Book Review │Books I read in 2016: Novels, Poetry and More

Hello everyone and Hello 2017. I'm still in denial stage regarding end of 2016 as it was such a beautiful year filled with happiness and joy. Nevertheless, I'm having high hopes on 2017 as well and new goals I aim to achieve throughout the new year.

Today I shall talk about books that I read in 2016. Reading has become a new hobby in 2016 and I'm grateful for committing to this hobby. I can proudly say that I have read 16 books last year as this is a great start for a newbie like me. Without further due, here is a list of books that I read in 2016:

Heart-warming book:

Wishes don't Die -  الأمنيات لا تموت: first book to talk about is this poetry that is written by Abdullah Hamed. This poetry talks about friendship, love and lots of other lovely categories. The writing style is simple, unique, and catches your attention very quickly. This poetry is so good that when I went to buy it I was told that this is the last book left. What sold me to this book is the summary and salesman raved so much about it that I couldn't resist not taking it. Not to mention that my mom loved it so much. I highly recommend reading it as it will warm up your heart.

The Answer is Love - الإجابة الحب: another heart-warming book is this documentary written by Karim Al Shatheli. The author is actually a psychologist and happens to be a researcher in psychology. In this book he talks about importance of love, make it stronger, protect it and more. This is one of books that I highly recommend for girls who are engaged and married to read as it is rich of very useful information that you will truly benefit from. The book is written in a very simple language, summarizes key points, and showcases different scenarios to learn from. I truly enjoyed reading this book and recommend all love birds to read it.

Dramatic books:

The Book of Tomorrow: this is a novel about a girl who's life completely changes after death of her beloved father. The girl encounters new people, experience new events that have not countered in her life before. There were multiple emotions that I sensed while reading this novel and I found it to be one of most dramatic novels I read in 2016. I've talked more about this novel in my post Favorites | Recent Things I’m loving 2016

Chaos of Senses - فوضى الحواس: this is the first novel I read that is written by the talented Author Ahlam Mosteghanemi. It is an Arabic novel and it talks about a woman experiences a forbidden love at time where she is married to a military man, having a fugitive brother chased by law, and at time where Algeria suffers from political stress. The novel is extraordinary hence the title "Chaos of Senses". It is another novel which felt very dramatic to me as the story progress my emotions grew stronger from curiosity to shocks. I also enjoyed the writing style as each other carried an emotion and rhythm. I highly recommend you all to read this novel.

Adventurous books:

The Time Keeper: This is the first novel I read written by Mitch Albom. Without reading the summary, I saw that Cecilia Ahern had praised the Author and that what motivated me to purchase this novel. I will not summarize the story to you because the less you know before reading, the more you will enjoy reading this novel. It was very adventurous and thrilling that I could not put my hands down. I also felt excited and curious to know what is going to happen after each chapter. The story is absolutely amazing and the writing style is perfectly on point. I highly recommend reading this novel I hope you all love it as much as I did.

40 Rules of Love: This is another novel that got me thrilled, excited, curious and truly happy. It is written by Turkish Author Elif Shafak and this is the first novel I read written by her. The novel consisted of two integrated stories at different generations. It also contained a mix of modern and ancient lifestyles which added spark onto the novel. Moreover, the writing style and context was absolutely amazing and pleasing to read. Because I was having so much reading this novel, I took my time in finishing it as I wanted to enjoy it as long as possible. This is a Must-Have novel and you all need to get your hands on it.

Horror books:

Rare cases (1, 2 & 3) - حالات نادرة: this is first series of horror novels I've read this year written by Abdul Wahab Said Al Rafaie. Each novel consist of 5-6 short stories of patients that the hero, who is a psychologist working in asylum, encounters in each story. All stories are unique, different, and none of them is similar to the other. In addition to that, all stories are written in different format such as diary or conversation and other formats. Each series is different from the previous one as you can see improvement in Author's writing style. The atmosphere that the whole novel created was tension, fear, and curiosity. The horror level was moderate but thrill and tension was pretty high. This novel was awesome, fun to read, and if you're into horror stories or movies you are going to like it.  

Museum of Souls - متحف الأرواح:  another horror novel I read that is written by Abdul Wahab Said Al Rafaie. This novel consists of one story only which is about a young girl who returns to Kuwait after completing her studies to live with her Grandfather whom she never met. While living with her Grandfather she uncovers dark secrets and experience horror and fear. The story is written in diary format and simple tone. In addition to that, there were so many shocks and unexpected events that made the story scary, thrilling, and tense. The only down-side is it's really short that it took me only 3 hours to finish reading it. Nevertheless, I loved reading it and I recommend you all to try it out.  

