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[abuali]

Seriously! I didnt realise either that there were so many Harry Potter fans.

I guess why I have never gotten down to reading the book is because partly the movies have dissapointed me. But hey, since you all insist on it being so good, I will give it a read...

I have a feeling though, if you love Harry Potter, then you will go crazy about the Shannara Trilogy...believe me...

lol@FAB. I survived Shannara...I hope I can survive Harry Potter...lol...otherwise see you all at Hogwarts...

Currently I am flipping through the pages of Kane and Abel by Jeffrey Archer...So far it looks like a wonderful story...

Then I was guided is excellent. The book just gripped me. Al-Tijanis other books are equally excellent such as 'To be with the truthful' and incidently, his book, 'Ask those who know' is based on the same ayat of the Holy Quran which we have based this site on (have a look at the ayat at the top of this site).

[abuali]

I just realised...Al-Tijanis books ae available online.

You can find them at: -

Then I was Guided - http://www.al-islam.org/guided/
An English translation of Thumma Ihtadaytu by Sayed Mohamed Tijani Smaoui. Then I was Guided is an autobiographical account of Sayed Tijani's search for knowledge. His style is very conversational and this book is very easy reading. Besi des being an inspirational account of his journey in search of truth, this work also aims to remove some of the barriers that exist between the schools of thought of the ahl-as-Sunnah and the shi'a by clearing a lot of the misconceptions that have been fa bricated against the shi`a in religious literature.

Ask Those who Know - http://www.al-islam.org/ask/index.html
An English translation of Fasaloo ahl al-Dhikr by Sayed Mohamed Tijani Smaoui, the same author of Then I was Guided. In this work, Sayed Tijani examines issues of free will/predestination, the infallibility of the Prophet (s) and th e Ahl al-Bayt (a), the companions of the Prophet (s), and the authenticity of the books of traditions compiled by al-Bukhari and al-Muslim.

[Talib]

I find myself reading more 'educational' books rather than novels these days...
About the Harry Potter books, I love the way J.K. writes and my fav book in the series is by far, the 5th book... I agree with Yas, it has been rushed a lil at the end, but it's still a great read...
As for right now, I am reading Bill Clinton's autobiography "My Life" and I it's a very good book... As for Islamic books, i'd definitely recommend Harun Yahya's books...
I admit I am a bookworm... I'd read almost anything and sometimes I even find myself reading dictionaries... yes, I knowww!!!

[Umm.aly]

Hey FAB.. u r most welcome to borrow the book! :)
John Grisham sure is a good writer, especially if u like the lawyer kind of logic. Rite now m reading his The Brethren.. quite a gripping book.. I think The Pelican Brief and The Firm were superb!

Hasin mentioned Jeffrey Archer.. another very good author! I must admit, I was never too keen to read his books, but then one day, out of desperation, I started reading The Eleventh Commandment, and I was hooked!
I belive the sequel to Kane and Abel is the Prodigal Daughter.. let us know how the book was..
About Al Tijanis books.. have never heard about 'To be with the truthful'.. wat is about?

Reading dictionaries? that's the height of being a bookworm!
Actually learning new words can be fun! Reader's Digest usually has a section called Word Power.. i love doing tht!

[Sayyeda]

Hey FAB, I too read Sweet Valley till today ... Let alone Sweet Valley, I wouldn't mind reading Enid Blyton's Secret Seven (that is when I dont have anything else to read) LOL

Haven't ever read 'Then I was guided' but planning to read it as soon as I get one.

Hey Hasin, I was wondering if I could borrow your book (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) when you're done with it. I really wanna read it!

Hehe.... wow, I didn't know there were people who were such bookworms, that they would actually read the dictionary! But anyway, reading something is better than reading nothing! lol

Yeah Muhaddisa, Readers Digest is also good and my favourite sections have always been 'Laughter, the best Medicine' and 'Life's like that'.

[Umm.aly]

Yeah Reader's Digest is an all round reader.. informational and fun as well! Even all in a days work is fun reading!

I forgot to add in my last post that the Harry Potter's movies are nothing compared to the books! In the books, your heart actually pounds together with Harry's in the Quidditch matches! :)
All the feelings are so explicitly described, that you literally visualize everything thats happening.. i guess perhaps thats why the movies are a huge dissapointment, for they dont seem to convey the same sort of atmosphere as the books do...

[muru]

I used to love reading books.....but nowadays i just cant seem to find the time to sit down with a good book.

