Hi.

So I totally didn’t intend to take such a long break from blogging, but as usual life intervened. -_-  I’ve been meaning to blog everyday for the past week, but something or other comes up, and usually homework takes precedence.

I’m feeling quite burnt out, and unfortunately this long Thanksgiving weekend was not as relaxing as I had envisioned. But I’m not going to bore you guys with the details of that, and am just going to jump right into talking about books, which always makes me happy. 🙂

My friend Chelsey from Chels and a Book has recently started a BookTube channel, and created her first original tag a few weeks ago. While I don’t vlog, I thought the tag was an original one and decided to participate. Let’s get to it!

1. Tell a story about a book that made you cry.

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. I read this book twice for university. The first time I read it for my first year ‘Literature for our Time’ course, I must have been a robot since I didn’t exactly feel anything. But when I had to read it again for my American Lit class, I remember tearing up at the graphic and violent descriptions of discrimination that are described throughout the text. It’s not an easy book by any means; it’s meaty and dark and might just make you cry.
2. Tell a story about a book that made you laugh out loud.

Untold by Sarah Rees Brennan. I resisted this book for so long (don’t ask me why), but when I finally read it I found myself utterly enchanted by the story and characters. Brennan has a great sense of humour; it’s not overt but instead dry British humour, which had me cackling like a hyena at the things Kami said or did. A highly enjoyable read and highly recommended too!
3. Tell a story about a book you stayed up very late to read.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I still remember lying in my bed during the wee hours of July 22nd, my eyes wet from tears and my heart racing from excitement. My eyes kept closing, but I couldn’t stop myself from reading because obviously I HAD TO KNOW how it all ended! I can’t remember exactly what time I finished, but I’m so glad I didn’t have school or work the next day.
4. Tell a story about a book you read WITH someone.

I haven’t read a book with someone in a very long time. The only time I remember reading with someone is during school when the whole class would be reading a book together. It really helped since we were all able to coax each other along if the book was especially difficult or gruesome (like Dracula).
5. Tell a story about a book you have given someone.

During the summer when Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince was coming out, I reserved a copy for myself before it came out. My best friend was coming back from Pakistan to Canada for the summer, and I had also bought her a copy to give to her since I didn’t know if the book would be available in Pakistan. I had also planned on buying a copy for my cousin, who had recently become a Harry Potter fan.

Just for fun, I had entered a contest on a Canadian children’s network (YTV) to win a copy of the book. It had asked what made you a Harry Potter fan, and I remember answering something silly about pretending that Harry, Ron, and Hermione felt like my friends (lol). And I won! I didn’t actually hear my name called out on tv (one of my friends did and called me up to tell me), but suddenly I had another copy of the book. So at one point I had three copies of Half Blood Prince lying around in my room. So I kept the copy I won, and gave my cousin and my friend the copies I had bought. Both were very happy with their gift.
6. Show an inscription you have in a book that was either written for you or someone else.

None of my books have inscriptions in them unfortunately, since I’m the only one who buys myself books. lol.
7. Tell the story of a book you will never get rid of and why.

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine. I remember reading it in grade 8, from the stack of books my teacher had for us to borrow from. I remember loving it instantly and wanting my own copy. Luckily, it was on sale in one of the Scholastic book orders for that month and my mom bought me a copy since I had loved it so much. Now I realise that it wasn’t exactly my reading level then or now, but I love it nonetheless. It’s gotten quite used-looking, but I can’t imagine getting rid of it, since it reminds me of my love of fairy tales.
8. Tell the story of a book on your shelf that you have never talked about on your channel blog before.

Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro. I don’t read a lot of Literature, as you guys may know, but this is one of the ones I really enjoyed, back when I read it during my first year English course in university. It was one of the few texts, during that tumultuous, stressful first year of university, that I actually enjoyed reading. There was something lyrical and comforting about Ishiguro’s writing, even if the story wasn’t exactly a bed of roses. I’ve never read it again, but it reminds me of a time when I finally felt like there was light at the end of that dark tunnel of first year.

This was a fun tag to do, and I’m glad I got to talk about some books that I’ve never mentioned on the blog before. Feel free to participate if you’d like. 🙂

Thanks for reading,

Ikhlas