Book Addict Q&As

Hello world!

So I was reading my blog (yes, I normally do that) and I realized it’s been a heck of a long time since I wrote a book/novel review. Also, as I was scrolling through my Goodreads account, the last book I had read was the Power, by Rhonda Byrnes.

In the world of reading, I have failed totally.

I know, it is not the end of the year yet, but we are almost ending the first half and it sucks.

Today’s post is some questions I am answering in relation to books and my reading pleasure.

Honestly, I do not remember where I got these questions from, but it will be fun to blog about it. I wrote the questions and answered them in my writer’s journal, so I just thought I should share it.

Where do you like to read?

Mostly in my room, or at a cozy part of my home.

Bookmark or random piece of paper?

Bookmarks. I usually make my own. They are not really pretty ones, but I’ve been doing them as long as I can remember.

Bookshelf or box

Definitely bookshelves. I have library dreams. I can even make the under of the bookshelf my bed.

Can you just stop reading or do you have to stop at a chapter?

I have to stop reading at a chapter. I just can’t stop reading at any page. If I do, then I start the chapter all over again.

Do you eat or drink while reading?

Not at all. If I do, I normally do it when I am done reading a chapter or on break.

E-Reader or physical book?

Real book! I want to feel the pages and smell the book. Once, I read John Grisham’s The Litigators. The smell of the book made me feel like I was working in a law firm.

Music or television while reading?

None. I tried it once, it did not work. At the end, I was singing along and creating music videos in my head.

One book at a time or several at once?

One book at a time. I want to feel the moment of one book before moving to the next.

Reading at home or everywhere?

I prefer reading at home but it depends. I tried reading in a public transport. It was quite uncomfortable but I was able to read 5-6 chapters. I still prefer reading at home.

Reading aloud or silently in your head?

I read silently in my head most of the time, but I read dramatic conversations out loud, especially when I am alone. (Confession time)

Fiction or non-fiction?

Both! But, most of my books are fiction.

Do you read ahead or skip pages?

I read every line ahead. I like to picture scenes in my head. So, I read everything, including the dress she wore and how it looked good on her.

Break the spine or keep the book as new?

It depends. If it’s an old book I bought, I break the spine. If it’s freshly bought from a bookshop. I’d keep it like new.

Do you write in your books?

I used to when I was a little girl. But now, I prefer to keep a notebook and a pen nearby.

Your top 5 favourite books

I really do not like answering questions like this, because there are several books I have read that deserve to be part of the top 5. I am also yet to read more interesting books but for the sake of this, here are my top five books:

Tell Me Your Dreams by Sidney Sheldon

Hidden Rainbow by Christmas Carol Kauffman

Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella

A Promise for Ellie by Lauraine Snelling

Christmas After All by Kathryn Lasky

Next time, don’t ask me this question, hahaha xx.

Favourite genre

Mystery. Suspense

What made you love reading?

My parents put the reading spirit in me. I started reading when I was a little girl, and now it’s a part of me.

Any other materials you love to read?

Comic books!

Now I tag you to answer these questions. Anywhere on social media. If you have a blog, that would be cool. Do not forget to tag me!

Currently reading: The Artist Way by Julia Cameron

The Other Side of a Writer

I recently finished reading one of Roald Dahl’s books; The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More and it made me fall in love with his writings more. The first Roald Dahl book I read was Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and I was amazed at how he could make our imaginations travel.

In Lucky Break (How I Became a Writer), which is part of The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More, he described a writer he met; C.S. Forester. He wrote

………..there are two distinct sides to a writer of fiction. First, there is the side he displays to the public, that of an ordinary person like anyone else, a person who does ordinary things and speaks an ordinary language. Second, there is the secret side, which comes out in him only after he has closed the door of his workroom, and is completely alone. It is then that he slips into another world altogether, a world where his imagination takes over and he finds himself actually living in the places he is writing about at that moment. I myself, if you want to know, fall into a kind of trance, and everything around me disappears. I see only the point of my pencil moving over the paper, and quite often two hours go by as though they were a couple of seconds.

I wanted to scream at Roald Dahl and tell him YOU ARE SOOOOO RIGHT, ROALD!!!! Because what he wrote was very true. You see writers as ordinary people who wear ordinary clothes and live ordinary lives in an ordinary neighbourhood, in an ordinary house and speak an ordinary language.