Tragedian books:

All The Bright Places: this was one of my top "must-have" novels in 2016. This novel was recommended by Zoe Sugg aka "Zoella" who is a British You Tuber. Zoe said that she loved this novel so much that she finished reading it within 2 days. This is one of novels that got me really emotional as I kept crying for days. Even though it is tragedy, it was lovely to read. I learned so much from this novel and I can say that it has impacted me in a positive way. I have reviewed this novel in my post: Book Review: All The Bright Places  

Al Shahama - الشهامة: this is another novel that got me very emotional. This novel is written by one of top Kuwaiti Authors Aliya Al Khadhemi. There are two short stories in this novel: Al Shahama and Frozen Tears. The novel was written in very simple, easy to understand language. Both stories are drama, romance, and tragedy.  The atmosphere created was tension, happiness, anger, and sadness. In addition to that the level of drama was really high that I read with my eyes wide open. I got pretty emotional with both stories and yes I cried. The only down-side of first novel is it was really short and I personally wished that more events took place and the story ended differently. Nevertheless I enjoyed reading this novel and I do recommend giving it a try.

Girl Online on Tour: of course how could I not get the novel that it is written by my favorite You Tuber Zoella. This is the second novel of series Girl Online. What I loved about this novel is that it is somehow the opposite of first novel. The drama level was so high, so many surprises and shocks, as well as tension. Although it is not a tragic novel yet I considered it to be tragic as I found it so sad and it made me cry. I have already reviewed this novel along with first novel Girl Online in my post BOOK REVIEW │GIRL ONLINE & GIRL ONLINE ON TOUR

Romantic books:

Black Suites You - الأسود يليق بكِ: this is the best romance novel I read written by Ahlam Mosteghanemi. The story is about a young singer, who lives under a rhythm, is committed to  wear nothing but black to morn the loss of her father and brother. One day a wealthy man, who counts every moment,  finds her and becomes mesmerized with her personality. Despite difference in personalities, they encounter each other and live a one of a kind love story. One thing for sure Ahlam is known about is integrating love with politics especially the political situation in Algeria. Along with love story, Ahlam shares political events that took place in Algeria, and worship values of humanity. The language used is a little complex, however it is really beautiful that you will enjoy every single word you read. In addition to that, there were so many emotions to experience while reading this novel such as happiness, grief, sadness, sympathy, and best of all self satisfaction. In this novel I have learned few valuable lessons that I intend to apply in my life and I highly recommend you all to read this novel.

Girl Online: this is another lovely romance novel I read in 2016. The romance was very appealing, beautiful and lovely to read. The author succeeded in illustrating this love story and making my heart melt in each scene. Personally I loved it so much that I intend to read it again. To read my review on this novel check out my post BOOK REVIEW │GIRL ONLINE & GIRL ONLINE ON TOUR    

Best book of the year:

I grew and forgot to forget - كبِرت ونسيت أن أنسى: I saved the best for the last, best novel I read in 2016 written by Bothayna Al Essa. No words can describe how amazing this novel is. The story is very inspiring, shocking, and yet beautiful. It covers common social issues that are trending in Arab society. Along with that, it consists of a beautiful love story between young adults. In addition to the story, the content was very unique as the storytelling was covered in a shuffled series of events, and the language used is mix of literature and casual speech. Moreover, poems were essential parts of this story which added so much drama and beauty to the story. Also, I experienced a lot of emotions in this story such as happiness, grief, anger, pleasure, and satisfaction.  I personally enjoyed reading every single word in this book and if you don't get your hands on this novel you are missing a lot. I highly recommend you all to read this novel.

That's all for today everyone, I hope you all enjoy reading this post and let me know which novel you enjoyed reading most last year. See you again in another post.

Life Post │My Life in 2016: Dreams, Accomplishments, and Loses

Here comes this day, where we assess our life, our thoughts, and our performance at the end of each year. In every organization, managers evaluate performance of their employees. In every school, teachers test students’ academic skills. And in every year, we assess ourselves. We ask same questions every time:
Did I achieve my goals?
Did I make a difference this year?
At the beginning of every year, we strive toward two goals: make difference in our lives, and strengthen our bonds with beloved ones. One of the things we tend to assess is our social life: who entered our life, who supported us, and who left us behind. Those who made difference in our lives are the ones we strive to keep.
Another aspect we assess is our memories: both happy and sad ones. We promise ourselves to maximize happy memories and minimize sad memories every year.
Today I shall make one difference in my life: share personal story of my life.
In 2014 & 2015 I lost two of my closest family members: my grandma and my uncle. These loses impacted me negatively and my days were filled with sorrow and grief. In short, my life had lost its color. When I wrote 2016: New Year, New Memories blog post I was completed devastated with how 2015 turned out. It was truly the worst.
So on 1^st January 2016, I made a wish and prayed for it: No more sorrow, no more grieve, and no more loses. I got tired of these feelings. Luckily, the Lord listened to my prayers and my wish came true at a time where I didn’t expect to see light.
In 2016, I’ve accomplished three major goals:

• Graduated from university: the dream finally came true; I graduated from Sultan Qaboos University with a Bachelor Degree in Finance. I can’t believe it; I made it after 5 years of struggling with stress and studies. I missed many fun opportunities, events, hangouts, and moments for joy. I sacrificed them all to accomplish this dream. Now, I finally made it and I’m glad that I made this sacrifice. Check out my post as I expressed my gratitude for witnessing this day: Life Post │My Graduation

• Get hired at well-known organization: sooner than I thought, I got hired in audit department in KPMG. KPMG is a company that provides audit, tax and advisory services to many organizations in both public and private sector. Personally, I have never thought of starting my career journey in audit, but after working for 5 months I realized that this is what I truly want. Achieving such goal at a time where market is going through recession is a great life-time opportunity. I’m proud of this accomplishment and I hope that I can develop myself throughout my career life.

