Does My Head Look Big in This?

Popsugar Reading Challenge TBR (Part One)

Published on February 1, 2019February 4, 2019 by Rukky @ Eternity Books4 Comments

Welcome everybody to my Popsugar Reading Challenge TBR (Part One). This is my very first reading challenge, and I’m super excited to mark off as many criteria as I possibly can before the year ends. Today I’m going to list the books that I (think) I’ll read for this years challenge questions.

I’m going to split this into two posts because it takes a lot of time to link, add pictures, etc…

Let’s get started.

A book becoming a movie in 2019:

Not sure. If you have any suggestions, I’m all ears.

Update: This was recommended to me by Molly @ Silver Button Books: Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple.

A book that makes you nostalgic:

My favorite books from when I was a kid:

Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery

______________________________

Running Out of Time by Margaret Peterson Haddix

A book written by a musician (fiction or nonfiction):

The Shining by Stephen King

Apparently, Stephen King is a musician! So, maybe it’s about time I got over my fear of horror and tried to read some of his books.

A book you think should be turned into a movie:

Don’t I have to read the book first to decide??? But guessing from the cover/summary, I’d say maybe Long Road to Mercy by David Baldacci.

A book with at least one million ratings on Goodreads:

I’m gonna re-read for this one:

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

______________________________

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

A book with a plant in the title or on the cover:

Into The Water by Paula Hawkins

A reread of a favorite book:

My all-time favorite: The Fixer by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

My all-time historical spy favorite: The Agency by Y. S. Lee

A book about a hobby:

I do not know what I’m going to read for this one. I welcome all your suggestions.

A book with “pop”, “sugar”, or “challenge” in the title:

I need some suggestions for this as well.

A book you meant to read in 2018:

Watching You by Lisa Jewell

A book with an item of clothing or accessory on the cover (Completed):

Does My Head Look Big in This? by Randa Abdel-Fattah

A book inspired by mythology, legend, folklore:

We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal

A book published posthumously:

uhh….IDK for this one

A book set in space:

The Martian by Andy Weir

A book by two female authors (Completed):

All Dressed in White by Mary Higgins Clark & Alafair

My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, Jodi Meadows

A book with “salty”, “sweet”, “bitter”, or “spicy” in the title:

Don’t have a book for this one yet.

A book set in Scandinavia:

Don’t have a book for this one either.

A book that takes place in a single day:

Ninth and Nowhere by Jeffery Deaver

A debut novel:

We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal

A book that’s published in 2019:

Uh, ahem. *coughs for a prolonged amount of time* Ya’ll know that it’d take me all day to put up everything that is published in 2019 that I want to read, right?

That’s it for this first half of my Popsugar Reading TBR. Any suggestions for the ones that I left blank? Are you taking part in this challenge? What are you all reading? Let’s chat in the comments!

Monthly Wrap-Up – Jan 2019

Published on January 31, 2019January 31, 2019 by Rukky @ Eternity Books2 Comments

Hello everyone! It’s January 31st, a.k.a the last day of the first month of 2019. This is my first ever Monthly Wrap-Up post, and my first one of the year. I’m gonna list the books I’ve read, the most liked/visited posts of the month, and my favorite posts by other bloggers.

Let’s jump in.

Books:

Does My Head Look Big in This? // ★★★☆☆ This book gets a solid three stars. It is a YA Contemporary read and is also considered a diverse book because the main character is Muslim. I liked this book but there were some issues that made me give it three stars.

The Couple Next Door // ★★★☆☆ I liked the book because the mystery was intriguing, the characters had hidden secrets, and you couldn’t trust anyone. This gets a solid three stars.

The Good Girl // ★★1/2 This is an interesting thriller which I originally gave five stars, but reduced to 2.5 after analyzing the pros and cons of the story.

All Dressed in White // ★☆☆☆☆ I gave this one star, because I didn’t like it, I thought the mystery was flat, and I didn’t feel any suspense.

