Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts

Wednesday, 9 January 2013

Book Review: الأسود يليق بك

في معرض الكتاب الماضي صعقت بسرعة بيع الرواية! لكن لأحلام مستغانمي قاعدتها و لي مخاوفي! فبعد اعجابي ب"ذاكرة الجسد" اصابتني الروايتين التاليتين لها (عابر سرير - فوضى الحواس) بنوع من الصدمة، فذاكرة الجسد كان لها الاثر الجميل في نفسي ، ليس فقط لانها انارتني جزائريا و لكن لانها تحدثت بموضوع محضور و سائد ، ماذا لو احببت من لا يمكن ان ترتبط به؟! و عليه قبع اسم مستغانمي بذاكرتي، ولان هذه التدوينة ل الاسود يليق بك، ساتفرغ لها ..


طرت فرحا بالحصول على النسخة "المخشوشة" من معرض الكتاب، بعد ان واجهت كلمة الاحباط التي يتخوف منها كل زائر للمعرض "نفاذ الكمية!" و لكن مصادقة العاملين في المكتبات كان جدااااا مجدي :)

رواية سلسة، لا تتطلب الكثير من الوقت، بدايتها و قلبها يحملان نهايتها آمال كبيرة! فهي رواية حب مبني على الكرّ و الفرّ، حب الانتصار و التملك مقابل السذاجة و الاعتزاز بالنفس، علاقة غير متكافئة و مثيرة للإهتمام. على الرغم من ان هذه الرواية لم تنل على اعجابي بقدر كبير لكن احلام مستغانمي تمكنت من ارسال رسائل عميقة ببعض جمل هذه الرواية، مثل:

"لا حبّ يتغذى من الحرمان وحده، بل بتناوب الوصل و البعاد، كما في التنفّس، إنها حركة شهيق و زفير"

"الحب هو ذكاء المسافة، ألا تقترب كثيراً فتُلغي اللهفة، ولا تبتعد طويلاً فتُنسى"

هناك الكثير اجمل و لكن نظرا لحرمة "التخطيط / التلوين" على الكتب في قاموسي :) كان من الصعب ان انتقي اجمل تلك الجمل التي رسخت في ذاكرتي خاصة و اني انتهيت من قراءته من فتره غير وجيزة، لجمال تلك الجمل لا بالظرورة قناعتي بها..اتمنى أن أتجرأ و اخط غير الحروف المطبوعة في الكتب التي اقرأ؟ ماااادري :} بس ودي!

من النفحات الجميلة في الرواية، تلك الصبغة الجزائرية المأخوذة من حياة المواطن البسيط الذي واجه الارهاب في قلب وطنه و التي احترمها جدا من قلم مستغانمي، فالكاتب المرتبط ببيئته يعطينا منظور اخر و اجمل قد لا نوفق بمعرفته خلال حياتنا اليومية بالإضافة لترسيخ ان الابداع يأتي من اي منبع لا بالظرورة من تلك البلدان التي يزدهر بها فن الكتابة.
 
استطاعت احلام ان تؤثر بي كثيرا من خلال قصة غير مرتبطة بالإرهاب و معاناة المواطن الجزائري معه، و لكن قصة تلك الأغنية التي ابكت بطلة الرواية! و هي باللهجة "الشاوية" و التي حسب الموروث الجزائري، غنتها امرأة من منطقة "مراونة" بكت "عيّاش-يها" بعد ان اخذهم رجل طامع! لن استرسل فكلي امل ان اثير فضولكم حولها .. 

لا تخلوا الرواية من ذلك الرجل المراوغ الذي يعزف على اوتار اعجاب المرأة كما تريد المرأة! فمع احترامي للرجال لكن فقط قلم امرأة قادر على ذلك الكر و الفر و الصبر و الشجاعة للمحاولة للوصول لقلب المرأة، و ان كان هناك رجل يجيد ما حبكته من مناورات فهو نادر، اما ان وجد عاشق تلك البطلة بالواقع، فا عويذ الله من شره!

٣ من ٥ 

و تستحق القراءة :}

Friday, 30 September 2011

Better Books Kuwait - used books store & more

للمهتمين بالكتب الإنجليزية في الكويت

From The Grape Vine Kuwait I knew about the spoon bending seminar :} and from there I got the thread to "Better Books"! E-mailed them since I am interested in the seminar, and got the directions to it


This is from the brochure the owner gave us with the map to the place and contact, its in the block behind Al-Rashid Hospital In Salmiyah Area, if you leave it on your left and go straight to the round about, take a U-Turn from the round about, 2 rights and then a left, you will see this weirdly dotted door on your left!