• Meet my soul mate: now this is an unexpected goal, getting engaged. Before getting engaged, I had set criteria for the guy I would want to commit a long-relationship with. Because my criteria were hard to find, I did not expect to get engaged within this year or any time soon. Surprisingly I did find the guy that fit all criteria and had more characteristics that I was pleased with. Getting engaged was a very big step I took this year, as this will be a change in lifetime. I’m happy for taking this decision and I’m grateful for achieving this goal.

All these wishes are very dear to me. They boosted my confidence and self-esteem. After being pessimist for two years, I can now smile and not worry about my future. I’m no longer suffering from anxiety, depression or even stress. I couldn’t be thankful enough to the Great Lord for pulling me out of darkness and bringing me into light.
As happy as I sound, there were days that I wish they never existed. As time passed, I came across difficult moments and situations that I have not anticipated to come. Let me briefly state circumstances that I went through:

• Hospitalized for 6 days: In my post Life Post │Why did I disappear? I mentioned that I got food poisoning in January and I stayed 6 days in the hospital. Physically, this was a very tough experience as I was very weak. I could not eat or drink anything for 4 days, and after 7 days I managed to eat very little. It took me almost a month to fully recover from food poisoning and until now I’m very cautious about what I eat.

• Lost my car: another tough experience I had to go through is lose of my car in an accident. I had this car since 2012 and I had great memories with it. Unfortunately, it was strongly hit in an accident and got completely scrapped. I’m truly grateful for being alive and not getting injured, as my parents said: “You can always replace a metal with another”.

• Loss of close ones: every year, you get to meet new people and lose contact with some, but what about those who were very close and dear to you? For some reasons, I no longer contact those who were very dear to me. Promises were broken, my feelings were hurt, and the relationship became toxic. As much as I wanted to stay in touch with them and forgive them for their mistakes, I couldn’t take it anymore, it was too much burden and I felt that my heart does don’t deserve to bear this pain. Nevertheless, I wish them all the best in their lives.

As you can see, my life had blessings and challenges. It was a tough but lovely year to live and I’m grateful for everything that has happened throughout my life. Before I finish up with this post, I would like to state lessons that I have learned this year:

• The success of every relationship is dependent on both parties. Each party needs to be comprising, passionate, and determinant to keep the boat sailing on the sea. Ignorance is the key to destruction of every relationship. If one party neglected the other, the other party will eventually leave them behind after a while.

• Confidence and determination are essential keys to achieve any goal in your life. If you believe in yourself and you are determined to go through whatever it takes to achieve a goal, then you can achieve anything.

• Never keep your dreams limited to your capabilities, always dream big. If you want a dream to come true, turn it into a goal and work for it. Do not wait for others to make your dreams come true, you should work for it on your own.

• Learn from difficult experiences, as they always carry a valuable lesson for you to learn. Do not focus on negative side of such incidents, instead look at positive aspects to it. You never know, how positively this could impact you. If you went through a tough situation and you don’t know how to overcome it then check out this post Life Post │Tragedies: How to overcome them.

Well this is it, my last post in 2016. I hope you all enjoyed reading this post and I wish 2017 would be a very happy new year to you all. See you all in the next post.

Life Post │Tragedies: How to overcome them

Tragedies are unfortunate events that take place at different stages of our lives. They could exist several times in our life, and they could be expected. However, most of the time they are unexpected. These events tend to vary but the pain differs from one person to another. One thing we all have to acknowledge is... they will happen no matter what.

When you expect a tragedy to take place, you might possible do the following:

ü  Deny it: you strongly refuse to acknowledge certain strategies to take place therefore you either completely deny it or do more research before acknowledging it. As a result, you will experience anger, confusion, and probably fear.

ü  Ignore it: the moment you acknowledge that certain tragedies may take place in your life, you might simply ignore it. You try to avoid it by distracting yourself from these expectations and not think about them. As a result, you will feel sad, depressed, and frustration.

ü  Stop it: when you expect something really bad is going to happen, you will do whatever it takes in order for it not to occur. In certain cases your strategies may work, and you may fail as well. You will be mostly intense, stressed, and anxious.

ü  Accept it: this is the most painful action to do, accept the fact that a tragedy will take place and there is nothing you can do about it. Sometimes, things can get out of control and it is out of your hands to avoid or stop a tragedy from taking place. Therefore, you give up and accept it. For sure, you will experience all the negative emotions.

