welcome to a video of me endlessly yapping about life, creativity, female rage & the genius of florence welch My other socials: / quirinebrouwer / quinthebooks / quirinebrouwer
oh my gosh it feels like youtube's algorithm had finally caught up and analyzed my reading patterns. most of the books you've mentioned out here are also what I consider my 'bibles'. A Woman Who Run with the Wolves took me years to finish! but every single time I came back to it and read the stories and Clarissa Pinkola's interpretation of them, it always feels like it found me at the right time in my life (felt almost like a divine guidance type of book for me honestly!). Braiding Sweetgrass, I've never read anything like it as well but Robin Kimmerer has her way with her poetic language that really humbled me greatly. After having read the book, it almost as if I started seeing my relationship with nature differently and I just had this more introspective and deep love/appreciation for mother Gaia. M Train by Patti Smith, I absolutely devoured as well together with her Just Kids memoir. And don't get me started on Rilke, his take on solitude had been forever ingrained in my being i've made a great companion of it throughout the years 💛 I'm picking up Clarice Lispector next! I can't wait. I really loved hearing your thoughts! Resonated with me deeply, thank you for sharing Quirine! 💛 PS, if you haven't yet read Villette by Charlotte Bronte I think that's right up your alley too 😉
Ahhh we definitely have the same reading taste! Love that we have the same bibles. And I bought Villette a while ago but haven't gotten around to it yet!!
I did a thread on Twitter about this but a few books that I consider my bibles: 1. "Tar Baby" and "Sula" by Toni Morrison. Toni Morrison is my favorite writer in the whole world so any of her books could have gone here but these two in particular really speak to me because they're about Black love. In Tar Baby it's romantic love between a young woman and a young man. In Sula it's the love between two friends and it pretty received as a Sapphic book through the years. Her writing is so evocative and out of all of the books I've read by Toni Morrison, I see myself rereading these two over and over again. 2. "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I find something new to love about this book each time I read it. The writing is so fantastic, especially the last page of the book. I find it so nihilistic and heartbreaking because you can't help but root for Gatsby each time you read it. 3. "After Dark" by Haruki Murakami. Another writer I admire is Haruki Murakami and as a writer myself, I love what he did with such a short span of time. I am always thrilled by this book and it's one of those that makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up each time I read it. 4. "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt and "If We Were Villains" by M.L. Rio. I'm pairing these two together because I have reread these books every single year since 2018. These are the only books I've encountered as an adult that I've read over 3 times. I think these books resonate with me so much because they're contemporary but they're about people with an appreciation for old things and beauty and art. In "The Secret History" they're classics students who don't engage with anything "modern" and in "If We Were Villains" they study Shakespeare so extensively. I am someone who loves a lot of old movies and music and it's fun to get lost in these books for a time. Unlike the other books on this list, I take these two books with me everywhere I go. They are my deserted island books and usually the books I take with me when I'm flying a long distance. Each time I move apartments in New York, I make sure I don't put these two books in storage.
I feel the exact same about women who run with the wolves! I started it almost a year ago and I'm still not finished with it 😂 every time i have opened it it's been very relevant to where I am in my life. It's so beautifully written and healing to my post religious soul ❤ A note about the "controversy" part: for me i feel like there was a recurring theme of birth/fertility as part of a womens life cycle, but i saw it as more symbolic than her literally saying you have to birth a child to be a woman. Throughout the book she uses multiple examples of creativity that go far beyond just motherhood. When she speaks about fertility, i saw it as more of a creative fertility of the mind and soul, which is deeply inherent to all women whether they are mothers to children or not. I found it very validating in that respect because while I dont have children, as a woman I still go through cycles of life, death and rebirth every month that affect me emotionally, creatively and spiritually. To me, the message was to embrace the feminine qualities of creativity, love and nurturing in all aspect, not just literal motherhood.
The way you describe this makes so much sense and I think I interpreted it this way as well! That's why I didn't fully connect with people saying it was too motherhood focused - I just applied the teachings to my own life and therefore also saw it more as a fertile era of life in which you are at your height of creation etc. Which once again just shows how subjective reading sometimes is!
