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There are many books about great artists, both nonfiction biographies and novels. Type a similar query into Google and it will give you hundreds of recommendations. I want to talk about only three today. And you can add your recommendations in the comments. But only those that you actually read. Modigliani the Prince by Angelo Longoni The cover of this book seems to have been featured by most fashion bloggers. A tormented artist, a drunken genius, a lover of women - there is no shortage of information about the life of Amedeo Modigliani. Modi (his nickname in France, homonym maudit, meaning "unhappy"). This is not just another biography. Angelo Longoni himself calls his book a "biographical novel", and although he played the role of a biographer in his careful research, he then took facts, people, true stories, professional and personal successes and failures, adding a modicum of imagination where necessary, and reconstructed Modigliani's life, from birth to death, in all its depth and complexity. The narrative is a mosaic of first-person voices: we plunge into the mind of Modigliani himself, as well as his intelligent and supportive mother Eugenie, his girlfriend and lover Kiki de Montparnasse, the Russian poetess Anna Akhmatova and many other famous people of that time. The result is a comprehensive, entertaining and profound study of the psychology of a very talented man who knew from a very young age that his life would be short. Lust for Life by Irving Stone. Yes, this is a classic best-selling biographical novel about the life of Vincent van Gogh that was published in 1934. But for me, this book is associated with summer, village, a folding bed in the garden under a tree and a bowl of gooseberries. When there were no mobile phones, reading at least 5 books during the holidays was the most common thing for a teenager. This novel is the story of a brilliant artist and a madman. His story: a dramatic life, a feverish love for the highest-born women, and for the lowest prostitutes, his paintings for which he was damned before being hailed as a genius. The novel takes us from the desperate days in a coal mine in the south of Belgium to the dazzling years in the south of France, where he knew the most brilliant artists. Finally, he shows us Van Gogh, distraught, tragic and triumphant at the same time. Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracey Chevalier I don't know which is better: the movie or the book. First I watched the brilliant acting by Colin Firth, Scarlett Johansson and Cillian Murphy. The film received three Oscar nominations and two Golden Globe nominations. The Girl with the Pearl Earring by Tracey Chevalier is a poignant, sensual and gripping novel about the 17th century Netherlands that combines historical art and fiction. Tracey Chevalier fleshes out and embellishes the story of who the girl in the painting by Johannes Vermeer could be. In the novel, her name is Greta, she is 16 years old and becomes a maid for the Vermeers. One of Greta's duties is to clean the artist's studio. The fact is that when she was cleaning, she was used to putting all things in their usual places, so that it would be more convenient for her blind father, and the artist needed just such a servant for cleaning in his artist's studio: to clean, but not move the objects. Vermeer decides to paint a portrait of Greta. To do this, he asks her to take off her cap. And she never takes it off in front of other people, because it is believed that women with simple hair are fallen women. This novel is about failed love, about the process of creativity, about women and, finally, about Delft, a small, toy Dutch town.

We are so spoiled for "quality content" and "inspiring stories" that it's sometimes hard to find "the one" for the soul. Today we want to share with you Instagram blogs that inspire us not only with beautiful photos, but also with content. Chloé Crane-Leroux Chloe conquered millions of subscribers with her intellectual beauty. She is a photographer based in New York where she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the prestigious Parsons School of Design. Possessing an innate sense of composition and taste, she quickly became popular. Initially interested in fashion photography, Chloe quite naturally developed an increasingly prominent interest in food and design, areas in which she decided to pursue a career. Her Instagram is a mix of lifestyle, food and travel photography. Athena Calderone Athena is an interior designer, writer, food and lifestyle blogger, and creative director. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband, son, and dog Tuco. Her website eye-swoon.com, where she shares decorating, fashion and cooking tips, is very popular with over 1 million Instagram subscribers. Surely you have seen her books in the decor and cooking section Live beautiful and "Cook beautiful" as they are absolute bestsellers on Amazon. Nastia Tsvetaeva Nastya lives in Israel with three children and her husband. An actress and journalist, she realizes her creative potential on the Instagram blog, which already has more than 1 million subscribers. She accompanies beautiful photos and videos with texts that are interesting to read and want to bookmark. Nastya writes about travel, family, films, interior design and, of course, Tel Aviv. She embodied her love for this city, thematic travel and aesthetics in the See With Us project, in which, together with friend Veronika Solovyanova they take special walks through galleries and interior stores.

