Book Review

Book Review: I am Malala

Image | | Reflections in a teacup by Noor Reflecction

Before starting my next read, I really wanted to reflect back on the book I just recently completed called “I am Malala” by Patricia McCormick and Malala Yousafzai. I must say that I was truly inspired, motivated and moved by this beautiful story of a young courageous girl and her family.

Malala Yousafzai as some of us already know is a brave gril from Swat, Pakistan who was shot by Taliban in face/ head while she was returning from her school with her classmates and friends in a mini bus. In this attack, Malala was a prime target yet two of other girls also got shot as they were sitting close to her on the bus when Taliban decided to show no mercy on this little girl. What did she do to get a bullet from an adult? Her crime was that she wanted to study and continue her journey to acquire education not only for herself but she also wanted her school to remain open so other young girls can also continue their studies.

In this well written memoir , an author takes the readers back in Malala’s life and introduce the readers to her beautiful and supportive parents, two young brothers and her friends not to forget her blessed relationship with her very understanding best friend.

The story revolves around how Malala and her supportive father didn’t held back when they saw wrong was happening in Swat, Pakistan. The author has provided brief political background too throughout the book to help the readers paint an image themselves about the situation Malala and the other young girls had to face while they wanted to continue their dream of keeping up with their education and schooling.

Having my background from Pakistan, I can relate to some parts of the book especially the comparison of teaching style in Pakistan and one in the West.

Till this day and after going through a tough and threatening journey back in Swat, Pakistan, Malala is still fighting for her campaign of girls education now on global level. “Malala’s Fund” is still ongoing and helping those areas and communities across the globe to set up education facilities for young generation.

I encourage young readers and everyone else to read this inspiring, uplifting true memoir of Malala.

It is not just a story of Malala and her journey in life, it is a story of survival and hope. It is a story of a how one girl used her “Magic Pencil” like a fairy with a magic wand to bring change in the world. As Malala herself has said, “Let us remember, one book, one pen, one child and one teacher can change the world”. A must read.

Noor Reflection

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Book Review: Christina’s Ghost By Betty Ren Wright

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Book Review: Christina’s Ghost by Betty Ren Wright

To me books are magical. They have the power to lift you up, take you to many exciting journeys, faraway lands, different worlds, and then bring you back with changed vision and new ideas.I like to read. For some of us reading means reading books only. To me reading is everything from cereal box label to twitter posts to online articles even road signs.A while back, I spotted a book with crumpled, torn covers, yellow crispy pages very loosely bound. The title attracted me “Christina’s Ghost” and I was compelled to read it. The book was written for young readers but hey reading is reading and so I read it.The book is written in a simple yet descriptive way. The story revolves around two sisters who initially planned to visit and stay with their grandma while their parents were on a trip. Their excitement faded away when they found out that grandma is hospitalized and now they are forced to go separate ways with their uncle and aunt.Christina who is more of a tomboy is forced to live with her uncle Ralph while he house-sits for his friend. During her stay with her Uncle Ralph in a Victorian Mansion located by the lake, her curiosity takes her to solve a mystery around the big beautiful but gloomy house. A ten year old, finds herself a “project” to solve a mystery behind a little boy in a sailors shirt and why he is sad? The story takes a very interesting turn when a ghost of a little boy appears to Uncle Ralph. The story takes the readers to a journey where both Uncle Ralph and Christina solve the mystery by following the clues found in a old newspaper article yet also strengthening their own bond from being strangers to becoming friends.In this 105-page book, Betty Ren Wright keeps the readers engaged and on their toes from solving the mystery, and to hold their breath when the cold winds from the attic finds their way out and what happens next.A relaxing yet thrilling read for the whole family.Book Review written by Noor Reflection
#goodreads #bookreview #childrensbook #mystery #ghost #christinaghost

A Purple Handbag – A Poetry Book

Image | | Reflections in a teacup by Noor Reflecction

I would like to take this opportunity to let you all know that finally my first poetry book, “A Purple Handbag” got published in both paperback and Kindle version. I look forward for your support in helping me get some reviews on Amazon related to my book. it will be my honor for you to buy my copy today and leave a review on Amazon. Reviews go a long way in supporting Author’s work and helping them move forward in their writing journey. Below is the link for both my paperback and kindle version of the book. Thank you everyone. :):) 

Yours Truly, Noor Reflection

 

Paperback: 

To order your copy today, please click on the link below.

A Purple Handbag

 

 

For E-Readers

 

 

Book review – Far Away Friends

| Reflections in a teacup by Noor Reflecction

Far Away Friends

Written By Baljit Ghuman.

Books cast a mystic spell over me that is hard to explain at times. For me buying a book, reading a book even holding a book in my hands drifts me away for few minutes and serves to be very relaxing.