My Lady Jane// ★★★★★Sweet, fun, and something different from my usual read.

The Conspiracy of Us // ★★☆☆☆ It’s partly unbelievable, sometimes implausible, and I just didn’t like it.

The Ends of the World // ★☆☆☆☆ A series that I did not like, but still read to find out the end. I thought it might redeem itself. I thought wrong.

The above twelve books are by Robert Muchamore.

Total Number of Books Read this Month: 19

Top 5 Most Popular Post by Likes:

1st Place: WWW Wednesday #8 — 15 Likes

2nd Place: Top Ten Tuesday – Top 10 Recent Additions to my TBR — 13 Likes

3rd Place: Tag Thursday – This or That Book Tag — 10 Likes

3rd Place: Tag Thursday – End of Year Book Tag — 10 Likes

4th Place: 2019 Reading Challenges — 9 Likes

4th Place: WWW Wednesday #7 — 9 Likes

5th Place: Top Ten Tuesday – Books That Didn’t Live Up to the Hype — 8 Likes

Top 5 Most Popular Posts by Views:

1st Place: Top Ten Tuesday – Top 10 Recent Additions to my TBR — 34 Views

2nd Place: WWW Wednesday #8 — 31 Views

3rd Place: Top Ten Tuesday – Books That Didn’t Live Up to the Hype — 30 Views

4th Place: Top Ten Tuesday – New-to-me Authors I Plan to Read in 2019 — 29 Views

5th Place: Tag Thursday – Unpopular Opinion Book Tag — 23 View

Least Popular Post

Bookish Discussion: Bloglovin’ and Why I’m Disappointed

Favorite Posts by Other Bloggers:

Book Review: Dream Keeper (The Dark Dreamer Trilogy, Book 10 by Amber R. Duell : I loved this review by Jenaca @ Jenacidebybibliophile.

Networking for the Novice Blogger : Cristian @ The Art of Blogging is always writing helpful posts about becoming a better blogger.

Cake Flavoured Book Tag : Cake and Books? I’m all in! Sinead @ Huntress of Diverse Books does this very delicious book tag.

The Nope Book Tag : This is the tag that I did earlier today, and I found it @ Sincerely Karen Jo. I loved her responses!

So that’s it for this month friends! What books have you read this past month and what do you all want to read by the end of February? Let’s chat in the comments!

Tag Thursday – The NOPE Book Tag

Published on January 31, 2019January 31, 2019 by Rukky @ Eternity Books15 Comments

Hi there! Welcome to Tag Thursday where I scour the internet and all things bookish to find interesting ‘quizzes’ to answer so that you get to know more about me and my blog.

Today’s tag is The NOPE Book Tag. I found it @ Sincerely Karenjo, and it seems super fun!

Let’s dive in!

NOPE. ending: A book ending that made you go NOPE either in denial, rage or simply because the ending was crappy. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. Does this count, cause even though I DNF’d, I still hunted to find out what happened at the end and NOPE, that was a disgustingly crappy ending.

NOPE. protagonist: A main character you dislike and drives you crazy. ~~Whatshername~~ Avery is such a terrible and unbelievable main character. She meets two random guys, one who pulls a knife on her and tries to kidnap her, the other supposed ‘to be her savior’ whom she trusts after exchanging literally about five to ten sentences with. This ‘savior’ then tells her to go with the guy that pulled a knife on her to France. FRANCE. FRANCE! AND SHE WENT WITH HIM WITHOUT TELLING A SOUL! Until she got there, then she says (not a direct quote), “Oh, maybe I should have told Mom. Can I have a phone?”

NOPE. N. O. P. E.

NOPE. series: A series that turned out to be a huge pile of nope after you’ve invested all of that time and energy on it. Well, I skipped book two, and went to book three to find out what happened. ~~(why do I always have to know what happens?)~~ The ending of it all was still a huge NOPE.

