Friday, September 9, 2011

in which I talk about life and its meaning.

The days are all blurred into each other- its pretty monotonous- save for some little moments that try to break up the constancy and greyness of life.
For one, I dunno how this 'gap year' is going to work.
At first, everyone was fine with it. But suddenly, over Eid, literally EVERYONE has started having problems with me taking a year off.
My parents, my relatives, my parents' friends even.
Why, I ask them, could they have not voiced said problems before? When the universities I'm interested in were raking in their admissions and  having a jolly good time with the admission tests and all that after-Alevel crap?
Why NOW, when all of them are not taking in new kids, when the time for xyzCAT registrations AND in some cases, testing is over?

They say its because I don't talk to them, don't inform them about my 'plans'.
First of all, I TOLD them my plans. Second of all, they AGREED with the gap year scene, initially.
So why the fuck do they have to make me feel even worse about said plans now?
Why did they not offer the numerous knowledgeable contacts they had, talking about what I should do before it was too late?!
 I'm sorry.
Its their fault, not mine.
I know I screwed the Alevels up, I'm trying to make up for it.
So shut up okay?
Ugh.

Anyway, on a more cheerful note... Bloomsbury-Walker [WELL KNOWN SEXY BOOK PUBLISHERS] actually tweeted about my Chain Reaction book review!
Me=Ecstatic- might as well be an understatement.
AND THEN THEY REPLIED BACK WHEN I TWEETED ABOUT IT!!!




Yeah, to all the book bloggers out there- I know you guys probably think its not such a big deal- but it is to me okay?
I live in Pakistan- have a BOOK blog and awesome international publishers actually call MY reviews awesome?

 In other news, Eid was fun and I got SO MUCH MONEY. *drools*
And then- my birthday was like, exactly a day after Eid, which obviously meant- yeah you guessed it, EVEN MORE MOOLAH.
I can finally get a decent phone now, mine looks like its been stamped on (it has- Dad was mad at me), sat on, and like someone regularly dropped it whenever they forgot it was on their lap (me).
They back cover is MIA and Ibu peeled off a part of the red, once very sexy metallic coating, so now its just- crap.
Not to mention how it hangs quite often and switches of whenever it pleases.
You know, despite it all, I really love my phone.
A very close friend got it for me all the way from Saddar, (in Karachi, a place far far away, where females are usually not encouraged to go to cause of the volatile [read: gross and maila] crowd. Would you label me as snob/ defence ki bachi for saying  that? Probably. But whatever.) since in our regular cellphone shops they all had it in black, not red.
It has over a kajillion texts in it from my best friends, who left me foreva and went abroad, which actually spell into a million memories.
Ima miss it, but I think its served its time. Its been with me since the summer of 2009.

Okay, so I keep switching back and forth between the blogger window and my desktop.
MOM, PLEASE LEAVE ME ALONE.
*face-desk*x1002029

My birthday sucked, in a way. I slept the whole day, in a half hearted depression state. Feeling sorry for myself and all that. At night though, it got better, when my mom/grandma/sisters took me to the new Frozen Yogurt place thats opened up on MM Alam Road and then I had a special mini surprise- all thanks to the loveliness that is Sallz.
She'd somehow managed to get me a cake/card/present, all the way from Karachi!
It was super adorable and so unexpected!
After that, I had this huge silly smile on my face the whole time we were there.
The omg-someone-really-cares feeling was kinda awesome.
 Best friends like that = win.

Pictures? Yes, of course.


Ibu, strolling down zi driveway- like a bauuusss

My wonderful birthday surprise.

The frozen yogurt birthday sundae- complete with 3 scoops of ice cream (mint choc chip/butter pecan/rock road), whipped cream, topped with crushed brownie bits and waffle- with the cliched cherry on top.
Yes, I ate it all.
Yes, I'm a fat ass.

Me showing off the cute Bday card

Two lovely books given to me by another awesome friend of mine. *sigh of content*

double choc chip cupcakes- I baked for Eid

My sister's mehndi, this Eid


Me, this Eid.

I'll probably once again not be blogging as much as usual- exams in October!
RATE/COMMENT/SUBSCRIBE!

Hugs,

ChickLitGirl

Ps:

Life: Something everyone goes through.
Its meaning [as defined by Google]: The condition that distinguishes animals and plants from inorganic matter, including the capacity for growth, reproduction, functional activity, and continual change preceding death.

NOW YOU KNOW THE MEANING OF LIFE!!!!


Wednesday, September 7, 2011

A Long, Long Sleep by Anna Sheehan (in which there are- emotional emotions)

A Long, Long Sleep
by Anna Sheehan

4/5 stars!



This book.
THIS book.
It is emotional.
It made me cry.
Its exciting and bitter and sweet and horrifying- and really, REALLY good.

You need to read this book.





It should have been a short suspended-animation sleep. But this time Rose wakes up to find her past is long gone— and her future full of peril.
Rosalinda Fitzroy has been asleep for sixty-two years when she is woken by a kiss. Locked away in the chemically induced slumber of a stasis tube in a forgotten subbasement, sixteen-year-old Rose slept straight through the Dark Times that killed millions and utterly changed the world she knew. Now, her parents and her first love are long gone, and Rose— hailed upon her awakening as the long-lost heir to an interplanetary empire— is thrust alone into a future in which she is viewed as either a freak or a threat. Desperate to put the past behind her and adapt to her new world, Rose finds herself drawn to the boy who kissed her awake, hoping that he can help her to start fresh. But when a deadly danger jeopardizes her fragile new existence, Rose must face the ghosts of her past with open eyes— or be left without any future at all.

My Thoughts:

I love fairy tales and I thought this was just going to be a nice dystopian-ish retelling of Sleeping Beauty.
Well.

It is that, but unlike all other dystopians out there- This is so very different.

The beginning of the book was boring- don't expect to fall in it at once. Its boring, but not so much as to put you off.
The author, because of the whole future element managed to keep you interested enough, though you do find yourself face-walling at how pathetic Rose is behaving like, and at first, she seems like a spineless wishy washy girl- and not very likeable.


But wow, do things do a complete 180 midway through!
All the insignificant and weird childhood-y things Rose has been through, and everything else, comes together in a most breathtaking way!
Rose's ordeal was so very painful, and bittersweet and in some parts so emotional, and brilliantly written that yes, I cried.
I applaud any author who can get under my skin and actually make me feel.
This book, this author, did exactly that.
*cue: applause*


The emotions, the feelings of love and loss are absolutely vivid and shockingly precisely written.
The relationship between Rose and Xavier- it actually made me cry.
And the mystery and the huge twists?
I did not, at all see them coming.
Mysteries which can knock you off your feet?
Wow.

I know this review may seem a bit haphazard, it might suck even- but I was not at all anticipating this book to be so good!
I probably judged the book by its cover, [I know. *cringes*]which isn't very outstanding. And I thought it would be an okay read, even with the interesting blurb, and I am so glad to be proven wrong!
 

This book was breathtaking- the mystery and tender love of it all.

Most books usually don't leave me hungry for sequels, and usually, I'm glad there are none, since the novel isn't so profound that I'll remember every detail a year later when the sequel finally makes a show- but A Long, Long Sleep is the kind of book that leaves a mark on you.
Yeah its a tiny mark, minute even, but you wont be forgetting this anytime soon.
I want a sequel.
A sequel would be awesome.

I love NetGalley for providing me with a review ebook. Simply love. Thankyou!

READITITITIT.
And love it.

xx

CLG