Books – Page 52 – as told by zaheerah

Friends Book Tag

March 17, 2016March 12, 2016by ZaheerahLeave a Comment

I was tagged by Joey @ Thoughts and Afterthoughts. Thank you for tagging me!

The One Where Eddie Won’t Go – a character I wish would just go away:

Seth Gordon from The Foxhole Court. He was just an ill-tempered idiot and I hated him. (tbh I disliked anyone who was horrible to Nicky and, technically, he did go away in the end but the reason why was actually really sad)

The One Where Ross and Rachel Take A Break – favorite break up scene:

Maia and Jordan from The Mortal Instrument – lmao I don’t even remember if they break up or not but they were pretty crappy because Jordan was an abusive pile of crap who will always be, in my eyes, the boy who attacked Maia, not someone who truly loved her. I’m not a fan of Cassandra Clare,but killing off Jordan was one of the best things she’s ever done.

The One With All The Kissing – a book with lots of kissing:

This just made me realise how little kissing there are in the books I’ve read. I think I’ll have to choose Carry On. But that doesn’t even have much kissing.

The Last One – favourite series finale:

The King’s Men, the final book in the All For The Game series. Even though so much was left unanswered in the series like Aaron’s trial, I just really liked the fact Neil Josten was finally getting the happy ending that he deserved.

The One With a Blackout – a scene I’d like to forget:

The amount of AUs I’ve read where Fred Weasley doesn’t die is unreal…..

The One Where Chandler Can’t Cry – a book that did not make you as emotional as others:

After You, the sequel to Me Before You. I loooved MBY but I just didn’t feel like After You was a worthy sequel and as heart breaking as the first was.

The One Where Joey Doesn’t Share Food – a book you won’t ever lend:

Umm, all my books are on my Amazon Fire and I need it every day for college work and reading so I don’t think I would lend it. I don’t have many physical copies as I used to but I don’t mind lending.

The One With the Thumb – a recent read that you would give two thumbs up to:

The Foxhole Court (mainly it’s third book, The King’s Men)

The One With the Ick Factor – a book with a pet peeve:

Rather than choosing a book, I think I’ll pick Insta-love as it’s a trend many authors tend to use. I don’t think I have the time to launch into on how I hate this trend so I’ll spare you all the 5,000 word essay.

The One With The Lesbian Wedding – favorite LGBTQ book couple:

Aristotle and Dante from Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
Achilles and Patroclus from The Song of Achilles

I’m not nominating this time because I’m writing this at like two in the morning and I don’t think I can keep my eyes open long enough to nominate a couple but if you would like to please link back in the comments so I can read your answers!

Book News, Books

World Book Day 2016!

March 3, 2016by ZaheerahLeave a Comment

HAPPY WORLD BOOK DAY EVERYONE!!

I didn’t even realise it was WBD until my little brother told me on our way home from school today. It just reminds me of how long ago it was since Year Six because when I entered secondary school, they don’t celebrate it as much as they did in primary schools.

For those who don’t know about World Book Day, it’s a UK’s own version of World Book and Copyright Day (also known as International Day of the Book or World Book Days) On World Book Day, every child in full-time education in the UK is given a voucher to be spent on books. You can either get £1 off any book (I think) or you can get one of the WBD books which were made especially for today. I wasn’t a huge fan of last years’ books but judging from this year, I think I’ll definitely be getting these ones…

Spot the Difference by Juno Dawson

An emotional and thought-provoking story about a bullied child who turns into a bully, then doesn’t like what she sees in the mirror.

Star Wars: Adventures in Wild Space by Cavan Scott (Egmont)

Star Wars: Adventures in Wild Space by Cavan Scott

Your parents have been captured by the evil Galactic Empire, so what do you do? If you’re Milo and Lina Graf you head into space and declare war on the Dark Side.

