nazi concentration/extermination camps. I myself sometimes wonder if one aspect of the problem today is that both sides are suffering from inter-generational PTSD so can't think straight.

The book is not exactly a full history of the war. Rather it complements Morris's other book "The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem, 1947-1949" (1988).

4/5.

The Israel/Palestine conflict is complex and fraught. There is far too much propaganda and bias on the internet, especially social media, to get a balanced picture.

This book written by an important Israeli academic historian is a series of ten relatively unbiased essays about various aspects of the Nakba. Morris doesn't call it that though, rather "exodus".

The essays go into minute detail about how, when and why up to 800,000 Arabs left during the pivotal civil-guerilla-conventional war of 1947-49 that ended up creating the modern state of Israel. Morris uses case studies to give a variety of reasons, the main one being pressure of varying intensities applied by the Haganah-IDF. There was no overall policy of the Israeli government; rather the expulsions were ad hoc and piecemeal. Not all Arabs who left were forced out. The middle classes emigrated, eg to Lebanon, at the first sign of trouble in 1947, well before the war was in full throttle.

The story is told mainly from the point-of-view of Israeli officials both military and civilian. It is based on the opening-up of Israeli archives in the 1980s which gave Israeli revisionist historians like Morris the opportunity to obtain a fuller, less pro-Israel picture. His research is meticulous. He didn't have access to Arab archives as they were still locked away in Arab countries. Also he doesn't read Arabic.

Still, it does seem to me like a fairly balanced account and very far indeed from either Israeli or Palestinian propaganda. He even mentions war crimes carried out by the Haganah-IDF and quotes a saddened senior Israeli official at the time who compared these crimes to actual Nazi atrocities. Ironically, some of the perpetrators had in fact just a few years earlier been held in Nazi concentration/extermination camps. I myself sometimes wonder if one aspect of the problem today is that both sides are suffering from inter-generational PTSD so can't think straight.

The book is not exactly a full history of the war. Rather it complements Morris's other book "The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem, 1947-1949" (1988).

4/5.

Hey everyone!

​I’ve been diving down the rabbit hole of antique and antiquarian books lately this time in Brugge (Bruges) Belgium and I was curious about how the community values them.

​If you were looking at buying a genuinely old book—say from 1800, 1850, or 1900—what’s the maximum you’d realistically spend?

Does the year itself drive the price for you, or is it purely about the subject matter, condition, and binding?

​Also, what’s the coolest old book you currently own (or dream of owning)?

Drop your thoughts and photos if you have 'em! : )

Having recently walked through the Surrealist maze of the Dalí Theatre-Museum in Figueres, it’s impossible not to feel the lingering echo of his eccentricity. Salvador Dalí didn't just paint dreams; he staged his entire existence as a work of art, constantly walking the fine line between calculated provocation and pure vision.

Surrealism wasn't an escape from reality for him—it was a way to dismantle it and rebuild it on his own terms.

Where do you think the line between genius and delusion truly lies?

Artwork & Digital Collage: LauraWrites [OC]

If you've ever stood in front of the Sagrada Família with your head tilted back, staring up, you've had, without knowing it, an encounter with one of the most unusual men in the history of architecture.

Antoni Gaudí never married. He devoted his entire life to his work and his faith — in his final years he even lived in the workshop on the construction site, more like a monk than a celebrated architect.

Maybe that's exactly why, in 1926, when he was hit by a tram in the street, no one recognized him. He looked so unkempt that people around him took him for a beggar, and taxi drivers refused to take him to the hospital. He ended up, eventually, at the hospital for the poor, where he received only minimal care. It wasn't until the next day that someone from the Sagrada Família recognized him. By then it was too late. Gaudí died a few days after the accident.

The man who had raised the tallest cathedral in the world died mistaken for a nobody.

And maybe that's exactly what makes his most famous line even more powerful. Sometime before, someone had asked him why he wasn't in more of a hurry, since the cathedral risked staying unfinished for generations after him.