I didnt ask about the banner above whether one will be put or not anytime soon :p


However, to your right you will see this big sign :>


The stairs looked weird, walls had quotes written on them and books on the floor, ADs on the tables you can see, a lot of things hanging that need attention to grasp :}

We met the owner Maxine, who was very welcoming and offered us coffee and tea, and was kind enough to talk to us about her place, in short its a small used books store, and they have a 1/2 price back to you policy similar to the Q8Books one, when you bring the book back after reading it. She also buys books, takes them for assessment and then decides to take them or not, in addition to toys, I have seen some with price tags but I forgot to ask about them. The majority is for kids books almost half of the basement "which the store is located in" is filled with children books. Her contributions to the community are amazing, she donates books to kids in hospitals, prison library and a lot more in and out of Kuwait! Makes you really happy to know that people are contributing even with the least, a culture that I wish to be spread in our community.


There are 2 private reading area which you can go and sit with your book and enjoy your tea or coffee, here the Cafe part comes in :> in addition to an open hall with chairs to hold seminars, meeting or even movie screenings


So as I took a look around, Naguib Mahfouz books caught my attention! Felt really proud to see his books translated and are still on the shelves :)


I loved the cover and the title, felt heart warming


That paper is actually a movie schedule :p the place is adorably simple! No fancy decorations, a simple down to earth atmosphere is all over


This is a close up on one of the quotes that filled the walls :} which I believe in VERY much, I agree with that anonymous. Now don't expect a full range of books about everything in this world :) its a used books place which you can own, borrow "well buy & return for half price" and sell books!

The collection is not big in terms of "categories and number of books from each, for instance politics or history" but there are classic novels available, encyclopedias, kids books, books about the Arabic culture, Health, Cooking. All of the books are in English BUT the owner told us that she has very few Arabic books and is is only interested in classics IF anyone would want to give/sell some Arabic books.


These two books caught my attention, "For one more day" since its by Mitch Albom, I like his writings the language is simple, books are small and the idea of what if you can go back in time, for one more day, caught my attention! The other book is by Tony Buzan, I knew about him from a training course I took a while ago which introduced the concept of Mind Mapping, he is the founder of it and therefore, I wanted to know what he had about the Mind in "Make most of your mind" {:

I also registered in the seminar for the spoon bending! I shall post my bent spoon, if I can bend it :p So thank you Maxine and if you like English books pay them a visit.

Monday, 6 June 2011

A blogger'et has a book out!

I originally knew from Twitter that the dear blogger next door "Danderma" published a BOOK! So the story is very similar to how Banat Alriyadh book saw the light, in terms of online content that made it to be a book, Danderma had a frequent post called "Yawmyat Wa7da Q8ya Dathra" and the post turned into a book :>


I have to be honest that I have not been following up with her blog nor the whole blog-o-sphere very well recently but that news really got my attention, as if my sister or a close friend made it up there, took her creativity to the next step and shared it with the world! I still have that close connection with the term and person behind the word "blogger" I am very happy for her and proud of her, I will attend the book signing event tomorrow with the details below, to encourage the effort of a young Kuwaiti blogger, Allah eywafgech Danderma {:


You’re cordially invited to ” Danderma’s” Book Signing. Come and get your signed copy of “Yawmyat Wa7da Q8ya Dathra” book otherwise known as “The Chronicles of Dathra, A Dowdy Girl from Kuwait” and meet the person behind the hilarious series.

Date: Tuesday June 7th, 2011

Time: 7 pm – 10 pm

Location: 52 Degrees, Al- Tilal Mall, Shuwaikh Tel: 22255212


Go and support our blogger :> and if you can't make it, you can also get the book online via Lulu.

Monday, 21 February 2011

That Alsalasel in Avenues mall - مكتبة ذات السلاسل في مجمع الافنيوز


That Alsalasel bookstore is now open in the Avenues mall, about time a book store is opened there! What we need now is an ALL entertainment/media store like virgin. It was not good nor bad! Didn't stand up to my expectations nor let me down that bad, considering they just opened that is :} Hope for more books to come and fill the empty shelves.

As for the variety, not so good, especially in the English section, I got only Arabic books for Dr. Mostafa Mahmoud, may his soul rest in peace.

