Quick List

Dear Reader,

My winter reading list is now three weeks overdue. :-( I had planned to write a review to go along with this reading list, as is usually the case, but I'm afraid that I have many other commitments pressing in on my time. (Aside: I've noticed that my posts of late seem to beginning on this very same melancholy, apologetic tone. I'm going to have to do something about this, sooner rather than later.) 

On a more positive note, I have quite a few intriguing posts planned for the near future, so that is something for you, dear patient reader, to look forward to. I also thought I might as well get the tedious matter of my winter reading list out of the way first, so I won't have to worry about it later one. Some of the following books actually form the last part of my 2011 Reading Challenge and it would by unfair if I bid adieu to the year 2011 without some mention of them. So without further preamble: 

1. Strait is the Gate by Andre Gide
2. Enthusiasm by Polly Shulman
3. Pretty Persuasion by Olivia Kingsley
4. Peter and Wendy by J.M. Barrie
5. Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
6. Inheritance by Christopher Paolini (Confession: This very tempting book has been waiting on my bed-side shelf for well over a month now. I haven't touched it yet because I'm waiting for the holidays to begin before I become completely consumed by it, as will inevitably happen as soon as I touch it.) 
7. Jamrach's Menagerie by Carol Birch
8. Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
9. Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne
10. The Once and Future King by T.H. White   

Now I must go fetch myself an essential cup of tea. Being British, and knowing very well about all the stereotypes, I truly believe there is no problem that I can't solve without having a cup-o-tea first. So a merry winter to all, and to all a good-night. 

Nida

an Old Letter

Dear Reader,

News Bulletin: I've recently updated my 2011 Reading Challenge page. So check it out. Despite my lack of reading during the exam period, I still seem to be on target :-). If you, dear reader, think my cause is worthy and would like make a safe and secure donation online, then there is a link to it in the side bar. --->   Please help me complete this challenge, it is all for a good cause. 

Anyway, now on to the main topic of this post: The Letter. If you've been following my blog for some times then you'll remember that around this time last year, I thought up an idea for a historical novel set in the early 1800's England. (If you don't remember, click here - it begins in the second paragraph of that post.) I've fully fleshed out the plot of this story and I've realised that it's actually not much of a romance at all. It's more like a Victorian story about the acceptance of change with a little tea spoon of romance to sweeten it up. ;-) Aside: by the way this ISN'T the " top-secret-novel-idea" that I spoke about in my last post.          

So yesterday, I was gazing at my calligraphy set when I got the idea that I should write a letter. I've always loved the dying art of letter-writing-for-pleasure, and this sort of correspondence features heavily in the historical story that I was talking about above. So, obviously, my mind put two and two together and I decided that I should write one of those letters that my main character Rosalind, would have written to my other main character, Lionel. And you, dear reader, are incredibly lucky as I present to you a 192 year old letter:     

The pen in the picture is the one I used to write the letter. 

The back of the letter, complete with fake wax seal. 

Those unfortunate fingers are mine!

And, finally, the letter itself.

Confession: At this early stage I didn't really know exactly what they would write to each other, so what is actually written here are the lyrics of a song that I felt fit a certain point of the story quite well. The song is called Taboo by Jonas and Plunkett. I can't seem to find those lyrics online now but if you're really interested , let me know and I'll add them to my next post. 

Anyway, I was quite upset to the lack of response to my Question of the Week, last week. but I'll try again today. If it doesn't work out then I'll stop. So this weeks Question: if you had to write a 'old style' letter, who would you write it to? If you think that's too personal then what would you write in your letter? Leave your response in the comments section below.   

That's all I have to say for now. I can't wait to read you're responses.

Nida 

I'm FREE and I'm BACK!!!!!!

Dear Reader,

I'm sorry. I know I promised to write a blog on the 20th of May, the day after my last exam, but what happened was that I was too busy enjoying my new-found-freedom to remember to turn on my laptop. I slept a lot, Allhumdulillah. I spent the entirety of Friday with my university friends and then Saturday was devoted to spending time with my family and helping my not-so-little-brother-any-more with his GCSE English revision.     

Image courtesy of Toronto Public Library

So now that I'm back and free of exams, being the compulsive list-maker that I am, I've made a list of things I want to do:

1. Blog regularly again (1 per week at least)
2. Prepare for the month of Ramadaan - I can't wait to start fasting again. 
3. Re-read the Noble Qur'an with Tafsir 
4. Spend at least a week with my university friends before results come out (plans for this are under process and the dates have been set).
5. Give my final "Sisters' Circle" talk at uni before the younger years break off for summer.  
6. Finish my applications for Masters. 
7. Write at least another 40,000 words of my novel Life in Conversations. 
8. Begin doing research for my new top-secret-novel-idea.  
9. Go to the Lake District, Cumbria with my family.
10. Read at least 30 more novels for the charity Reading Challenge. 
11. Watch the last Harry Potter movie with my Sixth Form friends.  
12. Cook at least once a week and garden a lot more.
13. Attend my convocation ceremony. 
14. Learn to drive and pass my driving test.
15. Get a job? maybe, if I have time. 