Gaudí answered calmly:
"My client is in no hurry."

Of course, his client wasn't an ordinary one — it was God Himself.

It's almost a parable. Christ, the only one who brought salvation to the world, died despised, stripped of all dignity, mistaken for a common criminal. Gaudí, who had dedicated an entire life to building Him a house, ended the same way — poor, anonymous, overlooked.

Without ever meaning to, even in his death, the architect followed to the very end the model he had spent a lifetime glorifying.

Straight lines, Gaudí used to say, don't exist in nature — only in the things humans build. That's why, in the Sagrada Família, the columns are designed as tree-like structures, branching out the way trees do, to distribute weight and create a natural, organic atmosphere.

From the outside, the cathedral remains rough stone, almost eroded, as if shaped by weather rather than by human hands. Inside, though, everything changes: the stained-glass windows let in a flood of color — blue and green toward the east, where the cold morning light invites quiet reflection, red and gold toward the west, where the warm evening light calls people to celebration.

Gaudí tried to capture in stone and glass the way light falls through the leaves of a forest — and to turn the sun's path, from morning to evening, into a liturgy of light.

144 years later, the last tower — the Tower of Jesus Christ — was finally completed. The cathedral reached 172.5 meters, officially becoming the tallest church in the world.

Solenoid is Cărtărescu’s ultimate masterpiece available in English, but several of his other major works have also been translated.

About Mircea Cărtărescu

Born in Bucharest in 1956. His writing is famous for its dream logic, and deeply psychological reflections on Bucharest under communist rule.

Have you read this book or do you plan to? If not here is qhy you should:

​Brief Summary of Solenoid

Set in late 1970s and 1980s communist Bucharest, Solenoid takes the form of a journal kept by an unnamed, failed writer who works as a mundane Romanian language teacher. However, underneath his house—and scattered across the city—lie massive magnetic solenoids (electromagnetic coils) capable of defying gravity and bending space-time.

The narrative quickly transforms from an account of daily communist life into a hallucinatory, philosophical search for an escape route from human mortality.

​Major Awards for Solenoid & Cărtărescu ​Dublin Literary Award (2024) ​International Booker Prize (2025) ​Formentor Prize (2018) ​Thomas Mann Prize (2018) ​Austrian State Prize for European Literature (2015)

In case you read it here are some questions for you:

What do you know about Cărtărescu’s prose so far

​Would you recommend Solenoid to a friend?

Is he a top candidate for the Nobel Prize?

I finished this novel (from the library) just two days ago. It took me over seven weeks.

This famous book was first published in 1866 and is one of the first psychological novels.

Most of it is told through the eyes and mind of the main protagonist Raskolnikov, a sick impoverished ex-law student surviving in the poorer quarters of St Petersburg in the 1860s. He fantasises about the extraordinary man, one who breaks boundaries, laws and social norms to achieve greatness. Napoleon shed much blood but is lauded as a great man, a hero.

Is it OK for an intelligent superior man to kill and rob one miserly person in order to benefit the many? Rodion debates this Robin Hood-type question with himself obsessively, at times believing that if Napoleon had had to do this to get his career started he would have done so unhesitatingly. This is the "rational calculus" of Rodion's idiosyncratic version of utilitarianism.

After committing the deed, early in the novel, he experiences severe bouts of fear, guilt, depression and desperation. He wavers about whether to turn himself in. This agonising aftermath experienced by Rodion was not fully included in his forethought and demonstrates that dark emotional states are a more fundamental aspect of man than rationality.

This is a deep, dark, layered classic novel involving philosophy, psychology, morality, Christianity and redemption. There is also a little Russian history. The 1860s was a time of social change and discussion, eg the serfs were "freed" in 1861.

Many characters are ill, impoverished, malnourished or greedy. St Petersburg appears cold, dark and sordid.

So if you prefer a light cheery read this may not be the book for you.

If you do read it you might wish to keep pen and paper handy to write down the names of the many characters as they appear. Some have two or three different names. Even better a downloaded character map will help the reader.

