Meeting History and Toxic Masculinity in Classic Naguib Mahfouz Novel

Some of you may know that I lived in Egypt in the 90s. I was mostly isolated by my mental illness, but even then, I had noticed the prominence of the Si-Sayed figure. What I didn’t ever expect is that this figure appears in Naguib Mahfouz’s 1956 classic called The Palace Walk. 

Give This a Listen: Popular Music Around Mahfouz’s Time**

This is a violin cover of the classic Umm Kulthum song called “Enta Omri.” The song is way too long (at least nine minutes long. And, it doesn’t have awesome variety like a Queen song).

Continue reading “Meeting History and Toxic Masculinity in Classic Naguib Mahfouz Novel”

August 2018 Wrap Up: DNFs and Mixed Bag Reviews
In the most recent months of 2018, I have been aiming to read beyond my
V.E. Schwab’s Vicious: Delicious Morally-Grey Enemies
The Love for V.E. Schwab I started reading V.E. Schwab's work about a year ago.
Book Review: Laini Taylor’s Breathtaking “Daughter of Smoke and Bone”
        **Before I continue, I have to credit the following brilliant photographers:

Fumbling into a Tome Infinity and Beyond Readathon Journey

As someone who is afraid of space and traveling in general, it’s hilarious that I am trying to participate in this readathon. It is called Tome Infinity and Beyond, and it going to be fascinating to trek through the challenges.  I first heard of it on the I Don’t Have a Degree in Reading channel. 

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A Not So Random Randomathon TBR Pile
Happy September to my peeps! After attempting to squish my library books and TBR into
More NEWTs Cheating to Finish up August 2018
  Look! An image for the post! It's been a while. Image courtesy of Photo-MIX
NEWTs readathon Participation Announcement for August Week 2
The NEWTs readathon has been steadily creeping the bookish web for the past month. As

You Make Me Smile: Top 5 Friendships in Recent Reads

I am having a particularly rough time existing, so I am taking advantage of post ideas that make me smile. May this bring you joy, too. For Top 5 Wednesday this week, we are celebrating friendships all over the blogosphere. And, that, is worth smiling for. Here are my favorites buddies.

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Top 5 Works of Media to Introduce Baby Woke Steps
Ah, welcome to another Top 5 Wednesday where I break the rules. This is becoming
Top 5 Characters Who Redeemed Themselves
Getting redeemed is often reserved for villains, but today, I am going to be talking
My Top 5 Surprising Takes on Typical Book Tropes
For Top 5 Wednesday, this week's discussion topic centers around book tropes that were presented

A Not So Random Randomathon TBR Pile

Happy September to my peeps! After attempting to squish my library books and TBR into different challenges for this week, I settled on the Randomathon. As usual, yours truly may have to go rogue. This series of challenges are set for readers to apply their TBRs from September 3rd to the 16th.  You can check Randomathon’s Twitter right here.

Randomathon Challenges:

Read a sci-fi book

From what I have researched, the Shatter Me series is considered sci-fi. Luckily for me, I have picked Restore Me from the library a few days ago. I am worried that Tahereh Mafi is going to torture the characters in this installment. Funnily enough, I didn’t read any spoilers. For those of you who don’t know, I actually find spoilers to be a good way of reducing anxiety induced by the reading experience.

All I know is that someone shaves their head.

Continue reading “A Not So Random Randomathon TBR Pile”

Fumbling into a Tome Infinity and Beyond Readathon Journey
As someone who is afraid of space and traveling in general, it's hilarious that I
More NEWTs Cheating to Finish up August 2018
  Look! An image for the post! It's been a while. Image courtesy of Photo-MIX
NEWTs readathon Participation Announcement for August Week 2
The NEWTs readathon has been steadily creeping the bookish web for the past month. As

August 2018 Wrap Up: DNFs and Mixed Bag Reviews

In the most recent months of 2018, I have been aiming to read beyond my comfort zone. and so DNFs are starting to happen more in my reading experiences. This August was tumultuous in terms of reading especially. Lots of hits and some misses along the way. However, I want to begin with a warning: I am not dismissing the skill of these authors nor am I saying that fans of these books are somehow not lesser than in any way. Simply put, I found their stories to be not something I enjoy or they conflict with some preferences and/or beliefs that I have.

