Music
Al I Ask (Love Is) – Sophia Eleni
I first heard Sophia Eleni in a cover of Last Christmas by Wham in Instagram and her voice has captivated me! When I discovered this song it instantly gave me 1990s vibes and I live for this…
Have I Told You Lately – Rod Steward
This 1993 version by Rod Steward pays excellent tribute to the original 1989 Van Morrison song and is, in my humble opinion, far better…
Lady Flawless – Dimmy And The Bad Heart
Lady flawless is such a state of mind….
Too Weird To Live Too Rare To To Die – Dimmy And The Bad Heart
Dimmy and the Bad Heart have gone wild with this one. A very melodic song about finding love against all odds…
La Llorona – Angela Aguilar
La Llorona is one of the most beautiful folk songs I’ve ever heard. Based on the Mexican legend of a woman who drowned her own children it is a rather melancholic yet breathtaking tune.
Books
Legendary by Stephanie Garber
After being swept up in the magical world of Caraval, Donatella Dragna has finally escaped her father and saved her sister, Scarlett, from a disastrous arranged marriage. The girls should be celebrating, but Tella isn’t yet free. She made a desperate bargain with a mysterious criminal, and what Tella owes him no one has ever been able to deliver: Caraval Master Legend’s true name.
The only chance of uncovering Legend’s identity is to win Caraval, so Tella throws herself into the legendary competition once more—and into the path of the murderous heir to the throne, a doomed love story, and a web of secrets…including her sister’s. Caraval has always demanded bravery, cunning, and sacrifice, but now the game is asking for more. If Tella can’t fulfill her bargain and deliver Legend’s name, she’ll lose everything she cares about—maybe even her life. But if she wins, Legend and Caraval will be destroyed forever…
Daughter of Isis by Belinda Grey
All of Ellen’s eighteen years had been spent in Cwm Bedd, a tiny village in Wales. She loved the countryside, but she yearned for something more. And then one day it happened.
A strange parcel containing an ivory heart and a cryptic message, a summons to the mansion of the local lord.
Before Ellen knew what hit her an unexpected trip to Egypt, the exotic land of mystery, danger and romance…
Nefertiti: Unlocking the Mystery Surrounding Egypt’s Most Famous and Beautiful Queen by Joyce A. Tyldesley
For over a decade, Nefertiti, wife of the heretic king Akhenaten, was the most influential woman in the Bronze Age world: a beautiful queen blessed by the sun god, adored by her family, and worshipped by her people.
Her image and her name were celebrated throughout Egypt and her future seemed golden. Suddenly Nefertiti disappeared from the royal family, vanishing so completely that it was as if she had never been. No record survives to detail her death, no monument serves to mourn her passing, and to this day her end remains an enigma—her body has never been found. Fully revising her classic biography of Egypt’s sun queen, historian Joyce Tyldesley draws on a wealth of scholarly and archeological evidence to investigate the truth behind the life, times, and mysterious disappearance of the legendary Nefertiti.
Daughters of Isis: Women of Ancient Egypt by Joyce A. Tyldesley
In ancient Egypt women enjoyed a legal, social and sexual independence unrivalled by their Greek or Roman sisters, or in fact by most women until the late nineteenth century. They could own and trade in property, work outside the home, marry foreigners and live alone without the protection of a male guardian. Some of them even rose to rule Egypt as ‘female kings’.
Joyce Tyldesley’s vivid history of how women lived in ancient Egypt weaves a fascinating picture of daily life – marriage and the home, work and play, grooming and religion – viewed from a female perspective, in a work that is engaging, original and constantly surprising.
Lullabies by Lang Leav
You’ll Come Back to Yourself explores themes of lost love, infidelity, depression, body image, and ultimately the power women have in learning to choose themselves. Separated into three sections this collection is a cyclical expedition of self discovery.
Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass by Lana Del Rey
“’Violet Bent Backwards over the Grass’ is the title poem of the book and the first poem I wrote of many. Some of which came to me in their entirety, which I dictated and then typed out, and some that I worked laboriously picking apart each word to make the perfect poem. They are eclectic and honest and not trying to be anything other than what they are and for that reason I’m proud of them, especially because the spirit in which they were written was very authentic.” -Lana Del Rey-
As Cartas de Amor do Profeta by Paulo Coelho
Translated and adapted by Paulo Coelho, this book brings together the most beautiful love letters written by the mystical poet Kahlil Gibran, author of The Prophet, and reveals the soul of one who is, due to his universality, amongst the most admirable thinkers of our time.
Poems 1817 by John Keats
What though, for showing truth to flatter’d state Kind Hunt was shut in prison, yet has he, In his immortal spirit, been as free As the sky-searching lark, and as elate. Minion of grandeur! think you he did wait?
A Knight in Shining Armor by Jude Deveraux
Abandoned by her lover, thoroughly modern Dougless Montgomery finds herself alone and brokenhearted in an old English church. She never dreamed that a love more powerful than time awaited her there…until Nicholas Stafford, Earl of Thornwyck, a sixteenth-century knight, appeared.
Drawn to him by a bond so sudden and compelling that it defied reason, Dougless knew that Nicholas was nothing less than a miracle: a man who would not seek to change her, who found her perfect just as she was. But she could not know how strong were the chains that tied them to the past — or the grand adventure that lay before them.
Movies
Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile (2022)
Lyle is a singing crocodile who lives in a house on East 88th Street in New York City. After his original owner leaves a new family moves into the house. Lyle becomes friendly with young Josh and struggles to prove that he is not as dangerous as people believe.
The Boy, the Mule, the Fox and the Horse (2022)
A young boy searches for a home, along the way he encounters a brave and friendly mole, a hungry and ill tempered fox, and a wise horse.
Persepolis (2007)
A precocious and outspoken Iranian girl grows up during the Islamic Revolution.
A Bramble House Christmas (2017)
When a terminally ill patient leaves his nurse Willa $100,000 in his will, his family gets suspicious. Finn, the man’s son, travels to Bramble, Oregon, to investigate. He meets Willa in the B&B where she and her son are spending Christmas. And nothing is what Finn had thought…
Chicken with Plums (2011)
Since his beloved violin was broken, Nasser Ali Khan, one of the most renowned musicians of his day, has lost all taste for life. Finding no instrument worthy of replacing it, he decides to confine himself to bed to await death.
A Man Called Otto (2022)
Otto is a grump who’s given up on life following the loss of his wife and wants to end it all. When a young family moves in nearby, he meets his match in quick-witted Marisol, leading to a friendship that will turn his world around.
The Great Mouse Detective (1986)
In Victorian London, a little mouse girl’s toymaker father is abducted by a peglegged bat. She enlists the aid of Basil of Baker Street, the rodent world’s answer to Sherlock Holmes. The case expands as Basil uncovers the crime’s link to a plot against the Crown itself.
Plus One at an Amish Wedding (2022)
April Monroe is an up-and-coming superstar doctor at a big New York hospital. She’s been falling head-over-heels for Jesse, a charming veterinarian and their relationship seems to be heading in the right direction – except for one thing: Jesse is completely tight-lipped about his family.
For their anniversary, Jesse gives April a surprise trip to Paris; a much needed romantic break for the busy doctor. However, plans change when Jesse receives an invitation to his brother’s wedding and asks April to come along.
What April doesn’t know is that Jesse has been hiding an Amish past and his mother is not so fond of Englisher strangers. Chaos and heartache ensue when April and Jesse must travel to Amish Country and face the people Jesse left behind.
From the Heart (2020)
Kathy Yoder has left her Amish ways and is a successful travel guide writer. When Kathy goes home to settle her dad’s affairs, she’s reminded of her life before she left the Amish community, including her old love, Isaac. Will Kathy decide to stay or return to her traveling lifestyle?
TV series
Ginny and Georgia (2021-)
Angsty, awkward 15-year-old Ginny Miller often feels more mature than her 30-year-old mother, the irresistible, dynamic Georgia Miller. After years on the run, Georgia desperately wants to put down roots in picturesque New England and give her family something they’ve never had: a normal life. But it’s not all carpool and Kombucha; Georgia’s past threatens her and her family’s new lifestyle, and Georgia will do anything to protect her family.