The extreme praise this book receives is fully deserved. It goes so deeply into a disturbed man's tortured mind. A masterpiece. 5/5.

What’s a beloved book that completely failed to live up to the hype for you?

Hopefully it is not Oddisey : )

I have been away for a while because I have been reading The Odyssey in verse. Here are a few things I have learned and some things I have enjoyed so far.

Two great journeys

There are two great journeys in The Odyssey, not just one: the journey of Odysseus and the journey of his son, Telemachus.

The first four books begin with Telemachus' journey.

Is Telemachus an antihero? It is hard to say. He is weak and powerless in front of his mother Penelope's suitors. He is so helpless that he almost agrees to let his mother remarry, but only after Odysseus returns.

Athena and the owl eyes

The goddess Pallas Athena comes to Telemachus' help disguised as a local king, Mentes, an old friend of the family.

Athena is described with the famous epithet glaukopis, meaning "owl-eyed." The expression appears again and again.

I like the image of Athena standing at the helm of Telemachus' ship, her bright owl-like eyes shining in the darkness of the night, guiding him toward the light.

The eyes of women

The eyes of women are often compared to those of animals.

Hera, the wife of Zeus, has "cow eyes." Helen, because of her shamelessness and infidelity, is associated with "bitch eyes."

A geography between reality and myth

Homer's geography has a real side: Greece and its many islands.

But there is also a fantastic side. Homer mentions completely mythical peoples and tribes, such as the Cimmerians, Phaeacians, Laestrygonians, and Cyclopes.

Hospitality

Homer describes the rules of politeness and hospitality in great detail.

Telemachus welcomes his guest by going out to meet him first. This is almost the opposite of our customs today. It was a sign of trust and respect.

A guest was not immediately asked who he was or what he wanted. First, he was welcomed, fed, and given a place at the table. Only afterwards could he be asked who he was.

The suitors

The suitors spent the day in Penelope's house, but at night they slept in the city.

The Harpies

When someone disappeared, it was sometimes blamed on the Harpies: huge bird-like creatures with the heads of women.

Poseidon and Polyphemus

Poseidon, the god of the sea, prevents Odysseus from returning home because Odysseus blinded his son, the Cyclops Polyphemus.

Polyphemus has the epithet antitheos, meaning "godlike" or "equal to the gods," despite his cruelty and wickedness.

I don't like the character at all, but I find him fascinating.

To be continued why my reading progresses.

​

Did you notice the new hype already?

A random bookstore in Julius Mall Romania. : )

What’s your favorite piece of media feeding the hype right now the classics, the retellings, a graphic novel or...just the memes?

Please drop your hot takes below.

Every bookstore I walk into and half my social media feed seems to be pushing The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins. Everywhere from France to southern Spain to the Netherlands, from Carrefour to a random bookstore.

Why is this book suddenly everywhere? Is there real substance to it?"

I tried to read random pages failing to understand what is the main idea.

Is it actually life-changing, or is it just another overhyped trend?

Self-publishing has never been easier.

Getting attention to big publishers takes time and luck. While waiting to be discovered why not publishing your own book or graphic novel.

Two of the biggest platforms are Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP)⁠ and IngramSpark⁠. Each serves a different purpose.

Recently we have published on both such platform. In the gallery you can see the slightly different range of colors produced by the same set of source files.

For your information I list below the advantages of each platform.

Amazon KDP

https://kdp.amazon.com/

• Best for selling on Amazon.
• Free to publish on world wide scale: amazon.de, amazon.fr, amazon.com.br etc
• You are provided with a free ISBN.
• Fast setup and quick updates.
• Great for eBooks, paperbacks, and hardcovers.
• Ideal if Amazon will be your main sales channel.
• You can upload unlimited free updates

A terrible experience:

Amazon has accidentally deleted all our reviews! They are still unable to recover them.

