Read read read!!
The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
every book lovers should read this. it’s such a nice pleasant book to read! and you relate to most of the sayings in the book in relation to love of reading.
although i do feel like the death of AJ Fikry is unnecessary, he could have lived i guess and it could have been a better ending. his death is like a sudden afterthought because otherwise there couldn’t have been an ending.
…”the things we respond to at twenty are not necessarily the same things we respond to at forty and vice versa. this is true in books and also in life.” A.J Fikry- Gabrielle Zevin
Angelopolis by Danielle Trussoni
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I feel like there is so many things i want to know more about. a ten years lapse between Angelology and Angelopolis is too long. I want to know how Evangeline had been. I want to know Verlaine’s growth as an angelologist and his many adventures throughout. I want to know more about Azov’s work! I want to have a back to the past about Angela. i want to find out more about Godwin! Oh so many things i want to know. Write more, please, pretty please.
reading soundtrack: Sweep by Blue Foundation
The moment i heard this song it reminded of Angelopolis. it’s totally spot on.
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Please note that reading this two fantasy novels was quite hard on my spiritual side. i love angel stories. i have always been fascinated by Angels but i believe i knew where to draw the line between my third pillar of Iman, believing in angels with the many fictional stories out there. i had to stop, for quite a long time, when i first read Angelology. putting it away many times before i could finally picked it up again and reread the whole story. i need to make myself mentally and spiritually clear that what i am reading will not be blasphemous.
but that is why i love reading. especially when it affected me in some ways, when it opened up some perspectives. when it gives me a chance to challenge myself and when it made me realise and reflect.
I realised something about myself today.
I realised that reading for me, is not just a form of hobby or ‘just reading’
it’s almost like a ritual or some spiritual thing that links back to what my brain or body needs. whether it’s emotional or intellectual.
I am currently reading Forty rules of Love, it should be a good book and I have been anticipating so much in reading it, but somehow it doesn’t grip my attention as much as I thought it would be. there is no real desire to read and find out more about the story, it doesn’t make me feel like I cannot stop reading, it doesn’t make me dream about reading it. it could be because of the theme of the story which revolves around a woman who is going through a midlife crisis, so it could be that I could not relate to the story so much. but I was looking forward to the sufi themes of the story, but somehow, it doesn’t gives me that inspiration so much.
I am at 36% reading through it but I decided I need to stop. I don’t enjoy reading it at this moment and I know it could be a book I want to love but right now, I cannot continue because it is not something I need. I need to move on and take a book and enjoy reading.
and somehow, I am dreaming of reading Purification of the Heart. this is another thing I just realised as well. I have had this book for so long and had not yet had a desire to read it but somehow, now, I yearn to read it. it must have something to do with my unconscious mind, or simply, my SELF. this inner self or something. like I would rush home right now just to read that book. it could also be that I have, earlier sometime ago, put the intention to read it and this is the right time to read.
in any case, this pretty much how it is when it comes to reading. I have many books at home to read, but there will always be a ‘right time’ to read each and every one of them. from the feel of it, touching the cover and its pages, the smell of it, the sound of reading it, it all plays into the joy of reading. I just didn’t realise before that ‘time’ could be a factor as well.
just like Haruki Murakami’s 1Q84, I had it for since two years ago? but I only picked it up last year and was so engrossed in reading it I couldn’t stop. even a trip to Santorini couldn’t make me stop from reading it.
purification of the heart it is. starting tonight.
Angelology by Danielle Trussoni
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I loved the book. Seeing that i had it in ebook and book form probably shows how much i love it, although i have to admit it was quite a drag when i first read it. I had to pause from reading it for quite awhile because i find myself unable to move on with the reading. Finally took it up again and reread the first few chapters instead of continuing from where i left off. I did not regret doing that because the story became more clearer.
It had history, thriller mystery, religion, ancient beliefs, a bit of espionage, family and love and of course, my favourite subject of the story:angels, even though they are depicted as the anti-thesis of my beliefs. Partly due to why i stopped reading it earlier was because its blasphemous. Although of course i know its fictional, i need to step back a bit.
Its mindblowing and i admire how the author was able to link everything seamlessly, almost without effort. And the whole story, although it took me weeks to finish it, the span of the story was supposed to happen in what, two days?! So many things could happen! Amazing.
I simply cannot wait to start the next book, but right now, im having a hangover after reading angelology.
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Yes. A hangover. Good books always give me this lost feeling after i finished it. I love love this book. I need at least two days to get over this hangover or otherwise any book i picked after this is going to bore me within the first page. And anyway, i think my brain needs something intelligent and non fiction after this. I know it’s yearning for something spiritually enhancing and enlightening because angelology has too much christianity and Ancient beliefs and not to say blasphemous. There’s also many things from angelology i want to google. I mean the story is fiction but the themes are not. I got to check it for myself.
it was not meant to be. manuscript found in accra. I stopped just after a quarter of the book. its just too straight in your face preachy and I don’t need preachy at this moment. I did made a bookmark to match the bookcover. but between reading manuscript and 7 habits, the latter becomes more exciting and made more sense.
although I got distracted by Angelology, the book, not the ebook. even though its going to get draggy because I have read halfway from the ebook but well, we’ll see how it goes. I will always be distracted by other books. actually, some part of my brain is thirsty for some Islamic reading. as soon as I finish Angelology, which I am going to read super fast. Im going to take one of those Islamic themed non fiction books to fulfil this emptiness intelligence-wise. I think it’s just about time.
hubbyLove is away for the week. it is only the second day and already both of us are feeling this distance. both of us not feeling so well. him probably too tired from the lack of rest from travelling and straight to work. me, similarly, tired from work, and I have been moving around too much this week. and not having him around feels empty and alone.
