Tag: reading

Just writing

Curiosity and Adventure

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Are they closely related?

You might find yourself curious about something or someone. You might be eager to seek more details, sneaking and sniffing here and there like a cat after a mouse, and staying alert day and night like a secret detective on a top- secret mission. What you are investigating might be non of your business, or it could be part of your own business. In any case, you won’t rest, won’t give up, and will never feel satisfied until you uncover what have been mysterious for you.

Isn’t this what curiosity is? Am I exaggerating, a bit?

However, you won’t be curious unless you are interested, attached, and involved with that specific person or thing. For example, when your neighbour’s driveway is suddendly full of cars, your curiosity might soar to its highest levels. But, you won’t be as interested in a similar situation on the next street.

Hence comes the close relation between curiosity and adventure, for, of course, you won’t be glued in the spot if you’re curious about something or someone. You’ll need to move in one direction, or all directions. However, this is when problems, dangers, and mistakes become too close to happen if you’re not careful enough. Your curiosity could become like the one that killed the cat. That’s when the two cousins, curiosity and adventure, turn you blind and deaf to reason, and push you from the brink of the cliff.

Strange how both curiosity and adventure can brighten your life and also darken it!

Have you read Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier? Mary’s story might give you a living example of these two related traits?

Here’s the link for my review:

/https://nh825.wordpress.com/2025/01/27/jamaica-inn/

With all the best wishes,

Nahla

Just writing

My one-of-a- kind reading strategy

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While reading, I sometimes come across mentions of authors. Immediately, before I forgot, I check their brief biography and pick one of their books in my want-to-read list. Occasionally, though rarely, the book is a suggestion or a recommendation.

Honestly, I am not always loyal be to my want -to- read list. But the good thing is that once I make my mind to read a book, I will read it all. It’s something like challenging  myself, or out of curiosity to discover what this book has for me.

How long does it take to finish a book? That depends on how I like the book. If it is boring, and I feel like I won’t enjoy it, I read it when I am bored or when I don’t bother interruptions. For example, at a  cafĂ© or when I am waiting for my daughter to finish her clubs.That’s why some books take much longer than others for me to finish.

On the other hand, I will read the books I like when it’s all quiet, espcially at home. I will finish them before I could even know it. With this strategy, I might have two books to read at the same time, one like a player on the bench waiting to be in action, and another scoring a goal after goal on the pitch.

Sometimes I wonder, you might too, why I just don’t return the book I don’t like, or keep it unread on the shelf? Honestly, I just feel there’s always something hidden there to learn. The only exception, when my mind won’t work this way, is when I’ve watched its adaptation which, for me, means all the fun of reading is blown into thin air.

I am sure you haven’t heard of this strategy before, or have you?

With all the best wishes,

Nahla

Just writing

Archive or Kindle

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I like to feel the books in my hands. I like how they look on the shelves. I like to use a bookmark, whether it’s one I made myself or a dried flower between the pages. I like the faded colours of the pages over the years. And, I like my scribbles and highlighted sections throughout the chapters. I used to visit the local library frequently and made sure I have got a library card in each and every new city I moved to. I also used to buy books, always on Amazon and sometimes from charity shops.

However, things changed when I discovered the Archive Digital Library with its online fourteen day lending system. Some books have fewer days to borrow, but I believed it was a great option. I don’t really remember when I first joined the Archive Library, but that helped me reading more. It was about two years ago when I heard that The Archive Library had legal issues regarding publishing copyrights and other complicated matters I couldn’t understand. The library don’t allow any changes to be made to any books, and no one can download any copies either. That was when I started to turn back to Amazon, especially Kindle.

With kindle books, things became much easier. I can read for longer hours at night (of course that depends on the book) without my husband nagging me to turn the lights off. I can also highlight sections, add notes, and copy my favourite parts as much as I want.

Whatever you prefer to use for reading, don’t stop.

Have you ever received a book as a gift? Wouldn’t one make a great gift?

With all the best wishes,

Nahla

daily prompt

One book

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What book could you read over and over again?

When the book is intriguing, unexpected, and full of events, its reader can finish it in two nights maximum even though its pages might exceed four hundred pages. But, rereading it might be doubtful. The fun, the excitement, and curiosity would be all faded. So, why not try another of the same author instead? That’s what I do and I seldom reread a book even if it is one of my favourites.

However, there is only one book I will read over and over again, and that’s the Holy Quran. It’s part of our faith to never abandon our holy book. Once we finish it, we start reading it all over again with the same commitment, respect, and joy.

With all the best wishes,

Nahla

daily prompt

Out of two

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If you could be a character from a book or film, who would you be? Why?

I am quite a reader, and it is not that I read everything, but I believe that books find their readers. Perhaps, as a reader, you are in need of  something;  be it company, a morale, an encouragement, a guidance, an advice, some fun, or anything else. I believe that the title, the front cover, the blurb, and the first page are what attract a reader to a book. And, that’s why I continue reading a book even though I find it boring later on and have to skip some parts and pages. But, I always find something new to learn.

