afunctioningbookaddict

27/05/2021

Qotd: what are you studying or teaching in 2021?
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I am going through History of English literature book and today I’ll study “the house of fiction”.
This topic mainly focuses on the emergence of novel writing and some prominent novel writers.
It’s hard to get back to studying after an year’s break.
Studying in Bachelor’s was comparatively easy but studying as a graduate seems like a hard work.
Anyhow, I have made my notes, got A4 pages to write down bc i deserve this punishment for not using my journals.
Wish me luck!! ❤️❤️

24/05/2021

Qotd: How have you been coping with reading or your tbr?
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I am not home so I have only brought few books with me. Rn I am reading The Vanishing Half and hoping to finish it soon.
P.S i wanted to share some of the intriguing quotes from this book…

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“I think in saying 'loved each other,' Baldwin doesn't just mean the living. To survive by loving each other means to love our ancestors too. To know their pain, struggles, and joys. It means to love our collective memory, who we are, where we come from.”
Susan Abulhawa, Against the Loveless World
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“It seemed to me that fate was inherited, like eye color. I wondered if she had felt the same disorientation that now ruled my days. Had it been all she could think about—the incomprehensibility of forced, permanent displacement?”
Susan Abulhawa, Against the Loveless World

23/05/2021

I just wanted to add my opinion regarding the biases we face for the P*l**tini*n cause.
Please show some support because my reach has decreased to a considerably low amount.
Yes that’s the price we pay for resisting!!!

21/05/2021

Things went wrong in the history and it is why we are still suffering.
We were up rooted from our cultural heritage by those in power and we still carry out their legacy within us.
It is why things are still wrong and are getting more worse for other people.
Our oppressors first came for the Black people, then they came for us, and now they are after the entire world.
The only difference is that this time the oppressed are with them.
And now they are a much bigger force.
Things are so complicated.
There are plethora of races involved in inflicting oppression and facing oppression.
We can’t outright resist because some things hold us back.
The world governs in an entirely different way now.
We have geographical boundaries, systemised political government, power dynamics issues etc.,
It is not as simple as it sounds.
But it doesn’t mean we can’t face the truth or conceal the reality.
It is what is and we must stand against oppression…

17/05/2021

Qotd: How many books have you read this year so far?

I am looking forward to read these but my tbr keeps on getting bigger.
I have yet to read poetry of Mahmoud Darvaish but I am sucking at time management.
Send prayers my way!

17/05/2021

16/05/2021

Here are some suggestions to gain knowledge about what’s been happening in Palestine since the rise of Israelite Political Oppression.

I would personally explore and read the works of Susan Abulhawa and Mahmoud Darwaish.
I will keep sharing whatever I come across on my IG stories.
Drop any good suggestions you have for me, in the comments.

11/05/2021

Qotd: what’s next in your reading list?!
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My tbr contains
•The Vanishing Half
•How to Argue with a Racist
•My Brilliant Friend

09/05/2021

Hi guys!
I am finally here with my most anticipated read of the month!
If you have been following me for years you’d know how much I love reading African American Literature and South Asian Literature or books written by Black authors.
I don’t know what’s the reason behind this but I believe it’s the mutual history of identity crisis, and political oppression which makes me feel related with such genre.
P.s here are some of the best quotes from this book that have further escalated my interest in reading this.
BUY IT FROM .pk before it goes out of stock.

“There were many ways to be alienated from someone, few to actually belong.”
Brit Bennett, The Vanishing Half
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That was the thrill of youth, the idea that you could be anyone. That was what had captured her in the charm shop, all those years ago. Then adulthood came, your choices solidifying, and you realize that everything you are had been set in motion years before. The rest was aftermath.
Brit Bennett, The Vanishing Half
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When you married someone, you promised to love every person he would be. He promised to love every person she had been. And here they were, still trying, even though the past and the future were both mysteries.
Brit Bennett, The Vanishing Half

Source:

07/05/2021

Qotd: What Being A reader has done to you?
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P.s I wrote this out of sheer impulse.
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I hate uncertainty.
I want to how things unfold and end,
I want to know how a character’s life falls into place,
How things settle,
How one’s entire life rests to peace.

I am haunted by the darkness of my doubts
I want to see the light of dawn
I want to know what’s on the other side even if it takes me to get a barrel and start digging my own grave.

This is what reading books has done to me.
I want closures.
An end to an argument, clarity for my ambiguities,
Trust from the uncertain future.
Because I am too tired of anticipating.

It is time that i come home and open the barred door of ignorance.

01/05/2021

Qotd: Who else is binge watching Shadow and Bone???? Who is your most favorite character?
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I apologise in advance to my instafam because I haven’t read the series, (i am far too old school) but I am watching the show and GOD I love it.