Looooved this and how you talked about Women Who Run With The Wolves for 10min haha! It’s been on my shelf for like 5 years and I still haven’t picked it up, but now I feel like I want to finally read it 🙌🏻
I resonated with this video so much ✨Women Who Run With the The Wolves & Braiding Sweetgrass are also in my essentials. Some more of my "bibles": -Mirrors in the Earth by Asia Suler, also described as 12 nature therapy sessions for the soul 🌲🪺 -Wild Mind by Bill Plotkin - Devotions by Mary Oliver (this one is poetry)
Big magic speaks on that piece about inspiration/ motivation really well, I struggle with the same thing as an artist and writer but those periods where it feels like you’re walking upstream, taking that time to go out and watch and listen and absorb the world and maybe find a new perspective while taking that break from a project
I've had the same experience reading Women Who Run With The Wolves. I've been reading it for over a year and I'm still nowhere close to finishing. And it does seem that after taking a little break from it to digest the information, whenever I feel called to pick it up, the chapter I left on deeply resonates with whatever I'm going through in that moment. There's magic in this book.
I hadn't heard of any of these books, but they all sound so interesting. I really like your presentation and your inclusive attitude, like how you recommended Women Who Run with The Wolves in such detail. I agree that it's important to read slowly and take away what serves you from any work of art. Inspiring stuff!
Ah yes that would be amazing! I don't know a book like that but a novel that really pleasantly surprised me this year was North Woods - the prevalence of nature over humanity plays an important role in this one and the descriptions of the 'acts' of nature were beautiful!
The closest thing I’ve found to this is the novel for Bambi, there’s an extremely moving chapter in the book that revolves around the conversation between two leaves in autumn and it left me in tears! Would highly recommend Bambi if you’re looking for a novel strictly about nature and all its facets, from the joyful to the cruel and indifference
i relate soo much to being inspired but not knowing how to make it a reality! it's demotivating and paralyzing. that and also when you feel inspired to do so much, but it makes you stuck without knowing what to start from or how to fit it all into your life and routine, or what to prioritize when you want to do all of that.
such a great video! I haven’t really read anything the past few months because i just wasn’t feeling like it but these books sound so great so maybe i have to get myself one of them and just start again because i love reading so much! I absolutely love how you talk about books with so much passion and adoration!
you should definitely read near to the wild heart, by Clarice Lispector. It’s such an enchanting and introspective look into life through the very philosophically mature eyes of a girl, and her evolution while basically living in the margins of her own life because her mind is so incredibly active. It was one of the best reads for me this year, and Lispector made me fall in love with her writing, her mind and everything she did
Letters to a Young Poet was gifted to me by my pastor and his wife when I was 18. They were both artists and really connected with me during a hard time. I treasure it and gift people copies of it.
I think a book you might enjoy is tender morsels by margo lanagam! it's kinda off topic since it's not really a bible book that'll change your life but I just feel like it's a genre that you might enjoy - its a retelling of ruby rose and snow white by the grimm brothers and it's centered around being a female in the middle ages, about having no voice yet still dreaming of big things - I would love to hear your thoughts on that :)
Love this recommendations! Thankyou Quirine. I am studying to become a midwife and I often feel the rage in myself when patriarchy and capitalism is so present even in the birth world.... Hoping that you and your womb are being strong together in understanding what to do health wise. Sending you strength on the path...
I really resonate with your ideas and philosophy and agree with you wholeheartedly. I was not able to understand you when you mentioned the title of the Clarice Lispector book. Please, what is the name of the book? I notice you speak very quickly and with your accent, it is not always easy to understand what you say. I would also suggest that you zoom in on each of the books so that the titles are clearly visible. I also recommend that you list all the books and the authors in your description of the video. Agree with you about "Women Who Run with the Wolves". Excellent book. I also love Patti Smith's books. "Braiding Sweetgrass" sounds amazing. Of course every thing is alive, every tree, every leaf, every plant, everything in nature is alive. Wonderful list. I have many wonderful books that are like "bibles". Four of them that come to mind quickly are: "Man's Search for Meaning" by Viktor Frankl, "Journey of Souls" by Michael Newton, PhD, "Destiny of Souls" by Michael Newton, PhD. and "Far Memory" by Joan Grant. There are others but that is enough for now.
this is such a beautiful message and video. i read WWRWTW, Useless Magic, and M Train based on your past recommendations and they are my all-time favorites ⭐ would love a similar video of your favorite books of the year at the end of '24 📖
I love your bibles ! Women running with wolves and Letters to a Young poet are also my basics. In the same spirit as WWRWW I would add Sharon Blackie’s If Women Rose Rooted where she debunks celtic legends and tales in a feminist and holistic lens. If you like art, poetry, magic and spirituality (in the demiurgic sense too), please read the incendiary essay/manifesto Apocalyptic Witchcraft by Peter Grey. It contains revelations about our place in the natural world and how to be conscious, empowered artists/witches/creators in tune with our natural environment that are very much illuminating and mind /heart-expanding !