I recently got a beautiful book on poetry called Far Away Friends written by Baljit Ghuman. As always I like to hold the book in my hands and feel the cover, the pages, the texture, the print, the weight. I must say I was thrilled to hold this book in my hands. What caught my eyes and attention was the title “Far Away Friends” printed on red background with white font. After the title there is a total white space followed by the author’s name again on the red background with white font. For some of us, this would be just a matter of picking up a simple design but for me it held more meaning than just a design layout. It gave me a hint of some one remembering their friends, memories associated with them from the realm of their thoughts, searching in the deep corners of their brain thus the white space signified  the quietness and stillness to get those memories out to share with the world.

The cover was inspiring enough for me to read the book, so I made a cup of tea this time not coffee and started to read it on my comfy couch. 🙂 I must say I was right about my predictions earlier. Each and every poem in the book was very relate-able with one’s life personal experience. What inspired me to keep on reading without lifting my mug of tea, was the layout of the poem on each page. The poems, thoughts and words are organized in a unique but very interesting, searchable way I must say, that tempts the reader to keep reading, searching, and relating to themselves. After some poems, there is a white page that I say is added for a reason – to self reflect, to remember, to take a break, to breathe and then to move on.

I thought of adding my personal favorite poem and inspiring words but I couldn’t narrow it down to just one poem or saying. The whole book and all the words are inspiring thus eliminating the need to pin point to just one personal favorite.

I can strongly recommend this beautiful, enlightening, inspiring collection of poetry around friendship, love, loss, freedom, wisdom, nature, divine light to my friends and followers and I can certainly see myself going back to this book for inspirational thoughts, motivation and courage later in coming years.

For all my followers who are also interested in exploring this book. It can be found easily at Amazon.

Far Away Friends by Baljit Ghuman https://www.amazon.ca/dp/1530385393/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_x_7nWoybEQMWZ37 via @amazon

#Friendship #love #nature #poetry #poems #goodreads #bookreview #inspiringreads #writing #literature

For more interesting reads please visit the author’s blog listed below:

http://www.baljitghuman.com

 

 

 

 

Book review by Noor Reflection

 

 

Book Review: Tuck Everlasting

Image | | Reflections in a teacup by Noor Reflecction

Tuck Everlasting
By Natalie Babbitt
Number of pages: 139
Genre: Children’s fantasy novel, drama
Publication date: 1975

I spotted this novel one day , and instantly requested the owner to allow me to read it first. What made me so impatient to read a book that I won’t wait for my turn to get it? Simple answer, the title “Tuck Everlasting” caught my attention and sparked enthusiasm for me to read it.

The novel revolves around a very interesting story of a family and an eternal life.
Natalie Babbitt, did a beautiful job capturing the emotions of all characters along with vivid and rich imagery with light touch of humour throughout the book.

The story starts off with an adventure of a ten year old girl Winnie Foster who is tired of her family daily routine and decides to run away from her home town called Treegap. In her quest to run away she meets a seventeen year old boy Jesse along side of a pond and from there the author takes over with an interesting story about the family of Tucks and a mystery behind the spring water. Complications arises when a stranger follows Winnie Foster and find out the secret behind the spring water.

The story not only revolves around eternal life but beautifully captures the sincerity and purity of various human emotions and a special bond of friendship while leaving a reader with a question to think about towards the end of the story about immortality.

I will definitely recommend this book and give it a five star.

Review completed by N. Reflection
@rinateacup
Www.Reflectionsinateacup.com

Book Review – Emotionally strong and have thick skin. By Nicolla Trilliby

Image | | Reflections in a teacup by Noor Reflecction

When I was browsing books on Amazon for my Kindle download, this specific title caught my attention. I looked at my computer screen for few seconds before downloading this book on my device. Why did I take only a few seconds to buy this title? What was so special about this book? Questions like these came in my mind and faded away but some part of me knew the answer to these questions and similar to them that often arise in my mind.

What caught my attention was the second part of the title “Have thick skin”. Before I proceed with this article, I must clarify that I am not a psychologist; however, once in a while I like to read self-help books as a reminder, to heal myself, to learn new techniques or to revisit the old ones just to strengthen my skills of dealing with various emotions that each one of us encounters  throughout the day.

The book “How to be emotionally strong and have thick skin” written by Nicolla Trilliby is  about 38 pages long that took me as around 30 – 45 minutes to read. I first thought to myself that what will this 5 chapter book deliver that will be effective but can also be practically applied in day-to-day life. To my surprise, this short book offered lot more than that I anticipated. To be accurate, this books offers strong reminders in a very firm tone required to develop emotional strength and deliver ideas of developing a thick skin.  It also highlights pros and cons of each skin type in a short, simple manner.