If an unexpected tragedy took place, this is how you will probably act:

ü  React emotionally to it: you will be filled with negative emotions such as: anger, frustration, stress, sadness, and depressed. All these emotions will show up and you will absorb negative energy therefore your reaction can come in a form of cries, shouts, and even breaking things.

ü  Remain silent: some events could be shocking to the point you can't show any reaction. This usually happens when you face your fears the moment you're not ready. It also happens when things you never considered to happen in your life suddenly existed. As a result, you feel sad and depressed but you are unable to let it out or talk about it.

ü  Stay strong: one of the least easy things to do at early stages of occurrence of tragedies. At certain times, you are more concerned about getting things right rather than cry about it. In addition to that, there could be other parties involved in same tragedy and they would need your support.  

Now here comes the main question: How do I overcome these tragedies?

One thing everyone should know is that there is no fixed methodology that deals with every tragedy. Each event has different methodology to overcome tragedies, however there are some common methodologies that can help in moving on. These methodologies are:

ü  Be Supportive: one of the things that could easily drown you into the ocean of misery is yourself. Yes, you could be the cause of your own self-destruct when you refuse to move on and stick to negative emotions. If you keep locking yourself in bedroom, over thinking and crying about what happened, you won’t be able to move on. This is why you need to be determined to let go of depression and support yourself. This determination will allow you to take further step into moving on.

ü  Stop Looking for Reasons: most of the time, we question existence of the tragedy that took place in our life. We always wonder:

-          Why did this happen?

-          What have I done to deserve this?

-          How did this happen?

Here is solution, STOP WONDERING! Do not wonder or put reasons to existence of a tragedy. The more you think about, the worst it can get. Just know that what’s done is done. No matter what reasons are, it was meant to happen and there is nothing you can do about it. When you stop reasoning, you will be able to calm down.

ü  Get out of comfort zone: yes you heard me, get out of the safe zone that you have been living in for a while. It is time to try out new things, new experiments, and new activities. When a tragedy takes place, your surroundings become suffocating and you will need something new to lift your mood up. You can always start small, like change your hairstyle, then gradually go big and do things like traveling to new place. Getting out of comfort zone can distract you from misery and it is best cure to treat depression.

ü  Look at positive side: there is always positive and negative side of everything, even tragedies. Therefore, instead of focusing on negative side, take a look at positive side. There is definitely a brighter side for tragedy. It may have happened to prevent you from certain incident, or it could be an alert to your behavior. Example: You didn't get hired at certain organization. On the bright side think that you are probably meant to get hired at better organization. Positive thinking is the best way to cure from whatever makes you depressed and with time you will easily move on.

ü  Ask for help: now this is very important method to follow, always ask for help. There are times where you will face unexpected tragedies that are shocking enough to keep you fully numb. At such cases, you will need every support you can get from people you love and trust. Not getting necessary support from your beloved ones will destroy you therefore do not hesitate to ask for help.

That is all for tonight. I hope this post has helped you by all means and please share it to your friends, family and anyone who would want to read this post. See you all in next post.

Makeup & Skincare | Kuwait Shopping Haul 2016

Greetings to my lovely readers, welcome to my blogger. I hope you enjoy reading every post I publish in this blog. As some of you have noticed from my recent post that I travelled to Kuwait during Oman National Day holiday. In my post:  Book Review | Book Haul: Kuwait 41st Book Exhibition 2016 I wrote about books that I have purchased from Kuwait Book Exhibition. Along with these books, I have purchased many items however in this post I will focus on makeup and skincare products. Without further due, let’s get started!

ORGANIQUE: For first time I purchase natural skincare products from this brand. I’ve come to know this brand from Kuwaiti Bloggers who review and use their products constantly. Therefore I decided to give it a try and purchase two products which are:

1. Anti-Acne Cream: starting with this product which is a face serum targeted to acne-prone skin types. This claims to treat acne spots, pimples and scars that are visible on the face. It is used on daily basis on cleansed face. I’ll give this a try and let you know if it’s worth purchase.
    
2. Coffee Body Scrub: another product I purchased is this body scrub made of coffee. The scrub smells exactly like coffee. It is supposed to remove dead skin, excess oil, and cellulites. In addition to that, it claims to smooth the skin and make it soft. I heard great things about this body scrub which is why I decided to give it a try.

SEPHORA: Of course how could I travel and not go to Sephora as that would be pretty shameful wouldn’t it. I was truly amazed by Sephora Kuwait in The Avenues Mall especially that it had more brands than Sephora Dubai. Products that I got my hands on are:

1. Guerlain Stop Spot Treatment: since we are talking about skincare, let me talk about this treatment which is supposed to cover pimples and acne scars, as well as get rid of them. This was raved by two Kuwaiti Beauty Bloggers therefore I decided to get my hands on it.
    
2. Benefit That Gal Face Primer: first makeup product I would like to talk about is this well-known face primer from Benefit Cosmetics. It is said that it primes and neutralizes the skin, as well as allow the foundation to last for long period. The sales lady swears by this product so I thought of giving it a go.
    