Great video 🦋✨️ I loved your religion/spiritual talk it's awesome to see how people see things differently. Happy Lammas! It's a harvest sabbath 🍁🍂🌽🌾(August 1)
Started reading "In the company of witches" because of your recommendation since here in Argentina we are going through the colder seasons. And you remind me of Brynn!
Hey . I am a Hindu and we legit celebrate Holi to welcome spring. Don't know if it is considerd "Pagan" in western world but its really a prominent festival for us❤. We also celebrate departure of our ancestral souls by lighting lamps every year for lightening their passage to heaven. Its very beautiful and fulfilling ritual ❤
Aaah yes that’s also so beautiful! I always love seeing videos of the Holi celebrations, it looks so joyful 🥹 I think there’s a lot of overlap between religions & spiritual practices because they all come from the same truths!
@@quirinebrouwer yeah i know right. There is no such thing as one true religion, or one true god. Its all about what you feel works for your spiritual development and what makes you feel closer to god. In my case, its listening to spiritual music that works for me. Also i hope you get to experience Holi . Its unlike anything u will ever come across.
Other books are available, around 129, 864, 880 according to Google. Have a read of some of them, you may learn something, or you may not. Kudos for reading though, even though it must become repetitive.
Hi Quirine, new subscriber here, Clarice Lispector is my favorite writer. You should try Apple in the Dark and The Passion According to G.H. they both should be to your taste, though all of her stuff is amazing. I have a video about her oeuvre if you're interested.
I got more insights then I accepted from this video and I love it! i really do believe that we are part of nature, universe space and we do should go in the rhythm of seasons! thank you for shairing part of your heart with us
The fact that the timestamp was at 3:16 is so funny 😂. John 3:16 is a really popular Bible verse. Not preaaching, just thought that was a cool coincidence 😅
Hi and thank you for the post. Found that really interesting and have added some of those to my tbr. Don't have a recommendation for you but just want to encourage you to do more posts like this.
A beautiful video, thanks for sharing! Added lots of these to me tbr. Also: If you’re interested in gender and/as language, take a look at the fiction of Monique Wittig, like “Les Guérillères,” and not as good but still worth a read, Anne Garréta’s “Sphinx.”
hello Quirine! thank you for the video, feeling very inspired and excited to read some of these books myself. I was wondering if you ever read The Binding by Bridget Collins? it’s been my favorite book for a while and I thought you might find it interesting too!
Firstly, I need to say it: your video is the first one in such a long time that I watched until the end and listened to every word you had to say. I feel like most booktubers just repeat already existing information instead of talking about their true thoughts and feelings about the books they've read (or it's just the books they chose, I don't know). Secondly, I've been thinking about it too, how in English people say "it" when talking about animals. I don't get it. It's not dead matter, it's a living creature! It makes me angry. In Polish we say pies (dog) - he, kot (cat) - he, but female cat is she - kotka. The frog is she (żaba). Birds can be female or male in their names, e.g. crow - kruk is he but owl - sowa is she. Plants also can be named he or she, sometimes it but it's different it ("to"), like more personalized (it - ono). The child can be "ono". Sun is it (ono) but withholds the meaning of something more alive than just it (to). I don't know if I'm explaing it right or scientifically-ish, I'm just following my gut in this case. I think that Christianity might be responsible for denunciation of language in that matter. Christianity teaches that human is above and everything is created for human to use. For example, in Polish you can say that a person has passed away. But it's kind of wrong to say it about an animal. There is another word "zdechł" which means the same but to me it's very ugly and without respect. I say that my cat has passed away but even my friends gave me weird stares because it's not appropriate to say it. I should just say that he's dead, in a very ugly way. So every language has patterns like this but I like that in my language we at least give a bit more respect to living creatures by at least realizing that they are alive. I love how Native Americans respect life and thank all creatures if they need them for food or to build something with wood. I belive that's how we can achieve true humanity and be one with our Creator or however you want to call the energy of life.
