Maryam’s Musings

The Kuala Lumpur International Book Fair 2008 was held last week.

I was in Kuala Lumpur for a meeting on Friday, and I managed to squeeze in two hours to visit the fair. My kids had to ‘ponteng’ tadika because I wanted to bring them along with me. Naughty mom!

Anyway, I bought the following books on Rasulullah and his Sahabah which I had been eyeing for some time:

  These are the novels:

And these are the motivational and self-help books:

I also bought Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat Unplugged 1 – which contains some speeches and writeups by my beloved Tok Guru.

I hope these books will last me until 2009 KLIBF. I still have a few more books that I had purchased earlier that I need to read!!!

Happy reading to me!

I had to attend a meeting in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. Instead of driving, I decided to take the public transport hoping that I could get some rest. My twins have been quite challenging to manage this past few days and driving would create another headache for me. A three-hour bus ride would provide me with sufficient time to rest.

I brought along with me ‘Relevankah Aku Di Hatimu (RADHA)’ which essentially means Am I Relevant to You written by a new author, Rynsa. I bought this book during the recent Kuala Lumpur International Book Fair but since I have been busy with my ICSA examinations, I had kept it safely in my bag. Anyway, I just couldn’t stop reading the book. I managed to finish half of the book on my way to KL, and completed the rest on my way home.. with some occasional naps in between, of course.

The book brought me many bitter sweet memories. It reminded me a lot about the place where I had spent pursuing my undergraduate degree, Melbourne. The most liveable city in the world. No, the story had nothing to do with Melbourne, it was all about Japan, but the involvement of the main characters in Islamic organizations was what brought tears to my eyes. During my student days, I was quite active in Islamic activities. Every term break, gatherings or camps were organized. Summer Camp, Winter Camp, Spring Camp.. you name it. Most of us had our schedules planned around this activities. Weekdays and nights were filled with lectures, tutorials and revisions. Weekends were reserved for Islamic activities – usrahs, study circles, visits, picnics. Not even a single hour was put to waste. By the time I became a senior, I started to lead usrah groups. I had so much time to do all kinds of things. Those were experiences I would treasure for the rest of my life. It gave my life a lot of meaning.

But things have been different ever since I returned home. I am very, extremely inactive in doing Islamic activities which I really enjoy doing – learning new things, discussing with fellow friends, arguing on current issues… Although right now, I am trying to get myself more active by becoming involved in the activities at my workplace. And after reading the book, my earlier belief - that by having a partner that has the same ‘fikrah’ or understanding is a strong factor – is re-emphasized. Of course, my other half is a devoted Muslim, but he is not into Islamic activities very much - maybe due to lack of exposure, lack of experience and lack of friends. The ‘right environment’ is lacking. But I still have this hope that things would change one day. And I will keep praying that Allah will show us the light… Ameen.

And I guess, it does reflect on me as well. I have to keep improving myself, improving my iman to Him… Because afterall, Allah has said in the Holy Quran in Surah Al Baqarah, verse 187 on husbands and wives… “..they are your garments and you are their garments….”

There was a book sale by Pay Less Books last week, in Ipoh. I bought three books, one of them “Summer People” by Elin Hilderbrand. I decided to read this one first - not for any specific reason though. I just had a good feeling about it.

“Summer People” is a good read, terrific. The story is about how the death of Archer, a well-known lawyer, changed the lives of the people around him. Archer was defending a murderer, Constance, who suffered a horrible life due to her brother’s and sister-in-law’s involvement with drugs. She intended to save her nine-year old niece from becoming a prostitute, but ended up killing her sister-in-law and her niece. So, Archer got so involved in the case, and on his way home from meeting with a witness, his plane crashed.

Archer and his wife has a pair of twins, Garrett and Winnie. They will always spend summer in Nantucket where his wife, Beth inherited a summer house. Right before Archer’s death, he invited Constance’s son, Marcus to join them the coming summer. And Beth decided to honor her husband’s wish and invited Marcus to come along even though Archer was not there.

Marcus and Winnie fell in love. Garrett fell in love with Piper, David’s daughter. David by the way, was once married to Beth for two weeks when they were still young. But then Beth never revealed this to anyone. And then that summer, Garrett and Winnie found out and started hating their mom for keeping that secret from them.

The thing that I found interesting about this book was how Beth, who lost her husband, dealt with the twins and how she managed to turn David’s offer to get back together. She was so lonely, and she needed someone to lean on. David was there, but she loved Archer and will not replace him just because she was feeling lonely.

And I like how Piper dealt with her getting pregnant with Garrett’s child at the age of 17. It is true what people say, you don’t have to be trained to become matured. It just comes naturally.

Overall, it was a good read. I finished it in 8 hours.

I love books. Period. I have been reading a lot of Malay novels lately, and one of the websites that I simply love to visit i.e. Carriekirana suggested some really good novels that I cannot resist reading.

These two books have caught my attention, that I finished reading them in less than two days. John Norafizan is a remarkable author. His plots are very smooth, and his style of writing - I just love it. To John (if you are reading this), thank you for such wonderful works. What you have written in these two books are just so deja vu to me, maybe because during my six years stay in a foreign country, things that you have described in your books happen everyday. Congratulations, and I hope to see more of your works in the future.

I would give both books a 9.99 out of a full score of 10. They are THAT good.

I am really into the mood of reading novels lately. Judith McNaught used to be my favourite author, but she hasn’t written any new ones lately. So, I have started reading Malay novels, which I have not done in a very long, long time.Norhayati Berahim is becoming one of my favourite Malay novelists. I already have 3 of her novels; Hati Seorang Wanita (The Heart of a Woman) and Nota Cinta Buatmu (A Love Note for You), which I have read more than 2 times each; and I recently bought Cinta Pertama (First Love), which I should start reading by next week.

This morning, I bought two more books. One is Membina Hati Bahagia (How to Build a Happy Heart) which is a motivational book written by a very well known motivator in Malaysia, Dr Tuah Iskandar. To tell you the truth, I used to be so sceptical about him. I thought that he was just like any other motivator who takes people’s money in return for some words of wisdom. But I was so wrong. It started when I bought a book titled Hatimu Untuk Siapa (Who is Your Heart For?) written by him. I didn’t actually notice that it was written by him. But after reading it (in a record time of 3 hours), I fell in love with it. I could feel the sincerity in him. And that was what made me bought Membina Hati Bahagia.

Anyway, the other book that I bought was a two-in-one novel by Sheila O Flanagan. So far so good. Suddenly Single has been exciting enough to make me continue reading. I will update my review of both books once I am over with reading them. The next question is, if I have time to read novels, when am I going to start writing up my PhD proposal???