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. 

reading Slumps & youTube

Dear Reader,

Leviathan, image by
Keith Thompson

It has come to my attention that I haven't posted my reading list on this blog for a long time now. The last one I believe was just before my disillusionment; and my writing since then has been going through drastic ups and downs. I had been keeping up with my reading however. But I seemed to have entered a reading slump after finishing the Leviathan Trilogy by Scott Westerfeld and Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell at the beginning of this year. I even tried to re-read my all time favourite novel North & South by Elizabeth Gaskell but even that did not bring me out of my slump. 

What finally brought me round was actually The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (often shortened to TFiOS). I'm not sure why I put off reading this book for so long, since I've been follow John Green and his brother Hank on Youtube for a few years now, and am proud to call myself a Nerdfighter. (Aside: some clarification for you, dear Reader, a nerdfighter is not someone who fights nerds but actual nerds who fight to increase awesome and decrease world suck i.e. bad things). 

So spoiler-free mini book-review: TFiOS is, on the most basic level, about a 16 year old girl named Hazel Grace Lancaster, who loves reading and watching American Reality TV and has an obsession with this inadequately ended book called An Imperial Affliction by Peter van Houten. Also, she's in the last stage of her terminal cancer. Then, in the typical style of boy-meets-girl stories, one day at Support Group she meets Augustus Waters, a gorgeous and charismatic cancer survivor who is, in turn, obsessed with metaphorical resonances. And so they embark on both an emotional and physical  journey to find out what happens after the ending of An Imperial Affliction. 

Surprisingly enough, it was not the book-within-a-book aspect that I like most about TFiOS (unlike Cloud Atlas, where I thought the book-within-a-journal-within-letters etc... was the best part). It was actually Hazel and Augustus's existential discussions that I loved the most. For example, that cancer and depression are just "side effects of dying", that there are an infinite number of infinities and that "some infinities are bigger than others" or how the world isn't a "wish-grating factory" and so disappointment is just an inevitable side effect of life. Anyway, I agree with Markus Zusak (The Book Theif) in that TFiOS is definitely John Green at his best. 

To add to the brilliance of this little blue book, around the time I was reading it I also discovered the booktubers' community on Youtube, which felt like coming home after a long and tiresome vacation. They reminded me of my love for reading, of discovering the stories that others had put words to and introduced me to a whole new chapter of books that I have still to explore. Which was something I was particularly lacking since my fellow bookworm/best friend, Codename: Pixie, had major eye surgery and has been unable to recommend new books to me for sometime. Anyway, there are in fact a few booktubers I'd particularly like to mention: thereadables, booksandquills, supersushipizza and Bookables.  

This post has become a lot longer than I had originally anticipated so my rather long reading list will just have to wait until next week. Be patient, my dear Reader. Now all that's left to say is: don't forget to be Awesome.

Nida 

P.S. - make sure to follow me on twitter @Bookaholic786, (though I realise now that that name isn't technically correct).

how Beauty came To the Beast

Dear Reader,

If you have been following my blog for some time, you'll undoubtedly be aware of my obsessive love for fairy tales. If not, then I present you with Exhibit A and Exhibit B as just a few examples. But today I want to talk a bit (or a lot, according to some) about my favourite of all fairy tales, most popularly known as The Beauty & the Beast.  

There are a few tales that seem to resonate through time in all kinds of different cultures: the tragedy of two 'star-crossed lovers', for example, that variously go by the names of Heer & Ranja, Laila & her Majnu, Juliet & Romeo, Sohni & Mahival or Katniss & Peeta, though that is another blog post in and of itself. Another such timeless tale is that of a beautiful girl, forced to stay with an evil/ugly/beastly man, whom she eventually falls in love with so he lets her go, but she cannot bare being parted from him for long and so she returns to him.  

The oldest story I can find that follows this pattern is that of Persephone (that's pronounced per-SEF-o-Nee) and Hades, an ancient Greek myth. Hades is the King of the Underworld and Lord of the Dead, but he falls in love with Persephone, the daughter of Zeus and Demeter (the goddess of the harvest and grain). Yet Persephone has many suitors so her mother hides her away in the forest. One day, overcome with desire for her and wanting a companion to remove his loneliness, Hades rips open the earth and kidnaps Persephone, taking her back to the underworld, where she becomes his Queen. There, he showers her with all the riches of the earth: gold, silver, diamonds and all other gems.  

