A-Z Poetry by Me: B

Books in Bed

To my beloved comrade Book,
Over ten years you have been a companion of mine,
Your many subjects reel in bookworms like a hook,
Sci-Fi/ Fantasy and more to choose from throughout time,
Where should we start to take a look?

Your crisp, new pages waiting to be read,
Or maybe yellowing leafs shown much love instead,
You fill wooden shelves with your family and friends,
In public and private lives, some in heartthrobs till the end.

But who doesn't like a first-class book in bed?

After a hard daydreams work and faces turned red,
Come under a warm blanket on an arctic winter night,
Lay down and give thanks for your soft pillow so light,
Thank God for books and beds, rest well and sleep tight!

A-Z Poetry by Me: C

Colors of Life

Red; symbolizes love and the color of blood

Orange; my favorite fruit
Yellow; color family of gold
Green; environmental friendly
Blue; water, liquid gold of life
Purple; reps. royalty
Pink; society's standard for girls since birth 
Black; darkness, magic, sleep 
White; snow, purity, surrender
Multicolor: diamonds, glitter, nature

The Children of the Red King (series) by Jenny Nimmo 5/5

I had a Charlie Bone marathon for a little over 2 weeks and got to reread the series after many years! In this review, I will be focusing on the series as a whole.

I will avoid summarizing the books, which can be easily found online. To read goodreads descriptions on any of The Children of the Red King books (aka Charlie Bone) by Jenny Nimmo, click the titles down below.
 
#1 Midnight for Charlie Bone
#2 Charlie Bone and the Time Twister
#3 Charlie Bone and the Invisible Boy
#4 Charlie Bone and the Castle of Mirrors
#5 Charlie Bone and the Hidden King
#6 Charlie Bone and the Beast
#7 Charlie Bone and the Shadow
#8 Charlie Bone and the Red Knight
 
I remember the books being suspenseful and interesting the first time I read them in middle school and I wasn't disappointed the second time around. Each book is around 400 pages and for me to get through them in 2 nights each (except for the last 2 I think because if uni opening), means they were that good in my opinion! The series as a whole has a little bit of everything, i.e. action, adventure, humor, mystery, suspense, etc., which keeps the books compelling and worth reading till the end.     
 
What I found really fascinating about the books from the beginning are the powers of the endowed. Some of these include hypnotism, telekinesis, bewitching clothes, communicating with animals, picture traveling, magnetism, illusionist, etc. The list goes on and the variety keeps the adventures fresh and new. Many powers are used only to harm people and for evil schemes, but from the useful powers, I think "weather boy's" saved lives more than the others. I think it would also be cool to control the wind, thunder, lightning, and even some snow ;) Picture traveling also sounds entertaining, if one can get over the feeling of traveling through space and time and avoid coming across unwelcome characters!  

I've heard and read reviews where people criticized The Children of the Red King series for being a copy-cat of the Harry Potter series by J.K Rowling. Yes, there are some similarities like the children going to boarding school, the setting being in England (both authors are from there so no surprise), etc., but there are many more differences. For example, while the Dursleys were not always the nicest of relatives, they do not compare to Charlie's great grandmother/aunts who wouldn't mind killing family for their "cause." Also, Charlie isn't an orphan like Harry, so the former has the comfort of some loving and supportive family members. The biggest difference of all are the powers I previously mentioned. Unlike in Harry Potter where the word "magic" is used to the fullest ex. wands, spells, potions, etc., in Charlie Bone, the characters rely on their powers they inherited from their ancestors, mainly the Red King and his ten children, to help in their quests. On a final note, who said J.K. Rowling didn't get inspiration from others (Diana Wynne Jones, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R Tolkien, etc.)? This means her ideas aren't as original and don't entirely belong to her, as many HP fans think. Don't get me wrong, I too love the Harry Potter series, but Charlie Bone just the same. Their similarities should be welcoming for fans of HP who are looking for something similar yet different after finishing HP and want more.

My thoughts on some of the characters? Right from the 1st book, I couldn't help but feel sorry for Billy, an orphan boy who doesn't have a family to stay with over the weekends, and thus spent many weekends with the unpleasant "owners" of the boarding school. Imagine spending weekends in school :( Benjamin Brown (who isn't endowed so he goes to a "normal" school) doesn't have any friends besides Charlie, so when Charlie goes to school (a different one of course) or on an adventure with other endowed friends, Ben is sometimes left out with his dog. But all is not hopeless for Billy and Ben. My 2 favorite characters would be Olivia who is helpful, outgoing, and has a unique sense of style and Tancred the storm boy. He is worth having as a friend, as his powers saved many lives just in time. Him and his best friend Lysander make a good team, but sometimes their friendship seemed queer to me...  

The books in general had some funny and sarcastic bits, great descriptions as in the case of the enchanter, many adventures to save lives, and a surprise ending! The battle between good and evil and stopping power hungry people ruin the lives of many others isn't a new one, but Jenny Nimmo weaves a great story with a unique twist that holds reader's attention long enough to not lose hope.