"Bella Germania" by Daniel Speck is great German-Italian family saga spanning three generations, two countries, three different attitudes to life, three dramas. A story of family, love, betrayal and redemption set against the picturesque backdrop of the vineyards of Sicily, the turbulent political life of Germany and the glitz of fashionable Milan. This novel by one of Germany's most popular writers today is full of subtle irony about Germans and love for Italy. At our next book club meeting we will be talking about post-war Germany and Italy, generational connection and immigrants. I suggest questions for discussion. 1. The acceptance of the wartime past in Germany and Italy was different. Let us speculate about post-war reconstruction, the changing social map of Europe, the psychology and lives of ordinary people. 2. Immigrant stories like the ones described in Bella Germany are full of hopes and aspirations. Home, moving, putting down roots, social inequality for guest workers. In your opinion, are there parallels between the immigrant movement of that time and today's refugee situation? 3. In the novel Bella Germany, Avor takes us on a 60-year journey through Italy and Germany. One of the central themes is family, the connection between generations. What do you think about this? Give examples from your own life. 4. A close relationship with the family and the resulting sense of responsibility can become a burden, such as unconscious orders and manipulation by parents. Let's speculate on how such a bond affects the lives of children and parents. 5. Let's imagine that we can do this and try to "adjust" the lives of the main characters, if at the right moment they would show their will and act in their own interests. 6. The protagonist Giulia stands between her mother Tania, born in 1968, and her previously unknown Italian family. Her German mother Tania says that true family can be found in friends and mates. Her Italian relatives say that family cannot be chosen, that blood is thicker than water. Which opinion do you agree with more? 7. Daniel Speck shows us different cultures, Italian and German. Which one is closer to you? What positive and less positive features did you notice?

The famous culinary fairy Julia Child (1912 - 2004) was an American chef of French cuisine, author and co-author of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, an American television host and an amazing woman who taught all of America how to cook in the 20th century. It was her character played by Meryl Streep in the film Julie & Julia: Cooking Happiness by Recipe. I found the book France is a Feast: The Photographic Journey of Paul and Julia Child. It contains a unique collection of photographs by Paul Child, Julia's husband, of the couple's life in France between 1948 and 1954. As well as personal photographs of everyday life, holidays and meetings with friends, these black and white images trace Julia's first steps towards fame in the culinary world. Her husband adored Julia and took pictures of her all the time. He was unaware that in his shots he was capturing his wife's culinary development, from novice to established chef to the first star cook on American television. This book shows us a different Julia: young, carefree, stylish and daring. We can look at Julia Child before she became a chef, dressed in aprons, strict blouses and shapeless skirts. Short shorts, open tops and cigarette in hand: this is a culinary douche you definitely haven't seen. Some interesting facts from the biography. Julia was born to a successful Californian landowner. In those days, she could enjoy a life of doing nothing. However, this way of life did not suit her very well Her involvement in the culinary industry began at the age of 37! During the war she joined the Office of Special Services, where she met her future husband, Paul Child, at the age of 34. The couple moved to France due to Paul's transfer as part of the Foreign Service. He became Chief of Visual Presentation at the U.S. Embassy and Julia became a diplomat's wife. Paul was obsessed with photography, he always carried one to three cameras with him wherever the couple travelled. An introduction to French cuisine was a moment of epiphany for Julia that gave direction to her career. Julia had previously worked as a copywriter, a columnist and, in wartime, as a researcher and head of the office secretariat. Given that before her marriage Julia couldn't even cook a sandwich, she began to learn the basics of cookery for her husband. Julia was determined to learn to cook for herself and to pass on the knowledge to American women. To do this, she went to study at the French school Cordon Bleu. She passed her final exam at the culinary school from the second time. In 1951, Julia, together with Simone Beck and Louiselette Bertholle, opened a cookery school for American women in Paris, L'Ecole des Trois Gourmandes. It was located in the home kitchen of the Childs' Paris flat. Julia described this experience in both editions of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, a book she wrote with her colleagues at the school. She wanted to be just a good wife, but later realised that wasn't enough for her. She went further, found her mission and, as a result, wrote a cookbook and became a TV star. As a result, Julia was able to change the lifestyle of several generations of Americans by teaching them French cuisine. As a result, Julia has received the Legion of Honour, three Amy Awards and several doctorates. JULIA CHILD'S CHERRY CLAFOUTIS RECIPE Ingredients Butter - 20 g (for greasing the mould) Milk 2.8% - 250 ml Sugar - 120 g Chicken eggs - 3 pcs. Wheat flour - 150 g Natural vanilla extract - 0.5 tsp. (can be replaced with vanilla sugar) Salt - 1/3 tsp. Cherries - 380 g Icing sugar - for sprinkling Step 1 Prepare the ingredients. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Grease a pie mould over 4-5cm deep with butter. Step 2 Pour milk into a bowl, add 1/3 cup sugar, eggs, vanilla, salt and flour. Mix with a mixer at top speed or hand blender for a few minutes until smooth and frothy. Allowing the dough to stand for 20-30 minutes will make the clafouti more tender. Step 3 Pour half the batter into the mould. Step 4 Spread the berries on the batter and sprinkle with the remaining sugar. You can use any seasonal berries or fruit for the filling: raspberries, cherries, cherries, strawberries, apricots, plums. Step 5 Pour the rest of the batter on top and smooth it out. Step 6 Bake the clafoutis for about 40-45 minutes, until the top is browned and a toothpick stuck in the centre of the cake comes out clean. Step 7 Take the clafoutis out of the oven and cool slightly in the mould. The pie is best served warm. Sprinkle with icing sugar just before serving.

Even if you are very far from feminist views, this book will surprise you a lot. UK author and a scientist Caroline Criado Perez has collected a huge amount of sociological data from all over the world, which proves that our world was designed to fit the "Reference Man". "The Reference Person" is a hypothetical person meant to represent the average person. He is a white male, about 40 years old, weighing about 70kg" However, given that women make up half of the world's population, that the median age on most continents is below 40, and that the most populous continents on Earth are Asia and Africa, it is clear that the "Reference Male" is actually doing a poor job of representing the average person. "Invisible Women" explores how our reliance on the "Reference Male" has led to a gender data gap and thus created a world that is inherently biased against women. Caroline emphasises that the aim of her work is not to blame anyone, but to show this outdated topic through the lens of data, revealing the hidden places where inequality still exists. Criado Perez has compiled a wealth of statistics, from how blind auditions have increased the proportion of female performers hired by orchestras to almost 50 per cent, to the compelling reasons why women take 2.3 times longer than men to go to the toilet. We learn that it's a man's world because those who built it didn't take gender differences into account. As we learn, most offices are five degrees colder for women because the formula for determining their temperature was developed in the 1960s based on the resting metabolic rate of a 40-year-old man weighing 70kg; women's metabolism is slower. Women in Britain are 50 per cent more likely to be misdiagnosed after a heart attack: Heart failure research tends to involve men. Cars are designed around a 'reference male' body, so although men are more likely to have accidents, women involved in accidents are almost 50 per cent more likely to be seriously injured. The author states: "A major contributing factor to the gender gap is that most people do not realise it exists at all. Therefore, we believe that the first step in solving this problem is to address these issues openly. If you decide to select the book "The invisible women" by Caroline Criado Perezfor discussion in your book club, I suggest the following discussion questions: 1. How do you personally feel about gender bias? Perhaps you are comfortable with the current order and are not interested in women's rights. 2. The author of the book said that she did not experience gender inequality for the first time until she was 20 years old. Before that she was quite anti-feminist and thought that there was no problem with equality between men and women in the modern world and that feminism was a fiction. When have you encountered manifestations of overt or covert sexism? Or maybe you don't encounter them. 3. Also, the writer says, "The situation around feminism is the fault of the system, not the people. And you are not bad if you have an opposing opinion. It's society that teaches these prejudices." Do you agree with this statement? How can this be corrected? 4. The book deals with different industries that do not take into account women's physical and social characteristics. Give examples of those chapters that resonated more within you, maybe surprised or angered you. Or maybe ones that you don't agree with and think are artificial and contrived. 5. Let's talk about the benefits of such research: for women themselves, for men, for the economy of the state, for employers, for the development of humanity, progress, after all. 6. Caroline herself says that there is no shortage of research on women in general. But the problem is that, at a political and technological level, this data is simply not being implemented. Is this always the case? Are there positive examples? In your daily life or work, what can you do to shift the current bias in a male-centred world? In order to remain constructive and, preferably, happy :)

