The winners of Books and Life contest

So I decided that I will announce the winners of Books and Life competition earlier, as I have found the processing of the entries of medium difficulty. I expected more entries yet I am very happy with those that decided to join. I want to thank all of you who took the time to read, share and participate.

The total budget that I decided to give to this competition is quite significant. I had 600 in HBD and a secret prize for the longest post consisting in …..500 HIVE. I have kept this as a little secret.

100 HBD went to a charity of my choice and 500 HBD were split between the 5 best comments I have received. The longer post would receive the special prize of 500 HIVE and the special mentioning at the beginning of this post. Please do take a look at the users that have won, give them a follow and share their posts, they are good writers and readers:)

I have read all of the comments and I have found out about some books which I already added to my To Be Read List. Thank you all for enriching that list!

First things first. The special long post prize is won by @jemima1996. I absolutely loved the way you described your journey towards discovering the book of Susan Cain: Quiet. The power of introverts in a world that can’t stop talking. You are authentic, vulnerable and made a beautiful post about the book.

The quote she selected from this book:
"Introverts have been given the keys that give access to inner orchards, full of wonders. Possessing it is like stumbling like Alice down the rabbit hole: she didn't choose to go to wonderland, but she knew how to make it a new, fantastic adventure with a personality of its own."

You can read the long winning post here:
https://hive.blog/hive-180164/@jemima1996/books-and-life-competitivo-empowering-me-with-knowledge-esp-eng

And now the winners for the comment section. Each of them are awarded with 100 HBD. I hope that you will pamper yourself and your loved ones as this amount can bring a bit of joy in anyone’s pocket. When you share a gift with someone that you love the spending is always sweeter and more fun lol.

1. @filotasriza3

The book of choice:Arthur Schopenhauer ,The Art of Always Being Right

Favourite quote:“there are very few who can think, but every man wants to have an opinion; and what remains but to take it ready-made from others, instead of forming opinions for himself?"

We need to know how to develop critical thinking and deal with people. The book is written in 1891 but its principles are very useful in 2023 and in the years to come.

“When we are younger we tend to act mostly based on our emotions, can be manipulated way easier by others and in general can be here and there regarding our friends and family. This book helped me in so many different aspects that defined my life and keep doing so. Except for the fact that as i mentioned a while ago, i can win some debates a bit more easily and in general argue better than others i can also understand when others are trying to use these methods on me or us (as people). “

2.@henrietta27

The book of choice:Immaculee Ilibagiza, Left to tell (discovering God amidst the Rwanda Holocaust)

Favourite quote:"I realized that my battle to survive this war would have to be fought inside of me"

The book is about the genocide in Rwanda and the struggle of a young woman caught in the midst of it. For @henrietta27 “This is so relatable because one thing I dread the most is inter tribal wars. Currently I live in a community different from my tribe in the same country. A place where segregation and nepotism takes place even if I have lived almost all my life here. One time I applied for a job I needed so badly considering the economic and financial situations were so poor. Can you imagine that all the indigenes were selected but I was left out. It was so painful because I thought since I was born her and have lived over 25 years they would take me as their own but reverse was the Case as I knew, I was left alone to face my fears. “

3.@anttn

The book of choice:Gabriel Garcia Marquez's , One Hundred Years of Solitude

Favourite quote:"Thus they continued to live in an elusive reality, momentarily held captive by words, but which would inevitably escape them without return once they forgot the very meaning of writing."

The story is about the Buendia family in an unnamed country in South America . In the comment @anttn said : “what struck me most was the way time is stretched out, like concentric loops or circles on the water of time, intersecting at pivotal moments. Gabriel Garcia Marquez is also known as one of the leading authors of magic realism, a movement that brings magic into fiction. Strange and fantastic things happen over and over again, but we are still in a realistic setting and not in a fantasy or a fairytale. The story is so full and so full of events that I couldn't really tell you more here... or I'd go over the 800-word limit “

1. @fermentedphil
   The book(s) of choice: Sextus Empiricus, Pyrrhonian Outlines and Albert Camus, The Outsider/Stranger .I really appreciated that you picked two and told me why!

Favourite quote:And I, too, felt ready to start life all over again. It was as if that great rush of anger had washed me clean, emptied me of hope, and, gazing up at the dark sky spangled with its signs and stars, for the first time, the first, I laid my heart open to the benign indifference of the universe. To feel it so like myself, indeed, so brotherly, made me realize that I’d been happy, and that I was happy still. (The Outsider/Stranger)

Camus explored what he termed -the nakedness of man faced with the absurd. “Our very disposition in life should be one of always seeking, always looking, never holding opinions in such a rigid way as to never change them. Going even further, we should “return” to everyday life without holding extra beliefs about everyday life. “

5.@cyclopshive

The book of choice: Cal Newport , Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World

Favourite quote:To learn hard things quickly, you must focus intensely without distraction. To learn, in other words, is an act of deep work.

“Basically, this book will change the reader's perspective on work productivity. By reading this book a reader is able to get ahead in the workplace by improving his efficiency and punctuality. Which helps to increase a person's confidence and prowess “

Congratulations to everybody , Happy Holidays and a blessed 2024 next to the people that love you truly!