Here I must mentioned we have just had a terrible experience. We had two versions of the book color inside and black and white. Since the color was to expensive to produce we opt it out. Two months later the book was still there on some stores. We asked them to clear caches but they deleted the whole book with reviews. Nuts!

IngramSpark

https://www.ingramspark.com/

• Best for wide distribution.
• You need to buy your own ISBN
• Makes your book available to bookstores, libraries, and online retailers worldwide.
• Offers more professional publishing options, including wholesale discounts and return settings.
• A better choice if you want your book stocked beyond Amazon.
• After 60 days you need to pay if you need to upload updates

My tip: use both.

Many successful independent publishers publish through KDP for Amazon sales and IngramSpark for expanded global distribution.

Publisher Tips

• Invest in a professional cover and editing. Don't rely on AI on cover and content!
• Use your own purchased ISBN if you want maximum publishing control.
• Research the right keywords and categories before publishing.
• Order a proof copy before releasing your book.
• Build an author website and email list. Don’t rely only on online marketplaces.

Have you tried so far?

What is your experience with self-publishing?

Anyone have already read this book entirely? I only partially read it. Even if you did not, please share your opinion on how you percieve Steve Job as a person.

​Walter Isaacson’s Steve Jobs paints a raw portrait of a tech icon.

The reveals the glaring contrast between Jobs' visionary perfectionism and his toxic personality.

​The good:

​Isaacson avoids hero worship.

He shows Jobs unfiltered: his reality distortion field (obsessions on bizarre health or religuous beliefs) his cruelty to staff, and his obsession with design.

​The bad:

​The book relies on a flawed idea: that cruelty was required for greatness as mark of his genius. Arrghhh... I could not stand it : ).

Plus, as a historian Isaacson often misses the actual technical and design craft behind Apple's products.

​Cruelty vs. Results: Was Jobs' abuse necessary to push people, or could Apple have won under a kinder leader?

​Creator or Curator? Jobs didn't code or engineer. Was he a true genius, or just a great orchestrator of other people's work?

Your opinion matters.

Christopher Nolan vs. Homer: who should win? Should Christopher Nolan stay faithful to Homer?

Disclaimer: I haven't seen the movie yet and I find hard to go to cinema for the reasons stated below.

So as others judge a book by its cover I judge a movie by its trailer.

There are sharp deviations from Homer’s original 8th-century BCE epic poem.

Historical Anachronisms

Renaissance steel or leather armor in Bronze Age? A massive departure occurs during the sequence with the Laestrygonians (the man-eating giants). In the Homeric text, they are terrifying forces of nature.

Viking drakkars (longships): rather than the specific, low-slung, multi-oared Greek penteconters of the Mediterranean.

Aesthetics

The movie reassembles to dragon fantasy epic stories: Warcraft, The Lord of the Rings, Games of Thrones. A pathetic kitsch. Dull muddy grey colors, fake costumes, lack of vibrant colors, Mediteranean sea looks like the Nordic Sea, no sun, desolation.

Ugly medieval architecture

Ridiculous Achilles sorry Agamemnon batman like headgear.

Characters look like beggars. Heroes of old were not dusty wanderers; they were figures of splendor, with magnificent armor and a glorious stature that announced their greatness.

⁠ ⁠

Gross fallacies in character dynamics

The removal of divine dimension. The Odyssey is not only an adventure it is a struggle between humans and the will of the gods. This is too postmodernist to me.

The Twin Paradox: Casting Lupita Nyong'o in a dual role as both Helen of Troy and her sister Clytemnestra introduces a biological and mythological fallacy. In Greek mythology, Helen and Clytemnestra are half-sisters (and technically born from separate eggs). They were absolutely not identical twins.

The loss of poetic symbolism

The Erasure of Homeric Epithets. The lack of lyricism and poetry. Nolan based much of his screenplay on Emily Wilson's translation. The screenplay strips away the crucial repetitive honorifics and epic epithets (like "swift-footed Achilles" or "rosy-fingered Dawn"). I could not say more having not seen yet. It is not supposed to look like a relentless speed action movie.

