I'm Italian and can confirm that that poem by Quasimodo is indeed something every Italian would have learnt by heart in school! I might need to get one for myself.. It's a nice way representation of my two homes merging together (as I live in London). Seeing you making gnocchi the first time inspired me and we made them too for our NYE dinner - it was a fun activity to make the night a bit more special, I love gnocchi but only made homemade ones once many many years ago with some friends and had lovely memories of that afternoon. We also love escape rooms in a box, I got my partner two of the Exit ones for Christmas and have tried one so far - more challenging that I expected but really fun! Will have to give Unlock a try too.
@@jenvcampbell we’ve done the Pharaoh’s Tomb, and now we’ve got the Orient Express one to try, which looks good! I would also recommend the ClueQuest PrintCutEscape ones that they’ve released during the various lockdowns. We went to their actual escape rooms on Caledonian Road a couple of times so it was nice to be able to do something similar at home. There’s quite a lot of cutting involved just to prep the materials, but I believe that if you pay a bit more they just send you the kit ready to go. I did end up buying the Salvatore Quasimodo poster! Maybe you need to get Mr M to film a tutorial to make a frame for everyone you’ve #influenced to buy one 😂
Jen this was the coziest vlog ever. Thank you so much for all you do❤️ also! I have The Wilds and now I need to start it- I'm so glad you're enjoying it!
Was excited to see alfian on your TBR list; glad you enjoyed it! As a malay-muslim singaporean reader of malay sketches, i saw myself in so many of his stories which was wild because there are barely any works of fiction that represent the person that /i/ am so specifically, so it was wonderful to see your take on the book. Makes me want to read it again with fresh eyes!
Loved the snowy ambiance. 😊 Also wanted to say thank you for your Xmas recommendation of Becoming Unbecoming - read it three weeks ago. It was excellent and extremely moving. I did a dual review for it (with another graphic publication on the topic of sexual trauma - illustrated by Emily Carroll no less) for my channel. Good thing I read it here (here being the psych clinic I'm currently staying in) though, because it dredged up a lot of difficult emotions (but they need to be confronted, so ultimately it's a good thing). Love that Northern Lights card, and the Tube poem poster; that's such a neat initiative! Take care. ☺️
I grew up with my mum who was an avid reader, she always had at least 5 books on the go at any one time, (I can only cope with one book at a time). I am in awe of anyone who can juggle multiple books! 👍
I don’t mind juggling a nonfiction, a short story collection, a novel and a poetry collection but when I have multiples of those on the go it starts to frustrate me x
@@jenvcampbell mum always had a non fiction book (she read cookery books like a novel), and a memoir/biography, so probably only 3 fiction books at any a time x
A delightfully cosy Sunday evening video, I really struggle with poetry but I am trying to try a collection each month to get more familiar with it so thank you for the recommendation. I also find it really helpful hearing poetry aloud so you reading through one helps me to engage a bit more.
I loved this video! Thank you for the link to Poems of the Underground. The individual poems I liked the most were sold out, so I went for set 73 that has 2 I quite like. (Wish I could have gotten Buses on the Strand, described as fat tomatoes finally released from traffic to Trafalgar Square. ❤️
promptly added Tiny Moons and Magnolia by Nina Mingya Powles to my tbr. also, them's the biggest garlic cloves I ever did see! (also also, you look absolutely lovely in that light green jumper, cosy aesthetic rating 100)
Lovely vlog! And wow, I'd never heard of the Poems on the Underground project, how amazing! Ordered a poster right away and it's already on its way to Germany :) Thanks for the recommendation.
I’ve tried to read lots of books but I find that if I’m to give my attention to an author I have to read one book at a time and if I’ve been emotionally invested it takes me some time to come out of that particular world. I have a book to suggest for you, I think you would enjoy it. It’s called Intimate Nature The Bond between Women and Animals edited by Linda Hogan, Deena Metzger and Brenda Peterson published by Fawcett Books. It’s a series of essays full of folk lore. I hope you can find a copy, mine was picked up at one of the many second hand bookshops that we used to frequent. I had my first vaccination on Friday but who knows if it will still work in 12 weeks time??? I can’t believe it’s nearly a year since I went to Liverpool or saw my friends. Thanks for the vlog. I’m going to make gnocchi having watched your cooking. Hugs 🥰
Yes, I have. If you ever want to check to see if I’ve read something, just search RU-vid for my name and the title of the book, and any relevant video will come up.
Hi Jen! I love that Quasimodo's poem, and yes you are right, mostly everyone knows it by heart! We have another one even shorter, Giuseppe Ungaretti's : M'illumino d'immenso. Clive Wilmer says this about its translation: "A rough translation would be "I flood myself with the light of the immense", though the vagueness of that is alien to the poem's terse musicality. The open vowels and the repeated ms and ns create a mood of wonder, evoking the light of a new day starting to flood the sky. The two lines capture something deep in consciousness that responds to this great but commonplace event out there in the external world." (here: www.theguardian.com/books/2003/may/31/featuresreviews.guardianreview6) Also for Christmas I was gifted a book you talked about in a previous reading vlog, Where the Wild Ladies Are" by Aoko Matsuda. The North American edition starts with a different short story than the English one (Do you know why they do that?), and yes, at the beginning it's a bit slow, but going further with the stories the characters return, and there is an overarching story that connects them all. I found it a nice light read, not amazing, but enjoyable!
We haven't tried that with these as both couples would need the set of cards, but we do sometimes play boardgames with friends over Zoom if we both have the same ones :) x