ذات السلاسل ، اضافة جميلة لمجمع الافنيوز، الذي يفتقر لمكتبة حقيقية و محل للوسائل الترفيهية بمستوى "فيرجن" ، لم تكن جيدة او سيئة، لكني تأملت المزيد من التنوع بالكتب و ربما حين تمتلئ الرفوف الخالية بالكتب ستصبح المكتبة اثرى؟

عموما حصيلتي في ذلك اليوم ٥ كتب للدكتور مصطفى محمود رحمه الله و هم
الله
السؤال الحائر
يوميات نص الليل 
حكاية مسافر
القرآن محاولة لفهم عصري

الدكتور مصطفى محمود، بدت علاقتي معاه مع افتتان والدي ببرنامج العلم و الإيمان و ذلك لحبه الشديد للمعلومات التي يقدمها الدكتور مصطفى رحمة الله عليه في هذا البرنامج. بالبداية لم اعرف من هذا الرجل و لكنه كان يقول كلام مفيد و يرينا صور ممتعة من شتى المخلوقات في العالم

علمت بانه يكتب ولكن لم يثر اهتمامي موضوعه، لا اعلم لمذا.. و بعد وفاته تأثرت بموته و كتبت مقال مختصر، و ها انا اليوم و بعد ما يتجاوز السنة من تاريخها ،، ابحث بين ثنايا كتبه عن لمحات من تجربته، فهو رجل وصل لدرجة كبيرة من العلم و تنقل ما بين الايمان و الالحاد ليعود مجددا للايمان بوجود الله و الاسلام

Wednesday, 18 June 2008

Newsweek Mary Magalene Dan Brown Da Vinci



In an old newsweek issue, dated a few weeks and two years ago I read about Mary Magdalene and her relation to Christianity and the different stories that wrapped her life, She was the woman who had no fixed reputation many thoughts she was a sinner and others thought she was virtuous.







The movie "The Da Vinci Code" based on Dan Brown's book, concentrated on her and took the gap that many stories around her life left in Christianity, and tried to present the theory that she bared in her loins Jesus' child and that his descendants are still alive till date presented by the last of them alive "Agent Sophie Neveu". The book/ movie shacked a lot of strict Christian reviews and all the gratitude goes to the Illustrations :) that Da Vinci made along his life, away from other discussions I wanted to point out in this post the importance of art and how it affected the creativity of Dan Brown,,,, more on Mary Magdalene and Christianity will come in the up coming days. I have a lot to say in that regard.

Sunday, 16 March 2008

New to my library

Currently reading


Which was recommended by the dear EXzombie, and its taking me forever to read it! my reading skills got rusty so this year will be different, started with The Alchemist and now Shogun, so far I am in the 60th something page and the book is of 1152. "yes even in reading I tend to care about numbers ;p"

So far the shogun is nice, a lot of details though! But the upside of it is that it gives you a very vivid image of the things happening and I am learning a little Japanese :D out of curiosity and before I got the Shogun, I took a Japanese phrasebook, the first time I held that book I read:

Wakarimasen : I don't understand!

A few pages from Shogun held that word/ question in it :D so it made me dust off the Japanese Phrasebook and practice a little now and then.



And the latest addition to my library:






Tuesday, 7 August 2007

From here & there

Busy week, work mostly, it seems at times that the 8 hours I spend there are not enough! I barely sleep, I hate it when my brain becomes too busy that sleeping turns into a hard task. Hoping that by next week the work load is less or I get used to it :D

السبت عطله وناسه بس هم ببالي الشغل و احس هاليوم اللي بفقده بيأثر على كمية الشغل اللي ممكن اخلصه ،، وصلت الفكره اشكثر انا ببالي الشغل؟؟

It is fascinating how some people take lying to be a profession :D to the extent that they are not afraid to tell you that you are NOT you! A person who is at a high level is actually lowering him self, shattering his image in front of people with his lies! Poor him


تفاجأت بيوم الخميس ان اهلي مسوين لي مفاجأه اللي خربتها عليهم امي لانها بطت الجربه لما قالت لي اييي ترى لازم تشكرين فلانه "بنت خالتي" لانها جابت لج كيك بمناسبة عيد ميلادج!!
بنت خالتي جابت لي كيكتين بنكهتيني المفظلتين (كاكاو - منجا) و الالذ بالموضوع انهم من البرررررررررررررردد!! كيك عايسكريم
و بناء على طلب الاخ اكزومبي و نحاستي مدموجين معاً هذي صورة من قطعتيني من الكيكتين :> و الكيك تشطب عليه بحزتة لا و المشكله ما تذكرت اصور الا بعد ماكليت من الكيكه!،، اي و اخوي عطاني لعبتين "بقرتين" هدايا وحده منهم تقول "موووو" بس بدون نفس لوول