But Persephone is still unhappy, and misses her mother greatly, who mourns her daughter's loss so much that the earth is plunged into a cold and frigid winter. Seeing Persephone upset, and wanting only to make her happy, Hades lets her go back to the surface. Her return to Earth brings with it spring, with all its flowers and blooms. Then at the end of harvest time, Persephone returns to the underworld, to Hades, and the world goes into winter again. Most versions say that she only returns because Hades tricked her, a few say she returns out of love for him. I'd like to believe that in her time in the underworld, she grew to love her morbid husband. But then again, I am one of those "glass half-full" type of people. 

A bit of history now. In 1756, Jeanne-Marie Laprince de Beaumont (aside: that is one cool name) set the foundation for the story we normally think of today when we talk about The Beauty & The Beast. It follows the tale of a ship-owning merchant who becomes bankrupt, has to leave his home in the city and move to the countryside with his 3 daughters. Once they become accustomed to their provincial life they hear news that one of the merchant's ship has returned. So the father heads back to the city. On his way home however, he gets lost in a forest and comes across an enchanted castle where he is taken in and cared for. The next day, on his way out of the castle grounds, he picks a beautiful rose for his youngest daughter Beauty (that's Belle in French), who asked for nothing more than some rose seeds as gift from the city (her elder sisters had asked for fancy clothes and fine jewellery, none of which the father was able to obtain).

This is when he encounters the enraged Beast who owns the castle. The Beast claims that in return for all his hospitality the merchant was stealing from him. The merchant as for forgiveness explaining about his three daughters and how he had not been able to fulfil the humble wish of his youngest. The Beast takes some pity on him and offers him a choice: he (the Beast) would let him go now unharmed but in 7 days time, the merchant can either return to this castle and be his prisoner or he can send one of his daughters in his stead. So the merchant returns home and tells his daughters what happened to him, at which point Beauty decides that she must be the one to return as it was her fault her father picked the rose.

So a week later, Beauty arrives at the enchanted castle where she is treated like a princess and the Beast almost immediately falls in love with her. She spends several months in the Beast's company and they grow to become good friends and she is able to see beyond his appearance to the heart of gold within. But every evening after dinner, the Beast unfailingly asked Beauty if she would marry him. And every evening she would refuse. Eventually she grows homesick and asks the Beast if she can see her family, so he lets her go back to them for a week, no more. But her jealous older sisters trick her into staying a day longer. When she finally arrives back to the castle, she sees that the Beast is dying and she cries over his body saying how sorry she is for being late and how much she loves him. Then, abracadabra, he is alive and healthy and transformed into a handsome prince. And they live happily ever after ... or so we think.      

That is generally what happens in the 1756 version. However, the earliest recorded version of La Belle et la Bête was published in France in 1740 and was written by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve. Only, in her version there where plenty of sub-plots, featuring a wider cast of characters including good and evil fairies, as well as an elaborate back story for the Beast. Basically, Leprince de Beaumont's tale was a rather watered down version of Barbot de Villeneuve's story. All that aside, when I think about it, I'm actually not surprised that this fairytale (in which the ordinary girl saves the ugly prince by breaking his curse with but a few tears) was written by a woman, as opposed to most Grimm and Anderson fairytales where the handsome princes usually do all the rescuing of damsels.

Despite the many variations and different versions in the 150 year or so since it's first publication, it was actually the Leprince de Beaumont's version of the story that's been popularized by Disney in their Oscar-winning 1991 animated film. Though, the creators at Disney couldn't help but add a few typically-Disney changes: the several musical numbers, a humours cast of conspiring servants, Beauty/Belle no longer being the daughter of a merchant but that of an inventor and, most importantly, a villain who happens to be beautiful on the outside but ugly on the inside to present the perfect metaphorical contrast to the the Beast. This cartoon film was how I first came across the fairytale and is the depiction that stayed with me through-out my childhood. It can still make me fall in love with the story all over again, every time I watch it.

