Kiran Khan

Curiosity is what killed the cat but it was the satisfaction that brought it back.

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My next adventure is coming soon,  the release date for this series is on November 24, 2020. In this epic journey, I’m going to see the life of a cruel and heartless villain share his perspective on life. When I continue to read my love for life grows too. Its the authors and their stories that keep me moving. If I never read I know I would have been lost in a world where my voice didn’t exist. The books helped me build who I am and strengthen my beliefs and morals. 

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I read many books and too many to count. Some come to mind and disappear into the endless depths of my mind again. I can’t remember all the books I read. However, when I dream, I dream about the books, characters and passages. When I wake they are gone again. So, I am walking back in time finding the collection I lost and storing them away in the physical world. So far, I have come across a few and filling up the shelf that longed to be filled with pages.

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The Folk of Air: Jude and Cardan

“Of course I want to be like them. They’re beautiful as blades forged in some divine fire. They will live forever.

And Cardan is even more beautiful than the rest. I hate him more than all the others. I hate him so much that sometimes when I look at him, I can hardly breathe.”

-Holly Black, The Folk of Air

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I adore Holly Black and her tales always entrance me. The Folk of Air was my most recent read. I couldn’t help but be lost in how she was able to cross The Folk of Air and Tithe: A modern Faerie Tale into one another. These are two separate kingdoms but the characters cross into each others world for a brief moment and go back to their own. The way the worlds intertwine is sophistical and mind blowing. I love when authors intertwine stories together. I thought A Modern Faerie Tale came to an end but no, Holly Black introduced Kay and Robin back into this series. 

The Folk of Air Trilogy is subtle, slow paced but enticing. I wanted to read the book slowly. The series was full of love, hate, confusion, mystery, magic and betrayal. The attention to detail was flawless and the words put together were magical as the story. Going back into this magical and mystical world took me back to my adolescent years. I felt shock waves circulate in me as I read the books. As I continued these books I thought its okay to belong in a world that doesn’t understand you. What matters is that you don’t give into their ideologies of what is meant to be in their world. Rules are meant to be defied, altered and broken to create your own space for existence. 

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Despereaux: A Tale about A Mighty Mouse

“There is nothing sweeter in this sad world than the sound of someone you love calling your name.” 

“The world is dark, and light is precious. Come closer, dear reader. You must trust me. I am telling you a story.”

“This is the danger of loving: No matter how powerful you are, no matter how many kingdoms you rule, you cannot stop those you love from dying.”

“Despereaux marveled at his own bravery. He admired his own defiance. And then, reader, he fainted.”

“The shapes arranged themselves into words, and the words spelled out a delicious and wonderful phrase: Once upon a time.”

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As a kid, I was a terrible reader and I was told I read too slow. In some manner, I felt defeated and I was afraid to pick up a chapter book. I was called out for my weakness but I was not encouraged or given advice on how to overcome it. But I loved to read and I wanted to read. I didn’t care that I read slow, as long as I read and that is all that mattered to me. I kept to picture books with small sentences until I came across this little mouse. I was intimidated by the size, length and words within the book. I was terrified that book had no pictures. I wondered if my brain was capable of creating the characters and the world they lived in. Would I be able to create the pictures in my head? But I read because I knew I would be ashamed of myself for being scared and giving into the critics. I read and I found myself lost in the journey. I watched the pictures create themselves in my head. I couldn’t put the book down. I lost track of time and I ignored the hunger in my stomach. I read about Despereaux. I read about his courage and his love for princess Pea. I visioned him fighting the dark, making friends and his fondness for reading books. I found myself in Despereaux. When I finished the book, I felt proud and brave. I wasn’t ashamed that I read slow or if I mispronounced a word. I wasn’t going to stop reading. 

I believe I read this book in the 5th grade. 

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A woman with a sharp tongue that bounds to get her in trouble. Men can’t tame her. She is witty and quick tempered. She can separate the wise from the foolish. She is fierce and protective of her sisters. She is sensible with good intentions.

Memorable quotes:

“I could easily forgive his pride, if he had not mortified mine.”

“I am only resolved to act in that manner, which will, in my own opinion, constitute my happiness, without reference to you, or to any person so wholly unconnected with me.”

“What are men to rocks and mountains?”

“There is a stubbornness about me that never can bear to be frightened at the will of others. My courage always rises at every attempt to intimidate me.”

“There is a stubbornness about me that never can bear to be frightened at the will of others. My courage always rises at every attempt to intimidate me.”

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A sparkling comedy and satire that presents the lives of 5 sisters. Elizabeth and Jane being my most favorite and most relatable to me. I was a mixture of Elizabeth anger and defiance but Jane patience and obedience. I also felt Elizabeth pride as a woman who fought against and ridiculed societal obligations. I read and watched Pride and Prejudice (1995) series. At one point, my mom even sat down to watch it with me. She loved it as much as I did. The series had us on our toes to emotional outburst to cringe worthy scenes. I grew attached to the characters and I cries when the book ended. I wanted sequels of their “ever afters” and their babies. I wanted it to continue but like all good things, it must come to an end. 

