Reading Ladder
February 2019
Ordered By Last To Most Recently Read Novels:
|
Title and Author |
# of Pages | Date Started | Date Completed | Pages |
Rating |
| 1. A Thousand Splendid Suns By Khaled Housseini |
415 |
January 26, 2019 | February 7, 2019 | 20-25 |
4.5 |
| 2. Short stories from 100 Selected Stories By O Henry |
100 |
February 10, 2019 | February 19, 2019 | 25-30 |
4 |
| 3. The Purification of the Heart By Hamza Yusuf |
220 |
February 21, 2019 | February 29, 2019 | 20 |
5 |
Total Pages Read:
Altogether I read 1,059 pages throughout the course of the month.
415 + 424 + 220 = 1, 059
On a weekly basis, I would read approximately 150 pages.
1, 059 = 150/Week
During the month of February, my daily reading count was 20 pages per day on average.
150/7 = 20/Day
This is the number of pages that I read daily, on average based on how busy or vacant my schedule was, it would vary to be more or less. If I knew that I would have less time to read on a particular day due to school work that I have than I would read extra on the days that I had less work or get some of the reading done at school within the duration of the breaks that I was able to get.
Top Three Books:
- Purification of the Heart By Hamza Yusuf
This novel is non-fiction it is an informative piece in regards to the religion that I practice which is Islam. I heard of this novel from my older brother and my father whom both enjoy reading; thus I decided to give the book a chance, and might I add I am glad that I decided to do so. This book provides a lot of information on the background of Islam and even individuals who are not Muslim should give this book a try I highly recommend it as it has a very therapeutic essence to it. For example, when I read this book it was almost as if I was reading in slow-motion because all of the words and sentences spoke to me with such gravity that I had no choice but to slow down. Furthermore, at the time when I read this book, there were a lot of questions that I thought, that I never truly realized. Also, there were elements within my personality that I knew I needed to change in order to be a better human being and this novel was able to present me with the right information at the right moment, and I will be forever grateful. After reading this book there was a feeling of both calmness that washed over me, but also a feeling of sadness that what I enjoyed most was over. For all of these reasons I have rated this novel a 5 out of 5, I may have a hint of bias because I practice this religion nonetheless even if I was not Muslim and had the same feelings as I do now this book still would have appealed to me because there are many elements that have made me lost who I am and this book was able to get me back on my own path.
- A Thousand Splendid Suns By Khaled Housseini
I am someone who is involved within the community in many ways; for example, my mother and I went to donate clothes, food, and utensils to many homeless shelters and Syrian refugees when they were seeking a place to live in Calgary. When I read this book it opened my eyes and gave me a glimpse into the lives of individuals that I may have helped or others that I was not able to provide assistant to. The author of this book used his ability to write a powerful message to the audience as a means to convey the bigger picture, and what we can do to help in a small or big way. Furthermore, within the story there are two separate stories: one about a girl named Mariam Jo who is enslaved by her father and was forced into a child marriage, and one about a girl named Laila who lives in town and her life is a little happier however her loved ones have first-hand experienced the anguish of warfare. The author has a beautiful way of melting the two stories together in order to present such a strong idea to the readers. For instance, one of the characters in the story is named Tariq he is Laila’s lover; one day he was walking with his parents, and the soldiers had hidden landmines under the ground but had not left any warnings, as a result, Tariq stepped on one and his leg was blown into smithereens. This depicts the lives of the people that were living under these horrid conditions and what it was like for them. Moreover, this is just one of the themes that are presented many others are also shown such as abuse, betrayal, suicide, and many more. For these reasons, I have rated this novel a 4.5 out of 5 because I felt that there were some sections of the book that moved a little slow and the emotions died down during that moment though all in all I highly recommend it.
- Short stories from 100 Selected Stories By O’ Henry
When I am not reading complete novels I really enjoy reading short stories because I am able to feel satisfied when I have finished reading an entire story in one sitting. In addition, a short story is a very purposeful piece of writing because the writer is only to include elements within the story that has grave importance to the story. The reading experience is made that much more enjoyable because the writer has written literature that contains many hidden messages within a few simple sentences and it can be a puzzle to figure out how everything fits together. For instance one of the short stories by O’Henry is called A Cosmopolite in a Café and this story is about a character who drifts in the background of the sight of others and no one manages to view this person is worth anything, and this is a very simple yet emotional piece of writing.
Also, I have read short stories that are not by O Henry as well, and many of them really make you think of how you are living your life and which elements you should consider adding in order to be a better person. For example on my blog I have posted 4 Short Stories Will Change The Way You Think By Marc Chernoff, and they really made me consider how I could give back to others. For instance in one of the stories called, “ All the Difference in the World”, there is a man who always goes on a morning jog and whenever he goes he continuously sees the same old woman sitting on a bench that he runs by. Then one day he asks the woman if she is alright, and why she is always here then she replies by saying that she is cleaning the backs of the turtles so they can swim easily. The man is confused because the backs of the turtles will get dirty again nonetheless of her efforts and she says that for this turtle her cleaning its shell will make “all the difference in the world.” All in all, because O’Henry’s work contains multiple stories the overall rating that I would give it is a 4 out of 5 because some of the stories I felt were lacking a certain given element, but in general it was great.
Goal:
Currently, I am satisfied with my reading level, however, in order to further develop both my writing and reading ability I must expand the complexity of the reading that I am doing. I plan to read 3-4 books preferably more within the next few months regardless of the fact that I no longer have English this semester because English is also incorporated within other classes as well, thus it is crucial for me to continue to improve. The level of the books that I am leaning towards are more advanced books which will allow me to increase my level of understanding and my level of vocabulary.
Some books that I want to read that fall into the categories above include:
- Frankenstein Written By Mary Shellie
- Woman At Point Zero Written By Nawa El-Saadawi
- Night Written By Ellie Wiesel
In terms of a plan of action I will continue to read during my breaks and free time and if I know that I have a busy schedule coming up then proactively read a little extra on the days where I am less busy. Finally, I plan on implementing the use of a reading schedule where I can organize how much I read and have a goal to work towards. Overall, I hope to grow and learn even more within the near future in order to provide myself with the skills required to excel in courses other than English.
Digital Images Used:
Starlatch, Llc. (2004). Purification of the Heart: Signs, Symptoms, and Cures of the Spiritual Diseases of the Heart [Image]. Retrieved from https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/272724.Purification_of_the_Heart
Penguin Books (2008). A Thousand Splendid Suns. [image] Available at: https://www.snapdeal.com/product/a-thousand-splendid-suns/675046025203 [Accessed 27 Feb. 2019].
Book Shop. (2019). Short Stories O- Henry [Image]. Retrieved from https://www.bookshopbd.com/product/short-stories-o-henry/