Overall, I gave the series a 5/5 and recommend it to fans of HP, readers of fantasy novels, and anyone looking for quick and easy reads. To read The Children of the Red King (series) by Jenny Nimmo, borrow them from your local library or purchase them from here.

A-Z Poetry by Me: A

Allah

He is the Most...
Merciful to give us another chance,
Forgiving for all sins except polytheism,
Generous in His gifts (1) even to sinners,
More Loving than a mother to her child (2).
So don't complain of your wishes not immediately granted.
Rather, be thankful of your sins not immediately punished.

Allah is One without partners or son (Quran:112),
He is the Creator of everything we benefit from (3),
The Provider and Sustainer for all living creatures we see,
And the BEST Protector for you and me.
 
He is the Most Powerful and Just,
Most Wise with knowledge of the Unseen (4),
THE King of kings, Resurrector (Quran 36:78-79), and Owner of Judgment Day.
Life is not guaranteed, but death is certain.
Your life will flash before your eyes, so make sure it is worth it.
 
I call Him Allah,
You may call Him God.
We should learn about Him,
Acknowledge and believe in His existence,
Live by His standards and obey His commands,
For our own good (5) in this life and the next.

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Inspirational References

 

(1) Quran (14:34) And He gave you from all you asked of Him. And if you should count the favor of Allah, you could not enumerate them. Indeed, mankind is [generally] most unjust and ungrateful.

(2) Umar ibn Al-Khattab reported "...The Prophet said, “Allah is more merciful to His servants than a mother is to her child.” (Sahih Bukhari 5653)

(3) Quran (25:61) Blessed is He who has placed in the sky great stars and placed therein a [burning] lamp (Sun) and luminous moon. Quran (78:6-7) Have We not made the earth a resting place? And the mountains as stakes?

(4) Quran (31:34) Indeed, Allah [alone] has knowledge of the Hour and sends down the rain and knows what is in the wombs. And no soul perceives what it will earn tomorrow, and no soul perceives in what land it will die. Indeed, Allah is Knowing and Acquainted.

(5) Quran (17:15) Whoever is guided is only guided for [the benefit of] his soul. And whoever errs only errs against it. And no bearer of burdens will bear the burden of another. And never would We punish until We sent a messenger.

*To learn more about Islam, please go to my blogs @ http://satisfiedwithislam.blogspot.com/ and http://learnislam2day.blogspot.com For a list of books I recommend, read http://sfraww.blogspot.com/2013/06/my-top-10-favorite-islamic-books-extras.html
 

The Story Behind this Poem

I have been wanting to learn more about the names and attributes of Allah (God) and while on my search, I came across certain verses from the Quran and authentic sayings (Hadith) of Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h) that grabbed my attention. Some of these are listed above. I saved these and initially wanted to work on a "book" where I put down verses and sayings that I felt really described each of Allah's 99 names and attributes that would be easy to understand and remember, almost children-friendly (since I couldn't find one already available). Only time will tell if this book will happen. For now, I thought a general poem about Allah, including some of His names and attributes that are my favorites, will due. And what better way to start my recent A-Z Poetry by Me Project than with Allah for the letter A! Anyways, I hope you enjoy this and look forward to more poems to come in this series :)

My Movie Madness Scrapbook Pages

 

I love watching movies and scrapbooking, so 3 years ago I decided to do 2 scrapbook pages dedicated to them. I came up with 10 categories and wanted to watch enough movies to have 5 movies in each. I recently finished my second page and watched wayyy more than 50 for this "project," so I have a good idea on what movie fits where in my opinion. I do have some repeats, but generally tried to vary my choices.

I started to include bookish topics on my blog since the beginning of the year, and more recently decided to include movie posts as well. Some of these may include reviews, lists, and now this! I hope you like this different post and learn about some of my favorite movies :)

Here are some closeups. Click the images to enlarge.

 

 

 

 

 

A-Z Poetry by Me: Intro.

I got the idea of a poetry project after coming across Fida Islaih's blog a few weeks ago. It is called A to Z Poetry. I don't know why I never thought of this before, being a fan of poetry myself, but with writer's block for a long time...

I will try my best to write poems in different forms for every letter of the alphabet, i.e. the significant theme, item, or word basically has to start with a letter from A-Z. I came up with some (general) ideas which I will share below so you get an idea of what I mean exactly. These may change eventually, but this is what I plan to write about for now. Some may be familiar to you already ;)

I would also like help from you on ideas for letters I left blank. As you will see, there are a number of blanks, so I am bound to pick something you suggest ;) I want to write about (nouns) that have meaning to me or that I have words to share on the subject. So far, below is what I could come up with. Finally, I encourage you to join in and share some of your poetry too :)

Once I get each poem posted, I will directly link them here for easier access. Here is my list!

Allah
Books in Bed
Colors of Life
Dreaming a Life? (poem for uni. had to include a dream, road trip, and film...)
Elegy to Childhood
Family Comes First
G
H
Islam
J
Knowledge
Love
(The) Most Influential Person in History
N
O
P
Q
Ramadan
So Much to Be Thankful For
T
U
V
Women
X
Youth
Z