NOPE. pairing: A “ship” you don’t support. If I had to pick one, it would be Tucker and Olivia in SYLO by D.J. MacHale. They don’t mix. They can’t be together, no matter what. Tucker and Tori, I can swallow, but Tucker and Olivia is a railroad disaster. It’s riding an express train into a mountain on the fastest speed.

NOPE. plot twist: A twist you didn’t see coming and didn’t like. The Gilded Cage by Lucinda Gray. That ending. It was a mess, and the ‘plot twist’ was, a mess?? Review here.

NOPE. genre: A genre you will never read. Romance. It’s not my cup of tea.

NOPE. book format: A book format you hate and avoid buying until it comes out in a different edition. Audiobooks. The few narrators that I’ve listened to were mostly awful in my opinion. I prefer Ebooks or Hardback.

NOPE. trope: A trope that makes you go NOPE. Love triangles. Why does this even exist?! Most of the time they are used awfully, and then there is romantic suspense that I could do without, and flipping back and forth between two people…… 😒

NOPE. recommendation: A book recommendation that is constantly pushed at you, that you simply refuse to read. I don’t know. Nobody’s recommending a book that I’m pushing away. It’s just that I’m not reading super hyped books or books that ‘everyone has read’.

NOPE. cliché: A cliché or writing pet peeve that always makes you roll your eyes. The ‘two types’ of girls: one that is super girly, loves shopping, mani/pedicures or the kick-ass girl who wears all black, is allergic to girly stuff and all that. Oh, and the terrorist guys that have Arab names. That is wrong, not fair, and is used too many times.

Does My Head Look Big in This? by Randa Abdel Fattah

NOPE. love interest: A love interest that’s not worthy of being one. Adam from Does My Head Look Big in This? He’s kind of rude, and I was seriously mad at him towards the end of the book when all of a sudden he didn’t understand Amal’s religion. That was really mean.

Rebels: City of Indra by Kendall and Kylie Jenner

NOPE. book: A book that shouldn’t have existed. Uh, I’m not sure so I’m going to pick the one that Karen Jo picked. I mean, hello???? When did THEY write a book? And a sci-fi dystopian novel no less. Oh, and it has a sequel! WHAT???!!!

Under what rock was I when this happened?

NOPE. villain: A villain you would hate to cross. The Führer from Brigands M.C. by Robert Muchamore. That guy is ruthless. He even uses the name Hitler used to call himself. He killed a whole family, minus two for his own selfish gains.

I do not want to face his wrath. Ever.

NOPE. death: A character death that still haunts you. Thankfully, I don’t think I’ve experienced a character die. Almost died, yes, but actual death of a character that I love, no.

All Dressed in White by Mary Higgins Clark & Alafair Burke

NOPE. author: An author you had a bad experience reading and have decided to quit. Mary Higgins Clark. I really expected a book full of serious suspense since she is the ‘Queen of Suspense’, but the books didn’t live up to my expectations, so I’m putting any MHC books on the back burner for now.

That’s it friends! I tag:

*If I’ve tagged you and you’ve already done the tag, I’m sorry I missed it but link up in the comments anyway so I can check it out! And you don’t have to do the tag if you don’t want to!

WWW Wednesday #5

Published on January 9, 2019January 10, 2019 by Rukky @ Eternity BooksLeave a comment

Welcome friends to WWW Wednesday! I hope you are all having a great day. WWW Wednesday is a meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Word s. The rules are simple:

List the books you’ve read in the past week,
The books you’re currently reading,
And the books that you plan to read.

Let’s get started!

What I Read Last Week:

My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, Jodi Meadows

What I’m Currently Reading:

As of the moment, nothing. I need to get some books!

What I’m Reading Next:

That’s it for this Wednesday! What did you guys just finish reading? What are you guys reading now? What do you want to read next? Let’s chat!

Does My Head Look Big In This? by Randa Abdel-Fattah – Review

Published on January 7, 2019January 15, 2019 by Rukky @ Eternity Books3 Comments

Welcome everybody! Today’s book review is of Does My Head Look Big in This? by Randa Abdel-Fattah (~~Um I think they already got that in the title JR~~). This book gets a solid three stars. It is a YA Contemporary read and is also considered a diverse book because the main character is Muslim. I liked this book but there were some issues that made me give it three stars.

