Reclaim your Heart by Yasmin Mogahed

This book is a compilation of Yasmin Mogahed's thoughts and insights on her journey towards reclaiming her heart. I have always shied away from non-fiction, especially self-help/motivational books. Finding most of the supposed "pearls of wisdom" between the pages too simplistic and at times unrealistic, I developed a wary distaste for successful "know-it-all" strangers that were determined to make me happier, richer or more motivated. This book, however, was different. I had been following Yasmin's Facebook and Twitter, and her honest, simple reflections on life often struck a chord with me. So I decided to give this book a chance. And Alhamdulillah, I am glad I did. She manages to inspire, soothe and evoke strong emotions in one fell swoop. Her musings are simple and very relatable. Her problems were my problems, her questions were my questions too. Above all this, the answers that she offered were not her own. The answers, were what we have already been told in the Quran and hadith. What Yasmin does best is give words to our internal worries, conflicts, fears, even the ones we never knew we had and reminds us of what Allah has already prescribed the solution for us. Like a friendly traffic policewoman redirecting the congestion of thoughts and unease that we are experiencing, she waves us on our way in the right direction, to reach our final goal. To be closer to our Creator.

A quote I liked from the book 

(Usually I would pick one line that I liked. In this book it is almost impossible to choose but I will try)

Once in a while, people enter your life that you love- not for what they give you- but for what they are.

Rating: 4.5/5

Thud! by Terry Prachett

 

 

Basic Plot

Commander Vimes has his hands full running the city watch especially since a vampire has decided to join. His band of trolls, dwarfs, humans and werewolves are hard enough to handle without adding a vampire into the mix. Everyone is on edge and with the Koom Valley battle looming ahead, the tension in the air is almost palpable. When a dwarf leader is murdered, all suspicions point to the culprit being one of their sworn enemies, a troll. However, it is not an open and shut case. Commander Vimes and his motley crew of officers must work together regardless of shape or form to solve not only one murder but perhaps discover the centuries old secret of Koom Valley.

 

Rating: 4.5/5

My full review here.

Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt

 

 

Basic plot

A story of a boy born in America but spent his childhood in extreme poverty in bleak, desolate Ireland with his poor mother, always drunk father and ever growing and depleting little siblings. During a time when a slice of bread was considered a luxury, baby brothers drank water with sugar and the whole lane traipses through your kitchen to dump their excrement in the one common toilet. Frank McCourt's daily life is merely a battle to survive, the dreaded consumption, thrashings from relatives who are angry when his family asks for scraps of food and a father with the Irish curse of drinking what little money he manages to earn. 

Rating: 4.5/5

My full review here.

Room by Emma Donoghue

 

 

Basic plot

Jack's world seems small now that he is 5 years old. As it should since his world only measures 11 feet by 11 feet. The only people who are real are Jack, his Ma and Old Nick who comes once in a while to make the bed creak. Jack isn't even sure if Old Nick is real since his Ma makes him hide in Wardrobe every time the man shows up. Trees, people, dogs and aeroplanes are only on TV like Dora and Bob the Builder. Soon, Jack learns that the world is much bigger than he imagined and the reason why his Ma is too sad to play sometimes. Outside does exist, the problem is, how do they escape the Room?

 

Rating: 4.5/5

My full review here.

As the crow flies by Jeffrey Archer

 

 

Basic plot

Charlie Trumper was born and raised, a barrow boy from the East End. Wanting nothing more than to follow in the footsteps of his grandfather, he soon finds that life is more than about selling fruit and vegetables on the corner. When the world finds itself at war, Charlie is compelled to be at the front-line where he meets Guy Trentham who would later become the bane of his existence. Charlie returns to the East End to fulfill his grandfather's dream of owning a shop that sells everything. With the help of Becky Salmon, the annoying baker's daughter who grew up to be the love of his life, Charlie proves that determination and honest hard-work makes any dream achievable.

 

Rating: 4.5/5

My full review here.

Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls

Basic Plot

This book was based on the true life story of the author's grandmother Lily Casey Smith. Lily was spunky, resourceful child who grew up to be a resilient and amazing woman. Despite having odds stacked against her, she managed to persevere and adapt to every imaginable situation. Breaking in wild horses, learning to drive an automobile and even a plane, also teaching kids in distant one-pony towns across the deserts. 

Rating 4.5/5

My full review here.

Thank you to Lydia for lending me this book.

The Girl who Kicked a Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson

 

Basic plot

This is the last installment of the Millenium series and Lisbeth Salander is not only fighting for her freedom but also her life. With a bullet in her brain courtesy of her psychopath father, Lisbeth battles to stay alive and to survive when so many people are intent on destroying her. Mikael Blomkovist champions her cause and others slowly but surely come to her aid. But the Section will not and cannot let her be, for her mere existence is a threat to them all. Trapped in the custody of the system she distrusts, she can only rely on her talents as master hacker and learn to trust others in order to rectify the wrongs and avenge the injustice that she has been served.

 

Rating: 4.5/5

My full review here.

My review of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

My review of The Girl who Played with Fire.

The Girl who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson

 

Basic plot

In this second installment of the Millenium Series, Mikael Blomkovist is on the trail of sex traffickers who exploit young women from Eastern Europe. Politicians, judges, security police and other powerful men stand to have their dirty linen washed in the public eye. When a young couple are found brutally murdered in their home, suspicion falls on a young computer hacker Lisbeth Salander. With a man-hunt on her scent, Blomkovist is the only one who believes that she is not the mentally disturbed and violent delinquent that everyone paints her to be. In order to clear her name, Lisbeth must face "All that evil" once more.

 

My full review here.

Rating: 4.5/5

My review of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Basic plot 

Amir is a privileged Pashtun boy always living in the shadows of his impressive father. By his side is his loyal friend Hassan, a poor Hazara boy. Life in 1970s Afghanistan was good, filled with endless summers of climbing trees and winters of kite flying. His childhood was idyllic until the unspeakable happened one grey winter's day in 1975. Ripped by Russian occupation and torn by the Taliban oppression, Amir and his father fled to America to build a new life. Haunted and riddled with guilt, a long-distance phone call from his past catches up with him.

My full review here.

This book actually belongs to Siti who has been kind enough to lend me this book as part of her book swap project. Lydia has also posted a book swap list on her blog. I am delighted that there are book lovers out there who, like me, want to share our passion for reading with others. (My book list is at the Book Club).

The Six Suspects by Vikas Swarup

Basic Plot

A powerful man has been murdered and 6 people with motive and means (namely a gun) are detained as a suspect. Despicable as the dead man was alive, his death demands answers. Whom amongst the six pulled the trigger? Was it the corrupt beaurocrat possesed by the ghost of Mahatma Ghandi? A simple American tourist who travelled half-way across the world to meet his Indian bride? A tribesman on a perilous quest to retrieve what was stolen from his tribe? The hottest Bollywood artist desperate to protect a dirty secret? A slumdog thief with a vendetta? Or the politician aspiring to the greatest heights at any costs?

My review here. 

Rating: 4.5/5

This review is part of Cym Lowell's Wednesday Book Review Party:

Cathedral of the Sea by Ildefonso Falcones

The Pact by Jodi Picoult

The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

The Associate by John Grisham

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

The Other Boleyn girl by Philippa Gregory

The Good Guy by Dean Koontz