In our world full of stress and constant hustle and bustle, reading remains not only a solitary pleasure but also a powerful tool for personal development. I read because it's my way of cutting through the information noise. Books allow me to wipe the glass in my imaginary glasses, to get rid of unnecessary noise. But reading can also be just for entertainment, for escapism, for filling up with knowledge. And all of these purposes can overlap. In this post, I want to share a few principles that can help you not only enjoy reading, but also make the most of it. 1. Sometimes a book can suggest a solution to a problem or support you through a difficult time. I emphasise - sometimes. After all, we learn from experience. But I believe in "book accidents" when you find yourself with a text at the right place at the right time. I had that with Viktor Frankl's "Say Yes to Life!" and Edith Eva Egeroy's "The Choice." As you know, they are autobiographies and both avors went through difficult life stages but managed to survive. Often the answer is unexpectedly found in fiction. And, of course, in non-fiction (on psychology, public speaking, on how to handle difficult negotiations). Choose works that can answer your questions and inspire you. 2. Don't let other people's lists dictate your choices. All those "top 100 must-read books" are just a common marketing ploy to increase traffic. There is no such thing as required reading. It's all left over from school summer assignments. You have already done your "required" minimum, and it is not a fact that you read consciously and remember something from that list. Tailor your choices to you. Not to Oprah's or Reese Witherspoon's or anyone else's book club. If you like a certain genre or author, keep reading it. 3. Quality is more important than quantity. If you don't get paid to read, you don't have to force yourself. For some people, reading is not only a pleasure, but also a job. Authors, podcasters, teachers - they have to read to advance in their field. Don't compare your reading achievement to theirs. Everyone has their own pace and choices. 4. Reread and don't finish. Our perception of a book changes over time. To read the same novel at 20 and at 40 with completely different experiences is an amazing thing. And don't hesitate to toss uninteresting books. Many books aren't "bad" per se; they just aren't right for you. 5. Switch off all notifications while you're reading. Whether you're reading a paper book or an e-book, put your phone in notification-free mode. This will help you focus on the text and avoid distractions. 6. Create rituals. Reading is already a great ritual, similar to meditation. Make time for it if you have the opportunity. I like to read in the afternoon when I take a short break and in the evening before bed. I also like to bring books back from travelling. They remind me of the atmosphere of a place much better than banal fridge magnets. 7. Highlight and take notes. I read in Apple Books on my iPad. It's very convenient to highlight text in different colours, make notes in the margins and leave bookmarks. It helps me to better focus on important thoughts, come back to them, and prepare for book club discussions. 8. Speed reading techniques don't work. Just believe it (I've tried it). People read at different speeds, usually determined in childhood. Those who never learnt to speak the text to themselves will read slower. If you want to quickly familiarise yourself with a text (usually books on self-development or popular psychology) - just read the first and last paragraphs - they contain all the main thoughts. Another good idea is to read book excerpts on sites like GetAbstract or Smart Reading. If you like the main ideas of the book - read the full version. 9. Discuss and join a book club. I am as biased as possible here because I am the moderator of the club. Participants often say that during the discussion they discover such thoughts and horizons in the perception of the text, which they did not notice during individual reading. 10. Use the Feynman Principle. Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman formulated a learning algorithm that helps you understand any topic more quickly and deeply. - Take a piece of paper. Write the name of the topic at the top. Try, by drawing diagrams, to explain the topic in a way that is understandable to a child. Not your clever adult friend, but an eight-year-old. - If you begin to use terms that are unfamiliar to the child or cannot articulate any part of the concept, go back to the material (book). - State the topic again, rearranging and supplementing previous notes. - Tell someone about the subject you are studying - so that the person understands and assimilates the information. Reading is not only fun, but also an opportunity for continual growth. Enjoy each book, be open to new ideas, and share your reading experience with others. Photo by Stocksy\Lupe Rodríguez