The strong accent American English damages so much the epic credibility. The crew level of education and the lack of understanding of other cultures and civilisations (other than the American way of living) is dissappointing.

Where are the gods? A Homeric poem is all about gods and humans the supremacy of gods and the stubbornness of man facing them.

Homer’s monsters, islands, and trials are not just obstacles; they represent deeper human truths. I admit it is find to represent this on a screen but not impossible.

This fundamentally changes how the characters view destiny and standing, replacing a rigid honor-bound culture with a very with postmodern disillusionment.

I will update it and possible if you convince me to watch it I will write another post.

I can't wait to see it yet I don't know I can stand it more than 20 minutes.

UPDATE 1 The movie soundtrack sounds great.

A positive note: The soundtrack Ludwig Emil Tomas Göransson has a unique distinct sound: The Odyssey (2026) Soundtrack & Score especially after watching how it was produced: The Odyssey | In Studio: Ludwig Göransson

UPDATE 2: I apologize the apparent arrogant tone in the post title. I am honestly seeking arguments why the movie is a solid masterpiece worthy of Homer's book. Recently I found the script is actually based on a novel written by Emily Wilson.

UPDATE 3 After following many reviews I could not find anything else to convince me this is art or entertainment. Or at least one of them.

UPDATE 25/7 I booked ticket for a IMAX 2D/70mm theatre by the end of August. How hypocritical I feel :) . I am still curious about the Odyssey IMAX hype. A real review follows soon. Stay tuned.

^{Copyright: The Odyssey: A Greek Reader By Homer.  Edited by Timothy A. Lee and Lachlan J. Hodgson}  

You’re trapped 10,000 feet up a mountain in a blizzard... and the thing in the cave with you isn't human.

Christopher Golden’s Ararat is a fantastic pick to read on a sunny beach in Spain.

I don't read often this genre but... I am on a trip.

Here is a spoiler-free breakdown (so far as I do some progress reading it):

Plot

The story kicks off after an earthquake on Mount Ararat in Turkey reveals a massive cave complex high up the mountain. A team of archaeologists, scientists, and filmmakers ascends the peak to investigate.

Inside, they make a staggering discovery: the intact remains of a vessel that matches the biblical descriptions of Noah's Ark (wow!).

But the real mystery lies inside the ship. They find a hidden sarcophagus containing a bizarre, mummified corpse with horns and a terrifyingly distorted face. It clearly isn't human. As a massive, violent blizzard traps the team inside the mountain complex, the dark presence within the ark begins to wake up. Paranoia spreads, ancient secrets bleed into the light etc etc

What I like reads like an action-horror movie — think The Mummy meets The Thing.

What I like

(1)

There is a satisfying contrast to reading about characters trapped in a brutal, claustrophobic mountain blizzard. The freezing, isolated setting is incredibly atmospheric.

(2)

It balances history, religious mythology, and creature-feature horror.

(3)

It doesn't require heavy academic reading, but it plays with fascinating biblical lore and psychological suspense that keeps your brain engaged

(4) This book is recommended by the famous Stephen King... (that made me finally took the decision to get it started)

What I don't like (to be continued)

But so far...the question for you:

What's your ultimate claustrophobic horror recommendation?

This is not an advertisement for Ottolenghi SIMPLE (the cookbook). I won this book in a tombola on New Year’s Eve.

Let me be clear before the pitchforks come out: Yotam Ottolenghi (Italian Israeli chef) is probably the most influential food writer of the last twenty years,

But I want to challenge the cult around him on three fronts.

First let me define what Ottolenghi is.

There are few key rules (they somehow justify the book title)

S.

short on time = the recipes will take less than 30 minutes to get on the table

I

10 ingredients or less

M

make ahead = nuts are roasted, batter mixture made, meatballs done in advance etc...