هالسنه غير، ماتعودت على ان احد يحتفل فيني و انا ما القي عيد ميلادي ذاك الاهتمام اصلا ،، و هم من بعد الغزو ماقمت اهتم كللللش بهالشغله ولا اختب و اذا كلش كللللش يمكن و مو اكيد نجتمع على كيكه او عزيمه بس مو هدايا و اغاني و مفاجأه و خبه ،، و حتى ربعي بالدوام اختبوا :> احبهم كلهم



الكيكة البنية بنكهة الكاكاو وجلي عليها عوارض الافتراس من قبلي، بلشت فيها بما اني مدمنة كاكاو


Dinner out is what I plan to do tomorrow, an early one so I can sleep early, I miss sleeping well!

قريباً ،،، بتكلم عن هالكتاب





Tuesday, 12 June 2007

Tomorrow




In the Land of the Unknown ....

is my companion tonight

a book by a Kuwaiti Author called Tarek Al-Duaij

i bought it a few months ago, tonight will read it, although i did read 28 pages in the first day i took the book & i have to admit i was hooked

*hooked and it took me all this time to decide & be done with reading it! eshloon if am not hooked??*

i have to admit i had little time + interest in reading the past few months...... however that didn't stop me from buying books at all!! and the list is pilling up......

back to the book......

not only that the stories are exciting, but to try & understand the way the author is writing in & the philosophic message behind each story! is a challenge....

i have to admit the book cover caught my eye first! not noticing the crazy + cool poster that was hanging right there in front of me, was actually to promote the book, i didn't bother to read but laughed on how the poster was like.

it had a picture of some guy's head with an odd expression on his face, as if he is screaming :D but multiplied for a zillion times ;p

in that poster, if my memory doesn't fail me the multiplied pictures of the man's face were in the form of a big swirl ?? pity i didn't take a picture of it & kept browsing in my favorite book place....

not until i got to the Indian cashier who i like so much, such a friendly guy although when you first know him he can be moody! but as time passes by he will be nicer.... I knew who was in that poster!!

he looks at the book & praises the author a lot & says a few nice things about him, and asked if i knew him, i didn't :D but the book looks appealing to me, he didn't recommend the book as much as he again praised the author & pointed out to the poster that was also behind him, the same odd funny poster i noticed before, saying this is Mr. Tarek, a thing that made me smile & like the book even more, and hated the fact of how careless am i to read whats around me!!! and we kept talking for a short while regarding the material i took that day...

pictures & more tomorrow :D inshallah



Note: Patience can be painful, but might spare you a lot of trouble later........ Anxiety isn't helping...... Jealousy isn't too!!

Friday, 11 May 2007

From here & there

video codec called H.264
"delivers stunning quality at remarkably low data rates"

No reason for this piece of information except me liking it :D


و انا افتر بالنت لقيت هالبيت

بلادي وان جارت علي عزيزة ** واهلي وان شحوا علي كرام
[اجهل من يكون الكاتب، اكو احد يعرف؟]

لكن هل هالكلام صحيح؟
و الى اي حد نستطيع تحمل ماكتب اعلاه؟ اقول حد على افتراض الاسوء من قبل البلد او الاهل، على الرغم من اعتراضي على نقطة البلاد ان جارت، البلاد وطن و الوطن لا يجور! حكامه او شعبه ممكن بس البلد بريء، و يرجع الامر للبشر القاطنين لهذه البلاد ان يصلحوها او يهدموا مابها. و عليه فنحن نعود للبشر، الاهل ام غيرهم، لاي حد يستطيع الفرد تحمل الجور و الشح او اي نوع من الظلم؟


Back to tech.....
"1. What is a RAR file

RAR is the native format of WinRAR archiver. Like other archives, RAR files are data containers, they store one or several files in the compressed form. After you downloaded RAR file from Internet, you need to unpack its contents in order to use it." [from]

What made dig this up is that I downloaded a book & want to read it. What I understood from all of this is that its a format of file compression similar to ZIP only it enables more things to be compressed, format wise.

المكتبة العربية

موقع اكثر من رائع يحوي الكثير من الكتب، افكر بارسال شكر الى القائمين عليه، لانه بالفعل يحوي مكتبة عامة الكترونية رائعة. موقع يفخر به كل مهتم بالقراءة، شلون طحت عليه؟ من مدونة جبله و بهالموضوع، شكرا لفريق جبله و تحديدا كاتب الموضوع الاخ عتيج الصوف