3. Clarins Ever Matte Mineral Powder Compact: another product I bought is this compact powder from Clarins. The sales lady stated that it keeps the face matte on long-term basis and provides light to medium coverage. She also added that it can be used on daily basis and it does not cause break-out to the face.
    
4. Benefit KA Brow: next product I purchased is this brow gel from Benefit. This is said to darken the brows, add volume and thickness to them which will add drama to the brows without diminish its natural shape. It will also keep brows in one place for long time. These features are very promising which is why I decided to give it a try.
    
5. Anastasia Beverly Hills Liquid Lipstick (ABH) in shade (CRUSH): last but not least, I finally got my hands on ABH liquid lipstick. It has been a while since I heard about ABH cosmetics and their lipsticks were highly raved in social media. Therefore, the moment I saw ABH booth I decided to get my hands on one of their liquid lipsticks. I chose shade Crush which is very soft neutral shade for daily use. Once I try it out I’ll definitely review it.
    

That’s it you have reached the end of this post. I hope you all loved reading this blog post and we shall meet again in new post. Don’t forget to follow me in my social media accounts. See you soon.

Favorites | Recent Things I’m loving 2016

Good day everyone! Hope you all are doing well. I sincerely apologize for not posting for more than two months as I mentioned in one of my previous posts that I had time management issue. Now that I finally adopted to new schedule, I will try to keep posting as regularly as possible.

Going back to the main topic, today I shall talk about things I have been loving recently. Since it has been months not posting my “Monthly Favorites” I decided to recap them all in one post. Without any further due, let’s get STARTED!

Skincare: As I always say, skin changes with the season. During summer, your skin tends to become oily, and during winter it becomes dry. This is the overall cycle that skin tends to go through. However, there has been products that I’ve been using for quite a while and been loving so far. These products are:

1. Clarins Gentle Foaming Cleanser: for years I have been using different types of face washes from Clarins. Out of all the face washes that I used, this stood out the most. This face wash is very gentle on the skin, gets rid of excess oil on the face, and hydrates the skin. After every wash, my face not only looks clean, it gets brighter and looks fresh. I also noticed that it reduces appearance of acne scars. It can be used for all skin types and I highly recommend everyone to use this product.
2. Clarins Eye Balm: another product I have been loving so far is this eye balm. Previously I was using Clarins eye cream with a gel formula which I absolutely loved. However, when I went to repurchase it, the saleswoman recommended me to use eye balm instead. Ever since I got my hands on it I have been loving it. Like the gel eye cream, it moisturizes eyes, reduces under eye darkness, and minimizes appearance of fine lines around the eye area. The difference between this product and previous one is the results appear within short period of time, more effective, and it can be used on sensitive eyes. I highly recommend to use it especially those with sensitive eyelids and those who apply eye makeup on daily basis.
3. Sephora Clarifying Booster Serum: another product I have been loving recently to the point that I ran out of it is this face serum. It is targeted for acne-prone skin types. This product fights acne, minimizes size of pimples till they're gone, and reduces appearance of acne scars. It only requires five drops of oil on the face to do wonders. It works best with Sephora Bubble Mask. I highly recommend it to acne-prone skin types as it will show significant difference to your skin.

Makeup:  As for beauty products, I have definitely changed my signature look by incorporating new products into my daily makeup look. Products I included in my daily makeup look are:

1. Clarins BB Skin Detox Fluid: first product I would like to talk about is this BB cream. Since I started career journey, I decided to change my signature makeup. After tons of researches I decided to get my hands on this product. Honestly this product was a game change in my makeup. It gives me flawless skin, little hint of radiance, and perfect coverage. It lasts for long period, as well as resist heat and humidity without primer. I recommend all skin types to use it as it could be a great substitute for foundations with sheer or low coverage.
2. NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer: next product I want to talk about is this concealer which is extremely hyped up in social media by Youtubers and bloggers. Ever since my last trip to Dubai, I have been using this concealer occasionally. I find this concealer worth the hype. It has medium to high coverage, adds highlight under the eye, and lasts for long period. I do not exaggerate when I say that it gives flawless look to your skin, a glow from within, and looks great in photos. The only drawback of it is the concealer is it's a little expensive but if it’s the only concealer you’ll be using then it’s worth the price.
3. Benefit Goof Proof Brow Pencil: another game changer in my signature look is this new brow pencil from Benefit Cosmetics. Previously I was satisfied with using Sigma brow powder which I talked about in my last favorites. However, I wanted to change my brow game so I decided to give this product a go. I absolutely love this product. It is bold, precise and long-lasting. The pencil is pretty easy to use to define brows and make them bold. I recommend you to give this product a try if you want to change your brow game.
4. Huda Beauty Liquid Lipstick (Venus): Last but not least, I have been loving another liquid lipstick. This time I decided to get my hands on liquid lipstick from Huda Beauty which is very well talked about in social media. I bought a neutral shade that can be used on daily basis especially when going to work. The lipstick is amazing as it smells good, lasts for long period, glides very easily on the lips, and only small amount of product is needed to make the lips look beautiful. The only drawback this product has is it makes your lips very dry so to avoid that make sure you moisturize your lips before using this product and scrub your lips after removing this product. Nevertheless I still recommend you give it a try.

