The Kite Runner Review

Hiya everyone,

So before 'The Kite Runner' by Khaled Hosseini,  I basically read novels by Jacqueline Wilson and Judy Blume. However, since my encounter with this interesting novel, I can honestly say that the end of my 2014 summer was mainly memorable as I had finished reading such a provoking and emotional book. The book itself was beautifully written with anecdotes by the main character and the way the story unfolded was truly unique and riveting.

The novel is about twelve year old Amir who is desperate to win the local kite - fighting tournament and his loyal friend Hassan promises to help him. But neither of the boys can foresee what will happen to Hassan that afternoon, an event that is to shatter their lives. After the Russians invade and the family is forced to flee to America, Amir realizes that one day he must return to Afghanistan under the Taliban rule to find the one thing that his new world cannot offer him: redemption.

My favorite character in the novel was Hassan and the main reason for this was as he was kind and also the type of friend that you can count on no matter what. Additionally,  his loyalty throughout the MAJOR events that took place in his life never changed his affection and loyalty to Amir. In my opinion, all the characters felt real and as the story was based on some real-life events, such as the Soviets invading Afghanistan and the years under Taliban rule, this story opened my eyes to what war can do to people in today's world, for example how 2 close friends could be divided between conflict and the aftermath of such despair on a country and its people. 

The story never failed to give me goosebumps and there were countless moments when I felt as though I knew what was going to happen, however bigger surprises hit me in the face ( in a GOOD way).

My favorite part of the book was when Amir and Rahim Khan were discussing about getting Hassan's son back, however in order to fully convince Amir to undertake such a task, Rahim Khan had revealed to us all, the readers, that Amir and Hassan are actually brothers (share the same father) and this really was one of the biggest surprises.

One of the many scenes that captivated me:

"Sohrab!" I called, rising from my bed. "I have great news." I knocked on the bathroom door. "Sohrab! Soraya jan just called from California. We won't have to put you in an orphanage, Sohrab. We're going to America, you and I. Did you hear me? We're going to America!"

I pushed the door open. Stepped into the bathroom. 

Suddenly I was on my knees, screaming. Screaming through my clenched teeth. Screaming until I thought my throat would rip and my chest explode. 

Later, they said I was still screaming when the ambulance arrived.

This scene was so detailed, that I felt sadness and started tearing up, once again, and this proves just that the way Hosseini words each sentence and paragraph is powerful. The book made me cry as the adjectives used by the author were very descriptive and the way the scenes happened before my eyes were truly unforgettable. 

The story had gripped me so much that I had read it in a couple of hours and honestly I was so provoked to also pick up 'A Thousand Splendid Suns', which is equally as great and amazing.

Overall, I would rate the book a solid A+++ and 10/10. It had everything a good, coming-of-age book should have. It had mystery, love, family and adventure and there was not a single moment that I felt bored. That's how great Hosseini's novel was. 

If you also enjoyed this book as much as I did, I would recommend reading both 'A Thousand Splendid Suns' and 'And The Mountains Echoed'. Both are equally interesting and riveting as The Kite Runner.

I hope you all enjoyed reading this week's blog as much as I had whilst writing it for you all. In case any readers out there would love to purchase all 3 books, here is the link: All 3 Books by Khaled Hosseini

Also, for more reading, check out 'The Works' & 'The Book People' websites. If you're like me, surrounded by friends who are amused by books, like my dear friends Sana, Mandeep, Humaira and Zara, I'm sure they'd be more than pleased to find out about websites which can offer them amazing deals on great book titles.

Till next time,

~The Girl Who Loves The Little Things~

This was not a sponsored blog.

Hiya guys!

Today's Friday and I could not be anymore glad that my weekend has already started. Firstly, its been raining. Like, a lot. And today the rain made my face and hands turn from brown to pale white. and i had goosebumps. Sadly, I had to walk a decent 7 minutes to the bus station from my school and I had immediately yearned for a heater fan and most of all...for a hot cocoa. With marshmallows. And Grated chocolate with whipped cream. Am I making you drool all over your computer/mobile yet? Sorry! Honestly, I thought of a new blog post to write up. And it includes a list of "warm, sunny places i want to visit" and to be honest I LOVE the warmth of the sun but also because tropical countries have an interesting culture and I AM OBSESSED with culture. So....here goes nothing!

MY LIST OF TOP 5 EXQUISITE AND BREATHTAKING PLACES TO VISIT

www.sunmaster.co.uk

1) Morocco. And the reason why is simple. Very simple. The Moroccan culture and history never seizes to amaze. Like, first of all, I would kill to wonder around all the endless "souks" (shops) in the market place and see pyramids after pyramids of spices and allow all my senses to run wild. Not to mention take endless photographs of the historic and contemporary buildings all around the country.

2) Somalia. For the second time in my life. I went there for holiday in Summer 2013 and honestly, despite being war-torn due to 20 years of civil war, there are still some places out there untouched by it and those include the villages. I went to a small village and had my mothers family there whom we stayed with for 3 weeks. I had gone to my late grandfathers farm and one of the many palm trees on that land was being breezed softly by the wind and oh, so beautiful. I had been lucky to capture this image with my Blackberry 9300. This country is my everything and in spite of all this tribalism at the end of the day, we share the same place.


