Hi guys, how’s your week been? I read a lot of nonfiction this week and surprisingly two ARC’s. My reads this week were The Twelve Faces of the Goddess: Transform Your Life with Astrology, Magick, and the Sacred Feminine by Danielle Blackwood, Lady Death by Lyudmila Pavlichenko and The Quest for Mary Magdalene by Michael Haag.
Lady Death: The Memoirs of Stalin’s Sniper by Lyudmila Pavlichenko
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
“Lyudmila Pavlichenko was not just any sniper, however, for she was to become the highest-scoring female sniper with 309 official kills. Official kills, it should be noted, were those observed by a second party.“ ― Lyudmila Pavlichenko, Lady Death
You might have heard of American Sniper. And even Simo Häyhä. Now meet Lady Death. Fascinating tale of Russia’s most efficient female sniper. This book made me feel like I had been living under a rock because I had no idea there were female snipers. And quite a lot of them. This book transports you in time to Russia in World War 2 and it is interesting to learn what Pavlichenko thought in some situations and what was life like in general. I warmly recommend this book to fans of history.
The Quest for Mary Magdalene explored the identity of Mary Magdalene and how she was reinterpreted in every age. Pope Gregory reduced Mary Magdalene from an independent visionary to a sinner and a prostitute while making Jesus’ mother Mary, who is a nonentity in the gospels, into a creature of the Church, hailing her as the epitome of all things feminine and holy. It was an interesting book, I like to read about things the church has invented throughout the history and what is actually historically accurate.
Then I read this weirdly fascinating short story by Karin Tidbeck called Sing. There is a village in Kiruna and there outcast Aino has worked hard to create a life for herself. One day, offworlder Petr arrives…
It’s a good story with interesting concepts and a lot of Finnish words. And look at that cover. It’s just gorgeous. I really like how the bird is coming out man’s mouth.
“I told him about how Oksakka kills the sound of birds, and how giant Maderakka peeks over the horizon now and then, reminding us that the three of us are just her satellites.” – Karin Tidbeck, Sing
If you’d like some motivation to read through your ARC’s, Evelina @ Avalinah’s Books has a wonderful State of the Arc meme going on. Check it out.
I also managed to be more social this week and met up with some old colleagues and friends so it was a pretty cool week.
What have you done? What you have you read?
//Anastasia
The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer.
I am curious about all of these…enjoy! Thanks for sharing, and for visiting my blog.
Mostly all were pretty good :) Thank you for stopping by! :)
I am curious about all of these…enjoy! Thanks for sharing, and for visiting my blog.
Mostly all were pretty good :) Thank you for stopping by! :)
I’ve been wanting to up my nonfiction reading this year. It’s one of my favorite genres but one I tend to ignore for some reason. Lady Death sounds fascinating and I’ll definitely have to add it to my list. Have a great week!
Nonfiction is my favorite too…then again I feel like knowledge is pain and ignorance is bliss and I don’t want to know about all the horrible things but I owe it to the world (?). You too! :)
I really like the sound of The Quest for Mary Magdelene – it has a fascinating premise. I’m glad it was a cool week for you, and hope this coming week is also a good one:)
Yeah it was interesting but nothing extraordinary :)
Hope it will be for you too!
The Quest for Mary Magdalene sounds fascinating, would love t read that!
That cover of Sing is a trip. :)
It is right, one of the best covers I’ve seen in a while! :)
I have a couple nonfiction books coming up on my TBR pile soon. The book about Pavlichenko especially interests me. I read a fiction book based on a female Russian sniper who defected to the US.A. a few years ago and my interest in real life cases grew from that. I hope you have a great week! Happy Reading!
My TBR is so hopeless…
Cool, do you recall the name of the book? I somehow never thought of female snipers so it would be interesting to read more of them.
You too! :)
I’ve been wanting to up my nonfiction reading this year. It’s one of my favorite genres but one I tend to ignore for some reason. Lady Death sounds fascinating and I’ll definitely have to add it to my list. Have a great week!
Nonfiction is my favorite too…then again I feel like knowledge is pain and ignorance is bliss and I don’t want to know about all the horrible things but I owe it to the world (?). You too! :)
I really like the sound of The Quest for Mary Magdelene – it has a fascinating premise. I’m glad it was a cool week for you, and hope this coming week is also a good one:)
Yeah it was interesting but nothing extraordinary :)
Hope it will be for you too!
The Quest for Mary Magdalene sounds fascinating, would love t read that!
That cover of Sing is a trip. :)
It is right, one of the best covers I’ve seen in a while! :)
I have a couple nonfiction books coming up on my TBR pile soon. The book about Pavlichenko especially interests me. I read a fiction book based on a female Russian sniper who defected to the US.A. a few years ago and my interest in real life cases grew from that. I hope you have a great week! Happy Reading!
My TBR is so hopeless…
Cool, do you recall the name of the book? I somehow never thought of female snipers so it would be interesting to read more of them.
You too! :)
I have read a few books about ‘Mary Magdalene’, though not that one. One of the most interesting is a translation of her ‘Gospel’.
I guess it’s not worth reading if you have read a lot of works on Mary Magdalene, it did not have any new stellar information. Her gospel sounds quite interesting, haven’t gotten to reading it :)
I have read a few books about ‘Mary Magdalene’, though not that one. One of the most interesting is a translation of her ‘Gospel’.
I guess it’s not worth reading if you have read a lot of works on Mary Magdalene, it did not have any new stellar information. Her gospel sounds quite interesting, haven’t gotten to reading it :)
Wow. Well, I guess I could have surmised there were female snipers, but never really pondered it? That truly sounds like a very interesting book.
And Sing also sounds very interesting. Looks like you’ve got some amazing books in this post :)
Oh! Thank you for sharing my meme!
Yeah it’s sort of like I know that there are female soldiers but I don’t actually know it o.O
Sing is just so pretty <3
It's a great meme! Helped me with TBR's for a while.
Wow. Well, I guess I could have surmised there were female snipers, but never really pondered it? That truly sounds like a very interesting book.
And Sing also sounds very interesting. Looks like you’ve got some amazing books in this post :)
Oh! Thank you for sharing my meme!
Yeah it’s sort of like I know that there are female soldiers but I don’t actually know it o.O
Sing is just so pretty <3
It's a great meme! Helped me with TBR's for a while.