Semi-full Reading List of 2013

Dear Reader,

So, as promised, here is a provisional list of books I want to read in 2013. This does not include the books I plan to re-read, e.g. Persuasion by Jane Austen. I'll probably post updates every few months, Inshallah, but I've also added two widgets for this in the side bar --->. This year, I've challenged myself to read one book a week: 52 weeks = 52 books. And because there are so many new books I want to read this year, the list is sort-of in the order of genre.

Fairytale retellings:

1. Snow by Tracy Lynn
2. Winter's Child by Cameron Dokey
3. Water Song by Suzanne Weyn
4. Midnight Pearls by Debbie Viguie
5. Fathomless by Jackson Pearce
6. Cinder by Marissa Meyer
7. Scarlet also by Marissa Meyer

Sci-Fi: 

1. The Matched Trilogy by Ally Condie
2. The Maze Runner Trilogy by James Dashner
3. Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham
4. Divergent Trilogy by Veronica Roth (the latest buzz books)
5. Delirium Trilogy by Lauren Oliver (the other latest buzz, or so I'm told)
6. Origin by Jessica Khoury
7. Emerald Green by Kerstin Geir (the final instalment of the Ruby Red Trilogy to be released in the UK on 8th October, so I am breathlessly anticipating this book, though I'm not holding my breath.)

Stand alone novels:

1. When Wings Expand by Mehded Maryam Sinclair (a must read if you like TFiOS)
2. The Bride of Lammermoor by Sir Walter Scott (a Classic I have not read before)
3. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
4. And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini (will be released in May)
5. The Virgin Suicides by Jeffery Eugenides
6. Through the Glass, Darkly by Jostien Gaarder (another non-English-speaking favourite writer)
7. The Ringmaster's Daughter also by Jostien Gaarder

Poetry:

1. Early Poems by Lord Alfred Tennyson
2. Modern Poetry of Pakistan edited by Iftikhar Arif and translated by Waqas Khwaja
3. Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti and illustrated by Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Other books that don't fit into the above categories:

1. The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
2. A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (my first Sherlock Holmes, can't wait!)
3. Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
4. A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
5. 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson
6. The Mark of Athena by Rick Roirdan
7. The Bridgerton Happily Ever After by, yes you've guessed it, Julia Quinn (my guilty-pleasure book of the year)  

You'll notice how each category (except Poetry) has 7 titles in it. I assure you this is completely coincidental and does not hide a secret message *wink*. Of course, I don't have all these books with me right now. In fact, a few aren't even out yet (yes trilogies, I'm looking at you). But these are all the ones I have on my bedside bookshelf:  

Click on the picture for a better read.

Knowing what a keen I for detail you have, dear reader, I'm sure you've noticed that almost half of these books are from my Local Library (Aside: do you remember those? My local library is still standing because the building is part of the British Heritage, i.e. it's more than 100 years old, and also because we oldies protested it's closing down.) So you see, I'm using my library because it's an essential part of our local society and not only because I've significantly cut down my book-buying-budget. Anyway, this next picture is of the non-fiction, mainly novel-research, books that I am currently reading/plan to read.

For a complete overview of the books I've read and want to read you can now follow me on either shelfari or goodreads. There's some discrepancy between the two shelves but I'm currently working on sorting that out. Also, don't forget to follow me on twitter for regular updates.

Nida

P.S. - my best friend, Codename: Pixie, just started her own blog. Help me support and encourage her by checking out her first post Secrets. 

what Next?

Dear Reader,

So now that I have relatively more time on my hands, I've been doing a lot of thinking. And, of course, this has lead me to the question "what next?" I'm a bit of an obsessive planner, so it goes without saying that I pretty much have my life divided in short term and long term plans. 

The long term plans are all the usually, typical, boring stuff: get training, get a job, find a literary agent, get married, move to different country, go on hajj, so on and so forth. However, it's the short term plans that are much more interesting: what I plan to do with the time I have between now and when I start training.     

Well firstly, as you can probably tell by my previous post, that I plan to  do a lot more sketching and painting. I'm also working on the first novel from my fantasy series, Book 1: The Legend of Sharon, which I hope to complete by the end of this year Inshallah. But, unfortunately, I've been having some difficulty writing Chapter 5, which is turning a lot longer than I had originally planned. I've already split the main events over two chapters, and splitting it further would only make the plot drag. Oh well, I'll finish the Chapter as it is, then come back to it after the whole thing is finished and change as needed.      

I also plan to spend a lot more time with my mum, get in on some of that precious mother-daughter bonding time that I'd been missing so much, which isn't all that surprising as my wonderful mummy is also one of my best friends. We plan to experiment with all sorts of new desserts and she wants to teach me to make some traditional foods like gol-gappay. It's a bit cold now to do much gardening, but we still have some cherry tomatoes ripening in our vegetable bed, so they also require some looking after. And me and mum have been doing a lot of catching up on Pakistani and British TV dramas that we watch together, especially since I had to put all that on hold as I completed my thesis. It's really fortunate that the new series of Downton Abbey just started, which gives me something to look forward to every Sunday.          