Also appreciate my editing skills took me sometime to do it while I had abandoned my reading. 😂
I know for sure something serious is cooking in the show and I am not ready for it yet.
May my blank space is filled with happy memories for

26/04/2021

CAPTION
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QOTD: how often do you feel nostalgic?
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People move forward and I keep running backwards because I cling onto memories therefore always making my towards past.
I am the anchor of the ship of future, I always make sure to hold it, keep it in one place.
I am too scared to let things go, let moments go, because once they are gone, i’ll never be able to make my way back to them.
Time will steal everything from me even myself, so I only have faded memories to treasure and perhaps i’ll never leave behind my past and head on.
I’ll stay there and make it my home.

22/04/2021

Nothing but a good book while it rains outside 🥰🌙
P.s I am teaching Romantic Poetry these days and the weather is elevating my mood all the more.

21/04/2021

Qotd: How is your Ramadan going?
Since it’s a spiritual month, I am not hurrying enough to finish books and increase my reading goals.
Apart from teaching, I hardly get time to sit down and spend my time for Ramadan.
So this month isn’t about my everyday needs, it’s about taking one step at a time.
P.S I hope you’re managing things perfectly.

03/01/2021

QOTD: what season are you watching?
I was watching the Queen's Gambit and got so inspired by it that I learned to play chess 😂
It's just the beginning though but believe me playing chess is such a mindful activity.
Anyways, on my way to finish this season, i switched to The Bridgeton series. I was craving for Victorian aesthetics, balls, gowns, brick mansions, art and everything antique. This season just fills the heart with so much royalty. I have finally finished it and it was a joyful journey in the 1800's.

30/12/2020

QOTD: What is your most favourite read of 2020?
Mine are so many that the list can go on.
I only managed to fit these in the frame.
But i'll mention their titles in the caption below.
1. Circe
2. Mirror of beauty
3. Once and Future Witches
4. Where the Crawdads sing
5. The Far Field
6. The discomfort of evening
7. Girl Woman Other
8. Picture of Dorian Ray
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Also i am looking forward to a new change hence i experimented with book photography.

30/12/2020

QOTD: what season are you watching?
I was watching the Queen's Gambit and got so inspired by it that I learned to play chess 😂
It's just the beginning though but believe me playing chess is such a mindful activity.
Anyways, on my way to finish this season, i switched to The Bridgeton series. I was craving for Victorian aesthetics, balls, gowns, brick mansions, art and everything antique. This season just fills the heart with so much royalty. I am hoping to finish it soon.

29/12/2020

When there is no timely reaction to trauma it usually comes back later haunting us.
In "the discomfort of evening", Jas's family fails to cope with the news of Matthies' death. (The spoiler is revealed in the beginning of the novel.)
Jas is the youngest of the family and the one who is most affected by her brother's demise and It takes her a lot of time to process the news.
Her mother gradually burns away in the grief. she's losing her appetite, her sanity and most of all her will to exist.
Jas has a lot of repressed emotions embedded in her consciousness. Her father's role has the most impact on her identity because he is an orthodox Christian man.
Amidst grief and constricted family environment, the protagonist fails to process her trauma, and relies heavily on her imagination as a coping mechanism.
The novel beautifully explains family loss, sibling relationship, and farm life interwoven with the
characters' life, old school parenting and its after effects on underage children.
The more i'd say, the more it'd be less to describe the importance of this book.
Words have failed to explain how this book inspires you, or impresses you with insightful details and children's imagination which is a universe of its own.
I had to stop and reread many paragraphs to embrace the beauty of the writer's word.
They left me awestruck and i am still awestruck because I can't seem to move on from this book.
Please read it!
You won't regret it.
It deserved to win the Booker prize award 2020.
P.s there are uncomfortable instances in the novel which might trigger some of you so in that case be aware.

22/12/2020

I am finally participating in a rep search.
My name is Umra Shahzad, i am a literature graduate, a book enthusiast who is nuts about discovering new books, and literature.
Ever since i joined bookstagram community, i have been meaning to take part in rep searches that served a good purpose and fortunately this rep search finally motivated me to take part. pk is a very empowering project which celebrates femininity,
increases women's confidence in their gender and also promotes urdu literature and language.
So in a world full of western aesthetics blowing off our feeds, to find something familiar, homely, indigenous and girly is worth having.
I want to be a part of this rep search to make it meaningful and share our experience of being Pakistani with our bookstagram community. ❤️🥰