Thank you for your lovely and thoughtful comment! How interesting to learn how this works in Polish - definitely a better approach than English. I'm happy to hear my video resonated with you 🩷
Yes definitely! But they were socially aware for their time and often portrayed ideas that we now find 'normal' or already outdated. So that's what I meant with not having unfair expectations of books. But there's definitely works of literature out there that even know, we could learn a lot from!
@@quirinebrouwer I would disagree. Depends what your social circle is, or your online bubble is. We tend to forget that our values are not everyone's values. I can tell you now that the book that I read just recently and was first published in 1949 asks very important questions and is very critical of things that are rarely addressed still among the members in the group in question. A book that I am currently reading was published in 1906 and addresses the social reality of women at the time that are still very much a reality of many women who are not even aware that they are living it.
Hi love! I love the video, hope to see more of these :) Was wondering if you've read Circe by Madeline Miller? I think it might be a book you would like. I know many re-tellings of Greek mythology have appeared the last few years, and not all of them are great, but this one really stands out for me. The ideas of womanhood and nature are a big theme in this book, so maybe you would like it?
We have such similar tastes 🫶🏻🫶🏻 Braiding Sweetgrass, Women Who Run with Wolves and The Artist’s Way are books I have picked up over and over for reflection and guidance. As an art book collector the Florence Welch book looks divine. I’d like to suggest The Story of Art Without Men by Katy Hessel, covers the evolution of Art History and highlights the works of notable unrecognized artists whose contributions were overlooked and often plagiarized. I find TSoAWM eye opening, relatable and always gives me the strength to continue to do the work.
Hi Quirine, two years ago I read some "long reading" book-themed articles from you, but I can't find them online anymore. Does my memory fail me? grazie ^^
There's records of matriarchy societies / goddess worship in certain parts in the world as well, especially in prehistoric times. Elderly women would be looked towards for guidance and wisdom. Patriarchy really started to spread when people went from a nomadic existence to living in a fixed place! And Christianity and other religions shaped a lot of patriarchy as it is today (women need to be punished because they gave in to the temptation of the devil, etc.). I find this topic really interesting hahah so I could go on for hours!
men being interested in what a woman says doesn’t mean they’re “simps”; it just means they’re smart enough to acknowledge that women are multifaceted human beings with valuable input
Yes personally for me motherhood is not a theme in my life so it doesn't resonate with me, is that a problem. Not all women are here to have motherhood as their greatest purpose.
@@quirinebrouwer oh there are - amazingly - opinions one can have in between those two extremes. Its not your highest purpose. Who knows what ones highest purpose is. But it is one of the things that clearly distinguishes your sex from the other. I just found the disdain in your voice while mentioning motherhood ironic. If I misinterpreted that I apologize. You Can do whatever you want lady, and there are unfortunately socio-economic circumstances that make motherhood excessively difficult but without motherhood there is nothing.
@@johnteaguefilm ah english is not my first language but I think Its called having a disagreement and explaining ones view, especially if the other person uses strawmen (genderless in fact). But Im sure simps have their own word for it.
Why don't you connect with any of the ideas in Christianity? Do you reject the idea of a higher reality generally, or do you find other religions more attractive?
I do not connect to the idea of a vengeful god that judges people’s behavior and their love for him. + I could go on for very long how the patriarchy is a direct result of christianity, how it’s designed to suppress women, how christianity stole all celebrations from the pagans and pretended they are their own, etc. 😅
@@quirinebrouwer Well, I just find the universe to be much more beautiful and profound when I think of it as the product of a benevolent creator. I might encourage you to keep an open mind and google "fine-tuned universe".
@@quirinebrouwerChristian doesn’t suppress woman and this is coming from a woman myself. It actually empowers woman. There are many stories in the Bible about woman and their journey with God but I would like to hear why you think that.
Thank you so much for making this video, it found me at a very good time. Have you read The Starless Sea by erin morgenstern, it’s very whimsical and interesting i think you would like it! 🩵
