All about Me tag

Dear Reader,

Rules:

1. List eleven facts about yourself
2. Answer eleven questions given to you by the person who nominated you (I was tagged by mariesbookblog​)
3. Ask eleven new questions of eleven other people. Don’t nominated the person who tagged you (unless you’re a rebel)

Facts:

1. I'm obsessively organised.
2. I hate crumbs.
3. My fiance is exactly 3 weeks older than me.
4. I'm getting married on 22nd March 2015.
5. There hasn't been a time that I haven't had a book to read, since I was 14.
6. Last month I finished writing my first novel (it's a pseudofairytale).
7. I have 15 other ideas-for/partially-written novels...
8. I have two brothers that I love dearly.
9. I've lived my entire life in London (UK).
10. I have over 250 books in my bedroom.
11. And finally, I've been wearing a hijab since I was 11 and chose to do so of my own free will and against my father's/family's wishes. 

Questions:

1. Are you an introvert, an extrovert, or somewhere in between? Mostly (especially socially) I'm an introvert but my profession (high school teacher) doesn't allow me to display my introvert nature while working. 

2. How do you take your tea (or coffee)? Tea is best when it's milky and sweet!

3. Hogwarts, Narnia, or the TARDIS? I love you Narnia, but I'm sorry, Hogwarts has indoor plumbing (even if the plumbing houses weeping ghosts and giant serpents).

4. Cats or dogs? Cats. Definitely cats.

5. What is your favorite TV show? (list three if one is too hard) I cheated: 

1. Arrow/The Flash
2. Once Upon a Time
3. Downton Abbey/Sherlock (even though they aren't being aired at the moment and I have to make do with re-watching old episodes)

6. What position do you read in? Sitting (anywhere really but preferably in bed)

7. What is your favorite holiday? I don't celebrate "holidays" per se. (I'm British and we don't even call them holidays). But religiously I do celebrate the two Eids.

8. What is your favorite movie? (list three if one is too hard) Where do I start!!!! (I'll give one from each of my favourite movie categories)

1. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
2. Beauty and the Beast
3. Saving Mr. Banks

9. What is your favorite color? Right now it's somewhere between forest green and teal.

10. What is your favorite meal? My mum's homemade spinach and potato curry (will eat it with almost anything).

11. What five books should I add to my 2015 reading list?

1. The Lunar Chronicle (especially Cress) by Marissa Meyer
2. The Butterfly Mosque by G. Willow Wilson
3. Sunshine by Robin McKinley
4. Fire by Kristen Cashore
5. Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson

I Tag: (Sorry if you've already been tagged or you've done this tag before)

1. bookpillows​
2. bookishwallflower​
3. heartwayland​
4. meanstoabookend​
5. shewalkswithwings​
6. mutemedicmoonie​
7. sammymfrost​
8. notareal-nerd​
9. wittybookdragon​
10. thebookhangover​
11. bumblebookbee​

My questions for you are:

1. What is your favourite childhood book?
2. Who's your role model
3. What are your three favourite ships?
4. Do you have a pet? (If yes, what animal is it? If no, which exotic animal would you keep as a pet?) 
5. What are your top five favourite genres in books?
6. Which author do you dream about meeting in person? (Time travel is possible in dreams)
7. Which fictional character would be your best friend?
8. Is there a story you really really want to read but haven't found it yet? If so, what is it?
9. Actual books or ebooks?
10. One memorable quote that really got to you?
11. What five books should I add to me 2015 reading list?

If anyone else, who isn't tagged, wants to do this tag then they are most welcome. 

Take care and keep reading,

Nida

the Book Burger tag

Dear Reader, 

So the object of this book tag is to build a burger using books you own, and it was created by booktuber RyanReads. However, I came across it on Sue Moro's channel, who shares my enthusiasm for fantasy, sci-fi and all things escapism. 

Burger building time!!!

1) First we need the bottom bun. Choose the first book of a series that you love.

