Historical Period Viki Original K-drama Series: The Red Sleeve (2021-2022); 17 episodes

The Red Sleeve Cuff (2021-2022); 17 episodes

This historical K-drama is a Viki Original series based on a novel of the same name. It's a fictionalized account of the love story of King Jeongjo and his royal consort Ui-bin Seong, but they are real historical figures. King Jeongjo is the 22nd monarch of the Joseon dynasty, and Ui-bin Seong (real name Seong Deok-im) was his royal consort. There were several pregnancies that resulted in miscarriages, one son lived, Crown Prince Munhyo.

This series focuses on the life of Seong Deok-im. She entered the palace at the age of ten (10) as a maid servant. Whereas all of the court ladies probably dreamed of being bedded by the king, Seong Deok-im rejected his advances. She did not want to become a concubine because she said she would no longer be able to have her own life. In other words, she would lose herself and only live for him.

Nevertheless, she fell in love with the king and became his favorite concubine, known as Royal Consort Sung Ui Bin. The series showed that she did give up her own life. When she was an ordinary court lady she could go out with friends, visit family, and enjoy the freedoms commoners enjoy. Once she became the king's concubine, her life was restricted to the palace. She spent the entire day just waiting for him to come to her chambers and rest his head in her lap. It was a life choice she made. Although she did not regret loving the king, she always knew she made a great sacrifice to live as the king's woman. She died in her early 30s and the king wrote on her epitaph about how much he had loved her.

P.S.  If you love Korean dramas, please visit my entertainment blog.  It has lots of K-Drama love.  Original source.

The Red Sleeve no.1, Korean Novel

Vintage Books for Your Personal Library or Book Collections

No matter what anybody says I say that libraries will never go out of style.  Yes, there is and always will be digitized literature.  But nothing will ever replace resting comfortably in your bed or on your sofa and curling with a good book!  NOT a tablet!

That being said, I have always loved most things vintage. Have to define “vintage” in case you happen to be about the age of one of my kids. Vintage for them might be circa 1980 or 1990, and they may think vintage for me would be circa 1880 or 1890. Not so.

Vintage, by my definition, is back in my day, the 1950s and 60s, or anything before that but still in the 1900s.

Are we clear? Good!

One of my favorite things is “library trash”. Books that some public libraries toss like trash because they do not have enough room on their shelves and have to make space for the “new”.

In my dictionary: old books = vintage books; and they are still worth reading!

Of course, if it is left up to chance and you are searching for a specific book, the odds are not in your favor and you may be waiting a while – wishing and hoping for that particular reading material to end up on the pile. Not all awesome vintage books are tossed by the head librarian.

Fortunately, there is a bookstore called Vintage Books, that has been around since 1954. It is physically located in New York, New York, but thanks to the wonders of information technology, you can peruse their bookshelf online. There are books listed by the usual genres from Art to History to Mystery to Travel. But you might find the selected works categorized in the Vintage Series worth examining. There are 5 different series: Civil War; Classics; Contemporaries, Departures; and International.

Vintage books are priceless additions to your own personal library and are great gift ideas. What is also great is that these published works are not very expensive, come in paperback or hardcover, as well as audio-book format or in the Kindle edition.

(NOTE: Vintage Books is part of the Random House/Knopf Doubleday network of bookselling sites.  Below are book Selections From the Vintage Series


♦♦♦♦♦♦

The Civil War Dictionary by Mark Boatner
(Vintage Civil War Library)

For almost thirty years The Civil War Dictionary has been the most complete, authoritative, and handy reference book on what has been called the Second American Revolution, 1861-1865.

Where Angels Fear to Tread by E. M. Forster
(Vintage Classics)

A young English widow takes off on the grand tour and along the way marries a penniless Italian. Her in-laws are not amused.

The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henríquez
(Vintage Contemporaries)

A love story is woven into a novel about hopes and dreams, and redefinition of what it means to be American.

Cuba in Mind: An Anthology
(Vintage Departures)

Explorer Christopher Columbus described Cuba as “the most beautiful country that human eyes have ever seen”. 31 writers – poetry, fiction, and nonfiction – agree.

Bombay Stories
(Vintage International)

1930s Bombay provided the author with the inspiration for this collection of short stories.

If you’re gifting vintage books might as well throw in some vintage bookends and a desk! :)

Decorative Heavy Duty Bookends – Metal Large Book Ends – Vintage Tall Books Stand

Sauder Graham Hill Desk, Autumn Maple Finish

Source:  Webnuggetz.com

Recommended Reading: "The Book of Negroes" by Lawrence Hill

There is no need to elaborate on this recommendation with a lengthy blog post. The title of the book says it all.

"The Book of Negroes" by Lawrence Hill

This book is a work of fiction that reads like real life.

Enough said.