The Girl on the Train

I picked up this book yesterday to give myself a break from academic reading and writing. I rarely read fiction books but I was persuaded (thankfully) by one of the store assistants at Waterstones to check this ‘unputdownable’ book. Three minutes later, I found myself buying a book that I know nothing about.

I started reading it as soon as I got home late yesterday afternoon. The next thing I know, it’s 10pm, I missed supper and I’m on the last chapter! Needless to say, I finished it in less than 5 hours!! This thriller/suspense/crime/mystery/romantic fiction novel was so gripping and full of twists and turns, that I wanted to know what will happen next.

It’s been a looooong time since I’ve read a book from cover to cover without putting it down. It is THAT good!!

So if you’re looking for the next exciting book to read, read this. I cannot recommend it enough! Hurry before they turn it into a film and ruin it!

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The Big Book of Compliments

If I were to write a non-academic book, I would write one that is full of compliments. Probably 1,095 compliments – enough for 3 compliments a day for a whole year. Why? Because there’s enough books, articles and blogs that tell you why you’re living you’re life wrongly. I want people to pick up my book, open any page and read something that would make them feel better. How would the blurb go? Like this:

In need of a heartfelt smile? Open this book at any random page, read a few lines, and voila!

[In response to Daily Prompt: BYOB(ookworm)]

Weekly Photo Challenge: Gone But Not Forgotten – Harry Potter

They are no longer making Harry Potter movies, nor is J.K. Rowling writing another HP book. But the Warner Brothers’ Harry Potter Studio Tour keeps the story alive. Have a look at some of my pictures:

That tiny room

You won’t be forgiven if you don’t know any of them!

Albus

Common room

Original wands from the films

Potion room

Weasley house

The Death Eaters

Stuff of Nightmares! Voldemort!

Diagon Alley

Tom Riddle’s grave

In response to this week’s photo challenge: Gone but not forgotten

Books in the midst of violence – a truly inspiring story

Has Anyone Read this?

The Spark

Yes. It’s another book about Asperger’s Syndrome/ Autism.

Yes, it is a positive one.

I know, not everyone with Autism/Asperger’s are the same.

Yes, I recommend it.

It’s about a parent who accepted that her child is different but rejected others’ advise to allow this difference to become debilitating. This is about a parent and child’s amazing journey in life where they allowed Autism to be a part of their lives. They accepted it, lived with it, and saw its positive side.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Gone Girl Cover Art

Gone Girl

I thought about Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl whilst looking at this graffiti in London.

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In response  to this week’s Weekly Photo Challenge: Cover Art

Costa Coffee – My Favourite Writing Space

Today’s Daily Prompt: Where do you produce your best writing – at a desk, at the phone, on a noisy cafe? Tell us how the environment affects your creativity.

 

I do alot of my reading and writing during my breaks and lunch times as I have a fairly busy and active schedule. The school that I am working at for the past few years is very close to a Costa Coffee house which is fairly quiet during lunchtimes. After having some food in school, I run to Costa, order my usual (small americano) and get tucked into a book or get lost in writing one of my blog post. In fact, I write over half of my Master’s thesis in Costa!

Although it is usually very noisy at Costa, I have never been bothered by the noise. I know that the people in there are not there to talk to me and they don’t particularly want to be listened to. This and the fact that I have a time limit of less than half an hour makes me concentrate even more.

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Trick Questions… Hmmmm

Today’s Daily Prompt:

A Pulitzer-Winning reporter is writing an in-depth piece about you. What the three questions you really hope she doesn’t ask you?

This is a hard one as I am as open as anyone. I always feel that I have nothing to hide and I believe that there are only a handful of questions that I would not answer. Anyway, here goes:

These are the three questions I wish the reporter would not ask me:

1. How do you taste wine in a restaurant? I have been eating out for as long as I can remember and I have always been straight with waiters when they ask me if I would like to taste the wine. I always tell them, “No, thank you. I wouldn’t know what to do anyway!”
2. In your opinion, what is the best fiction book? I mainly read non-fiction books – I have shelf after shelf of fact-based books, plus a whole lot more in boxes that I refuse to throw or give away (who gets rid of books, anyway?). But I only have a handful of fiction books, as I cannot get into them. I would not be able to give this question a decent response even if I tried.
3. Which political party do you support? I don’t know. I just don’t. I refuse to follow politics. I refuse to vote. This is because after all these years, it seems that politicians are all the same. So, why bother?

There you go!

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A penny for her thoughts

A better way to be an Atheist?

As a person who does not believe in a deity, I often refuse to be called an Atheist due to the negative connotations that people attach to the term. I may be wrong but based on the conversations I have with other people, particularly those who are religious, athieists are often conceived of as people who hate religions and religious people because of their beliefs.

As someone who subscribes to the scientific methodology, I do not believe in any gods or spirits but I  do not hate the people who believe in a god or are members of any religion. From my experiences of being around religious people (I was raised as a Catholic and now work with Jewish people), I have seen the benefits of having a religious belief. For instance, being a follower of any religious faith gives one a sense of belonging- they often feel that they are a part of a tight-knit community that shares the same beliefs. Religions also teach people how to be kind to one another, to forgive each other and to love one another.

Positive aspects of different religions were described in greater detail by the philosopher Alain de Botton in his book, ‘Religion for Atheists’. An atheist himself, Alain was interested in how religious beliefs and teachings can help believers and non-believers alike, to live a better life. In this book, he argued that every religion has something positive to offer and that we should not shy away from adopting these beliefs into our own lives.

Here’s Alain explaining the book in more detail:

 

As Alain explained, this book might offend the strictly religious since it implies that it is healthy to ‘cherry-pick’ doctrines and teachings that suit one’s own personal set of belief system. Therefore, I recommend this book to anyone with an open mind. Please read this book!!!

A brilliant book about the ‘Self’

      

When asked the question who are you, what would your reply be? Would you say your name? Your gender? Your job? What about when asked to describe yourself, what would your response be? There has been many attempts by psychologists, philosophers and even religious authorities to define who we really are. In my opinion however, none of them have successfully defined and explained what the Self consists of.

In the Ego Trick, Julian Baggini described and dissected existing theories of what the Self is. Topics such as gender, memory, personality amongst others were discussed in his aim to find what the core of the self is. This book was written in accessible language and the arguments are presented in logical sequence. There is a balance between empirical and anecdotal evidence althroughout the book. What made me like it even more is that almost every point raised more questions than it answered.

Whether you’re a psychology/philosophy/theology student or teacher or maybe someone who is looking for a good read, I highly recommend this book.