Most recently (in late 2012, in fact) I watched a very different take on the classic tale in ABC's fantasy drama Once Upon A Time. There's a continuation of many themes from the Disney film, for example: 

1. Belle's outfits, especially the yellow ball gown in which we first see Belle, 
2. obviously her name is also "Belle" (though that may also be a nod to the story's origin), 
3. a chipped teacup that has symbolic meaning, 
4. Belle's fondness for books and libraries is also in evidence,
5. as well as the single red rose.

However, in this TV show, Belle is neither the daughter of a merchant nor an inventor, but rather that of a Lord/King (it is slightly unclear). She also happens to be far more plucky and spirited than one would expect from a book-worm princess, i.e. she wants adventure, the chance to play hero. And the Beast ... Well, in this incarnation the part is taken up by the long-standing shady character of Rumplestiltskin (a Grimm brother's fairytale in and of itself). But he is a complexity, and to give you even the smallest measure of understanding of him would require me to explain the entire series. Which I'm not going to bother with. But I will say this, the choice of using this more-than-usually conniving version of Rumplestiltskin to play the misunderstood Beast was a brilliant opportunity of character development and a very clever move by the creators/writers Edawrd Kitsis & Adam Horowitz.            

I would also like to point out that even the very popular classic Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë has all the essentials bits of The Beauty & The Beast, but without any explicit magic/enchantments. Though Jane Eyre is not a beauty, she definitely has a beautiful, spirited soul and a learned feel about her. Mr.Rochester is positively beastly towards Jane, at the beginning at least, which is one of the reasons Jane is so attracted to him. Also, he is said not to be very handsome, with a heavy brow and penetrating gaze, and he compares Jane to many different magical apparitions. And of course half way through the story, Jane leaves Mr.Rochester, during which time a tragedy befalls him and when she returns, he is pretty much on the edge of life.      

However, of all the different versions of B&B that I have read or seen (even though I love Jane Eyre as a stand-alone novel), my favourite version of this fairytale is Beauty by Robin McKinley, which was first published in 1978. This novel is most like the Leprince de Beaumont's version of the story, though it puts a lot more emphasis on Beauty's feelings and the magic of the enchanted castle. Plus, to the best of my knowledge, McKinley was the first to depict Beauty as a bookish girl, whom the Beast surprises and pleases with his vast Library. I must have read this novel over 5 times since I first discovered it about 6 years ago.

I dream of, one day InshAllah, passing on this much-loved and well-worn book to my daughter (or son, depending on which I have first, after all I'm not biased when it come to which gender should/should not read fairytales) and allowing her (or him) to discover the meaning behind the fairytale. Because, in the end, I heartily believe in the essential message that is integral to the basic plot of this tale: that everyone deserves love, no matter what they might look like; and that we should not judge people's hearts because of their appearance. 

Nida

the Wise tooth of Misery

Dear Reader,

I'm not usually the sort of person who complains, especially about aches and pains (sorry, unintentional rhyme there). But I had to tell someone, so I thought why not you, dear reader.  

So it started off about 3 days ago. As the afternoon became evening, I began notice the inside of my right cheek kept getting caught between my teeth. This quickly went from irritating to painful and because I was deep within my writing zone, I couldn't be bothered to check it out in a mirror, let alone go downstairs and take a painkiller. I know, I know, my mistake. But to remedy the situation temporarily, I placed a small-but-handy piece of candied pineapple between my gum and my cheek. (Aside: my love of candied pineapples being the only thing I have in common with Professor Slughorn).



For a time it was perfect; my cheek was safe from my throbbing gums and every few minutes a got a burst of pineapply-sweetness in my mouth. (At this point you may point out dear reader that I could have easily used chewing gum, but to quote Johnny Depp's Willy Wonka "chewing gum is really gross, chewing gum I hate the most." This sums up quite well my feeling on that subject)

The pineapple pieces lasted me until dinner, by which time the inside of my mouth was completely coated in sweet stuff, to the point that it numbed all other pain. So I happily filled my bowl with rice and green-chickpeas and sat down to eat. The way my mum cooks it, usually this is one my favourite rice dishes, and one of the few foods I wouldn't mind a second helping of. But not this day.