But, let him be in his room alone. The room where he writes, and give him a pen and paper. He is completely in another world. Words are floating around his head, but you cannot see it.

I experience that a lot. When I get overdose of inspiration, I fall into that trance.

Any other writer who has experience that?

P.S. Don’t forget to vote (Details on the image below)

Novel Talk: The Redemption of Sarah Cain

Hello world!

I had a good weekend. It was good. Last week was kind of a mixed situation, both good and unpleasant. I am grateful for such a wonderful weekend to get away from the city and go back to Winneba to hide a little (just for a few hours).

I am done reading The Redemption of Sarah Cain. It is a religious novel about a group of Christians I am hearing for the first time; The Amish. I don’t know of anyone in Ghana would belongs to a group like that. I have done online research of them because of this. They have interesting customs and traditions.

Anyway, since I have finished reading the book, I wanted to go on ahead and write the review, but I want to do something different. I want to write eleven quotes/ sentences I liked from the book. Here are five quotes I liked from the book (in no particular order)

Choose only the perfect ones, and your collection will become more important. Remember, there is only one sun and moon in the sky. Think how trivial a harvest moon would be if there were three.

Things done by halves are never done right.

In shedding nonessentials, one sheds vanity

Nary a promise for the morrow. Live ev’ryday as if it’s your last

Sarah had come to her relationship with Bryan a mere silhouette of a woman, hungry for acceptance, but too apprehensive to embrace it wholeheartedly.

There’s a healing that often comes from creating an heirloom.

The outside of one’s life is their shell. It can guide one to find the ultimate answer….within.  A person is always free to change his shell at any time.

God is sovereign, in all, over all, and above all. I do put my faith and hope in him.

Human beings often despite aloneness. We avoid isolation at all costs. Yet we must reconcile with solitude, learn to embrace it, so that we can hear God’s voice.

Treasures from the sea teaches us heavenly lessons.

A single powerful bolt of lightning split the sky, silver and sizzlin’.

Have you read the book? What do you think of the Amish culture? Maybe, you can tell me more about them.

Book Review: Hidden Rainbow + Something Closer to Red

“……If we had no trials, no troubles, how would God test our strength and genuineness?......”

                                                                                                Sister Lutz, Hidden Rainbow, pg. 317

The Testament was hidden under the mattress. Their world was dark and full of lost happiness, until they John and Anna brought it out and discovered ………..

THEIR HIDDEN RAINBOW

Hey there! I greet you.

I am so proud of myself. 14 Days of MarieAmour was a success! I was able to blog for 14 days straight including Sundays, which I haven’t done before. The highest I had ever gone before that was two days.

Whoa! Well done, Marietta.

I did it and I like it.

So, Monday was a rest day for me, from the trip, to the Vals celebration (which wasn’t a huge one, but I liked it), and no lectures on Monday. I did enjoyed my rest. I am gradually get back on track with my studies and blogging.

Another thing I am so proud of: I read almost 5 books in January. Yes! I know, but seriously, it’s nothing. I mean, back in my SHS days when I could read 10 novels a month, which can be 30 books in a term. It was normal, you know, especially when you are surrounded by two girls (Omay and Ella) who were possessed of reading romance. (I miss them!!!) Now, I have other loads on me and reading can be done only when school is out.

Sometimes, I miss my SHS life.

No worries, the main reason for this post is another novel review and a lipstick I am rocking. To tell you the truth, the novel’s title or blurb isn’t what attracted me to read, rather the author’s name.

Christmas Carol Kauffman.

Her name, how relatable it sounds, and I loved her already. I wish she was alive, like I would have searched for her, and we’ll become best friends born on the same day, but different years; 25^th December.

The book is a true story about a forbidden New Testament that shattered the calm of a Yugoslavian village.

John and Anna, a married couple who were born to Catholic parents were led to the truth, light and true happiness through the ministry of a Protestant missionary. The town was against such doctrines taught and the reading of the Holy Bible. When you are caught talking with a missionary like that, you would be severely criticized by the Reverend Father of the town.

I like Anna for her bravery, courage, motherly skills and heart. She has a beautiful soul, and though she was severely criticized by the neighbours, family, and the Catholic Church, she still believed in reading the Bible and believing in God and worshipping Him through Jesus Christ.

I would give this novel a 4.5 out of 5. It was well written and easy to understand, and it has made my faith to be stronger.