3) Bulgaria. I watch The Vampire Diaries and when I had discovered one of the characters backgrounds came from Bulgaria (fictionally, of course) I was tempted to search the location. What I had come across was literally breathtaking and yes I really want to visit this place so badly but not as badly as I want to visit Turkey.

4)Turkey. Oh la la. Its full of life and beauty. Not only that but the culture and history of Turkey is also inspirational. The Blue Mosque, Nemrut Dagi and Topkapi Palace Museum, Turkey has it all. Not to mention that a mere 2 hour drive in Istanbul will leave you gobsmacked. I only spent a couple of hours, about 24 hours ( transit, en route Birmingham Airport) and I may have had a limited time period there...but, each second of it was beautiful. We spent the night at Doubletree by Hilton Hotel and the 5* accommodation was excellent. I have no word to describe it. Unfortunately, no pictures of our room although we were only based on the 3rd floor and we (me and my cousin) took pictures after we woke up, so it wasn't exactly good. However here are the pictures I took:

A fuzzy image of the front of the hotel where we stayed. And yes, I know its fuzzy, but I was a 15 year old teen with a bad camera phone so...and plus, the mini bus was moving...

That girl in the far left corner with black
hijab is my dear cousin...Introducing Ramla!

Never before had I seen suck a shiny
and equally large lobby in my *young* life :) 

the glass revolving door and red rope...
could life get any better?

5) Kenya. I suppose. I have also visited this place, but alas I cannot remember much...apart from the food of course. Unfortunately I have no original photos with me nor do I have much to say except this is the place where I spent 1 year of my defining myself and although I was quite young, I still remember how the beach air smelt so strongly of salt and it was breezy but not in that cold way in the way that the ways crashing had released me into euphoria. When I reminisce about my time there all that comes to mind is the resorts I had visited, the endless beaches, the corn-on-the-cob grilled with powdered chili...and most of all, the family I had met there. All my uncles, well most of them and some aunts as well as my only grandfather whom I hold dear. 

I would love to go to each one of these places as they hold a significance for me either physically or emotionally and when I do, I still hope I can share my experiences with all of you guys.

Although I have been to the majority of the places mentioned, there is always more things to be discovered and most of the great moments in life are the ones that happen off camera.

Love,

~The Girl Who Loves The Little Things~

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Success and EPIC failures

Hi everyone,


"Success is key in life. If you persevere, you will succeed in life." - Me

Basically, we all know the saying "practice makes perfect" or at least now you do. But sometimes despite all our efforts there is something that we lack at. Whether it's sports, academics, the art, fashion or even cooking, there's something we cannot succeed at. For me, personally, I have had a few baking disasters despite what you may think. Once upon a time, during Ramadan, I attempted to make pretzels. Unfortunately i went wrong somewhere along the line.

That's not to say that I'm a terrible baker/chef. I'm pretty alright actually. Especially when it comes to Somali cuisine. I watch YouTube videos and conduct my cooking based off the. And yes, I guess you can say I'm a visual learner. Always have been and always will be. I recommend watching the videos from "Xawaash SomaliFoodBlog" (That's how its written). I have made the majority of their recipes during Ramadan as I had the pleasure of cooking for 30 days. Oddly enough i also made some Italian, Moroccan, Mexican and some Eritrean cuisine over that month.

Enough about food. I don't know about you..but I'm craving some homemade chocolate chip cookies right about now....

They taste better than they look. Besides you can't judge a cookie by its cover. In case any of you are wondering...
I used: Butter, White chocolate, Milk chocolate, milk, 1 egg, self raising flour, vanilla essence and caster sugar. The end product? An amazing batch of warm, homemade chocolatey cookies, resting downstairs in the kitchen. And yes I have made another batch for my family because I have gone through 4 cookies already.

The recipe is on Tanya Burr's  YouTube channel.



Some people are lucky. Their talented in everything they do. Like you guys. Yes, you. The person reading this blog. Thanks very,very much and stay awesome. The fact that you're here is the whole reason that I'm even dedicating time to writing this. Oh...and yes don't forget to share this with your friends.

Ciao,

~ The Girl Who Loves The Little Things ~


P.S Comment/ Follow/ Share This Blog xox

Who Am I?

Hi everyone,

I thought of this whole "blog" idea as a way to post my thoughts about everything and anything in life. Lets see...I'm 16 and I love reading books especially fictions that have romance and drama in them. I also love baking cookies and cakes and cooking of course.

I am a HUGE fan of travelling with my family to other places in Birmingham, UK, especially to a nice restaurant in our local community. The other day I tried some Indian cuisine for the 100th time and it was amazing!

I recommend it :)

As well as all this, I am a social person. And I LOVE TV shows. Especially the American ones. Oddly enough i am intrigued by a new fall show, "Stalker" and oddly it goes against the whole stalker numbers have tripled due to social networking sites. Hopefully, fingers crossed, this wont happen. Right?
Anyways, have I mentioned I'm insane about books. Currently I'm hooked on "The Lovely Bones" but next I'm planning on reading "Memoirs Of A Geisha" and "Cellar Girl".





I also have a large family and I am the eldest for any of you that were wondering...

Ciao Bella,

~The Girl Who Loves The Little Things~