🕯 " ДАРЫ ВОЛХВОВ "
О.ГЕНРИ 🕯

" THE GIFT OF THE MAGI "
by O. Henry

If you're looking for a Christmas story that doesn't feature either a nativity or Santa , this story is for you .

This classic story was first published in 1905 . It reinforces the value of selfless giving.

👼 ...." The magi,as you know , were wise men - wonderfully wise men - who brought gifts to the Babe in the manger. They invented the art of giving Christmas presents 🎁 Being wise,their gifts were no doubt wise ones,possibly bearing the privilege of exchange in case of duplication. And here I have lamely related to you the uneventful chronicle of two foolish children in a flat who most unwisely sacrificed for each other the greatest treasures of their house .....👼

Enjoy the story! I loved reading it . It's worth your free time.

Level of English : B1 + / B2 / C1

🔔⭐️Merry Christmas to those who celebrate! 🎄🔴

Buona Vigilia di Natale a tutti ! 🌲🫐


P.S. Историю оставлю для вас ниже в двух версиях - на русском и английском

With love ,
Your Yulia ☕️

#ohenry
#thegiftofthemagi
#дарыволхвов
#Merrychristmas

🪄My Storyline and Reading Year 2025 in review 🪄

Dear friends, it is not as though I'm following everybody else's " end-of-the-year trends " now. No. What I really want is to list all my book recommendations in one New Year post and feel fully satisfied with what a wonderful Reading Year was it in our cosy community with cosy reading nooks and cosy time !

I didn't have any reading goals when 2025 started. My reading was in one speed : I see something, open it, it sparkes my interest,I read it , I share it with you. Simple arithmetic,isn't it? No magic is involved 😉

My review post begins with the list of books in English posted in my channel:

1. Alan Sillitoe " The loneliness of the long distance runner"

2. Edgar Allan Poe " The murders in the Rue Morgue"

3. Ann Patchett " State of wonder"

4. Madeleine Thien " Simple recipes "

5. Gwyneth Paltrow " The Clean plate "

6. Dr Ruth K Westheimer " Musically speaking "

7. Janice Miller " Fashion and Music "

8. Kathleen Krull " M for music "

9. Olivia Laing " The lonely city "

10. Charles Spencer " Gastrophysics"

11. Graded readers " Dear Diary

12. Jennifer Keishin Armstrong " Sex and the City and Us "

13. Caroline Jones " Little Book of Audrey Hepburn "

14. Axel Scheffler " Pip and Posy "
15. Somerset Maugham " The ant and the grasshoper "

16. Lauren Henderson " Jane Austen's guide to dating "

17. Somerset Maugham " The Painted Veil "

18. John Steinbeck " Of Mice and Men "

19. Ann Packer " Some Bright Nowhere "

20. O.Henry " The gift of the magi "

🧚‍♀20 books and 20 different worlds 🧚‍♀

I hope that my recommendation s were both useful and a memorable reading experience for you in 2025 💫

2025 for wasn't a book year for quantity !

It was my pleasure and a much bigger pleasure to share my reads with you ❤️

If you tell us which books have made your 2025 a pure enjoyment ,I'll understand your tastes better ⬇️

Your
Yulia ❤️

#2025readingyear
#booksinreview
#20booksinEnglish
#readingyear

" Мы открываем книгу. Её страницы чисты. Мы собираемся заполнить их собственноручно. Книга называется "Возможность", а её первая глава называется "Новый год "

Эдит Лавджой Пирс ( английская писательница и поэтесса )

⭐ Примите мои самые тёплые и искренние пожелания с Новым Годом , друзья !

Пусть ваша книга 2026 года под названием " Возможность " всегда следует за вами в ваших руках и вы не пропускаете ни одной её главы.
Начинаем писать Главу 1 уже в эту Новогоднюю ночь 🌛⭐
Достаём самые любимые цветные ручки,карандаши,акварели и создаём пейзажи на каждый день ,потому что как раз из них и состоит наша удивительная жизнь ⭐

Спасибо,что мы вместе ❤️
С Наступающим!

Your
Yulia ❤️

#2026год
#Возможность
#Пожелания
#снаступаюшим

❄️ We are already in 2026 ❄️

Happy Orthodox Christmas to you all !


Do you have any predictions for 2026? (which,though optimistic and bright,are hard to make now )

The New York Times does 🎅
The newspaper article leaves room for our own thoughts.Rather, mine were mainly about the language and fancy English adjectives or collocations..or phrasal verbs hahaha) and I stopped reading through all 10 predictions ,then I scrolled back to the beginning to grasp what all 10 were practically about??!)) It might be diagnosed as " teacher's syndrom " I guess so )))

☕️What are you reading now, friends?

Your first book in 2026 ?

I'll be happy to know about it

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/31/style/trends-predictions-2026.html

Love,
Yulia 🌲

#2026
#predictions
#nytimes

💖 MY BOOK REVIEW 💖

" Convenience Store woman "
By Sayaka Murata

When the novel came out in 2018,it was an immediate hit,selling over 650 000 copies and winning the prestigious Akutagawa Prize. Contemporary Japanese literature remains in the shadow in the English-speaking world despite the fact that Japanese writers such as Haruki Murakami and Kazuo Ishiguro have already gained popularity worldwide. Russia is not the exception.

