❄️ 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

✔️ JAMES J.SEXTON
" How to stay in love " ( 2019 )

288 pages

English level : B2 - C1

Hi, dear friends!

I was drawn in by James's charismatic personality and his straight talking delivery while watching a podcast on YouTube
( the link will be below paired with the pdf copy of his book)

" Nobody knows the dark side of marriage. It seems James is the one who does ...hmmm" - that's what I was thinking about ))

Hard-hitting divorce lawyer shares his insight and wisdom to help you ( us ) reverse engineer a healthy, fulfilling romantic relationship.

41 chapters , of an enjoyable length though, reveal all of the what-not-to-dos for couples who want to build a lasting relationship. He tells an unvarnished truth about love and marriage.

Love is loaned. It isn't permanently gifted. We all want more than not to get divorced or not break up. We want, and deserve, to find genuine joy in our connection to our romantic partner and deeper understanding of ourselves in our decisions to share our life with another. We've put a man on the moon,built thriving cities and,incredibly, almost impossibly, against insurmountable obstacles, even found time to invent s'mores and Netflix. We can do better or,at least, not so badly at keeping our romantic relationships alive and thriving

Being divorced himself, James still believes that there's something magical about romantic relationship and love. He aims at navigating the challenges of love using his candid wit and beautiful English! Yes, the text is far from being a poetry or a canonic spiritual narrative,rather,it embraces you with LIVE English right out from Introduction.

Chapter 1 starts

If you've thought long and hard about what marriage means, congratulations: You are different from many of my clients ( that may be one reason they are not still married) I'm forced by professional necessity to think deeply about marriage. I get to analyze it, though in its broken, Humpty-Dumpty-after-the-fall form, from so many angles - the psychological/ emotional, the sexual, the financial, the parental ,the practical/ logistical . If we can stand back for a moment from an institution so rich with powerful associations - many very good, some not so good- it's helpful to recognize that MARRIAGE IS A TECHNOLOGY. Like every technology, or tool, it solves certain problems, intentionally, and creates new problems, unintentionally.
What is the problem to which marriage is the solution?
Take a minute to think about it . Or three."

For me, James knows what's he's talking about ❗️

I would recommend the book even if you are living on a different planet called " Single people unite ! " 😅

Wry and illuminating book with plenty of humor and realistic practical ideas 😇

"

You can be right or you can be happy "

Your Yulia ,
With love ❤️

#Jamessexton
#howtostayinlove

.

🔡🔡🔡🔡🔡🔡🔡🔡
LANGUAGE FITNESS *

( BOOK IDIOMS )

🔡🔡🔡🔡🔡 the VERBS ❗️

Hi, dear friends !
Ages have passed since I posted anything about ENGLISH itself

❓ To ...... someone like a book
( you understand someone or know their life very well )

❓ To ....... the books ( false information has been entered in the company accounts so as to steal money)

❓To ....... a leaf out of someone's book
( you behave or do something in a way that someone else would )

⬇️Leave your suggestions in the comments ⬇️

Have a great winter Saturday!

With love and care,
Your Yulia 💝

#bookidioms

👍Немного итальянской философии от моего любимого канала 👍

"La speranza - puo' salvarti o puo' distruggerti 🔥"

"Надежда - она может как и спасти тебя, так и разрушить ...."

Лучше и не скажешь !

https://youtu.be/WhWV1mXeY50?si=tEaAfYZM2U1F5TfU

🌟" Жизнь - это сочетание волшебства и пасты "

Федерико Феллини


Цитату можно продолжить ,если захотите ,в комментариях . Она этого стоит 🥰,не правда ли ?

А нашлась она после того,как я наткнулась на cassatedda ,сицилийский десерт , и попала на
гастрономический журнал

La Gazzetta del Gusto è la rivista di enogastronomia, turismo e lifestyle, fondata da Enzo Radunanza nel 2015 e dedicata all’informazione e alla cultura del bello, del buono, del vero.

La redazione è composta da giornalisti, scrittori, buongustai, viaggiatori ed esperti del settore, uniti da una visione condivisa: offrire notizie utili, stimolanti e attendibili, valorizzare l’eccellenza, promuovere la sostenibilità e stimolare il pensiero critico.

Ссылочка ждет вас здесь

https://www.gazzettadelgusto.it/chi-siamo/

Dolce settimana a voi , carissimi, con la magia e la pasta !

P.S. Сладкой недели вам , друзья, с волшебством и пастой

#lagazettadelgusto

✍️ Join us to discuss Japanese poetry

I've been a regular member of Bedlam literature club since 2023 if memory serves me right .

https://news.1rj.ru/str/lit_bedlam/1119