20/12/2020

My 2020 journey in a nutshell 👇🏼
My year 2020 began with studying hard, making sure i make the best of my last semester.
Then corona happened, and things became very stagnant. For the first time ever it felt like everything is falling apart and we just have to cope with it.
Meeting with deadlines, stress from university work, staying at home with limited resources, i had to deal with them without questioning anything.
Because i knew i still had the privilege of living, having food on the table on the right time.
My situation was far good than people out there, I accepted it.
But then I graduated and date of my marriage was fixed.
Happiness stepped in my life amidst the depressing year, i took extra care of myself, my parents knowing that a big change was coming awaiting.
However, it's life and we can't always remain in the realms of enjoyment.
My father met with an accident right before my wedding.
We almost lost him. I even coped with this news knowing that the worst had passed.
He recovered easily.
But then my mother got covid positive with other close relatives right before my barat.
She couldn't physically attend one of my events, and i missed her presence like anything.
With sudden changes happening in my life, and while seeing relatives and friends not attending my wedding, i lost myself to grief.
It was all piling up right at the bottom of my heart till it reached the top of it and i had to lose to sickness.
That was a painful week right after my wedding.
I almost crashed in weakness, couldn't even come back home because my mother was in isolation.
I had all the support of my husband and my family.
They helped me come out of this sick phase.
Some weeks passed, i came back home, reunited with my family, enjoyed travelling and kept giving myself unto sickness.
Light shown on the pages of my life till darkness was away.
But only recently, we had to deal with a relative battling with covid and brain stroke.
Nothing seems persistent not even a slightest cheerful moment.
Every now and then i just wait for unhappiness to knock on our door because i have accepted it's over shadowing existence on our lives.
We are inseparable from it.

15/12/2020

QOTD: how do you feel about this caption?
Ever thought about what we are going to witness in our children if we don't step up our game now?
If we don't start watering the soil of our gardens now?
I don't want mine to remain barren, so the waterfalls of words, books, people will keep falling over my garden till it's time to call it off.
It makes me almost insecure sometimes when I can't seem to comprehend what legacy i am going to leave, what mark of my existence will carve itself on the pages of history or my children's life.
I am too young to be saying this but i believe every lesson i have learned, every step i have taken towards God is going to give me something in return, might be a memory of me engraved on the stones of my grave.

14/12/2020

Book review

Central to Mueenuddin’s short stories is K.K Harouni’s character who is a feudal lord, and owns most of the lands of Punjab.
Each story is interwoven with struggles of villagers who find themselves at the mercy of Harouni and his workers.
The first story characterises an electrician who exploited the benefits provided by his master to feed his extended family. Mueenuddin through highlighting the corrupted nature of Nawabudin tries to prove the unjust classification of upper and lower class, who both exploit each other to fulfil their benefits.
Saleema’s narrative however explains the vulnerable position of women in a patriarchal society who become revengeful and greedy with time to avenge the society that oppressed them. In case of Saleema, she finds temporary comfort in the house of K.K Harouni’s manager, because her lower class stature haunts her throughout her life and she could never entirely escape from her poverty.
The writer sketches women and the marginalised people’s live around a mandala, because they all end up from where they started- deserted and emptied.
There is nothing that can be done for these characters, they are never saved from the misery of the world and their inner turmoil that shadows upon most of their lives.
However, I felt uncomfortable by the negative portrayal of women in the stories who were depicted as spoiled, materialistic and vulnerable. Not all women with less financial opportunities are gold diggers as self worth can not be measured by the amount of money a woman can have. And not all women belonging to the elite class are spoiled brats, carrying the hollowness born inside them, aimlessly.
If you want to read this book and take part in the discussion follow my bookclub .reading.society for more information.

03/12/2020

The first time i ever came to know about Emily Dickinson was when we studied American Literature.
And the amazing thing was that I discovered a book of her poetry dating back to 1800's at an old bookshop.
It was a mere coincidence and I accidentally bumped into a bookshelf and there it was laying, waiting to be held and taken home.
Ever since then, i have been stealing some of the poems from the book to devour them during my lonely hours.
To say the least, Emily is an exceptional poetess who has known loss, war, and loneliness.
Her words struck you in the right wounds and take time to heal.
If you wish to explore her works do watch "a quiet passion" based on her life story.
It has not much to offer but the movie lets you have an idea about the poetess, her life and her ambitions.
Her poems, deserve a separate post.

02/12/2020

This post might make you think, it’s another book by a female author that she is going to talk about.
But you know what? The gender differences get erased when it is pain that we are talking about, or the traumatic experiences of people written on the burnt pages of history.
So this book- “once and future witches” paints a catastrophic life of three Eastwood sisters, who with the help of old wives’ tales and their mother’s legacy of story telling, discover the tower of Avalon
The tower is associated with the legend of three Wayward sisters who discovered magic, and created a reservoir of potions, and magical recipes for women to safeguard themselves and survive in a world that oppressed them.
To continue the legacy of the Wayward sisters, the Eastwood siblings- Bella, Agnes and June are united together after years of separation and are guided towards the path of binding witches aka women with words and power to heal.
However, a greater evil is coming, with lurking shadows everywhere, with the witching powers to steal rights from women, and their art of magic.
Will Eastwood sisters succeed in finding the tower to save themselves? Will they have access to all the ancient mid wives recipes, words of women wronged and burnt to fight against the rising evil?
These are the questions that invade the readers consciousness and keep appearing until the truth is told.
The storyline has potential to steal your attention and heart, it is encapsulating enough for you to devour it within one sitting.
Although a lazy ass reader like me took one week to finish this, but the experience was worth having
P.s it is a perfect winter read, with gothic descriptions, embedded in childhood stories, and legends of the past.
4.5/5