Thick Skin VS Thin Skin is a very popular topic among self-help guides. What exactly is Thick Skin Vs Thin Skin? Do we classify ourselves as thick skin all the time? Is there any phenomenon between these two words like Medium Skin? 🙂 I am sure these questions cross everyone’s mind occasionally. The understanding I got after reading the first chapter of this books was that “thin-skinned” people are highly sensitive to the chaos of outside world and their emotions can be easily triggered by any rude, unexpected, hurtful, unfair gesture. At times they are stuck trying to understand and answer the question, “WHY ME”? This doesn’t mean that thin-skinned people are not strong or they are not of positive nature. The book highlights that thin skinned people are always in need of seeking approval of others, yet at times focusing the major part of their energies in proving themselves. In doing this, they at time give their power away to other person, thus making them vulnerable. On the contrary , “thick-skinned” people retains their emotional stability by holding on to their inner peace and not caring what others really think of them. They work in their own medium and have the ability to slide off the negativity around them. Mastering this special trait allows them to find themselves less in conflict situations thus maintaining their emotional strength and energy.

The book offers steps to those who like to master the trait of being thick skinned. The message I got after completing this book was to find happiness among yourself and accept difficult people as they are. Most importantly, by developing this trait of letting go of what others think about oneself makes a huge impact on ones overall emotional and mental health.

I would definitely give this book 5 stars and would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for some techniques to strengthen their emotional control and develop understanding around being too sensitive and maintaining a balanced personality.

Review written by N. Reflection

 

emotionallystrong

 

 

 

Book review – Tao Te Ching

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Always being curious about new books and looking into good reads, one day I decided to read the English translation by Jonathan Star of the book called Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu.

After reading the first few pages of the book, I was very eager to explore the history of the book. Curious to find out the origin of this sacred Chinese scripture, I googled the web for the meaning of the word Tao. 

The understanding I got after reading various definitions was that Tao or Dao (English pronunciation) is a Chinese word signifying ‘way’, ‘path’, ‘route’, ‘road’, ‘choose’, ‘key’ or sometimes more loosely ‘doctrine’, ‘principle’ or ‘holistic science’.

Hence the word Tao Te Ching  can be translated as “The Classic of the Way’s Virtues” or “The Book of the Way of Virtue.”

The Tao Te Ching is a Chinese Classic text also referred to as Laozi.

Laozi also known as Lao Tzu was an ancient Chinese philosopher, writer, and the founder of philosophical Taoism. Taoism is a religious or philosophical tradition of Chinese origin which emphasizes living in harmony.

The Tao Te Ching is a fundamental text for both philosophical and religious Taoism. 

After gaining the understanding of Tao, Taoism, and reading about Laozi,  I found the book very inspiring and composed of many philosophical views about life.

The book is about ancient Chinese wisdom that was written around 500 B.C.

Tao Te Ching is an eastern text that has been translated by many scholars. The translation I read from Jonathan Star, is considered to be very close to the original text and is considered to be very relate-able to one’s life. It is also acclaimed that Star has done a great job in preserving the poetic phenomena of the text as well.

Throughout the book, the reference is made to Tao and Sage. For my understanding, I googled Sage again. As per Wikipedia definition, a Sage is someone who has attained the wisdom which a philosopher seeks.

The book is divided in to 81 verses. Each verse conveys a very important message related to life. Each verse grabs the reader’s attention by teaching the important message of living in harmony, and focusing on various wise teachings. The philosophy presented in the book embodies deep meanings of the existence of universe and how to live in peace. It talks about power of giving and not expecting back like water who nurtures every thing on Earth and need no return. The Tao Te Ching is the route in itself, the path to emptying the human mind of ambitions, schemes and desires and allow it to be flooded with humility, stillness, calmness and leading simple life. To summarize each verse of Tao Te Ching will take away from it’s original essence. One must read each verse over and over again to understanding the philosophy of Taoism.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is eager to learn and understand new dimensions and meaning of life.

Happy reading.

Review completed by N. Reflection

Resources referred: 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tao_Te_Ching

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laozi

tao

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Book review – The Supreme Gift by Paulo Coelho. 

Image | | Reflections in a teacup by Noor Reflecction

Browsing through the collection of my Kindle books, I decided to read a book called “The Supreme Gift” by Paulo Coelho. This time unlike other times, I decided to start the book without reading its excerpt. After finishing the book, I must say it left me wondering about various aspects of life and true essence of the definition of love. The author has taken a unique yet beautiful approach in explaining the meaning of life and love to many of those who are still in search of this answer.

The Supreme Gift, by Coelho is a short book that focuses on Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, a passage from the Bible. Adapted from the original work of Henry Drummond, Coelho has narrated about love by sharing his own perspective thus embarking inspiration and pouring wisdom into his readers. The book talks about 9 ingredients of love which are summarized below , in the form of a sermon delivered by a young Scottish preacher. The 9 ingredients of love according to Drummond are:

1- Patience
2- Kindness
3- Generosity
4- Humility
5- Courtesy
6- Unselfishness
7- Good Temper
8- Guilelessness
9- Sincerity

After reading the book on my Kindle, I will definitely invest in buying a paper copy of this book to refer back to it in the upcoming days when I am faced with a quest to find the purpose of life. This book definitely gets 5 stars from me.

Book review by N. Reflection