Csenge Virág Zalka's Blog, page 25

346 earworms

Do you often wake up with a song stuck in your head?This is the third year that I noted every morning what song was stuck in my head when I first woke up, and I tallied the results. I usually have music in my head all day, like my own personal internal radio station, but mornings are the easiest to pin down. The results don't always overlap with that I actually like listening to, and are only

2020 - The year in (good) books

This is the regularly scheduled end-of-the-year list of the most interesting books I read this year.In 2020 I finished a total of 124 books, amounting to about 29000 pages. It is fewer books than last year, but more pages, which I guess means I read heftier volumes this year (and fewer comics). Out of these, 41 belonged to the "Following folktales around the world" reading challenge; I finished

2020 - The year in (good) TV shows

I could claim that I had a lot of time to watch TV because of the lockdown... but honestly, I watch a lot of TV anyway, so it is not exactly anything out of the ordinary. I'll just own up to it:I watched 101 TV series this year,out of those I finished 73,and 7 of them were re-watching binges.New favorites(In no particular order)Brave new world - I admit, I have not read the book. I'm sure it is

The fantastic fauna of the Himalayas (Following folktales around the world 183. - Bhutan)

Today I continue the blog series titled Following folktales around the world! If you would like to know what the series is all about, you can find the introduction post here. You can find all posts here, or you can follow the series on Facebook!Folktales of BhutanKunzang ChodenWhite Lotus Press, 1995.The book contains 27 folktales and 11 legends. The foreword was written by a Bhutanese princess

StorySpotting: Recipe for a perfect husband (Bridgerton)

 StorySpotting is a weekly or kinda-weekly series about folktales, tropes, references, and story motifs that pop up in popular media, from TV shows to video games. Topics are random, depending on what I have watched/played/read recently. Also, THERE WILL BE SPOILERS. Be warned!Netflix dropped a new regency drama on Christmas Day, and people (including me) are binge-watching it. It quickly

Demons, spirits, clever women (Following folktales around the world 182. - Nepal)

Today I continue the blog series titled Following folktales around the world! If you would like to know what the series is all about, you can find the introduction post here. You can find all posts here, or you can follow the series on Facebook!Folk tales of NepalKaruna Kar VaidyaRatna Pustak Bhandar, 1979.This book with a memorable cover contains 11 folktales. The short introduction says the

Tales like shining jewels (Following folktales around the world 181. - Bangladesh)

Today I continue the blog series titled Following folktales around the world! If you would like to know what the series is all about, you can find the introduction post here. You can find all posts here, or you can follow the series on Facebook!
Folk tales of BangladeshRoy Choudhury & Pranab ChandraSterling, 1982.The book contains 16 folktales. The short introduction talks about the history,

Tales of the endless ocean (Following folktales around the world 180. - Maldives)

Today I continue the blog series titled Following folktales around the world! If you would like to know what the series is all about, you can find the introduction post here. You can find all posts here, or you can follow the series on Facebook!Folk tales of the MaldivesXavier Romero-FríasNordic Institute of Asian Studies, 2012.This book contains 80 folktales from the Maldives, collected by the

StorySpotting: Birds that never land (Alien Worlds)

 StorySpotting is a weekly or kinda-weekly series about folktales, tropes, references, and story motifs that pop up in popular media, from TV shows to video games. Topics are random, depending on what I have watched/played/read recently. Also, THERE WILL BE SPOILERS. Be warned!
Netflix has dropped a new speculative show titled Alien Worlds. Every episode talks about how life would develop on

Jackals, spirits, Mouse Deer (Following folktales around the world 179. - Sri Lanka)

Today I continue the blog series titled Following folktales around the world! If you would like to know what the series is all about, you can find the introduction post here. You can find all posts here, or you can follow the series on Facebook!Village folk-tales of CeylonH. ParkerLuzac, 1910.The book contains 75 folktales; the whole series is actually three volumes, but this first one was hefty