Now, although I’ve come across too many fictional characters, there are mainly two I like and remember the most. Jane Eyre and Judy Abbot. If I have to choose one, it would be Jane Eyre. Why? Because, she learned to live, she was a good student and a good teacher, and she stood by her principles. She had neither bowed to humiliation nor yielded to temptation.

Isn’t it hard to feel like the odd one out, mainly because you care while others surrounding you do not, and they don’t understand why you care, either. But, these unique characters teach the readers that it’s the odd ones who are the  most remembered.

With all the best wishes,

Nahla

Just writing

Not our pet

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What animals make the best/worst pets?

The Arabs and people in the Mideterinian region in general like cats. They are such adorable creatures that make your heart melt as they rub themselves against your leg, or give you one of their begging meows.

One day, my family and I moved to a new house. The area was so beautiful but so quiet especially at night. Then, a few days later, and just before going to bed,  I heard meowing at the doorstep. My husband and my boys, who were still young at that time, went downstairs and opened the door. There, they found our cute night visitor; a tabby taking shelter under our small shelter. When I joined them, the cat was still meowing at the door. She had a collar, but apparently all she wanted was to get inside our house. I let her in and she straightaway started rubbing her wet fur against us. Later on, I discovered that it was the pet of my next door neighbour. So, she wasn’t a lost cat. From that day on, the cat became our popular and so welcomed guest. 

We had moved again, but  I still remember that cat and its name, and still have its photos.

With all the best wishes,

Nahla

Just writing

Early to bed

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What are your morning rituals? What does the first hour of your day look like?

“Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.” Such a beautiful saying that encourages us to make full use of each day in our life.

Rising up with the sun, or better yet, a little before, makes the day so long that even the laziest person on earth will find himself with something to do.

People in olden times used to bake, cook, clean, and do all other housework, as well as outdoor chores before sunset. They would get up before sunrise and go to bed straight aftersunset. With no electricity, no takeaway meals, and no cleaners, they still lived and accomplished more than we do nowadays. And, they socialised every now and then, read books, and maintained close family ties.

It’s a good idea to make and follow your own routine. Since we are different, we will have different priorities and schedules. It would be wonderful if we all manage to keep this ‘early to bed, early to rise’ rule.

With all the best wishes,

Nahla

Just writing

Rare

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Which aspects do you think makes a person unique?

Do you think to be unique is to be just different? I don’t think so, but I think to be unique means to be special or to have something special. In other words to be Rare.

As we are talking about people, in most cases, it’s a rare characteristic that even the person honoured with their uniquness is unaware of it. That’s one of the main aspects of being unique; you don’t aim for it. It’s a blessing before being an earned trait.

Your heart, what’s hidden deep in yours, is also what can make others believe you are unique. Your true kindness, true loyalty, and true honesty are making you unique in this make-fake-real world. I believe that even brilliant actors will show their true faces sooner or later.

Your principles is another important aspect that can make you unique. I believe they’re your second signature in this world. In a world where the majority play ‘the yes man’, you will be your unique self when you stand for your principles and beliefs.

With all the best wishes,

Nahla

Just writing

A different aim

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If you could have something named after you, what would it be?

Something named after me? The first thought was a mosque. But I soon changed my mind.

But why should mosques bear the people’s names? I asked myself. As a Muslim I believe that we should not boast our good deeds. Your left hand should never see what’s your right one is giving. Therefore, how can one justify writing their names on a mosque? It’s none of your property. Our money is mainly a means to construct the place of  worship. Besides, the Almighty knows your name, your intention, and your offering. So why name a mosque after me.

I searched my mind and urged each of its cell to find something. I thought and thought until the answer came to me.

It’s a title of a chapter in a book about the lives of Muslim women in a foreign country. Why just a chapter and not the entire book? Because it’s neither an autobiography nor a memoire which would  typically be named after a specific person. Besides, that wouldn’t be my aim. A chapter bearing my name would preserve both my experience and my existence within a colourful  picture and a broader narrative.

With all the best wishes,

Nahla

daily prompt

One word!

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What is one word that describes you?

I don’t know if you would agree with me, but I think that, upon reading this prompt, we will mainly and mostly think of the pleasant compliments we like to receive from others.

That’s natural since, in most cases, we focus mainly of our good qualities and overlook the bad ones. Actually we have to, otherwise we will hate ourselves though we should only hate our bad side. That’s why, for example, a miser would describe him/ her self as a frugal, a cheater as resourceful, a liar as a tactful, a busybody as  altruistic ….

Now, back to the main point which is the one word that describes me. I am a learner. In most cases I like to be a self-learner. That’s why I love reading and writing. 

With all the best wishes,

Nahla