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Month in Review: May 2018
Photography by Anton Repponen on resplashed.com It is time for my first a month in
January Wrap Up and Reflection
  Even though I had a tumultuous January, I had a pleasant reading month. Part
Goodbye, November 2017: A Wrap Up
    November has come to an end. Here is a wrap up of the

Top 5 Works of Media to Introduce Baby Woke Steps

Ah, welcome to another Top 5 Wednesday where I break the rules. This is becoming a trademark of mine (or so I assume). Today, rather than talk about books, I want to talk about free works of media that can help someone be more woke.

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You Make Me Smile: Top 5 Friendships in Recent Reads
I am having a particularly rough time existing, so I am taking advantage of post
Top 5 Characters Who Redeemed Themselves
Getting redeemed is often reserved for villains, but today, I am going to be talking
My Top 5 Surprising Takes on Typical Book Tropes
For Top 5 Wednesday, this week's discussion topic centers around book tropes that were presented

More NEWTs Cheating to Finish up August 2018

 

Look! An image for the post! It’s been a while. Image courtesy of Photo-MIX Company on Pixabay.

As erratic as my reading has been, I am still attempting to get some allotted reading space in my schedule. The good news is that last week was actually a decent week in terms of wrapping up books. I am hopeful! Here is the list of all the NEWTs’ Challenges.
Continue reading “More NEWTs Cheating to Finish up August 2018”

Fumbling into a Tome Infinity and Beyond Readathon Journey
As someone who is afraid of space and traveling in general, it's hilarious that I
A Not So Random Randomathon TBR Pile
Happy September to my peeps! After attempting to squish my library books and TBR into
NEWTs readathon Participation Announcement for August Week 2
The NEWTs readathon has been steadily creeping the bookish web for the past month. As

Top 5 Characters Who Redeemed Themselves

Getting redeemed is often reserved for villains, but today, I am going to be talking about all kinds of characters. Top 5 Wednesday’s topic for this week is so on point that I have to join in.

There are very few redeemed villains in my reading experience–at least, not ones I can remember. Many of them are like mini-villains. It’s sort of like when you play video games and you have varying levels of villains that you have to face.

Before I go any further, I want to include this fascinating article on redemption arcs in media and literature. Its author highlights different stories with redeemed characters (effectively and ineffectively).

Continue reading “Top 5 Characters Who Redeemed Themselves”

You Make Me Smile: Top 5 Friendships in Recent Reads
I am having a particularly rough time existing, so I am taking advantage of post
Top 5 Works of Media to Introduce Baby Woke Steps
Ah, welcome to another Top 5 Wednesday where I break the rules. This is becoming
My Top 5 Surprising Takes on Typical Book Tropes
For Top 5 Wednesday, this week's discussion topic centers around book tropes that were presented

Top 10 Books that Can Kick My Slumps in the Face

Slumps, of all kinds, are the worst. It doesn’t matter if you can do your work but not read, or read but not do your work, or even not be able to do either one. It stinks. This week’s Top 10 Tuesday is all about slumps, and how we can kick them (in the face).

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Top 10 Middle Grade Book Series I Want To Experience This Year
Image courtesy of Couleur on Pixabay. Not a genre I normally reach for, middle-grade books
Top 10 Book(s) (Series) I Wish I’d Read Sooner
For this week's Top 10 Tuesday, I am twisting the prompt a bit. Rather than
My Summer Reads for 2018
**Image by Jill 111 on Pixabay  As someone who struggles with a mood disorder, I

BT: The Queer Eye Book Tag

I sound like a broken record, but I am trying to recover from this bout of hopelessness. Forever my ray of sunshine, Inge has tagged me in the Queer Eye Book Tag. Listen, I love Queer Eye. And, not to sound like a hipster, but I also loved the original Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. Let’s do this.

How it works: the Queer Eye Book Tag consists of five categories, one for each of the Fab Five – Food & Wine, Fashion, Grooming, Design, and Culture. For each category, pick a book that comes to mind. Finally, there’s a category inspired by the #QEHipTips, which we’ll call #QEBookTip. This is where you recommend your favorite queer books. When you’re done, tag your friends!

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Book Personality Challenge: An INFJ/INFP Identity Crisis Ensues
My incredible friend Ely posted her answers to this Book Personality Challenge a few days
Who Am I, Really: A Book Tag To Get to Know Me As a Reader
As I watched Marines' video of this tag, I felt that it would be a
My Take on the Bad Habits Book Tag
    Ali from the Hardback Hoarder channel recorded a video where she answered the