Book Review- Does My Head Look Big in This? by Randa Abdel-Fattah

Challenge Criteria (Popsugar): A book with an item of clothing or accessory on the cover & A book with a question in the title

Challenge Criteria (Mommy Mannegren): A teen as the main character

Book: Does My Head Look Big in This?

Author: Randa Abdel-Fattah

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Summary: Sixteen-year-old Amal makes the decision to start wearing the hijab full-time and everyone has a reaction. Her parents, her teachers, her friends, people on the street. But she stands by her decision to embrace her faith and all that it is, even if it does make her a little different from everyone else.

Can she handle the taunts of “towel head,” the prejudice of her classmates, and still attract the cutest boy in school? Brilliantly funny and poignant, Randa Abdel-Fattah’s debut novel will strike a chord in all teenage readers, no matter what their beliefs.

What I Liked:

*Let’s gush about the beautiful cover, shall we? I love the polka dots and her raised eyebrow as she looks at the title…….

*Amal is a funny and relate-able teenager. She’s going through teenage hormones, her first crush, and life as a Muslim teenager who wears the hijab. She can be whiny, she can be very judgmental, she can be naive, and she can be annoying. But all characters have their flaws And she’s a teenager. All teenagers are like that, right?

*The story line is great. I liked the plot of the story because it deals with issues that are very sensitive in today’s age. Muslims are minorities who are constantly fighting for their rights and are being attacked on all sides. Amal makes a very serious decision in this book to become a hijabi, a Muslim woman who wears the hijab, which is a headscarf. The story shows how she is like any other teenage girl, just one with a different religious affiliation.

I guess when I’m not wearing the hijab I feel like I’m missing out.

*The characters are diverse. Amal is an Australian Palestinian Muslim. Her neighbor is Greek. There are Jewish characters as well and different ‘types’ of Muslims.

What I Didn’t Like:

*The story also deals with fat-shaming and body image. One of Amal’s best friends is Simone, a girl who is insecure with her body. Throughout the book, she is constantly on one diet or another, and even begins smoking because she heard it helps people lose weight.

‘So I’ve… started smoking.’
‘What?‘
‘Apparently it’s a good appetite suppressant. How do you think Tia keeps her figure? I overheard her telling Claire and Rita that she doesn’t eat much, just smokes because it stops her cravings.’

Amal and her other best friend, Eileen, are constantly trying to get Simone to be positive about her body to love herself for who she is. It’s nice to see them being so supportive. However, Simone does not learn to accept herself by the end of the book. This was one reason why I gave it three stars.

*Amal is very judgmental. Her other set of best friends, Yasmeen and Leila are Muslims. They’re families are polar opposites. Yasmeen’s family is more of a modern Muslim family. She doesn’t wear the hijab. Leila’s family is more traditional, with Leila’s mom constantly pressing her to get married and stop studying. Amal and Yasmeen are both angry with Leila’s mom for being ‘backwards’. Amal constantly points out that this has nothing to with Islam and is just traditional customs that she brought with her when she moved to Australia. I think it’s kind of hypocritical of Amal considering how she wants people to understand her, not judge her. She didn’t make any effort to understand why Leila’s mom was acting the way she was. Another star minus.

*The characters sound like 10 year olds. Honestly, the dialogue was horrendous. Every time it’s mentioned that Amal is sixteen, I go “Oh, really?” She constantly sounds like a whining child and it’s easy to forget that she’s supposed to be a teenager. The parts in which she tells her story are fine but actual dialogue between characters is awful.

This was a great story but like all great stories, it has its flaws. I would recommend it as a light YA coming-of-age book that deals with diversity.

★★★☆☆

Have you read Does My Head Look Big in This? What did you think about the story? Let’s chat in the comments!

Tag: Does My Head Look Big in This?