Book: Last few months I read two English novels:

1. The Book of Tomorrow – Cecilia Ahern: this is the second book I read from Cecilia Ahern. Cecilia is well known for her writing style, along with her wide sense of imagination that makes the fantasy so close to reality. This is one of fiction books that she has written long time ago and what sold me out is the summary. Honestly I had experienced so many emotions while reading this novel: grief, curiosity, tension, happiness, and unfortunately boredom at certain extent. There was a moment where I wanted the story to clear my curiosity and it took too long to do that which made me feel less curious and little bored. Nevertheless, the story was very unique as it went beyond my expectations.
2. Forty Rules of Love – Elif Shafak: This is the first novel I read from Elif Shafak and if there is one thing I regret is not getting another novel from this amazing writer. The novel has two stories: modern and historical. Combination of both categories was absolutely amazing, fun to read, and eager to learn more. In addition to that, the story contained multiple characters with different personalities and lifestyles. These characters played great role in describing different perspectives of life. The novel was so good that I read it at a slow pace. Truly one of a kind and it’s a Must-Read.

YouTube Channels: Recently I have been spending most of my time in watching YouTube videos to get inspired, motivated and productive. Out of all channels that I have subscribed to, two channels stood out most as I kept checking their videos constantly. These channels are:

1. Kayln Nicholson: Kayln is a lifestyle YouTuber and one of the most inspiring Youtubers I have come across in last months. She is a very well-organized person, productive and motivates others to be who they are and how to achieve their dreams. I was inspired with her personality as well as her inner strength to move on in life after struggling with friendship loss, break up, and family issues. She is truly one of a kind and I highly recommend you checking her YouTube channel. This is the link to her channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-CZmKnJbjGWAzJd6cIVUMg
2. Blogilates: this is another YouTube channel that I have been checking almost every day. Lately I have been into workout and fitness journey therefore I decided to follow up with this channel. This channel provides many varieties of workouts to do at home without the use of machines. If you are into workout then you must check this channel I can assure you that you will love it. This is the link to her channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIJwWYOfsCfz6PjxbONYXSg

Well this is it! You have reached the end of this blog post. I hope you all enjoyed reading this post until we meet again with another blog post soon. Have a nice day and wish you all the best.

Book Review | Book Haul: Kuwait 41st Book Exhibition 2016

Hey there! Welcome to my blog. Thank you for making time to read my blog posts, I truly appreciate it. Today I shall talk about my journey to the first Book Exhibition I have attended outside Oman. It was truly unintentional. The moment I knew there will be a book exhibition at time where I will be in Kuwait, I got determined to attend it. Without further due, let’s get started with this book haul.

That Al Salasil – ذات السلاسل

This is one of top well-known publishers in Kuwait and it was the first booth I have came across. The booth is very well organized and it was so huge. It was filled with lots of books written by many talented writers. Books that I got from them are:

1. Zahmat Haki by Ali Al Najm زحمة حكي بكتابة علي نجم –
    
2. Jawhara by Aliya Al Kadhmi – جوهرة بكتابة علياء الكاظمي
   This is a new novel published by the amazing Aliya Al Kadhmi. She is a well-known Author who has unleashed many novels that are considered to be best sellers in GCC. Previously I had read her novel Al Shahama الشهامة which I enjoyed reading. Her writing style is very simple, yet it’s very dramatic and catches your attention very quickly. Once I finished reading novel, I shall write a review on it. 
   

Kalemat – كلمات

This is the second booth I have visited in the exhibition. It is the first time I come across this publisher as I have absolutely no idea what type of books they publish and written by whom. However, my mother told me that they publish poetries written by Shahrazad شهرزاد. One of bloggers that my mom follows highly spoke of three poetries written this Author. When I got my hands on them, I checked the summary at the back, and I instantly got attracted to the content and writing style. Poetries that I got are:

      A. I thought it was love -    ظننته حباَ

B. On the walls of neighbors - على حيطان الجيران

C. Those who we loved… & not - الذين أحببناهم... ولم

Jarir Book Store – مكتبة الجرير

Another publisher in my wish list was this one. In twitter, I read a book review on one of Richard Tumbler’s books and it was highly recommended by the reviewer to read this book. Therefore I decided to visit this booth and have a look on this book. Just by scanning headlines of pages I immediately decided to get my hands on, not one book, but two books of Richard Tumbler. These two books are translated in Arabic as I did not find English version of them. These books are:

1. Rules of Work – قواعد العمل
2. Rules of Life – قواعد الحياة
   

Nova – نوفا:

Last but not least publisher I wanted to visit is Nova. Previously I read 4 horror novels written by Author Abdul Wahab Said Al Rafai and I was eager to read more novels written by him. Luckily, I was honored to meet the Author himself, express my review on his novels and get three novels signed by him. Novels that I got my hands on are:

1. Stories I’m not allowed to publish – قصص لا يسمحون لي بنشرها
2. Mysterious Perspectives – الأبعاد المجهولة
3. Rare cases 4 – حالات نادرة 4

This was my journey to Kuwait’s 41^st Book Exhibition. I hope you all enjoyed reading this blog post. If you have visited this book exhibition then share with me your purchases by commenting in this post or through my social media accounts. With that being said, I hope we meet again in new blog post.