I'd barely eaten five spoonfuls when I gave up. My entire lower jaw was tight, the right side of my face in agony, my right ear was ringing, I could hardly open my mouth wide enough to let a spoon, not to mention that the pointy, chickpeas were poking into my swollen gums. I felt like I was chewing on needles or raw pasta. Of course, my mum picked up on my sudden lack of appetite and asked me what was wrong.

I'm not ashamed to admit that at this moment I gushed, told her everything, just the way I did when I was five and had badly scrapped my knee. Its part of a mother's job description after all: to know exactly how to soothe her hurt child, no matter how old they get. I'm sure she would have sat me in her lap if we were not sitting at the dinner table and I wasn't too big for her. All that aside, she told me it was probably a wisdom tooth that was at the root of my pain.      

Now, when it comes to teeth, I've always been a bit of a late bloomer. For example, while all my friend's baby teeth fell out when they were 5, 6 or 7 years old, mine didn't begin to fall out until I was 10. And the last of my baby teeth had to be yanked out of my mouth by my dentist when I was 16. So, it only made sense I was quite surprised by this revelation. Even more surprised by it, in fact, than the day I woke up to find that Mount Everest had taken up residence on my chin. (Now that was one tenant I was more than happy to get rid off.) I'd always thought I'd get my wisdom teeth when I was in my 30's.

But my mum told me that the same thing happened to her when she was 23, slightly more than a year before I was born. The conversation then diverted on to topics that included how much my brothers and I had cried as teething babies, the tooth-fairy and did my early wisdom teeth mean that I had wisdom and my older brother's lack there of. The only thing of help that came out of it was the advice that I go and see my dentist about it.

And so, like a dutiful citizen that has complete faith in the NHS, I called my local dentist the very next morning and they gave me an appointment for the day after. It felt strange sitting there in the same, unchanged waiting room after so many years. The only real difference, I'm sad to say, was that the little aquarium with the sea horses was gone. (Aside: what's with dentist having aquarium in their waiting rooms? Is it some unwritten code?) I was surrounded by children and toddlers, with their hassled mama's and pushchairs. In an oddly sentimental moment, I could not helping thinking/hoping that that would be me one day.

Anyways, my dentist was really rather nice and showed me an X-ray of my teeth. It turns out that I have one wisdom tooth coming out on either side of my lower jaw. The pain is being caused by an ulcerated infection on my right gum and cheek, which probably would have been worse had I not been brushing properly. So, like most any other dentist, she told me to start brushing twice a day and then prescribed me with an antibiotic that had my name in it: metroNIDAzole, lol.

And what was the point of all this? I hear you ask. Well, I believe that all stories have a moral, if you look hard enough. But for this one, I'm not exactly sure what it might be. Maybe it should be that 'wisdom comes at a price'. Or maybe 'gaining wisdom is not always painless, but hopefully it is worth it'. Though I keep fingers-crossed as swallow another set of antibiotics and painkillers. ;-)  

Nida

(a delayed) Resolution

Dear Reader,

I had planned to post this on the 1st of January, but unfortunately virtual punctuality has never been one of my strong points, as you may have noticed. Anyway, here is my New Years' Resolution:

In the New Year’s firework harmonies

I hope that these next new days   

Will bring with them some new memories,

That’ll hopefully completely wipe away

These oppressive melancholy skies

That seem to have clouded over my life,

The constant rain that are tired tears

That don’t deign to fall from my eyes.

In the new year, a new sun

A new sky and a new moon

A new perspective for one

A new page to write soon.

New goals to be set.

New words bring new thoughts.

New experiences to regret,

New roads for us to tread.

So momentarily frozen on this brink

I pray that this next new year

Has written in its own dried ink

For me, a better fulfilling career,

And brings us more rhymes, more stories

More laughter to be shared,

More faith, imaan and less worries

And more chances for us all to be weird.

Happy New Year 2013, my dear Reader.

Nida

P.S. - I just noticed that my blog views have crossed 10,000. Thank you. You cannot possibly know how good feels to see that my virtual voice has been heard.