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During high school, Wuthering heights and Jane Eryre were one of the most difficult read assigned. I couldn’t grasp the text of the narrators voice. I would re read the pages and try to understand what was happening to the characters and their settings but my mind would draw a blank. I would annotate and analyze for the nights. I hated these books and grew frustrated of them but at the same time I couldn’t let them go. It was sort of a toxic relationship with the books. I despised the men in the book and I despised the women tolerant and patience for their man childs (lovers/love interest). Until it finally clicked, the books showed the most despicable, pitiful and shameless acts of the human mind. How our obsessions and will to control can destroy everything around us. In the end, I grew admired the work.Emily Bonte and Charlotte Bonte created works of art that twisted and played with the mind. It was beautifully yet dementedly  done.  

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The original and classical tale that made me appreciate old literature. I have a special place for Bram Stoker art in my heart. This gothic and horror genre generated other forms of Dracula and Van Helsing. At its time, this book was daring and introduced themes such as the role of women in Victorian culture, sexual conventions, immigration, colonialism, and post-colonialism. Bram Stoker had a brilliant vision in creating his story. 

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I don't want a 100 likes and more, I want a 100 books and more

Kiran Khan (me)

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An Unusual Disturbance

When I was high school, I would get in trouble for my books. I would ignore all academic subjects and indulge in my books. My teachers took away cellphones from my classmates whereas, my books were taken away from me. I didn’t care about boys in my class, I cared about the boys in my books. I recall one boy attempting to talk to me but my attention was towards me book. At one point I looked up and stared at him blankly. His friend told him “Hey man, she don’t wanna to you, she lookin at you like ‘Get the fuck away from me, let me read my book.’” What his friend expressed is exactly what I felt. I was a disturbance for my teachers/peers as they were a disturbance for me. 

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After my phase of dark themes I went to something a little bit more subtle. I wasn’t actually interested in the book but the problems Annabel faced were a bit more realistic. Later, into the book I found myself lost in the book. I was more interested in Owen. He was a normal teen lost in his music world and he shared it with Annabel. A complete opposite of his lifestyle. 

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A modern day tale of Beauty and the Beast. The tale is predictable I knew what what going to happen within the story but there was a modern twist to it. I was never bored of the story just intrigued by new setting and characters. Looking back my teen self adored and squealed at the cuteness of Kyle and Lindy developing relationship. However, out of my teen years I am more intrigued about an ancient witch, Kendra. I want to know what Kendra does in the modern world with her mythical and magical background. 

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Tally sighed, tipping her feet again to follow. "Maybe that's because they have better stuff to do than kid tricks. Maybe partying in town is better than hanging out in a bunch of old ruins." Shay's eyes flashed. "Or maybe when they do the operation-when they grind and stretch your bones to the right shape, peel off your face and rub all your skin away, and stick in plastic cheekbones so you look like everyone else-maybe after going through all that you just aren't very interesting anymore.

Scott Westerfeld, Uglie

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Uglies Trilogy Quotes

“Perhaps the logical conclusion of everyone looking the same is everyone thinking the same.” ― Scott Westerfeld, Uglies

“Maybe they didn't want you to realize that every civilization has its weakness. There's always one thing we depend on. And if someone takes it away all that's left is some story in a history class.” ― Scott Westerfeld, Uglies

“Your personality - the real you inside - was the price of beauty.” ― Scott Westerfeld, Uglies

“It's not the traveling that takes courage Tally. I've done much longer trips on my own. It's leaving home.” ― Scott Westerfeld, Uglies

“The flowers were so beautiful, so delicate and unthreatening, but they choked everything around them.” ― Scott Westerfeld, Uglies

“But you weren't born expecting that kind of beauty in everyone, all the time. You just got programmed into thinking anything else is ugly.” ― Scott Westerfeld, Uglies

As a reader, every book all the pages are filled sticky notes. Every passage I come by I want to permanently embed into my head. I want them to be a part of me that death can’t do us part. That the quotes and characters dance around my world as I dance around their world.  

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The Uglies Trilogy was a breath taking, agonizing and horrifying story. This was a freakish book. I adored every second of the good times and bad times within this reality. I found how horrifying surface makeup could taint the deeper makeup of someone. How we try to perfect and modify our bodies and facial traits to a stage of absolute perfection but have rotten our soul and heart out of neglect and ignorance. Tally, is the girl presented in the pictures. She is pretty in the first image but in the second she is an animated and flawless doll. Finally, a special kinda of pretty, the life in her eyes gone and cruelty seeps where her soul no longer resides. This story changed my perspective on human mind and image.