Here is my choice of good books:

Terry Brooks (fantasy)
1) Sword of shanara (*) (#)
2) Elfstones of shanara (*) (#)
3) Wish song of shanara (#)
4) Voyage of the morgreyvar (*)

Stephen King
1) The gunslinger (the dark towers) (#)(#)
2) The stand (*) (#)(#)(#)(#)
3) Desperation
4) the eyes of the dragon
5) firestarter (#)(#)(#)(#)(#)(#)
6) The long walk
7) The talisman (*) (#)(#)(#)(#)(#)(#)(#)

John Grisham
1) The Firm (*) (#)
2) The brethern

Gavin lyall
1) One past midnight (#)(#)(#)


KEY

(*) - I lent these books out to my friends and they never returned them back. If you are that friend you better return my book...casue i know voodoo and i am not afraid to use it!!!!


(#) - A Must read!!!

[abuali]

My my my.....it looks like we will soon have to have some sort of a system where we can figure out who is the worst (or best) out of us all as far as book-reading is concerned.

hehe...i dont think I stand a chance ....

Muhaddisa...I certainly hope thats the case....many movies based on books have proven that they cannot match the books.

Sayyeda....sorry for the delayed response....IF you are interested in then i was guided...i placed a link to the full book onlin earlier in one of my posts.

I can lend you the book now...as I am currently reading Kane and Abel....let me know how I can pass it on to you.

Keep the reviews coming....

Muru...tell us a little about The Talisman.....

[abuali]

Hasin mentioned Jeffrey Archer.. another very good author! I must admit, I was never too keen to read his books, but then one day, out of desperation, I started reading The Eleventh Commandment, and I was hooked!
I belive the sequel to Kane and Abel is the Prodigal Daughter.. let us know how the book was..

Yes, The Prodigal Daughter carries on from where Kane and Abel finishes...Havent read it so dont know much about it.

Have already read the first few chapters of Kane and Abel...as much as the time between work and more work allows ...so far its quite interesting, but the main plot has not started. Will keep you informed

I have been out of touch of any 'Heavy-weight' reading for quite some time ...I hope to do lots of reading this year....especially of the Holy Quran translation and commentary as well as Nahjul Balagha.

[Umm.aly]

Hey i just finished The Brethren by John Grisham.. nice one!
And I finally got my hands on Shannara! Got the Wishsong of Shannara.. have read just a few pages n I can hardly bring myelf to put it down!

The Quran translation with tafseer in Ask is very good.. pretty lengthy, but very very informative. Waiting for the next Surah.. maybe we can have something similar for Nahjul Balagha study as well..

[abuali]

Hey thats great...u will just love Shannara...

However...it would help if you get to read the sword of shannara first...as the three books (sword, elfstones and wishsong) form a trilogy...and somehow continue one after the other...in any case, wishsong is better than none...lol

Yea...tha commentary is great...lemme put on the next ayats...

EDIT - The first few ayats of the Surah Baqarah (commentary) has already been put on... http://www.shiaworld.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=24

[abuali]

I just remembered....some of the best books that make up a lot of my childhood memories were: -

1. Dandy BEANO !!!
2. Tintin
3. Asterix

Does anyone have any rare copies of Beano or Tintin or Asterix that I can borrow???

Nothing beats the BEANO!

[Umm.aly]

oh Tintin!!! I love those comics!! lol.. my fav character is Captain Haddock!! .. i laugh just thinking bout him! n not forgetting the Thompson (with a P as in Philadelphia!! ) /Thomson bros!! hehehe..

have read almost all Tintin comics over n over again, but m never tired of reading them!!

Heard of Asterix, but have never read the full comic, just bits n pieces..
And this BEANO guy is a stranger to me!

[abuali]

I know! Tintin books are a classic...

Asterix is also nice...but Tintin beats Asterix....

Dandy & Beano (two seperate comics)...are another classical comic books...they have several stories inside of different characters..for example in BEANO...Dennis the Mennace, Bash Street Kids, Minnie the Minx...and so on....

And in DANDY there were Desperate Dan, Black Bob and others...truly classical! :)

http://www.beano.co.uk/index2.htm

http://www.dandy.com/cover.htm

[Umm.aly]

Just wanted to say tht the Youth Magazine is very nice indeed.. i especially liked the little youth.. enjoyed doing it together with my neice! I guess m still a kid at heart .. uh arent we all?