October 17, 2022

Play(list) by the Book - The Midnight Library, by Matt Haig


Hello, everyone! Even though I'm not very active in this blog, I still enjoy making these literary playlists, whenever I come across a book with music references. In fact, I've had this list of songs mentioned in "The Midnight Library" for quite some time. So, I finally sat down to create a new Play(list) by the Book (since I see that many people like these).

I have to admit that all the music mentioned in "The Midnight Library" was to my taste and it's definitely one of the playlists that I would gladly play on any day. Even the classical pieces reminded me of when I was learning how to play the piano. So, I hope that you enjoy it as much as I do! 


As per usual, I have included all the songs and artists mentioned in the novel. My job in compiling the songs in "The Midnight Library" was a fairly easy one. In most cases, the author mentioned a specific song, and when he only mentioned an artist, I already had a song in mind that would fit the mood.


Find more playlists at: Play(list) by the Book

January 9, 2022

Reading Challenge 2022

 


Hello, everyone! Happy New Year! As per usual, I'm going to try The Reading Armchair Reading Challenge. I've changed the prompts a bit to make it more interesting and reflect more my current reading habits. The main goal of this reading challenge is to help me diversify my reading and discover 


So, in 2022 I will be reading the following books:


1. a novel from Europe: The Midnight Library, by Matt Haig

2. a novel from the Middle East: 

3. a novel from East Asia: The Three-Body Problem, by Liu Cixin

4. a novel from North America: Everyman, by Philip Roth

5. a novel from South America:

6. a novel from Oceania: 

7. a novel from Africa:

8. a novel that won the Man Booker Prize: 

9. a book written by a Nobel Prize recipient: The Monogram, by Odysseas Elytis

10. a book of poetry: Ωραία Έρημος η Σάρκα, by Katerina Anghelaki-Rooke (The Flesh is a Beautiful Desert)

11. a collection of short stories: 

12. a graphic novel: 

13. a classic: Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen

14. a non-fiction book: The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking), by Katie Mack

15. a memoir/biography: Bluets, by Maggie Nelson

16. a philosophy book:


Hopefully, this year I'm going to complete the challenge as I'm very excited about my TBR list! Feel free to join me and let me know which books you'd like to read in 2022. 


December 3, 2021

Play(list) by the Book - Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine, by Gail Honeyman


Hello, everyone! As you already know, creating playlists with music mentioned in novels is one of my favourite things. So, whenever I come across a book that has a couple of references, I'm hoping that they would be enough to justify a playlist. As a rule of thumb, I only create playlists for books that have more than 10 songs mentioned in them. 

So, I was more than happy to discover that Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine qualified for a Play(list) by the Book. I wouldn't say that this playlist has a consistent theme, but it is rather sort and enjoyable. 


As per usual, I have included all the songs and artists mentioned in the text. The songs mentioned in Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine were a few, and so, I mostly had to choose the ones I preferred for each artist. I found it interesting that Eleanor mentioned a lot of musical composers, and for this reason, you will some musical pieces in the playlist. 

At first, I hesitated to include Michael Jackson in the playlist, as he is not clearly mentioned. You see, in that scene, Eleanor is wearing some white gloves and her colleagues make fun of her by imitating moon walk. I ended up including a song though, as at least to me, the reference was clear enough.


Find more playlists at: Play(list) by the Book