lailasemeda's reviews
110 reviews

Happy Place by Emily Henry

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Some people see this book as not the best for the Henry and not intellectually fulfilling or it is sadder than her usual books.

However I see it differently in this book Emily Henry teaches us how to love ourselves first before falling in love with another person. How to be open with our closest people to talk about our feelings and what is happening inside us to avoid waking up oneday finding ourselves very distant from them.

I loved how Harriet in the end was courageous enough to know the difference between what makes her happy and what she was doing due to traumas from her childhood and being brave to cut the circle.

كلمات by طه حسين

informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

طول عمرى بحب الكتب بس مليش فى قراءة الجرائد بس الكتاب ده جامع مقالات نشرها طه حسين فى جريدة الجمهورية منها ما يتناول المعنى الحقيقى للديموقراطية ومنها ما يتناول أهمية المحافظة على التراث العربى ومواضيع أخرى مختلفة عرفت منهم ان الجرائد مهمة لنشر الثقافة زى الكتب.

بعض الاقتباسات من المقالات:

"الصحف اليومية لا ينبغى أن تهبط إلى القراء وإنما ينبغى أن ترتفع بهم من الجهل إلى المعرفة، ومن السخف إلى الجد، فهى أدوات رقى فى البيئة الاجتماعية."

"إنما الرجل المثقف هو الذى يتهيأ طبعه وعقله لقبول المعرفة مهما تختلف فروعها، ومهما تكون مادتها."

"ليس هناك غناء فى هيئة الأمم المتحدة وليس هناك أمل فى الأمم المتحضرة لترفع ظلماً أو تقر عدلاً أو تفكر فى غير منافعها."

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

The Great Alone….Alaska 
Alaska is a magical state but a deadly one as well, it will bring your true self out.
In this beautiful novel that tells you the story of two women,Cora and her daughter Leni, their story about travelling from state to state till they found the meaning of home finally in Alaska, how they adapted and changed from just a mother and her daughter to survivors. And their journey to break free from Ernt the husband and father who came back from the war in Vietnam with unrecognized and untreated PTSD  that created a monster at the end.
You will finish The Great Alone with a hidden love inside your heart for Alaska and a longing to go to this wild state.

أوراق شمعون المصري by أسامة عبد الرؤف الشاذلي

adventurous dark informative sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

هو التاريخ بيكرر نفسه ولا اللى بيحصل دلوقتى توابع للاحداث التاريخية؟
مهم جدا فى الفترة ديه نفهم ونعرف كل شعب اصله ايه والصراع القائم ده سببه ايه.
لو مش بتحبوا كتب التاريخ فممكن تقروا روايات تاريخية زى أوراق شمعون المصرى اللى بتحكيلك حكاية مشوقة داخلها احداث تاريخية حقيقة وكلها مستندة على مصادر قوية.
أوراق شمعون المصرى بتتكلم عن هجرة بنى إسرائيل من مصر الى أرض الميعاد مع نبي الله سيدنا موسى، وكيف كانت ردة فعل هذا الشعب مع نزول الوحى وإيمانهم بأمر الله من عدمه رغم وجود سيدنا موسى وسطهم وسنوات التيه التى مروا بيها نتيجة عصيانهم لأوامر الله.

Practice Makes Perfect by Sarah Adams

hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

If you are a Gilmore girls fan then you will definitely love this romantic novel.

While reading this book you will get a little break from life diving into your own imagination inside your brain picturing the development  of Will the bodyguard and Angel-Annie the small town flower shop owner relationship .

الورّاق أمالى العلاء by يوسف زيدان

informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

الوراق هو من كان قديما يقوم بنسخ الكتب حتى تصبح متاحة للقراء لشرائها. و أمالى هى جمع كلمة إملاء، و معنى كلمة إملاء هى ان يقوم شخص بسرد أحداث أو كلام حتى يقوم بكتابته شخص أخر.
هذه الرواية تتناول قصة حياة الوراق الذى قام بكتابة أمالى العلامة العلاء أبن النفيس قبل موته ممتزجة بقصة ابن النفيس من خلال سرده لرحلته الشخصية وكيف استقر به المقام فمصر.
رواية خيالية غنية بأحداث تاريخيّة حقيقية تأخذك فى رحلة عبر الزمن فى أواخر عصر الأيوبيين وبداية عصر المماليك.

A Bakery in Paris: A Novel by Aimie K. Runyan

adventurous emotional inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

“He always believed parents should do what they can to set their children up for a good start into adulthood. ‘Give them enough to do something, but not enough to do nothing’.”

It’s a dual-time novel taken place in Paris in 1870 and 1946; First part about Micheline’s life after WWII and the second part about her great grandmother Lisette’s life during the siege of Paris by the Prussians (what formed the German Empire later in 1871).

Both Micheline and her great grandmother Lisette shared the same passion for baking and the love of cooking for their loved ones.

While reading this novel you will feel as if you travelled back in time and place as if you are in Paris smelling the tasty French patisserie and visualizing them in front of your eyes from the very good description of Aimie the writer. 

When All is Said by Anne Griffin

emotional inspiring lighthearted reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

In this book you will witness all what 84 years old Maurice has to say to his son about the most important people in his life from his childhood till the death of his wife, how those people made him the man he is and the decisions he had to make through the course of his life.

Conversations on Love by Natasha Lunn

emotional hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective slow-paced

4.0

In this book you will read interviews/conversations with several people experts and not; about all forms of love, the loss of love and how to continue living in peace.

Here are some of my favorite highlights of the book;

“One of the best models of love is how parents love their children. Parents really love their children. At the same time, sometimes they don't like them - they get bored of them, they think they're awful, they want a break from them. And all those things goon in the love that an adult might have for another, too: sometimes we're fed up and aware of somebody's glaring faults, but still very much on their side. They annoy us and we still love them?”

“There isn't someone the right shape out there for every person - that has to happen in relationships. That's why relationships get better, because we allow mutual impact”

“I don't require you to be fun. You're not a performing monkey. I'm here for the good and the bad and everything in between”

“Just as I had learnt that a beautiful life contains joy and suffering, the people we love have amazing and frustrating layers.”

“Now I think of friendship as a thread that tethers us to another person. There are years when, if we pull on it too much, tug for more of the thread than the other person is able to give at that point in their life, then it will become tight and strained and tense. It might even snap. But if we can loosen our grip a little, let it slacken in the middle, it will give both friends space to move closer and further apart. We won't necessarily feel its presence every day, but it'll still be there when we need to find a way back to each other.”

“True friendship is about taking it easy on each other, knowing that life has tides that take you to various places, and that you'll find a way back to each other at different points.”

“An old friendship is one of those things the helps you remember who you are in the world, and that's so valuable.”

The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This book is about a children’s book series that not only saved the lives of the children who read it but also gave them lives when they became adults.

It’s a story that shows the importance of reading for everyone children and adults all the same, it proves what reading does to readers.
Sometimes books saves the lives of their readers they give them a safe place to escape when the world around them is dark and ugly.