looking forward to see him again Friday evening. pray for his safety. always.
the thing with reading Paulo Coelho is that, i could consider him as a fave author but i don’t always like or enjoy reading his books. the only, only book of his that i will reread without second thoughts is the Alchemist. i have to say that is his best. i have read the zahir, aleph, Brida, the witch of portobello which comes close to be a fave but there are others, like some of his books that i bought but have not read at all and there are those i wont read at all.
so i bought this Manuscript Found in Accra quite some time ago. as always with some of his books, i bought them first and decide to read them later. much later sometimes. like aleph, i read, i stopped, i read again from the start, stopped again. and only on the third attempt that i could truly appreciate the story.
so i have high hopes for manuscript. i thought it would be like the alchemist. but it was not to be. its just a manual…on life…questions and answers. it feels more like a self help book. i have yet to feel inspired from it. the preface gives an impression it is non fiction. but i can always do a bit of net research about it and find out how non fiction it is. but as i read through the pages, it felt like a typical Paulo Coelho-esque life inspiring questions and answers. it can get boring sometimes. but i know, reading Paulo takes time and sometimes you have to read at the ‘right time right moment’ of your life for them to make sense.
the alchemist made such an impact on me because i was reading it at a time when i was trying to find my identity, searching for knowledge, away from family and it was inspirational. i read the zahir when i felt a bit lost and on the verge of being a lovefool giving up on well, love, whatever that is at the that point of my life. it made sense to me then. i read aleph last year and i understood that journey of purpose and following that purpose and i learn to understand that concept of what or who your are now may be connected to a past life (at that time i was introduced to timeline therapy from nlp) so its like, it made sense. it can happen. although sceptical, it can happen.
yes, reading Paulo have to be at the right time. when you are ready for it. i am trying to read this manuscript found in Accra but i guess i am not ready for it still. maybe i should move on to the next book. or maybe a matching bookmark will help. i love matching bookmarks to books. i am obsessed with it. well, this calls for one bookmark making!
The Island by Victoria Hislop
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
surprised that eventually I was drawn into the story and finished it in 4 days. and it strike me that this is one novel with good English, grammar and all put into good use! I feel like reading a general paper essay and had to be ready with a summary of sorts or be ready with answering some exam questions. I should read this book years ago during those difficult years of writing descriptive assignments. I feel like I have to read the book politely.
I truly loved Maria, felt as though, she was the great aunt I never had. and disgusted with Anna’s character. and as the story was ending, it was not about a tragedy or a disease, it was indeed about heroic acts and strong characters that braved through difficulties with perseverance and acceptance. I found myself googling about leper colonies as I was reading the novel, trying to find out about spinalonga and Greece’s connections to leper colony. it was an informative historic fiction. it can be a classic novel in the times to come.
The Girl Who Just Appeared by Jonathan Harvey
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Expecting some unexpected twists such as in the Confusion of Karen Carpenter. but it did, in its own way. very anti-happy ending but had a pleasant end. loved the humour and the brilliant link between the protagonist Holly and Darren, the character she read from a stack of letters she found.
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i first read Jonathan Harvey’s The Confusion of Karen Carpenter and it made such an impact and surprise that i aspired to read his works. So when i saw this The Girl Who Just Appeared, i grabbed it without thinking. (although i have yet to read All She Wants, and that i wanted so much to find the book)
i loved the humour and i knew there is going to be some unexpected twist somewhere and i was anticipating it but also not to over conscious about it because i want to be taken by surprise. and it did have an unexpected twist but it was anti climax.
my take between reading using my kindle and my ipad mini.
i had my ipad mini prior to the kindle and i got used to reading using it. i inter used between the iBooks and Kobo e reader. i also used my ipad reading digital magazines and i absolutely loved it.
after so long using the ipad, the mini is welcomed because it is smaller and lighter.
i was also able to adjust the brightness so usually when for reading, i reduce the brightness to a more comfortable setting for when im reading, either in bed or on the commute. and it is easier to enlarge and reduce the size of the page with two fingers, on both the iBook and Kobo.
and then last year, i finally succumbed to the kindle pressure and bought a paperwhite at a discounted price. i was truly excited. however, it took me awhile before i actually picked it up to use for reading. for one thing, despite the easiness of just a ‘click’ to purchasing an ebook from the amazon website, i realised not all books are available from where im living. especially new titles. and no free ebooks, as compared to iBooks and Kobo. i ended up buying YA titles, which are somehow made available to my postcode.
but i have to say i fell in love using it because of its lightness, as light as an iphone 5, and a little bit lighter than iPad mini. and its size is barely the size of my palm and holding it during commute do feels more comfortable. i dont feel tired easily reading from it. and the paperwhite comes with the technology that it is eye- friendly. battery life is also amazing. it can pretty much last a whole week.
i am now a satisfied reader, and user of both the ipad mini as an ebook reader and the kindle. i love both. as of now i take to comparing the price of an ebook between amazon and kobo before purchasing a title and whichever i could save a little, that is where i buy the ebook. but so far, my kindle is stocked up a few YA titles, while i have more titles in my ipad-kobo due to my longer relationship with it. and of course more digital magazines there as well. my whole library everywhere i go. sometimes when i feel a it greedy, i bring both to wherever it is im going. and a book as well, sometimes.
despite this, i am still a slow reader when it comes to ebooks. i honestly read slower. i dont know why. a physical book still grips my attention better. and i am able to read for hours without feeling tired at all.
oh well, a reader’s got to read. book or ebook.
living seri 