Life Post │My Graduation

Here comes the day

I accomplish the dream

I worked for years.

The day where I inspire

and motivate all students

to work hard for their dreams.

The day where my country,

society, but most of all friends

and family are proud of me.

The day I graduate with a

Bachelor Degree in Finance

from Sultan Qaboos University.

5 years spent with effort,

Sleepless nights, stress,

More work less fun,

Long walk paths

Between classes and parking,

Overloaded with projects,

And struggling with difficult exams.

Along with that,

Meeting new people,

Working with colleagues

To achieve same goal,

Joining extra activities

And participating in events.

The Graduation day

Sums up of all of this.

The day where we reap

What we sow.  

To all those who stood by my side,

Pushed me to work harder for my dreams,

Encouraged me to go on and never give up,

Praised me for every accomplishment I made,

You are the one I owe my success to,

It is because of your support I am what I am now,

With your help I managed to reach this far to fulfill my dreams.

Thank you for everything you've done, for believing in me, guiding me, and for persuading me to do my best in order to witness this dream. From the bottom of my heart, I will always owe you for making this dream come true. I wish everyone all the best and hope that your dreams come true,

Book Review │How to read a book

Hey there, welcome to my blog. I'm truly happy that you took a moment of your time to read my post. I hope it will by all means entertain you and benefit you. First of all, I'm truly sorry for not posting last week. I recently got hired and started working in an audit company. I had issue with time management but hopefully things will get settled soon. Today I'll be talking about how to read a book. Now I know what some of you think, what is so hard about reading book?

Physically it looks easy, but psychologically it is very difficult. Personally, I used to hate reading because of studies. Mentally I rejected the idea of reading books other than textbooks. But after going through depression and anxiety, I started reading to escape from negative emotions. Truthfully I managed to move on sooner than what I thought. I managed to conquer my fears, clear my mind with negative thoughts, and best of all smile like before. This is what I experienced when I started reading novels.

Here are tips that I have personally followed in the reading process:

1-      Purchase a book: obviously you need to have a book to start reading. Before you purchase a book, set rubrics or characteristics that you are looking for a book such as: it has to be bestseller, written by certain author, targeted for young adults, or it's a romance category. Once you find a book that satisfies all or some of these rubrics, purchase it. This is how to purchase a book.

2-      Make a schedule: whether you bought tons of books or just one, you need to make a time table or schedule for each book. This is done by targeting the time frame for each book. Example: you aim to finish reading a 500 pages novel within a month. What you should do to reach your target is divide number of pages over 30 days. The result in this case is to read approximately 17 pages every day. By making schedule, you will be committed to finish the book.

3-      Choose a place to read: in order to enjoy reading novel, you need to select a place that allows you to read your book with clear mind. Your reading area can vary from bedroom to coffee shops, what matters most is it's a quiet area, peaceful and comfortable. Also, the décor can play role in motivating you to read. The prettier it is the better. In addition to that, you can play classic music and light candle to make the atmosphere more appealing.  Moreover, try to isolate yourself during reading process as much as possible so that you don't lose focus or get distracted from what you're doing. As long as the place has these characteristics, you will enjoy reading your book even if it was for hours.

4-      Get Stationary tools: to make reading process more interesting, you can use certain stationary tools. One of stationary tools you can use is a small notepad where you can write your favorite scene, characters that inspired you, favorite quotes and lessons you learned. Second stationary item you can use is sticky notes. You can insert sticky notes on pages that you think you will refer to in the future. Lastly, you can use bookmarks and highlighters. A cute bookmark can draw a smile on your face and highlighters can be used to highlight quotes.

5-      Take it everywhere: last but not the least, take your book everywhere. Believe me; you will get surprised at moments where you wished you had your book with you. Especially at times where there is no Wi-Fi or external network. Therefore, take your book everywhere you go, you never know when you'll ever need it.

That is all about How to Read a Book. I hope you truly enjoy reading not just this post but enjoy reading your book. Don't let laziness forbid you from reading. Have a nice day and will catch up in next post. 

Favorites │July 2016 Monthly Favorites

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog. Can't actually believe that we are one step closer to enter month of August. Frankly speaking, I had lots of roller coaster rides this month but thank god it ended up the way I hoped. Today I'll be sharing my July monthly favorites as I have lots of things really loved. Without further due, let's get started.

