It is likely that everybody at some point in their lives, for sure before their high school exams, touched on the subject of war and concentration camp literature. These books were not easy. I do not know anybody who has read them without emotion and astonishment close to terror that human beings can do such terrible things to other people.

War lectures might be different. Some are deeply rooted in difficult history and are presented almost naturalistically. Others treat reality as a backdrop to fictional goings-on. I would place "The Book thief" by Markus Zusak somewhere in between. The book tells us about the Holocaust but relates these tragic times in a remarkable way, because the author gives the narration to ... Death.

The book starts in 1938 when the main character Liesel drives by train to Molching close to Munich where she will live with a foster family. This trip will leave a shadow on the child's delicate psyche. The girl lives in dangerous times marked with pain, separation and loss. Only books and friendly people make those times a little more colorful. Liesel's life is changed not only by books, which she steals almost habitually and perfectly, it is also changed by a young Jew called Maks, thanks to whom she learns she has a gift for changing thoughts and dreams into amazing words.

Holidays have one basic property: they show how much time modern school takes up. when I think about all the learning, projects and presentations my daughter has to do and which absorb my private time as well, my freshly dyed hair bristles. Half of the holiday has gone and I haven't relaxed yet. I relish my free afternoons and enjoy dinners at my leisure.

Today's proposal is for a simple but delicious salad with green beans and smoked salmon. If you don't like the robust taste of garlic, you can omit it or add less.

Ingredients:

250g of green beans

100g of smoked salmon

Reportedly every counterfeiter of a work of art makes their own creation. Copying established artists they append their own heart, engagement, abilities and work. When does a painter, sculptor, writer become an artist? They need talent... but is it always the way? Certainly they have to be discovered, recognized and advertised, and a well-established art critic has to say, "It is good". When an artist has a chance to come into being, he either takes a chance or not, but that's another story.

Such a cognoscente of art, a figure equally eccentric and opinion-forming, is Virgil Oldman (Geoffrey Rush) the main character of the intriguing movie "Deception" by Giuseppe Tornatore. He leads an organized life, trades at an auction house, and is surrounded by respect, richness, and art. He allows himself small vagaries, prejudices or habits of a confirmed bachelor. He continually wears gloves, doesn't have a mobile phone, doesn't like strangers, and confides only in his friend and partner, Bill Whistler (Donald Sutherland). Is anything forbidden to a nabob?

Into his stable life enters a mysterious young girl, Claire Ibbetson (Sylvia Hoeks). After the death of her parents she inherits their estate, which she decides to have valued, thinking about selling it. To begin with she puts Virgil's patience to the test by not coming to meetings and coming up with various unlikely excuses. Her behavior is frustrating and intriguing and Virgil, despite early unwillingness, accepts the job. He doesn't suspect how much his acquaintance with this young lady will change his life.

I am not especially fond of mushrooms. Usually I cook traditional Christmas Eve mushroom soup. Sometimes I use champignons but some people think that they aren't real mushrooms. I make an exception for oyster mushrooms and chanterelles. Chanterelles tempt me with their colour and forest smell.

Today I would like to share with you my recipe for chanterelle cream soup.

Ingredients:

250g of chanterelles

1 carrot

1 parsley root

3 potatoes

1 piece of leek

1/4 celery

1 onion

100g of butter

1 stock cube

"Where the shadow does not reach" by Hanna Kowalewska starts quite simply. Inka, a young graphic designer working in Warsaw, receives a telegram from a long-lost relative. Full of misgivings, she gets on a train and travels to a sleepy little town on the Hel peninsula.

This is where simplicity ends. Who on earth sends telegrams in the 21st century...? Her misgivings are not unfounded and it turns out that Inka's aunt Berta is dying. She wants to say goodbye and before her death tells the girl something very important. The ill aunt is being taken care of by relatives and friends from the neighbourhood, and Inka encounters an unusual wave of anger, unwillingness and dislike.

What kind of mystery is the private, introverted girl hiding? Why is she so afraid of her 'brother' Zygmunt's imminent arrival. What is the house in the middle of Jantarnia hiding?

It is not only Inka who cannot find her way due to difficult experiences from childhood. The majority of her friends from her school days experience unrequited love. The older people of Jantarnia also do not have an easy life. They face quarrels, family violence, betrayals and lack of acceptance.