Not including The Hobbit, this was the first ever dragon-book I read and have loved it since. Also (as mentioned previously) this book holds a very special place in my heart because it was key in bringing me and my best friend, Codename: Pixie, together; and we have been friends for 10 years now.    

2) Now we need the burger meat. Choose a meaty book that you've recently read and enjoyed (400+ pages).

With a grand total of 533 pages, The Invention of Hugo Cabret was an absolute delight to read. It's light on words, more than half of this book is actually full sided intricate sketches, made by the author, that tell the story as much as the narrative and are not just complimentary artistic drawings (like in the Leviathan Trilogy by Scott Westerfeld). Though you can't really understand the power of this until you read it yourself. Plus, the pages have this thick, beautiful texture that often I'd lift my fingers from the page to make sure I hadn't smudged the pencil drawing.  

3) Next we add a thin slice of cheese and lettuce. Choose two thin books: one you've read and enjoyed and one you want to read but haven't yet (200 pages or less).

With only 167 pages, this is my rather-blue but leafy lettuce. I read this one a year or two ago when I spent a winter reading ghost stories. 

A 153 paged very-read Leicester cheese. Though, I kind of cheated on this one; I'm actually in the process of reading The Sign of Four, as opposed to having never read it as the challenge requires. You can even see my beaded-bookmark hanging out of it.

4) Time for a nicely sliced tomato. Choose an average sized book you loved or hated (between 200 and 400 pages).

Fire has a total of 334 pages. But finding my tomato was a lot harder than I thought it would be since the majority of the books I own are 400 pages plus. It is plausible for me to work out the exact number of pages in an "average" sized book for me, but it'll take too long and honestly I'm not all that bothered to find out. 

5) Now you add a sauce that you've never tried before and you don't know if you'll love it or hate it. Choose a book that you thought you'd love but hated, or a book you thought you'd hate but, in the end, loved.

The Ringmaster's Daughter is one of those rare books that I thought I'd really like but ended up hating and not being able to finish it altogether. 

6) Finally, we need the bun on top to complete our burger. Choose the last book of a series that you are/were dreading the release of because you don't/didn't want the series to end.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows definitely fits that bill. I knew there would be a final battle, and doubt less people would die. But it was more than just that. The characters in this series had been a constant presence through out my adolescence, and reading the final book in the series truly felt like saying good-bye to old friends. Though it's not a permanent good-bye, as I can re-visit their world any time I wish.   

And finally, this is what my burger would look like put together: 

Quite a mouth full, if you ask me.

Nida 

7 Deadly Sins (Book Tag)

Dear Reader,

This is quite an old book tag created by BookishlyMalyza. But I saw the video by youtuber, Bookables and found it interesting enough to do a blog post about. So here goes. 

Greed

What is your most expensive book? and what is your most inexpensive book?

Box-sets of books are really quite expensive (especially for hardcovers), but I love them and have several, as you can from this picture.

 But my single most expensive book (not counting university text books) is:

This was a birthday gift from friends who knew my love for both books and desserts. Rather sweet of them don't you think, (pun intended). 

My least expensive is:

I got this little discarded treasure for a mere 2p at a book sale.   

Wrath

Which author do you have a love-hate relationship with? 

I have quite an issues with Robin McKinley. I love her book Sunshine, she setup this amazing world with so much potential, not to mention all the loose ends. 

But she refuses, absolutely, 100% refuses to write a sequel, or even a spin off set in that world! Ugh!! So Frustrating!

Gluttony

What book have you deliciously devoured over and over with no shame whatsoever?

I would have to say it's a close call between Romancing Mr. Bridgerton and Brighter Than the Sun, both by Julia Quinn. 

Sloth

What book have you neglected reading due to laziness?

Insurgent and Allegiant by Veronica Roth. I don't even know why. Every time I tell myself that I'm going to read Insurgent now, I always end up reading something else. 

