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Reading
1984 by George Orwell

March 2019

Dystopian novel about Oceania - a land where Big Brother controls everything, even your own thoughts and Winston Smith, the main character of this book, learns it the hard way...

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Justification: I decided to read this book because I have never read this book before and also because I read another Orwell's book - Animal Farm - and I found it very appealing. Furthermore, what I realized later was that we are asked to read this book for the class of Critical

Reading. 

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Reflection: Reading this book was very challenging task for me, mainly because of the rich and unusual vocaulary that the author used (and of course because of the Newspeak). To be honest, it took me quite a lot of time to read this book because the topic wasn't very cheerful and sometimes I simply wasn't in mood for it. Also I need to make a confession - I couldn't finish it, because the end, when Winston is tortured, was too brutal for me. Anyway, I learned a lot of new words and these are some of them: 

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  • Inscription

  • Ramification

  • Strenuosness

  • Fathom

  • Derisive

  • Solemnity

  • Embed

  • Desultorily

  • Indefatigable

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

May 2019

Who wouldn't know the story of the boy who lived? Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is a second book of Harry Potter saga and this time it gets even more thrilling - someone is trying to discourage Harry from going back to Hogwarts! And what's more, mysterious things are happening and it looks that the Chamber of Secrets is opened!

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Justification: I decided to write my bachelor thesis on the topic of origin of neologisms used in the books of Harry Potter by J.K.Rowling. It basically means that I have to re-read all the books and focus on every expression that Rowling made up, and because I was quite busy this semester, I only managed to read the first two of them.

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Reflection: Harry Potter series are easy to read and this book is not an exception. I found it very relaxing to read and even though the grammar and vocabulary is not as complicated as in 1984, I still felt how it refreshes my language skills. I hope I will think the same when I write my bachelor thesis, haha. 

Roy Lichtenstein

September 2018

I was wandering around a bookshop in England, I wanted to buy just a cheap paperback book, probably something as classic as Frankenstein or The Raven, but then I accidentally stepped into section with art. I thought to myself that I seriously do not need to buy any of these expensive books about art, regardless how beautiful and fancy they all look. But there it was, the one that caught my eye immediately, and I knew that it was love at first sight. One would say that the price would stop me, but who could resist a biography of Roy Lichtenstein full of beautiful pictures of his paintings?

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Justification: Even though this book looks as if there is not much to read, it is quite the opposite! The book has so much to offer and I decided to buy it for two reasons: Firstly, the content seems very appealing to me, and secondly, I knew I will love it even if the language used were very challenging. 

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Reflection: I was quite right about the language, it was sometimes difficult to understand, but in general, I was able to comprehend everything in this book. I was nicely surprised by the composition, that almost every painting mentioned was portrayed in this book as well. I also bumped into some interesting words: 

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  • Moot (n) – a subject to debate

  • To freight (v) – to transport in bulk

  • Nonplussed (adj) – to surprise someone so much that they are unable to react

  • To embody (v) – be an expression of something or to give a visible form

  • A strata (n) – a layer

  • Fortuituous (adj) – happening by accident or chance

  • An easel (n) – a wooden frame for holding artist’s work

  • An ouevre (n) – collection of artist’s work

  • A pastiche (n) – an artistic work imitating another work of art 

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The Design of Everyday Things

November 2018

Justification: Do you know this feeling when you accidentally push door thay says pull? Or when you simply cannot plug in a USB flashdisk into your computer at first try? Or when it seems impossible to change batteries in a flashlight, because you cannot recognise which side is + and which is -? This book deals with these struggles of everyday life  and describes them in detail in very interesting way.


Reflection: My boyfriend reccommended this book to me because I am very clumsy person and he believes that it might not always be my fault. I enjoyed reading it and found it indeed very engaging. The language used was sometimes a bit challenging, but in general I understood everything without further difficulties. I made notes of some words that I found fascinating, and here they are:

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  • To enhance (v) – To improve

  • Intrusive (adj) – causing disruption

  • Foolhardy (adj) – recklessly bold or stupid

  • To mitigate (v) – to make less serious or painful

  • A mishap (n) – an accident

  • To tout (v) – attempt to sell

  • Diligent (adj) – done in a careful and detailed way

  • Fruitful (adj) – fertile

  • A tradeoff (n) -  a compromise

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