" Convenience Store Woman" tells about heartbreaking tale of 36-year-old combini ( Convenience store) worker Keiko Furukawa ,a lifelong singleton who has always felt out of place in society. The Japanese noscript is accurately translated as " Convenience Store Human ", which is " Человек-комбини ", a successful attempt to leave the original message of the book untouched.

In the book, we will find several issues facing Japanese society today. The most protruded,alarmingly acute social one is the pressure to conform. It is strongly felt from the first word. Told from the point of a customer stepping foot in the store,the story surrounds us with the familiar sights,sounds, conversations, and smells of a place we know all too well.
First, no stranger to being a victim myself of people who shamelessly break personal boundaries, though nice-sounding and friendly guys they are, are portrayed as a social NORM. In fact, the only way to social success is finding a stable full-time job, getting married, and having children. BUT IS IT THE ONLY WAY ?

" Convenience Store Woman " forces us to question what is " normal " and what is " social misfit " for those who do not fit the mold of " NORMALITY"

Far from being a devil-may-care persona, Keiko seems the most indispensable worker in the store, though it makes her see herself as just " homo kombini " , one more tiny part of a gigantic world mechanism called " шестерёнки этого мира " . However, it is not just Keiko who becomes an outcast, but also her mismatched partner , Shirakara. Sayka Murata describes him almost inhumanely. Similarly. Keiko ' s attitude to him as her pet whom she feeds " animal food " at feeding time gives us much food for thought.

Does she suffer from a mental disorder or is this at least her protection shield,her second skin which she had to wear for survival? Sadly, the issue Murata leaves hanging, tantalizingly , is of Keiko ' s childhood. The details are scant and there are more and more questions flying around us about WHO should we place guilt on !! ? She trained herself to put a lid on her individuality after she was stigmatized for it,at school, and clearly our thirst for finding JUSTICE and a plausible explanation fails every time we start searching for the latter.

Sometimes, I had mixed feelings about Keiko but I heard her voice distinctively while reading the story, and compassion arose inside of me.
If a hammer is always used to destroy instead of expressing sympathy and building a temple of Kindness , Mercy and Grace, our society is doomed to collapse soon..

Like a Convenience store, Murata draws a chilly fluorescent world, in which you want to put on a warm cosy sweater to feel HUMAN .

I believe Sayka Murata 's English debut is brilliant. Her story will have you race through the pages to see what happens next.
It is worth checking out.

( I was reading the novel in Russian)

✈️The pdf is in comment section as usual

#bookreview
#Sayakamurata
#человеккомбини

🎈Guess what book first jumped impatiently into my hands when I started my selection process for the GRATITUDE BOOKS? 🎈

The wisdom of Sundays by Oprah Winfrey (2017)

Random page is open ...the book as if was asking me to read this very page . Page 229
" Ok" , I said to myself , " I will read it until the bottom, I will ...."

" Well, I think the stuff really teaches you, and you can learn it . People who are really rich have big struggles because they keep wanting MORE AND MORE. And people who are really poor are told they need more, and so that causes the same kind of suffering. People in the middle ground sometimes- I think the research says they are usually happier because they kind of let go of it, you know . And they never really associate their life with the stuff or the lack of stuff. But it's a comfortable seat. Right? What we want in life is a comfortable seat . And that's what they mean when they say operate from abundance or, you know, this idea of being awake and happy can only happen in the PRESENT MOMENT. "

( Russell Simmons )

Wonderfully said , nothing to add ...

About the book itself

Oprah Winfrey says Super Soul Sunday is the television show she was born to do.

“I see it as an offering,” she explains. “If you want to be more fully present and live your life with a wide-open heart, this is the place to come to.”

Now, for the first time, the aha moments of inspiration and soul-expanding insight that have enlightened millions on the three-time Emmy Award-winning Super Soul Sunday are collected in The Wisdom of Sundays, a beautiful, cherishable, deeply-affecting book.

Organized into ten chapters―each one representing a powerful step in Oprah’s own spiritual journey and introduced with an intimate, personal essay by Oprah herself―the Wisdom of Sundays features selections from the most meaningful conversations between Oprah and some of today’s most-admired thought-leaders. Visionaries like Tony Robbins, Tracey Jackson, Elizabeth Lesser,etc.

It is also beautifully laid out with photos, making the whole experience of reading meandering and thoughtful
Not only does Oprah speak about GRATITUDE, but also many related topics are raised , such as :

1. Intention

2. Mindfulness

3. Spiritual aspect

4. Ego

5. Forgiveness

6. Grace

7. Love

8. Fulfillment

9. Connection

This books doesn't give you clear-cut paths to happiness. You won't find hackneyed recipes, no , you won't BUT through other people's wisdoms you can openly ,though timidly, say HELLO to your soul for the first time in your life .

The book needs to be discussed, and to be quoted.

If you read it and feel like talking about it , let me know in the comments so as we could catch up with you online say somewhere in February ,and put it off our chests ))

💌The pdf is below

With Love ,

Yulia ⭐️

#Oprahwinfrey
#GRATITUDEBOOKS
#thewisdomofsundays