Pride

What book do you most talk about in order to sound like a very intellectual reader?

Idylls of the King by Lord Alfred Tennyson. (But generally I just talk about all the Classics I have read.)

Lust 

What attributes do you find most attractive in male/female characters?

I think that this goes for both male and female characters, that they be genuinely good people who care and always want to do what's good/right. Also, a good sense of humour doesn't hurt either. 

And just for a bit of fun, here's a list of my literary crushes:

Jem Carstairs from The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare

Brigan from Fire by Kristin Cashore

Mr. Knightley from Emma by Jane Austen

Charles Darnay from A Tale of Two Cities by Charle Dickens

Remus Lupin from the Harry Potter series by J.K.Rowling 

(And to a lesser extent, I really like the character development that Mr. Thornton from North and South and Warner from the Shatter Me Trilogy, under went.)

Envy
What books would you most like to receive as a gift?

Hmm.... that would have to be the Collector's Library 6 book box-set of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes series, (I'm very particular about edition/publishers and stuff). 

It's such a beautiful little collection but soooo expensive. I'd feel completely guilty if I bought it for myself.    

Until my next post, take care and keep reading.

Nida

Beautiful Book Covers Tag

Dear Reader,

You may remember that a few posts ago I wrote that me and cameras and I don't get along to well. But then I watched this book tag created by theheavyblanks and on an impulse I decided to be brave and face the camera again when making a response. So, yep, I made a youtube video. Its my first ... ever. Here it is. I hope you enjoy it, dear reader. If not, your welcome to tell me how I can improve if I ever decide to make another.    

Nida

bookshelf Scavenger Hunt tag

Dear Reader,

The tag was created by TheLibraryofSarah on Youtube and the one I watched was supersushipizza. The idea is to basically find books on your bookshelf(ves) that fit a certain criteria, and there might be something about not using the same book twice. So usually on these sort of youtube tags, one is supposed to make a video response if one is tagged init but it looked like fun and, like Susheela (supersushipizza), I like living "on the edge" and so I've turned this youtube tag into a blogging one. 

1) Find an author's name with the letter 'Z' in it. 

I can only think of one very handsome one for now.

2) Find a Classic 

Easy-peazy.  I've got an entire shelf dedicated to my favourite classics. But for the purpose of this tag, I'm going to choosing the classic I'm reading this month. 

3) Find a book with a key on it. 

I cannot believe how hard this was. I know that the American cover of Bitterblue, by Kritin Cashore, has keys on it, and that my UK version has keys drawn in it, but has none on the cover.

Then, after much searching, I found a key on this, of all places. And yes that's a key, even if it's attached to a bird.

4) Find something on your bookshelf that is not a book. 

I have several bookmarks, knick-knacks and photos, comfortably residing in and amongst my books. The thing I'm choosing to show you is one that I mentioned before, my teacher's pet 13th birthday present. I keep it as a reminder of how I was a nerd and always will be, (plus he's super cute).    

5) Find the oldest book on your shelf. 

This was a tough one. I had to check a lot of publication dates before I this edition, which came out in 1986. This book originally belonged to my dad until I needed it for a history assignment, back when I was doing my GCSEs. It's been in my room since then.  

6) Find a book with a girl on it. 

I have quite a few of those but I went for one of my favourite books with favourite covers, with a girl on them. 

7) Find a book that has an animal in it. 

I immediately thought of the Disreputable dog in Lireal by Garth Nix. (Only later did Aslan come to mind) 

There is even a dog on the cover. See, right here on the corner.

8) Find a book with a male protagonist. 

At first I thought of Harry Potter but then thought it was a bit cliché and I've already used a HP book once already. So I went for this one instead. 

9) Find a book with illustrations in it. 

All the books in my copy of The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis have illustrations in them.

But I've only taken a picture of my favourite illustration from the first book, The Magician's Nephew. 

10) Find a book with gold lettering. 