But what I want to do most now, is simply just READ. The last fictional book I read was Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, and that was back in July. I've missed reading, so I'm really looking forward to having time to just sit back and read for the pleasure of it. I have quite an extensive list that I want to get through by the end of this year, but I'll only give you, dear reader, some of my most anticipated titles from the list:

1. The Anthologist by Nicholson Baker
2. Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
3. The Mark of Athena by Rick Roirdan
4. Sapphire Blue by Kristen Geir
5. The Named by Marianne Curley
6. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

I was going to write a review about Fahrenheit 451, but I think that this video (part 1) and this one (part 2 and 3) do a much better job of explaining and exploring the book that I could ever do.

Nida

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

Awesome Autumn

Dear Reader,

I realise that this post is about a month late :-S. I'd like to claim that this is because I've been really busy (a viable excuse since my mother is off on holiday to Pakistan and left me in charge of the house and my brothers) but the truth is my mood has not been at its perkiest of late and I did not want to "rant" on my blog or write a heart-breaking sob-story. I don't usually wallow away in self-pity and I'm sure that you, dear reader, would not want to hear about my small dive into it either.   

So now, on to the main topic of this blog: autumn is my most favourite time of the year. I usually don't go into in-depth accolades to abstract things or seasons. But right now, as I gaze out of my window into the garden, or as I was down the streets or through a park, I can't help but contemplate and be in awe of nature during this time of year. 

What I like most about autumn are the colours: the greens of summer transitioning into browns, orange, red and gold. And this transition seems to be everywhere I look, and not just in leaves. Say, if a year was a day; then night will be winter, spring will be during the sunrise and morning, summer would be symbolised in the noon-day sun and, of course, autumn would be a sunset. 

And a sunset during autumn itself is something that captures the imagination. As the sun makes contact with the horizon, it sets the sky ablaze in oranges, reds and pinks. And when this light filters through the semi-transparent autumn trees, the whole place is awash with warmth. SubhanAllah. To me, everything about autumn is warm: the colours, the clothing, the temperature - which is neither the heat of summer that requires us to squint our eyes and hide indoors with the AC nor does it have the chill of winter. Even the rain, as it falls from the sky, often holds are warm quality. I like warm.     

There is a really well known poem by John Keats, that I think captures the transition and slight sadness of Autumn quite well:

         
                          To Autumn


                                   1.
    Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
        Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
    Conspiring with him how to load and bless
        With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;
    To bend with apples the moss’d cottage-trees,
        And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
            To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
    With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
        And still more, later flowers for the bees,
        Until they think warm days will never cease,
            For Summer has o’er-brimm’d their clammy cells.

                                  2.
    Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?
        Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find
    Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,
        Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;
    Or on a half-reap’d furrow sound asleep,
        Drows’d with the fume of poppies, while thy hook
            Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers:
    And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep
        Steady thy laden head across a brook;
        Or by a cyder-press, with patient look,
            Thou watchest the last oozings hours by hours.

                                  3.
    Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they?
        Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,—
    While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day,
        And touch the stubble plains with rosy hue;
    Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn
        Among the river sallows, borne aloft
            Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;
    And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;
        Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft
        The red-breast whistles from a garden-croft;
             And gathering swallows twitter in the skies. 

And I think that I'll leave you, dear reader, with the most recent additions to my Autumn reading list, well that is with the exception of Sweetly (which is due to be released in the UK some time in October): 

1. Just Like Heaven by Julia Quinn
2. The Female Brain by Luann Brizendine
3. The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman
4. The Princess Bride by William Goldman
5. Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier
6. Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
7. Inheritance by Christopher Paolini
8. Sweetly by Jackson Pearce
9. Idylls of the King by Lord Alfred Tennyson (LAT)

Nida

ETA - I've tried but I'm not sure how to fix the highlighting of the poem and other bits. If you know how, then please let me know in the comments section below. Thanks.

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 

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 

the Winter reading List

Dear Reader,

Another season, another reading list, another post. Being caught up in university assignments and my research project and a million other things, did not leave me with enough time to complete my reading list from last season. Thus, my list this time round has a lot of books that you're probably already familiar with (that is if you've been following this blog for a few months now).  But there are definitely some new books there to wet your appetite (Aside: this phrase only applies to you dear reader, if you like to devour books the way I do - not literally though). 

Anyway, without further ado, may I present to you The List: 

1. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight translated by J. R. R. Tolkien
2. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
3. Kill Grief by Caroline Rance
4. Aspirin: The Remarkable story of the Wonder Drug by Diarmuid Jeffreys
5. The Winter Ghost by Kate Mosse
6. The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting
7. The Replacement by Brenna Yavanoff
8. The Passage by Justin Cronin
9. Bitterblue by Kristen Cashore
10. Evercrossed by Elizabeth Chandler
11. The Lady Most Likely by Julia Quinn

This ones called "A View From my Bed":

I have nothing further to say really, especially with all these deadlines creeping up behind my shoulder. So for now, I bid you adieu!

Nida

P.S. - I know, I know I'm just feeling a bit dramatic today.