Anna Wybraniec

I used to soak my children’s books in tears. Literally, I remember watching my tears dropping and being absorbed by paperback editions of Christian Andersen stories (The Fir Tree and The Little Match Girl). But my truest nemesis was “The Dog who Travelled by Train” by Polish author Roman Pisarski. I see it was recently made into a movie and is available to watch with English subtitles (if you want to soak your sofa in tears, give it a go).

I can’t remember exactly when, but at some point I decided that the feeling of all those tears dropping is just too painful and since then I keep my eyes dry. Though, I still am a very emotional reader, naturally drawn to heartbreaking, nostalgic or dark stories. When someone wants me to recommend them a cheerful book, I could barely find any on my shelves.

The background photo is ancient, taken not long after the time when I was listening to The Cure on my walkman.
This is such a joy that now my tween daughter shares love for The Cure with me. Even bigger joy: she introduced me to Olivia Rodrigo and we were both ecstatic watching Robert Smith at Rodrigo’s Glastonbury concert.

Olivia Rodrigo’s new album is impressive, I admire its execution and its mood. We’ll be listening to it A LOT during our holiday car trip across Europe.

#oliviarodrigo #sadbooks