Kindred Spirits by Rainbow Rowell (Macmillan Children’s)

Kindred Spirits by Rainbow Rowell

Elena is a die-hard Star Wars fan but when she goes to her local cinema to see the new film expecting to find like-minded aficionados of Han, Luke and Leia, she finds something quite different…

See the other books here!

Books, Children, Science Fiction & Fantasy

Book Review: Behind the Canvas by Alexander Vance

February 27, 2016April 10, 2018by ZaheerahLeave a Comment

you can find the book at:
GoodReads
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Author website

my review:
Rating: ★★★★☆

~ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review~

Claudia loves art but never truly understand what’s really under the surface until Pim appears in the painting she sees. She learns that Pim has been trapped in the world behind the canvas for centuries by a witch, and Claudia is now his only way to break the spells that keep him bound in the world of art. Using ancient magic, Claudia enters the world but finds that nothing is truly as it seems on paper.

Behind the Canvas was an exciting read, a really cute story that was filled with adventure. I really liked the anecdotes that appear at the end of each chapter after an artist was mentioned, it was a cool addition to the story though I felt some notes do drag on a bit and take up a bit of space but you do learn some interesting things if you don’t know much about art, like me. They did at first appear too academic to grab my attention but they’re actually really witty and do give better contextual knowledge. What I loved the most was the concept and how it wasn’t set in a random fantasy place but actually links with the real world and the way it works shows clear and deep thought in its creation. (Let’s just hope no one tries to place their hand with yellow gloop on the actual Mona Lisa…)

However, I felt like the relationship between Claudia and Pim was severely missed out. It skims part where they get to know each other and I felt it should’ve developed that section a bit more to see how their friendship grew but, nonetheless, the way they really cared for each other did come through. I just felt like it was missing something in the beginning.

Kindle Edition, 336 pages

Publication: February 23rd 2016 by Feiwel & Friends
ASIN: B012N46PXQ

Book News, Books

S&S reveal new imprint: Salaam Reads

February 24, 2016July 4, 2016by ZaheerahLeave a Comment

Okay this is going to be a messy post because it’s like eleven o’clock at night but in case you don’t know Simon & Schuster have announced a new imprint which is solely focused on books that feature Muslim characters and I can’t describe the excitement I’m feeling right now. Simon & Schuster Children’s will launch Salaam Reads in 2017. Executive editor Zareen Jaffery and publisher Justin Chanda will be the driving force behind it.

Extract from Publishers Marketplace (I found out that you need a membership to read the full thing so read the NYT article here)

Jaffery told the NYT she had “long been bothered” by the lack of Muslim characters in children’s literature, a problem that grew more important about three years ago while reading books with her young nieces and nephews. “It was hard not to notice that none of those books really reflected their experience,” she told the paper. Zaffery added in the official announcement: “There is an incredible range of cultural and religious traditions among Muslims in the United States and across the globe, illustrating that there is no one way to be Muslim,” said Jaffery. “Our aim with the Salaam Reads imprint is in part to provide fun and compelling books for Muslim children, but we also intend for these books to be entertaining and enriching for a larger non-Muslim audience.”

I’ve been an avid reader since I could ever remember. I’m almost eighteen, and whenever I’m reading books in front of my family, one question always seems to come up.

Have you read any books with Muslims in them?

At first, I was always caught off-guard. I sit and think, and then realised, I could barely name even 3 books. If you asked me to name books with white protagonists, I could go on and on. I’ve always known throughout my childhood that there was always an empty space when it came to finding muslims on the bookshelves. Although, head canons are a gift (rip to that one HP fanfic I found that was an AU with a muslim Hermione) but sometimes it’s hard, having to force yourself into a book when it’s much easier knowing you’re in the book. In novels, especially Young Adult, muslims are barely there. At all. And I know other Muslim readers like me feel the same. So to see a huge company like S&S do this is so great. Thank you so much to Jaffery and Chanda because now I can’t wait until 2016 is over because I need these books now!!

Category: Books

Archives