This is a lipstick I found at home, that has a colour closer to red. I found it in my mother’s makeup bag. I have made a goal to invest in a good red lipstick. I somehow think, a lipstick that is red, is not the right shade of lipstick for my skin colour, but there is no harm in trying, right?

The photos I took for this blog were not as bright as I expected. The harmattan fog in January did not favour my photos, they look as if I used a filter called harmattan to edit my photos. Eek. Can you imagine? A filter called Harmattan to edit photos. It would be whacky.

Have you read the novel? What do you think of having a photo filter called Harmattan? Which red lipstick brand would you recommend?

Ps. Enjoy some snapshots of the video I planned not to upload for the novel review. Hehehe.

Book Review: Santrofi on National Service

Good morning, world. It is another beautiful day of sunshine and more blessings. I hope you are doing great. For me, I am gradually getting back on track from all the melancholy I was experiencing since the beginning of the year. Actually, I don’t know why I was experiencing that. I think it’s because a relative of mine fell seriously sick, but she is better now. That explains my drastic weight loss and all the uninspired days, but I’m all good now, and ready to face 2016, and live the sweet sixteen life with good intentions.

I have finished reading Santrofi on National Service, a novel, in which I just used a day to finish reading, since I was less busy on that day. It was ok, in my opinion. I am getting ready to do my National Service, next year, and this year is my internship.

It is a story of a young sixth form man, who was posted to the Upper West Region for his National Service. He was born and raised in Accra, and he had never left the capital before. His father refused to let him be a footballer, just like the post I wrote a few days ago, but his posting to a small village in the Upper West made him know his calling and what he is capable of, in terms of changing lives.

What I hate about the book is how the protagonist was very successful (or should I say, too successful) at everything (teaching, being a role model, at playing football). It was unrealistic to me. How can a person succeed at everything without any flaws and suddenly be a champion. Even superheroes have downfalls. The only downfall he had was when his longtime girlfriend broke up with him, which was so painful and when a student tempted him to sleep with her.

One lesson I learnt is that you can make a change at the area where you were posted.

 I would give this novel a 2.5 out of 5.

Have you read it before? What do you think about it?

Book Review: No Sweetness Here

Hello everyone! Sorry, I have not been able to post lately. A loved one has been ill for a long time, and I was disturbed. She is getting better now, thanks to my Heavenly Father and prayers of loved ones. Thanks to Sadia, Thomas, Papacy and Aikon for taking care of her.

Due to this situation, I finished reading this novel late, but I am finally done, end I enjoyed it.

No Sweetness Here is a book of short stories written by Ama Ata Aidoo. There are eleven stories in all and they were beautifully written. They are stories about the Ghanaian society issues, and one thing I love about the book is that, though they were written in the 1960s, we can relate to it in the 21^st century Ghana.

The short stories include Everything Counts, For Whom Things Did Not Change, In the Cutting of a Drink, The Message, Certain Winds from the South, No Sweetness Here, A Gift from Somewhere, Two Sisters, The Late Bud, Something to Talk About on the Way to the Funeral, and Other Versions.

It was difficult to pick a favourite and a least favourite. Maybe, I’ll choose In the Cutting of a Drink or The Message or oh, Two Sisters too was good. My least favourite was No Sweetness Here. Okay, it was not my least favourite, but it is a story I wish not to read again because there was no happy ending, and the woman lost everything.

Though, there are spelling mistakes and other errors, which might be the fault of the Publisher/Printing Press, these collection of short stories is one of the best I have read. I might even consider writing a book of short stories like this.

I’ll give it a 4 out of 5 stars.

Getting Ready For NaNoWriMo

Hello guys! How are you doing today? I hope you are feeling great. If not, then get well sooner!

You know that November is set aside for NaNoWriMo which stands for National Novel Writing Month. It is an annual internet-based creative writing project that takes place during the month of November. It challenges participants to write 50,000 words, (which is the minimum number of words for a novel), from November 1st 00:00am to November 30th 23:59 GMT.

Participants write either a complete novel of 50,000 words or simply the first 50,000 words of a novel to be completed later. See more details about NaNoWriMo here.

Last year, I challenged myself to join NaNoWriMo 2015, but from the look of things, it seems I cannot participate fully because of my school load. Though, I won't be a full participant, I would try to do a little more than 30%.

This is the book I'll be using for the project. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

Are you going to be a part of it? What are your plans?

Or maybe, you have done it before. How did it go?