I think that these points are an achievable target for the next four months, InshAllah. I'll keep you updated as I check them off my list. I've also been writing a lot of poetry lately, but that's a post for another time, InshAllah. 

My brother Codename: The Monkey, suggested that I start asking you, my dear reader, a question once a week. Question of the Week: what will you do in your summer holidays? (if you are still in education. If not then what will you like to do in your next vacation?) Leave your answers in the comment section below. 

So that's all for now. I'll write to you next week InshAllah. Until then, take care.

Nida 

click-Click charity

Dear Reader,

I have some good new, one single tiny little piece of bad news and just some general book-related news.

1) Because I'm an optimist I'll start with the good. I finally manged to set up an online means to donate to my charity campaign, the 2011 Reading Challenge aka BORN TO READ. There's a link to it in the 2011 Reading Challenge page and there is also a widget in the side bar ---> where you can see all the donations made online - currently it's at £0 :-( Make sure you check it out and donate whatever you can, it'll make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

2) The bad news is that I have my ultimate-final-my-whole-degree-depends-on-them-exams in just slightly more than two weeks time. So I really need to get my head down and focus and concentrate and drink lots of tea/coffee. This, unfortunately also means that I'm take a blogging and reading hiatus until the 20th of May. So,  NO MORE DISTRACTIONS for me. Awww please don't cry. I will be back. But in the mean time, I'll miss you, dear reader, quite a lot. 

3) My reading hiatus actually doesn't come into force until I finish my current book, Rebounding by Jamilah Kolocotronis. It's the 2nd book in the Echoes series. I only have six words to say about this. I love this series so far. It's absolutely amazing. Not only does Jamilah Kolocotronis write really well, she has also opened up my eyes to the realities of life on the other side of the ocean.  Her characters are so real that I keep expecting them to leap off the page and walk right into my life. And over the period of one-and-a-half books I've come to care for them as I would care for my close friends or friendly cousins. Also, the plot is fast paced, the narration is incredibly personal, what more could you want from a light read? The titles of all five books also have a running theme. Let's see if you can figure it out:

1. Echoes
2. Rebounding
3. Turbulence
4. Ripples
5. Silence

The only think that slightly irritated me about Echoes (the 1st book) was the self-pity of the main character Joshua Adams, and the way he kept repeating  the events of his past to everyone he met. But I guess this also adds a sense of reality because, we as humans are prone to self-pity and our past only happen once, so if we're going to be honest with people, we can only tell them the same thing, right?

 

Anyway, I'll probably finish the series after my exams are over. I'll probably write to you next then, as well. 

So, until the 20th of May, take care.

Nida     

2011 Reading Challenge

Dear Reader,

As of 2011 I, Nida Bhatti ardent book reader and well known bookaholic, have set myself the challenge to read at least 70 in this year (which is actually about 20 more than I can usually manage in a year). But the difference this year will be that for each book that I complete I will receive £2 or £3. All the money that I collect by the end of the year will be going to Save the Children organisation and Inshallah provide books and/or education for the millions of children around the world who are out of school due to conflict in their country or region. 

So far this year I've read 17 books already but I have yet to obtain donations for the month of February. Leave a comment to let me know if you want to help out or donate and I'll get back to you with more info. I've set up a page for the 2011 Reading Challenge in the side bar soon. Updates on money raised and books read can be found there. ---->

  

May Allah (SWT) be pleased with this good deed, may He help me achieve my goal and may he also be pleased with all those who donate, help and support me. Ameen :)  

In other news, the grass is greener. The buds of blossoms are blistering the trees, and the yellow mouths of  daffodils wave to me as I walk by. Yes, it's Spring again. Which means it's time for another reading list: 

1. Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri 
2. Kim by Rudyard Kipling
3. Forever by Maggie Stiefvater
4. Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce
5. Sweetly by Jackson Pearce
6. Adam Bede by George Eliot
7. Sybil by Benjamin Disraeli
8. From my sister's lips by Na'ima Robert
9. Green Deen by Ibrahim Abdul-Matin
10. The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat by Dr. Oliver Sacks
11. How I Killed Pluto and Why it Had it Coming by Mike Brown

And I shall now leave you with the picture of my current bed-side book stack:

Aside: the Selected Poems of Lord Alfred Tennyson (LAT) are still on that shelf because, every once in a while, I like to pick up the book read a poem or two. I'm afraid that if I put it with the rest of the classics it might become forgotten. It's not that Lord Alfred Tennyson's work is particularly forgetful or that it's over-shadowed by more popular classics, the blame in fact lies entirely with myself. I'm, unfortunately, not only a very busy person but also a very forgetful one. And so if things aren't actually staring me in the face, I have a tendency to forget about them, :( sad but true. 

Now I really should end this post before I reveal any more of my fatal flaws.   

Nida