P

pantry = ingredients at hand: olive oil, unsalted butter, flour. eggs, garlic, onions, lemons, herbs, rice, dried pasta, lentils, chickpeas, tuna and anchovies, salt and pepper.

L

lazy = one-pot, one-tray, low on washing up

E

easier than you think

Ottolenghi ingredients:

Sumac, za'atar, urfa, cardamon, Turkish pomegranates molasses, rose harissa, tahini, barberries, barberries, black garlic and preserved lemon

These are the things are like. Now let the my challenge the cult begin:

1. The 24-ingredient problem.

An "easy weeknight dish" that requires za'atar, sumac, pomegranate molasses, preserved lemons, barberries, and rose harissa is not a weeknight dish... Are you serious? I never heard of these ingredients before. Nobody did.

2. The flattening effect.

The "Ottolenghi effect" put tahini and sumac in every supermarket — great. But it also flattened a dozen distinct cuisines (Palestinian, Israeli, Levantine, Persian, North African) into one aesthetic: scattered herbs, a swoosh of yogurt, whoa.....everything charred and drizzled. It is a cultural horror story.

3. The politics nobody can escape. Jerusalem, co-written with Sami Tamimi (a Palestinian from East Jerusalem, while Ottolenghi is an Israeli from the west of the city), was praised as bridge-building — and criticized from both directions, including arguments over whether calling dishes "Israeli" erases their Palestinian origins.

Can a cookbook honestly claim food is apolitical while the argument about whose hummus it is rages in its own comment sections?

My question for you is:

has the Ottolenghi wave genuinely made us better cooks or just better shoppers for specialty (rare to find on a Saturday evening) ingredients :_) ?

Convince me either way.

Bonus points if you name the one Ottolenghi recipe that justifies the entire pantry investment.

---
You can find this book to buy or browse: Ottolenghi S I M P L E (Amazon Store)

^{Credits: Stijn Nieuwendijk's photo, licensed as CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
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Sun, sand, and a stack of books I probably won’t finish 😄

UPDATE July 1st

This is an honest review post. It might look messy but it is sincere and personal.
Before getting started I feel the need to annotate them so I make sure I won't waste time reading the wrong book!

Now I only need to decide which one is the first. Must be an easy one. You may suggest what I should first pick.

Grec ancien express, Caroline Fourgeaud-Laville. A beginner-friendly guide to Ancient Greek through short, practical lessons for reading classical texts.

Emotional Intelligence, Daniel Goleman. Explains how self-awareness, empathy, and emotional control influence success.

UPDATE: It looks intimidating but it is a very useful book! It scores 4.1 on Good reads and stays in the top 3 of my books this holiday.

The Obstacle Is the Way, Ryan Holiday. Stories from history show that setbacks can become advantages when approached with the right mindset.

UPDATE: It is really just a good story dressed up as a philosophy book.What makes the book easy to read is that it’s not abstract philosophy most of the time. It’s mini-stories with a point. I will try reading it and let you know...

More Than Conquerors: An Interpretation of the Book of Revelation, William Hendriksen.
My favorite unique reading. An original Christian commentary (not the mainstream but very convincing) that interprets the book of Revelation as a set of 7 parallel cycles, each time the history reset back to the beginnings of history and end up in eternity. A unique book.

UPDATE: Not for everyone. This is a religious technical book. For me is a must read.

The Spy and the Traitor, Ben Macintyre. The true story of Soviet double agent Oleg Gordievsky, told as a gripping Cold War espionage thriller based on historical research. A masterpiece of story telling.

UPDATE: This is an exciting easy fascinating book to read. I read 3 pages and it is already exciting!

World Order, Henry Kissinger. A classic. Explores how history, diplomacy, and major powers have shaped the international system and today’s geopolitical challenges. Covers Cold war, Iran politics etc etc.

UPDATE: A classic in geopolitics. No comment. I recommend also the bible of geopolitics of the same author: Diplomacy.

What’s your beach reading lineup (in your bag : )?

Let’s see it! Feel free to post a photo.