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Book for an evening and tea: “A Discovery Of Witches” by Deborah Harkness

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         I've discovered this book a few months ago (unfortunately, not in a library like the protagonist), and couldn't put it down for days (it's 600 pages long), but there was so much tension, that I took a break hoping that a bit of detachment would help to get through with it faster. It didn't work, the second I opened it yesterday all of it returned to me. I did finish it finally with the help of "camomile tea and breaks for yoga".     I know, bed time stories are supposed to be light and this is a complete opposite. It's full of suspense and dramatic moments with escalating stakes, the most intense scenes are arranged in a masterful fashion through the pages with long periods of breaks that give the reader some time to regroup and gather some knowledge (but there was sometimes too much water, I admit, and things that are too obvious and repetitive). This aspect is covered well by the author, the captivation is there an...

New Book Releases of April: Circe by Madeline Miller

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   I usually browse through new book releases almost every month. Lately it’s been hard for me to find something that grabbed my attention and could hold it long enough for me to commit to reading it. Last year with its "Nyxia" and "Even the darkest stars" it was much better on that account. This year after so many months I’ve finally found a novel that shined among the one-and-the-same mass. Seriously, what's with all that Reversed Harem trend?! Sounds cheesy and cheap and feels like a whole flock of average writers is going crazy all over it. But the book I came across was refreshingly ... classic in style if it can be called that, well not compared to old classics but among the modern age books it is.     Circe by Madeline Miller is based on ancient Greek myths. And while we already have books depicting those, it is different from them too. There is a main character that pushes the whole story forward - Circe, the witchy daughter of titan Heli...

New Book Releases of September: "Nyxia" by Scott Reintgen

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   This September has been a very fruitful month for the book industry - a lot of new interesting releases, among which Nyxia by Scott Reintgen . It's a futuristic sci-fi novel about space travel and new habitable planets.    The events are set in the nearer future, but the differences in advanced technologies are quite fascinating. Even though the main plot reminds a bit of the movie Avatar created by James Cameron and Hunger Games book and movie series, this doesn't influence the fact that it's a very entertaining story with some unexpected turns and very likable characters whose personalities make the novel more relate-able and believable, together with the not so likable characters.    The people are well written and craft-fully developed, there are not so many things in the manner of Reintgen's storytelling that may distract the reader. There is one noticeable feature that some might find being overused - the appearance of capital letters ...

Hotel Olšanka 3* Prague

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  I didn’t have time to look for hotel, I was buying the tour from the travel agent and had to choose very fast. Since Prague isn’t that big, you don’t need to worry about location of your hotel. Among the variety of *3 suitable ones I chose one of the cheapest, only because I liked the name. Maybe it’s a silly way to choose, but I wasn’t let down at all. The hotel was not bad. It’s situated on Táboritská 1000/23 130 00 Praha 3 . The staff is mostly friendly, the rooms are clean, but WiFi is so slow and expensive. I guess I was spoilt with the fast cheap Russian Internet. I could only use Instagram and other social media and messengers, but it wasn’t enough for loading videos. And the access was only for one device, if you want to use WiFi on another device, you’ll have to pay again. The price of the room usually includes a breakfast buffet. The restaurant with the buffet is situated not far from the lobby to the right after the bar and e...