SKINCARE: starting with my biggest obsession, I bought few products when I went to Dubai this Eid. If you would like to know what I purchased from Dubai then you can check out my "Dubai Shopping Haul" post. Out of these products, two products made a difference to my skin. These products are:

        i.         SEPHORA Bubble Mask – I used this product twice and I noticed that it clears out excess oil, removes blackheads, minimizes appearance of blemishes, and brightens your face. I noticed all these on my skin within two weeks and my mother complimented my skin every time I used this product. As crazy as it looks but it does a great job on my skin. One thing I don't like about it is it makes the face dry and tightens it. I recommend everyone, especially dry skin types, to apply very strong moisturizer immediately after using this mask. However I don't recommend girls with sensitive skin to use as it could irritate their skin. Nevertheless I still love this product.  

      ii.      NUXE Ultra Nourishing Lip Balm – As I mentioned in one of my blog posts, my lips were extremely dry to the point it got tears because of weather and fasting. To resolve this issue I bought this lip balm. To be honest in less than a week I have seen major improvement on my lips. It moisturizes your lips for a long period. Best times to use it is when you are chilling at home, when you wake up, and several hours before going to sleep. I highly recommend using it if you are suffering with dry lips.

MAKEUP: Since wedding season has started, I have been experimenting with lots of makeup products. Out of all products I have been using, these four products stood out the most:

A.                Sigma Brow Powder (Medium) – Lately I stopped using brow pencils and eye brow gels to define my brows. Instead I started using brow powder that has two shades, light and dark. Ever since I started using it I immediately fell in love with it. This product gives a natural look to the brows that is wearable in every occasion. Everyone has been complementing my eye brows saying that it looks really beautiful. The price is affordable and I strongly suggest you buy it.

B.                 Lubi Lashes (Royal) – Mink lashes have become so popular in the makeup industry and there are many Omani brands that are specialized in making Mink Lashes. Therefore, I decided to get mink lashes from most popular Omani brand: Lubi Lashes. These lashes are dramatic, lengthy, and have a cat-eye style. They are easy to wear, add drama to the eyes, long-lasting, and can be used more than 20 times. Moreover, they look great in photos and many people have complemented me when I wore them. It can get uncomfortable at first but later on you get used to it.

C.                 Clinique Pressed Powder – Moving on to the face, I have been using this face powder in every hangout and occasion. This powder has light and natural coverage which I was looking for. In addition to that, it brightens my face, corrects my imperfections, and lasts about 4-6 hours. Moreover it makes my face really beautiful in photos. However, without face primer the powder does not last more than 3 hours which I found a little disappointing. Nevertheless I love it and highly recommend all skin types to use it.

D.                Kat Von De Liquid Lipstick (Lolita 1) – in my previous blog post I talked about KVD's liquid lipstick (Bow & Arrow) and how much I love it. Because of that, I decided to get their most popular lipstick shade which is called Lolita. This shade is so beautiful that it suits all skin tones. It adds drama to the lips and it is compatible with both bold and natural eye makeup. If there is one lipstick shade I would recommend everyone to try out it would be this lipstick and this exact shade.

PERFUME: On month of April, I purchased this perfume from Guerlain and saved it for special occasions. The perfume is called "Santal Royal". This is a uni-sex perfume that consists of combination of Oud and French scent. In addition, the scent is musk and strong. Moreover, it lasts for a long period of time. I strongly recommend giving it a try.

CANDLE: Sticking to the scents category, I also loved this candle from Bath & Body Works. The candle is called "Dark Kiss". It is one of their permanent and signature collections, it also happens to be their bestseller. The scent is very unique as it has a combination of both sweet and floral. Moreover, it lasts for a good period of time and makes your room smell so beautiful. If you are a candle lover then you will definitely love this candle.

BOOK: In this month I read two books, a novel and a documentary. Surprisingly I ended up loving the documentary which is called "The Answer is Love". It is an Arabic book written by Karim Al-Shazly, who is an Egyptian author and writer of bestselling book called "To Lovers". This book consists of 20 different issues that most couples face in their marriage. It also explains how to resolve and deal with these issues. The writing style is amazing, brief, easy to understand, and very optimistic. This is a must for those who are engaged or married.

MOVIE: This month I watched 3 movies in the cinema and out of these movies I loved "The Conjuring 2". It is a horror movie that involves paranormal activities conducted by demons and exorcism. I will not spoil you about this movie, but I must say that it was really scary. I loved the story, content, and special effects of this movie. If you love horror movies then you have to watch this movie.

GAME: Lastly I would like to end this post with one of my all time favorite PS game, "The Last of US Remastered". I played this game before when it was released in PS3 then I borrowed the PS4 version and started playing it again on a Grounded Level. It also consists of additional story which makes the game even better. If you want to know why I love this game, then check out my "All Time Favorite PS Games" post from Favorites category.

This is it! I've had lots of favorites for this month. Thank you all for reading this post and I truly hope that you enjoyed it. Don't forget to share it with your friends and follow me on my social media accounts. See you soon in the next post.