#lelareads

[bonchjela]

Rereading books while waiting for one to arrive from the UK. This must have been my third time reading this...or second...I should probably start scribbling dates down. #mitchalbom #thefivepeopleyoumeetinheaven #goodreads #book #lelareads

[bonchjela]

Snippets from the book: I concluded that men and women will never think alike. As I listened to my husband applaud our military successes, I felt increasingly gloomy, wondering if there was a less physical way than war to solve the problem. Kareem has always said that money has no importance unless there is none. At the end of her 8th marriage, the beauty Italia returned to the country she had never forgotten, and the people she loved, with $30million, a vast sum of money for a previously impoverished girl from Yemen. All Arabs should thank the Turkish government for their generosity. No country has done more to help these people. Societies tend to be equally less forgiving of dissenters, with too many people clinging stubbornly to the way things have always been, and reacting angrily when various segments of society demand change. When people are uneducated, or simply lack curiosity to seek knowledge, change appears as a frightening unknown. Such fears leads to aggression, even violence. This we have seen in countries such as India and Pakistan. Once the desire to help others settles in a heart, a hunger to assist flourishes. Tragically, my nephews were never charged with the crime (rape), since other members of our family protected them; however, there were a few restrictions put on them by the eldest male in the family. I have discovered in life that education is most important for women who live in the developing world. The combination of too much money and plenty of free time brings out the worst in many people. Bribery is a way of life in Saudi Arabia. Nearly every Saudi feels they are entitled to use their own money to obtain whatever it is that they want. We have witnessed all around the Middle East the tragedies that occur when citizens of repressive governments become so frustrated that they turn to those who preach violence. It appeared to me that the governments of both Pakistan & India refused to address the problem behind the rising instances of rape & violence against their women, and the problem was that the men who did the criminal deeds were not punished.   #jeansasson #princesssecretstoshare #goodreads #book #nonfiction #lelareads

[bonchjela]

It's a challenge to put this book down; be prepared to sink in the quicksand once you start reading it! Some of my favourite lines from the book: "Only a haphazard council of mediocre minds can reach a conclusion of treason!" "I welcome renewed battle if it means more rights for women, for a false peace does nothing more than futher women's subjugation." "Complete power poisons the hand of the person who holds it." "Arabs are by nature sensuous, yet live in a puritanical society." "The wailing of the newborn infant is nothing more than a siren sung for a mother." "How true is it that humanity refuses compromise during prosperity, and reaches out for arbitration when weak." "I had once heard that a miser is never satisfied with his money, nor a wise man with his knowledge. Was I a woman who would never know fulfilment? That possibility was frightening." "Then, there were those poor women who belonged to tribes in Arabia who removed the whole clitoris, along with the labia minora. This is the most common method of female circumcision and is comparable to removing the head of a man's penis." "Kareem shares a common trait with most Arabs. My husband cannot say no, but would rather tell a small lie and disappear from the sight of the person who requires an answer." "...if Elham would not listen to her own mother, then she should pay heed to a woman who had been educated by bright minds, a woman who had learned from respected physicians that the mutilation of girls was not encouraged by our religion and was nothing more than a custom that had no basis or meaning in modern life." "I was to tell you that it is not shameful to bow to reality and that you should allow the lust for conflict to cool on your veins." #jeansasson #princess #daughtersofarabia #goodreads #book #nonfiction #lelareads

[bonchjela]

Not the best book I've read but hey, it fills and kills time. Aaaaand feeds my fantasies and self-fulfilling prophecies. #paulocoelho #thealchemist #goodreads #book #lelareads

[bonchjela]

This is the first Mitch Albom book which didn't leave me crying at the end; I did however...had shiver running down my spine, goosebumps and my mind went blank for a second. I guess my fascination with time is in parallel to what was written here, it's like Albom stole my thoughts and materialised them into words. #mitchalbom #thetimekeeper #goodreads #book #lelareads

[bonchjela]

I've read it only once, so I read it again. Twice now, but who's counting? Of course, I ended up fanning my tears. Mitch Albom does that to me over and over again! #mitchalbom #foronemoreday #goodreads #book #lelareads