Of books and all..

As many of you know, one of my favourite things to do in the world is read. Yup, Elizabeth is actually a big nerd. I know it’s a bit hard to detect the ‘nerdiness’ in me but yes folks, it’s really there ;).

Once I start reading a book, it will take a bulldozer to yank my attention away from them. In my family, my dad & I are the readers. The rest, well they aren’t. so they just don’t understand my ‘relationship’ with books..haha. My mum, in particular gets pretty upset when I forget about lunch and housework once I get a book in my hands. Most of the time her pleas go ignored. Thus she has since given up on me. Now she just sighs loudly and says something like ‘that girl & her books again’. Haha..funny mum.

My all-time favourite authors would be Enid Blyton. Her Famous Five and Five-Find-Outers series were my absolute favourites. I actually still read them once in a while. Don’t laugh ya..I mean I’ve probably read it around 100 times easily (ok..maybe not 100 times, but you get the picture :) ). Can never get bored of it!

Then as I grew up, my tastes expanded. Started reading Sweet Valley series, which was really popular at that time. Everyone in school was reading it and it became quite a phenomenon. Somehow it is not as popular today as it was last time..hmmm.dunno why.

Sweet Valley got me interested in romance novels, namely Mills & Boon and the like. These books were quite interesting to read at first but after a while I thought that all the storylines were about the same even though the books were written by different people. The plots may vary but basically the story’s the same. Bad boy meets nice girl. At first they’d hate each other but after some tongue-lashing between them, the girl ends up falling in love with the guy. Typical.

After entering into uni, my taste in books changed significantly. My dad started introducing me to biographies. He always loved that sort of book but I always perceived it as too boring. But I thought I might humor him when he got me this book- Do They Hear You When You Cry? by Fauziyah Kassindja. Had some misgivings when I saw how thick the book was..But boy..what a book! Totally had me hooked from the time I started reading it. This is the story of Fauziyah herself. Her journey from Togo, Africa to America. Her sad tragedies and miseries all the way from her homeland. What she wrote was shocking to read. Had me reduced to tears by the time I finished. I never imagined that people actually go through these things nowadays. A really good read if you can take the sad and sometimes gory details described quite vividly by the writer.

That got me started on biographies particularly the ones that portray the struggles and oppression faced by people (especially women) in other countries that we don’t normally hear about. Princess by Jean P. Sasson was also very eye-opening. It describes the life of Princess Sultana Al Sa'ud, a princess in the royal house of Saudi Arabia. Hidden behind her black veil, she is a prisoner, jailed by her father, her husband, and her country.

Sultana reveals the appalling oppressions, everyday occurrences that in any other culture would be seen as shocking human rights violations. Daughters of Arabia is the sequel to this book. A superb read.



When I saw Not Without My Daughter by Betty Mahmoody in the library, an instinct told me to pick it up and read it. Wow..the book was so super good! Betty Mahmoody tells her story of how her Iranian husband forcefully kept her and their daughter in his home country and all the suffering and torture she went through trying to free herself and the daughter from him and his family and the story of her eventual escape from Iran. Really touching story.

I started reading Mary Higgins Clark’s books last semester and I was instantly addicted. Not only does her characters totally come alive in my imagination but also she keeps my thrill flowing through every single page. The murderer is never revealed until the last page possible second (unlike Sidney Sheldon’s books) and this keeps readers very interested and on-the-edge in their desperation to know who did it. My heart actually beats real fast when I read her books. Wow..never before have I been so into an author. Mary Higgins Clark is really one magnificent writer. Hey all..seriously next time if you’re thinking about what book to read next, I’d recommend u pick up any title from her. It’ll blow you socks off!!