Reader & Dreamer

brilliant work.
Not only is Virginia Woolf writing beautiful, but she also writes in a way that pulls you in and makes you want to read more.
Favourite : A Room of One's Own ♥

Between the Acts , the last novel Virginia Woolf wrote before her suicide, not exactly a masterpiece like most of her other novels, it was confusing at times and hard to follow but it was okay.

The book is a Non-fiction long essay discussing fascism, war and feminism.
Three questions are discussed and answered, these three questions are the Guineas from the title.
can war be prevented ?
why has women education been poorly funded?
Why can't women work the same jobs as men?

well worth the read ♥

I love Virginia Woolf, I love her books, i really much enjoyed: A Room of One's Own, Mrs. Dalloway, The Waves, To the Lighthouse.. but not this one, i found it boring.
I tried to read it years ago, but i left it midway, i couldn't finish it.
i did it finish it this time, it was tedious.
too many characters, i couldn't even keep count of how many, and i kept forgetting most of them and their stories, and had interest in none.
The theme of the novel seems to be that time passes by, people get older, but we know that.
Woolf remains a great novelist , one of my authors, but not because of The Years.

"The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not"

My favorite read this year ♥

Within the black-and-white striped tents is a magical unique experience ♥

The book is about two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who, when they were children were arranged to be in a competition by their guardians, the venue for their competition is Le Cirque des réves, a circus that travels the globe, where Celia is the Illusionist, and marco is the assistant of the proprietor, the novel follows their challenges, their magical powers and their relationship with each other and the other characters.

I Loved The characters, each one of them was extremely interesting, Celia and Marco especially, i loved them, Poppet and Widget as well.
I loved the mystery that surrounded the circus, it was perfect, the story was beautiful, I felt connected to it, I felt like this could be a place I belonged to and loved.

“You may tell a tale that takes up residence in someone's soul, becomes their blood and self and purpose. That tale will move them and drive them and who knows that they might do because of it, because of your words. That is your role, your gift.”

This book gave me every feeling I ever wanted from a magic circus, it was a very very nice experience and I loved every second of it.
I definitely plan to check other Erin Morgenstern books.

“Someone needs to tell those tales. When the battles are fought and won and lost, when the pirates find their treasures and the dragons eat their foes for breakfast with a nice cup of Lapsang souchong, someone needs to tell their bits of overlapping narrative. There's magic in that. It's in the listener, and for each and every ear it will be different, and it will affect them in ways they can never predict. From the mundane to the profound. You may tell a tale that takes up residence in someone's soul, becomes their blood and self and purpose. That tale will move them and drive them and who knows what they might do because of it, because of your words. That is your role, your gift.... Do not forget that... there are many kinds of magic, after all.” ♥♥♥

The events are told through six different characters,Bernard, Louis, Neville, Susan, Jinny and Rhoda, who know and interact with each other throughout their lives.

my favourite out of the six was Bernard, who is thoughtful and humble, always telling stories, always trying to cheer up everyone else and making connections with random strangers.
Neville is sensitive, delicate and tends to focus on beauty, traits which leads him to become a successful poet.
Louis, an outsider, always carrying his feelings of inferiority, but manages to be a successful businessman.
Jinny, obsessed with her physical beauty, lives most in her body, she is less interested in the philosophical spiritual life compared with the others and more interested in social issues.
Rhoda, an introverted, timid, anti-social person, she lives mostly in her own imagination than real life.
Susan, a nature outdoors lover, she makes a family, have kids and throw herself entirely into mothering.

The Waves is divided into nine sections, each describes a phase in the lives of the characters.
The first is about their childhood and their experiences at school.
The second deals with their adolescence years, The girls and boys go to separate schools.
The third is about their young adulthood years, the characters start to reflect on their lives.
In The fourth section, the characters meet again and gather for a dinner party, they soon part ways.
in Fifth section, the characters learning of the death of a mutual friend, Percival, they are all devastated by the news but it touches Neville the most, for he was in love with him.
in The sixth section, the characters are adults who have begun to settle into their own lives.
In the Seventh, the characters are middle-aged and continue to reflect on their lives.
In the Eighth section, the friends reconnect again after a long time have passed.
The Ninth section which told through Bernard is about the lessons that have been learned throughout the lives of the characters. ♥

It was really interesting! the style is unique and that’s what makes Virginia Woolf special from among other writers! ♥

The story was so captivating, I struggled to put it down.
A very good read.

ارض زيكولا.

خالد ..يتقدم لخطبة فتاة يحبها فيتم رفضه للمرة الثامنة من قبل ابيها فيدخل في حالة اكتئاب .. لكن جده يحاول مواساته باخباره عن قصة السرداب الذي قد دخل اليه و ايضا والدي خالد عندما كان صغيرا و لم يعودا بعد ذلك
فكل من يدخل السرداب لم يكمل طريقه و انسحب او اكمل الطريق و اختفى.
يدخل خالد السرداب لينتهي بالدخول الى أرض زيكولا يومَ احتفالهم حيث يحضرون أفقر ثلاثة أشخاص في زيكولا ويتمّ تعريضهم لما يشبه مسابقة وقتل الخاسر منهم في النهاية.
يقوم خالد بالتعرف على يامن الذي سيصبح اعز اصدقائه و طبيبة المدينة اسيل و يكتشف ان المعاملات هناك تتم بوحدات الذكاء ... فالاقل ذكاءا هو الاقل فقرا .. وتبدا مغاماراته محاولة للخروج من ارض زيكولا.

