I continued reading Maya Angelou’s book, Letter To My Daughter, on the plane. I managed to finish it on our way back. It is an amazing light book that touched me in different ways. She is a magnifienct writer, that I went on and bought other books by her!

She starts off by a simple introduction to why this book and writes her life stories and leaves it to the reader to conclude and learn from the incident. Her upbringings, travels, work, friends, her life so far, her gains and losses.

I tried to quote many things I liked in this book, but most probably I’ll end up posting it all, so I do recommend it to those who like reading this kind of book genre.

I’ve seen this book a couple of years back when I was in Jarir and didn’t want to read a book about someone’s pet! But few months back, I saw it’s going for 4 KD and said why not.

I’m really glad I picked it up. It’s about a dog called Marley that two newly weds got to prepare them for the resposibilty that comes along with kids.

It’s a very light enjoyable book that I highly recommened. I did laugh and tear up while reading it.

I’ve lots of books lined up that I didn’t read, I don’t think I’ll go book shopping until I finish what I have, but if I go to Jarir to pick up anything, I have to passby their books shelves and select a few, sit down and breeze quickly through them!

Been waiting for this … Finally I got it … can’t wait to begin reading it … Hope it doesn’t disappoint me … I believe this is the first novel I read after seeing the movie … All that was before, I usually read the novel and then watch the movie and of course always end up loving the novel more …

I read three books by Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist, By the River Piedra I sat Down and Wept and Veronika Decided to Die.

After reading several books by the same author you kind of know his style, the way they think, express, writes … they kind of establish a foundation of reference so you would compare with other authors or within their books.

For me, I believe I kind of got Paulo by the time I read a third novel of his.

His writings are mostly philosophical and raise questions and pay answers in a way I have never thought of. Though I disagree with the spiritual part which relates to believing in the existence of GOD, but I am always open to hear other opinions on that matter and whatever they say never affects my beliefs. On the contrary make me thankful that I have mine. I love the way he explores human ideas, challenges and questions them, provide another perspective … sometimes takes you so far … in the mad zone …

The last novel, Veronika Decided to Die, what amazed me is the concept. The fact that she decided to let go because her life has fallen into a pattern, though perfect it may seem to others, and she believed that nothing new will come along and it will be downhill from this point on, so she decides to take matters in her own hands. She wasn’t mad, sick or anything she was sane and aware of everything.

I didn’t expect the ending, I laughed. But if it were to continue, to extend the novel to see how all the characters lives will continue, I say it will be portrayed in a different way than what the author would have liked us to believe.

I must say that by far, this is the best novel I read by the author.

I simply loved this book, I was intrigued by the title, it is a spiritual memoir by Sidney Poitier.

I have this vision of my life. When people see their future they see themselves, their significant other, their kids, etc. what pops in my head, is me in my seventies. Just peacefully reminiscing about my life. It really is the basis of lots of my decisions and the way I live my life. I always see myself at that age looking back at my journey, so when I hesitate, get scared or even lazy, I imagine myself in my seventies looking at this precise moment and thinking what I could have done if I had the chance again. So I put my fears aside, reluctance, disappointment and go ahead. It works most of the times.

This book is truly so unpretentious and I related to it a lot. He details his life and significant moments. The obstacles he faced and what life taught him. I discovered that I shared with him a lot of life’s perspective. You’ll feel that he’s so honest, open, confident, stubborn, arrogant, selfish, committed, has his own principles and I love that. People who are transparent and don’t give a damn about what other people think as long as they are doing what they believe is right.

The thing that got me thinking is I always believed that after I reach my golden age, 70 – if I live that long-, I would be resting preparing for the afterlife, but he, at a much later part of his life still had challenges and fears to overcome and goals to achieve and passions to fulfill. I guess that changed my view a bit. I might stumble on a few things before deciding to shutdown.

I believe one should read this book to really feel it because I am not doing it any justice. To really capture what I want to say, I would have to quote from the book itself. I do highly recommend reading this book. It’s light, easy and spiritually powerful.

I finished reading ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’ by Khaled Hosseini. I loved it. Today I read a part of it at work on my break and I stopped at a part where my heart was pumping so hard and this anxiety settled in, I can feel it in my stomach, I have to finish and know what happens. I quickly prayed al-3aser and left for Starbucks to enjoy some quiet time reading in the cool weather. But I was annoyed by the flies and the sewer smell that I decided to hurry back home, lie in bed and continue my reading.

I don’t what it’s about, that make me so into the plot of a novel. Is it the fact the characters in the storyline seem so real compared to the actors in a movie that will return to their daily routine once “cut” is shouted across the set. I can almost picture the whole thing as I am reading, like I am this invisible observer to the lives of the characters. I can’t help but realize that whatever I am reading is actually happening to a person one way or the other. This novel made me thankful that I have this life. That what I like about reading, it gives me perspective is so many different levels.

I teared, laughed, went in shock, anger, pity, disbelief, annoyed, all the feelings you can have, while reading the novel. Reading is much more emotionally intense then watching a movie. I have read novels that later were made into movies, the difference is huge. I’ve always preferred the novel version over the screen adaptation.

These are some lines out of the novel:

Like a compass needle that points north, a man’s accusing finger always finds a woman. Always. You remember that, Mariam.

“Everybody wants Jack,” Laila said to Mariam. “That’s what it is. Everybody wants Jack to rescue them from disaster. But there is no Jack. Jack is not coming back. Jack is dead.”

Couldn’t help but remember 24 that brought a smile and a sudden laughter from me.

The years had not been kind to Mariam. But perhaps, she thought, there were kinder years waiting still. A new life, a life in which she would find blessings that Nana had said a harami like her would never see. Two new flowers had unexpectedly sprouted in her life, and, as Mariam watched the snow coming down, she pictured Mullah Faizullah twirling his tasbeh beads, leaning in and whispering to her in his soft, tremulous voice, But it is God Who has planted them, Mariam jo. And it is His will that you tend to them. It is His will, my girl.

The next novel on my shelf is ‘Veronika Decides to Die’ by Paulo Coelho, but I can’t bear reading another heart wrenching novel, I’ll have to wait for sometime. I need to read a comedy or something that is funny and doesn’t make my heart sink and my eyes spill. I do recommend both Khaled Hosseini books, the other one is ‘The Kite Runner’ which is the best fictional novel I have ever read.