Summer Yey! Oh....it's raining Again

Dear Reader,

Image courtesy of
Fix My Slow Computer

Sorry for the blogging dry spell. Due to the not-so-summerie weather we've been having here, my time this past two weeks has been quite thoroughly divided between my uni friends and writing Life in Conversations. 

I would like to say that I've written thousands upon thousands of words that go towards my summer goal, but the sad truth is that I made an awful blunder last night. The entirety of Chapter 3 was, somehow, accidentally deleted.  And now my unfortunate word count is even less then what I had started off with. I was awake until 4 this morning, rewriting all that I remembered. I still have the ending section of the chapter to go, which is about another 1,500 words. But Alhumdulillah, I think this new Chapter 3 is actually better than the one I wrote before. All I can say is that everything happens for a reason. 

Anyway, sitting here in my bedroom in a sweater, it doesn't actually feel like summer has started yet. But my calender tells me other wise. So I guess it's time for another sampling of my current reading list. 

1. I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore
2. Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
3. The History of the Khalifahs by Jalal ad-Din as-Suyuti 
4. The Biography of  Abu-Bakr as-Siddeeq by Dr. Muhammad as-Sallaabee
5. The Biography of  Ummar ibn Al-Khattaab by Dr. Muhammad as-Sallaabee
6. The Biography of  Uthman Ibn Affan by Dr. Muhammad as-Sallaabee
7. The Black Tulip by Alexander Dumas 
8. Sybil by Benjamin Disraeli
9. Forever by Maggie Stiefvater - there is still a whole month before it's release!
10. The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater - also not yet released (ugh!)

Instructions: click on the picture to see all the book titles properly 

I've also incorporated those books I intend to read during Ramadaan as it will Inshallah begin at the beginning of August. But, currently I'm reading Rebecca. I'm about 88 pages in, and though the pace so far is quite slow and the plot is slightly cliché, this book has reminded me of why I love writing and literature so much. The prose and descriptive pieces hold this marvellous poetic resonance that is often scarce in modern literature. In this hectic and fast paced time, even writers just want to hurry along with the thrill of the plot and not pause by the roadside to describe how the "nettles were everywhere, the vanguard of the army. They choked the terrace, they sprawled about the paths, they lent, vulgar and lanky against the very windows of the house."  It's the metaphors, similes, symbols, literary paradoxes and oxymorons that I miss most. 

In Rebecca, there is also this one quote  I came across that really made me think and which I thought I should share with you, dear reader:

"Happiness is not a possession to be prized, it is a quality of thought, a state of mind."      

Anyway, during the week of my absence, I read three little books that left me smiling and laughing: The Tales of Beedle the Bard, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Quidditch Through the Ages, all by J. K. Rowling. Now I'm not a huge Harry Potter fan, but after The Deathly Hallows I really wanted to read The Tales of Beedle the Bard and I must admit, I like it far more than any of the Harry Potter books. I can't help it, I just have a thing for fairy tales, parables and short-stories-with-morals. I can even see myself reading it to my own children 15 years from now. 

The other two I just sort of stumbled across and, being a compulsive completionist, well I just had to read them. They're pretty good and really make it hit home how large the detailed the Harry Potter universe is.  


So, that's all I have to say for now. I know that this post is quite dull and lifeless, but I'm quite exhausted to be honest. I promise, next time the post will be much livelier, Inshallah. Until next time, take care.
Nida