leontyna's reviews
1407 reviews

Warcholstwo: prawdziwa historia polskiej szlachty by Kamil Janicki

challenging informative medium-paced

4.0

As always with this author, an excellent book, I learned a lot. I especially enjoyed learning about misconceptions about nobility and history like the widely spread claim of no stakes in Poland signifying the alleged religious freedom. Same with the percentage of nobility and with the -ski surname suffix.
The book itself probably deserves 5 stars but I was much more into the peasant one.

Kolonie by Tomasz Różycki

challenging reflective fast-paced

4.0

I'm really surprised how much I liked the poems. Maybe I wouldn't be able to point out a favourite or quote a particularly good line but many times I paused and marveled how good a particular phrase or image was. I definitely want to explore his other collections.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death

Wyżej niż kondory : na podstawie wspomnień Wiktora Ostrowskiego by Wiktor Ostrowski, Anna Zalewska

adventurous informative slow-paced

3.0

It was a first graphic novel about mountaineering I read and I definitely prefer reportage form. The comic was fine, but I didn't get the usual amount of details because of the form so I didn't enjoy it as much as I usually do books about that topic.
But overall I'm glad I read it, I mostly read about Himalayas and Alps before and it was an interesting change. I even learned about a new type of snow form, nieves penitentes.

Pańszczyzna. Prawdziwa historia polskiego niewolnictwa by Kamil Janicki

informative slow-paced

5.0

It was really well done, I learned so much! It's my third book from this author and I'll definitely reach for more. I'm not that into history but apparently when it's so well told, I love it.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence

Ocalenie by Czesław Miłosz
Did not finish book. Stopped at 17%.

I love the edition but I guess I'm not a fan of Miłosz. Most of the poems were too full of pathos, they didn't resonate with me.

This is Vegan Propaganda: And Other Lies The Meat Industry Tells You by Ed Winters

dark informative slow-paced

5.0

I thought that I knew what it's to know after reading Eating animals, I was wrong. Human cruelty to animals is boundless, first few chapters were really hard to listen to.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, and Violence

Stojąca na ruinie by Jacek Łukasiewicz

reflective fast-paced

4.0

I liked many poems from that collection, especially Pro memoria. I didn't vibe the ones inspired by music at the end of the collection though.
Overall I definitely want to reach for his other work in the future.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief

Half-Arse Human: How to live better without burning out by Leena Norms

hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

4.0

It was a decent self-help book, although not revolutionary for me. At first I was super annoyed at the overuse of half arsed but luckily it diminished in time.
I feel the audiobook was a good medium for it, it felt like a podcast and was very coherent with the other media Leena produces.
From the advice itself for sure I'll be thinktabout going outside 17 min a day the most. If I weren't already eating plant based, I would have for sure appreciated the chapter on veganism.
Big minus though in my book for quoting Gladwell, since he's a crook. It got a bit balanced out though by mentions of PiH.

Empuzjon by Olga Tokarczuk

challenging slow-paced

3.0

I'm sad to say it was a really disappointing book. At first I enjoyed the descriptions of all the characters and the town but it became tiring soon and then basically nothing happened till very late in the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny and Terminal illness

Minor: Death and Violence

Niepogodzony. Antologia osobista 1991–2013 by Michel Houellebecq, Szymon Żuchowski
Did not finish book. Stopped at 30%.

There were a few interesting ones but so many other ones contain slurs, I don't want to read that. Also they are mostly about being sad and lonely and I am not in the mood for that, even if there were no other issues.