Arabic religious books usually have gold leaf on the covers. But these are part of a beautiful series (with the traditional look) in English, published by Darussalam. You must click on the picture to see the intricately coloured patterns better.

11) Find a diary (true or fiction). Well I can one-up you on that becauase I have both. 

Non-fiction
(So far as I can tell, most people who have done this tag have used this book, so I thought I'd follow the trend, for once.)

Fiction   

12) Find a book written by someone with a common name (like Smith). 

Many of the books that I own were written by "foreign" authors or were written long ago. But Nicholas Baker is a common-ish sort of name in  this sense, I think.

13) Find a book that has a close up of something on it. 

I had the choice of  neuron, blood, urea crystal and the coronary artery. I went with blood because I think it will probably gross people out the least.    

           

14) Find a book on your shelf that takes place in the earliest time period. 

The actual oldest time period is in my little blue pocket-version of The Sealed Nectar, which tells the history of the Prophet (pbuh) and begins some time around 570 CE. But it's just such a worn and handled copy that the writing on the cover has completely faded. So I thought I'd go for the next oldest thing, which is Beowulf: an Anglo-Saxon folk tale, first written in Old English in the 10th century. 

15) Find a hardcover book without a jacket. 

This was a gift from my elder brother and it contains all of Jane Austen's novels. Absolutely beautiful to look at but completely impractical to read, considering that fact that it has 1433 pages in it. (I just realised it has gold writing on it too.) 

          

16) Find a teal/turquoise coloured book. 

Though it might look a bit green in the picture, but I assure you dear Reader, it is teal. 

       

17) Find a book with stars on it. 

I think those little thinks at the top are stars. (Please ignore the shadow of my camera, it was hard to find a place to take a decent picture of it because of its uber mirror-like reflective cover.)

       

18) Find a non-YA book. 

I have plenty of those too but decided to go for the one that I think has the prettiest cover. 

       

For this Bookshelf Scavenger Hunt to continue I tag you, dear Reader. You can make your own tag/response on your blog or youtube or anywhere you like on this internet. Just make sure to leave a link in the comments section below so I can check it out too.

Nida       

Eleven Facts & Questions

Dear Reader,

I know, I know. I've been away from the entire blogging scene for many months now, and I apologise to all those who missed me. Sorry. I probably wouldn't have come back either if I hadn't been tagged by my lovely fellow blogger x@hu to answer 11 questions. So, apparently these are the rules:

1. Post 11 random facts about yourself 
2. Answer the 11 questions I asked 
3. Tag other bloggers and create 11 questions for them to answer. 
4. Inform those that you tagged them 
5. NO TAG BACKS 

I decided to explain my prolonged absence in 11 facts about me.  

1. Currently I'm doing an MSc in Cardiology which, as you can guess, is a lot of hard work.  
2. As mentioned previously, I spent all of February, and some of March, on a working-holiday in a hospital abroad. 
3. While on this working holiday, I met my fiancée and his family after a very long time. 
4. This was a very pleasant experience and was the perfect remedy for spending long hours with very sick patients.
5. However, since I've been back, my life has been quite an emotional roller-coaster, leaving me with very little time to blog. 
6. Hmmm... I seem to have finished my explanation in only 5 facts. Fact: the rest will just have to random stuff about me. 
7. I'm a very fidgety person and my hands are very rarely completely still.
8. I need the sound of a ticking clock to help me sleep.
9. At the moment, I have more than 300 books in my little 8'x8' bedroom, (physical proof of my obsession).
10. I really want to learn to speak/understand Arabic and will be taking classes soon Inshallah.   
11. Ironically, I started wearing the hijab when I was 11 but didn't really understand what it meant and what it stood for until I was 19. 

And now for the 11 question that I have to answer.