Very similar to "Pride and Prejudice", i liked the latter more though.
"sense and sensibility" was a bit boring, I felt like what could have been covered in a few pages went on for many more.
but it was a good one, i'm so in love with that era.

Sense and Sensibility is about two sisters Elinor and Marianne Dashwood who, along with their mother and other sister, have to move after their father dies and their former house becomes the property of their brother John and his wife.
Elinor (the more practical sister) allows herself to fall in love with Edward Ferrars but the romance doesn't go anywhere because of the Dashwood's departure.
Marianne (the passionate sensible one) develops a love interest of her own, a handsome young man named Willoughby, Things start to go wrong for them too.
but the ending for both ladies was pleasing and satisfying.

Jane Austen is a real treat! ♥♥♥

an amazing read. ♥

"A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction."

Woolf has been asked to speak on the topic of women and Fiction, her thesis is that ( a woman should have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction).
She explores and investigates the history of women in literature, the social and material conditions required for women to write (money, privacy, freedom,leisure .. ), women were deprived of those basic essential conditions.

The narrator Marry, sits by a river on the campus of Oxbridge, thinking some thoughts, when she's ordered out of grass and was denied access to the library, a reminder that women aren't allowed to do such things without the company of men.
she next at dinner at the women's college, talks about how men's colleges were funded by kings and wealthy men, and how funds for the women's college were raised with difficulty.
In her exploration of this idea, she thinks about the effects of wealth and poverty on the mind and their effects on writers.
Searching for answers, She explores the British Museum in London to try to understand more about why her experiences at the men's university and the women's college were so different, She decides she'll search for information about women, she ends up with a lot of books to search in, most of these books are written by angry hateful men who thought women are inferior to men.
then she checks out the history books on her own bookshelf but finds nothing.
Finally, She turns to her imagination and tells us a story about Shakespeare's fictional sister, Judith, who was a genius but because she was a woman she would end up pregnant and then kill herself without having written a word.

thinking about actual women writers, the narrator thinks that except in Jane Austen's books, every book is ruined by the writer's anger and bitter personal experiences, and thinks Maybe in another hundred years a woman will be able to write a book of true genius.

The final day of the story, She looks out her window, She sees a man and a woman get into a taxi together. this gives her an idea. Maybe genius works of literature need to be gender-neutral. Each person has a male and a female in their own mind, and they must unite in order to make a truly great book.

Woolf at last closes the door on her fictional narrator, concluding that a woman needs her own income and a private room to be able to write fiction.

~ i highly recommend this read.

Much Better than "The Last Wish"
A collection of short stories in the world of The Witcher Geralt of Rivia, introducing some of the most loved characters from this world.
A 100% must read for fans of the novels and games alike. ♥

I wanted to read this book for a long time, Unfortunately, I didn’t end up liking it but I didn’t hate it.
I expected it to be better, There's not much of a plot, and the characters are boring, I think I would have liked this novel better if I had been able to connect with the characters.
it was just ok.

“He's more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.” ♥

a tragic tale of love, loss and pain, obsession, vengeance and possessiveness.
a captivating story, i Love Emily Bronte's style, eerie, Gothic, Ghostly.
She developed a sinister Devilish side of love, complex and wonderfully flawed characters.

I highly recommend it
Enjoy the tumultuous ride!

an extremely enjoyable book.
geology, chemistry, paleontology, astronomy, and particle physics, and a journey along the paths that led scientists to some amazing discoveries.
fascinating ♥

a collection of stories about Geralt of Rivia, the Witcher, whose occupation is to hunt monsters.
It starts with Geralt, after having been wounded badly in battle, rests in a temple of Melitele in Ellander and During that time he has flashbacks to recent events in his life each of which forms a story of its own.
dark fantasy, fables, and fairy tales .. I enjoyed this book quite a lot.
Highly recommended, especially if you're a a fan of the Witcher games.

Well worth the read, it's a very powerful story that everyone must read at some point in their lives.
& We're doomed, comrades.

well, the story in short was that some animals on a farm rebel, throw out the farmer and decide to run the place themselves, influenced by the old major's speech about animals freedom.
two pigs, snowball and Napoleon, take the responsibility of running the farm.
Seven laws written by Snowball.

"Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.
Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend.
No animal shall wear clothes.
No animal shall sleep in a bed.
No animal shall drink alcohol.
No animal shall kill any other animal.
All animals are equal."

the rebellion was a success, and the animals met every week to debate the farm rules.
Snowball begins making plans to build a windmill, which will provide electricity and an easier life for the animals, but Napoleon opposes such a plan, chases snowball from the farm forever, and take over things, he becomes the only ruler using power, brainwashing, lying and manipulation.
the windmill was to be built after all, Napoleon tells the animals that it was his idea, and blames snowball for all the hardships they faced.
as Napoleon and the pigs ruled, the farm became only worse, it was terrible, the 7 rules were all broken and changed to what suited the pigs, and all reduced to one rule:
“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” 👍

it's a powerful thought provoking piece of fiction.
a world where "All (Animals) Are Equal" would solve all problems — but since some (animals) act on the principle that "Some Are More Equal Than Others.", we are never having a peaceful world.