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“AND THE MOUNTAINS ECHOED” by Khaled Hosseini
Book Title: AND THE MOUNTAINS ECHOED Author: KHALED HOSSEINI This is the third novel by Khaled Hosseini which is quite distinct from THE KITE RUNNER and A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS. It has many characters which is sometimes confusing to follow, but actually make sense in the end. I enjoyed the short stories in between though. ***
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“The Surgeon of Crowthorne” by Simon Winchester
Book Title: THE SURGEON OF CROWTHORNE Author: Simon Winchester THE SURGEON OF CROWTHORNE is a riveting story of the meeting of great minds that were instrumental in compiling words and tracing the historical development of the English language, which then led to the production of the great Oxford English Dictionary. A huge ‘Thank you’ to everyone who recommended this book to me. I truly enjoyed it. I hope you will too! ***
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Women in Love – by D.H. Lawrence
Book Title: WOMEN IN LOVE Author: D. H. LAWRENCE After reading this book my first reaction was, should the title have been “MEN IN LOVE” instead of “WOMEN IN LOVE”? Are you curious now? Then go check this out, read the book and you will find out what I mean. ***
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Thomas Hardy – The Return of the Native
I have been reading Classic books these months and thankfully have finished Thomas Hardy’s THE RETURN OF THE NATIVE. At times I found this book so boring that I had to skip some words. But my view changed after watching the movie adaptation featuring Catherine Zeta-Jones and Clive Owen. Hmm, shall I read The Return of the Native again? ***
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Church of Saint Sava Belgrade
The Temple of Saint Sava in Belgrade is a Serbian Orthodox Church dedicated to Saint Sava, who is the patron saint and the founder of the Serbian Orthodox Church. It is the largest Orthodox church in the country. It is one of the largest Eastern Orthodox churches and ranks among the largest churches in the world. To me, visiting the Temple of Saint Sava is one of the highlights of my travel to Belgrade. The church beautiful, especially the interior. You can also visit the lower level and the Crypt area which is richly decorated. ***
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My kababayans on a cruise ship
During my recent travel to Greece on a cruise, I did not feel lonely at all especially since there were hundreds of my kababayans working onboard the Celestyal Olympia cruise ship who made me feel at home. They took care of me and even spoilt me throughout my journey. Most of all, especially since I travel solo on this trip, there is nothing like conversing with your fellow countryfolks using your local dialect on foreign land, and in this case, on a foreign sea. Maraming Salamat po sa inyong lahat mga Kabayan. Mabuhay po kayo Thank you Celestyal Olympia for the unforgettable and awesome experience from the time I checked…
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Ichthys or ichthus souvenir from Athens
I got this ichthys or ichthus souvenir during my visit to Athens, Greece. During the time of the Roman Empire, when the early believers were persecuted for being Christians, they adapted a way thru symbolism to identify and communicate with each other. They used the “FISH” as a secret symbol. ἸΧΘΥΣ (IKhThUS) in Koine Greek its acronym translates into English as ‘JESUS CHRIST, SON OF GOD, SAVIOR’. Nowadays it is known colloquially as the “sign of the fish” or the “Jesus fish”. ***
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Areopagus sermon by Apostle Paul
During our stay in Athens, being one of the most important historical sites to visit, we also went to the Acropolis with a prebooked tour guide. While we were there, at some point, I could only imagine the challenging times when Apostle Paul visited the city and when he eventually delivered his message in Areopagus, in the year 51 about the worship of the true God in relation to the many gods and goddesses that were venerated in Athens at that time. Here is the passage from the Bible in the Book of Acts 17:16-34 New International Version (NIV). “In Athens: 16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens,…
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“The Dictionary of Lost Words” by Pip Williams
THE DICTIONARY OF LOST WORDS is a book by Pip Williams. It is one of the books that I enjoyed reading. To me, the plot is not really that exciting, but it helped me a lot to appreciate the value of “words”. I utterly admire the people behind the production of Dictionaries, those who started the task, especially on the Oxford English Dictionary. Hats off to the men and women who painstakingly devoted their lives to recording and compiling both spoken and written words. Kudos!
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“CIRCE” by Madeline Miller
“A golden cage is still a cage.” CIRCE, a book by Madeline Miller is an enticing tale of Circe, a goddess and a witch where we as mere mortals can empathize with some of her experiences.