1. Why are you, you? (tee hee) 

Hmmm..... now how do you answer a question like that without going into an philosophical essay .... well I suppose it's partly genetics, but I believe that most of our personality is shaped by our circumstances, our upbringing, the people we meet etc... basically by what experience through out our lives ... and this is actually something that is quite changeable .... So without writing anything too long, to answer your question: I am the product of my experiences.   

2. What was the highlight of your childhood?

Alhumdulillah, I've had a wonderful and brilliant childhood and have too many good memories to pick just one.  

3. What was the one thing about Islam that made you become interested in it?

As I briefly mentioned above, I use to wear the hijab but didn't know why. And so I started questioning and the first place I looked was the Qur'an ... And so once I had started I couldn't stop and carried on reading and learning more about Islam ... and Inshallah this learning will continue throughout my life.  

4. What's the weirdest thing you've eaten?

Years ago I accidentally ate this Lamb's-brain-curry-thing (Siri-pye in Urdu). Hands down, that's the most weirdest and disgusting thing that I can remember ... but my mum has always told everyone that I use to eat paper and magazines as a baby ... I guess I've been I bookworm from the start lol ;-)     

5. Do you push the elevator button more than once? Do you really believe it makes the elevator faster? :P

I use to as child. But when I realised it doesn't make the elevator come any faster, I stopped. :-p

6. Have you ever failed an exam?

I haven't actually failed ... but once I got a low enough grade to make me redo the exam ... does that count?

7. What's something you know you do differently than most people?

Hmmmm ... I don't know what most people do so I'm not sure what I do differently ... but I'm sure there are several things... 

8. What's your favorite book? Aside from the Qur'an of course :)

OMG!!! ... how can I possibly answer that question! I've read so many books, and plenty of them were brilliant, it's difficult to put my finger on just one. But I suppose I could give you, dear reader, a selection of favourites: North & South by Elizabeth Gaskell, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, Sabriel by Garth Nix, The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien, Ruby in the Smoke by Philip Pullman, Tales of Beedle the Bard by JK Rowling and Fire by Kristen Cashore.   

9. If you could offer a newborn child just one piece of advice, what would it be?

A newborn child wouldn't understand me ... but this piece of advice would be for any/everyone: always respect and listen to your parents because they always have your best interest at heart, and always remember that Allah (SWT) loves you 70x more than your mother...  

10. Where would you like to be, ten years from now insha Allah?

In ten years time, Inshallah, I will be married, with a child or two, and working on becoming a published author. Insha Allah!!   

11. Lastly, what is your most beloved feature of Prophet Muhammad (sallallahu alayhi wasallam)?

Choosing one attribute is very difficult. I've always held much respect and awe for our Prophet (SAW) because he was a Divinely-appointed final Messenger, an Extraordinary Revolutionist who changed the face of not only Arab Society but the entire world in general, a Brilliant Military Strategist, and a Just and Righteous Leader. But when I read about his loving and humble attitude/treatment towards his daughters, family and friends that made me realise how human he  (SAW) was and really made me love him the way, as a muslimah, I should.     

And now for my 11 daunting questions:

1. What makes you smile the most?
2. What is the one thing without which your day is incomplete?
3. What is your most memorable ayah/quote/surah from the Qur'an?
4. Other than the Prophet Muhammed (sallallahu alayhi wasallam), who do you look up to?
5. When was the last time you laughed like crazy?
6. Which food could you eat day-in-day-out, for years?
7. Do you listen to music? if yes, why?
8. What is your opinion on the state of the Ummah today?
9. What's the one thing you really want to learn?
10. What do you like to do in your free time?
11. And (because I'm just me) other than the Qur'an, what is your favourite book/series?

And finally here is a list of people who have to answer my questions. :-)

• Hnia
• Samia
• PotentialHijabi
• Another nida
• KnowGood
• Pearlof Islam101
• Najiyah
• The Sister who Smiles

If any of my readers want to answer these questions, you are most welcome to do so in the comment's below. I always love to learn about other people.

Nida