Weekend Reads

So after the chaos of Christmas and family shenanigans, we're back! 

I submitted my last assignment of the semester the other day so I'm free to blog again!...(and to do my dissertation?...clearly my priorities are on point)

To be honest, my fiction reads have all been from memory so far - the last time I read a fiction book was in the summer cos uni just takes up most of my reading material so I'm gonna do a generic fictional read this week and it's /drum roll/....Agatha Christie!
I absolutely LOVE her. I've read about 10-15 of her books so far and I'm slowly working through the collection. What I love about her work is that I can read a book once then go back to it in a couple of months and it feels like I'm reading a new book, like for some reason I always manage to forget the plot as soon as I finish the book so like an idiot every time I read a story for the second time I'm like getting shockers and plot twists as if it was my first time reading it.
Her writing is super simple and easy to follow but the plots are so complex that you (well, me anyway) can never guess 'whodunnit'. I think out of Marple and Poirot, Miss Marple is my favourite, just cos the poor woman is underestimated every time cos she's an old lady from a village but she manages to roast the police officers every time.

Fiction of the week is surprisingly, actually not a history book. It's The Bond by Wayne Pacelle. I was given this as a birthday gift a couple of years ago and it was such a great read because I was still new to veganism and I learnt a lot about the conditions of animals outside the food industry, like zoos, science labs and pet breeders. Let me just say, that I didn't go vegan because I hated the taste of meat/animal by-products. Honestly, the smell of barbecue and roasts still reels me in and I miss it a lot. I went vegan cos I realised that I can't love animals n contribute to their exploitation at the same time. Saying that, I can't recall Pacelle mentioning veganism once. He does well in informing the reader on the condition of animals but in terms of taking steps and making changes to your footprint...not a word. I'm not especially shocked, as it had a lot of popularity and people tend to like books that seem 'revolutionary' but aren't really, just so they can feel like they're doing something to fight injustice. It's okay. In terms of facts, it's great, if that's what you're looking for. If I could (I wish) I'd use it to write an essay but yeah it's not very helpful in giving advice on your next steps once you've internalised the point of the book.

I hope you guys found this helpful, merry christmas and a happy new year!

x o x o

N

Weekend Reads

Okay so anyone who knows me in real life knows what a complete bookworm I am. I used to stick to fiction and only read non-fiction when my degree needed it, but this summer I read my first non-fiction book cover to cover n it really changed a lot of things for me. 

SO, on weekends, I'll be posting two books of the week - fiction and non-fiction. (WARNING: all the non-fictions will be history books so if that's a complete yawn for you then just scroll down!)

Let's get started!  

My fiction of the week is Atonement by Ian McEwan. It's about how one young girl's lie affects the life of her sister and her sister's lover. Set in 1930-40s Britain it's a story of romance, heartbreak, deceit, war n family. 

Honestly, I don't want to give too much away (if you've already seen the film with Keira Knightley - ew - then boo you! Pretend you haven't n read the book), though I'd actually say that the film runs a pretty accurate parallel to the book. 

This copy was published by Vintage n it's one of my treasured books just cos it's soooo pretty n unique. I bought it on a whim from The National Gallery for £5.99 but you can get yours for cheaper on Ebay for roughly £3. 

Non-fiction of the week is Return of a King by William Dalrymple. If you guys didn't know, I am half Afghan and it was my uncle who recommended this book to me after finding out that I was taking a British Imperialism module at uni. It wasn't until about 8 months later that I actually read this book n honestly, it changed A LOT for me.

So it's basically about the Anglo-Afghan Wars throughout the first half of the 19th century. It explores British-Afghan-Russian dynamics and also dynamics between the different tribes and noble families in Afghanistan. 

I spent years hiding my Afghan background from people, I was ashamed of it because I was so ignorant. I thought we were backward and not liberal enough n too oppressive. But reading this book made me so so proud to be Afghan - I started to bond with my dad way more and I saw the world from his perspective for once. 

Most importantly, it made me curious about Islam. After having it shoved down my throat throughout school, I was so repulsed by the idea of religion for a long time. But now I'm really opening up to it, and I think it's making me become n feel like a better person. 

Anyways, I was given this as a present - it was so hard to keep my copy in good condition, it travelled with me to n from Russia so it's a bit raggedy :( but it's pretty cheap on Ebay for around £4 if you don't mind not having a crisp new copy. 

I hope I made you guys curious enough to read these books!

x o x o

N