What Your Child Should Be Reading: Part 3

It’s been a while since I posted one of these so I think it’s a good time to do that.

My first recommendation today which is good for 3 – 8 year olds is:

1) The Little Miss and The Mr. Men pocket books

These book are a delight, they are enjoyed by both little 7aki who is 7 and little Buddha who is 2.5.

It all started when little 7aki received two of these books as a present;  Little Miss Sunshine who can’t stop being happy and Little Miss Whoops who goes to visit her brother Mr. Bump and the rest was history. Now whenever I get a chance I get 2 or 3 of them at the used book store.

They are cute short reads and they talk about how people are different. You can for sure find one that best describes your kids.

Mine are:

Little Miss Stuborn would be my beoved buddha. Seriuosly stubborn.

… and Little Miss Brave/Naughty would be little 7aki. There is no Little Miss Brave! Not cool.

My second recommendation that is good for 3 – 7 year olds is:

2) The Pout-Pout Fish.

This book is really adorable; it’s about this pout-pout fish that would not smile even when all his friends ask him to until … well you have to read it to find out what turns his frown upside down.

He goes around spreading his dreary-wearies all over the place. Little 7aki loves to read this part.

And he goes blubing all over imaginable surfaces. This is little buddhas favorite; she traces the bluuuuub with her finger while she says it.

Good book, very clever rhyming, my kids love it.

And that’s it for today. Hopefully I won’t take this long for my next kids review.

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For more of my kids reviews:

Part 1

Part 2

And for more other books go here

 

Bridesmaids: The Movie

I have not laughed so hard at a movie theater for a very, very , very long time! So long in fact I actually don’t remember when.

The movie was well scripted, well cast and well directed.

I did not stop laughing throughout the whole movie;  you HAVE to go see it.  Its much funnier than hangover and I am NOT exaggerating.

Loved it.

 

Winning

This is selling in  downtown Toronto  EVERYWHERE! Could be yours for the low price of 19.99!

It’s a T-Shirt. CRACKS.ME.UP!

 

Touché

7aki: Life is a bitch.

Bob: Life wouldn’t be such a bitch if you come up here for lunch. (Up here is really far from where 7aki works)

7aki: How about we meet half way? Name that song.

Bob: Black eyed peas.

Uptown girl you’re So far away so we’ll Meet you in the middle (name those songs)!

When can you make it?

Monday Monday
Ruby Tuesday
Wednesday (couldn’t think of a song)
Thursday (couldn’t think of a song)
Freaky Friday

Can you tell I’m bored.

7aki: Billy Joel and Tyler Kyte?

Lisa Loeb – Tails – Waiting for Wednesday
Lotus – Beautiful Day – Six Weeks Till Wednesday
Jimmy Eat World – Jimmy Eat World – Wednesday
Tori Amos – Scarlet’s Walk – Wednesday

David Bowie – Hours – Thursday’s Child
Rollins Band – Come In And Burn – Thursday Afternoon

Also

Sunday Bloody Sunday
Come Monday
Tuesdays Gone
Friday I’m in Love
Saturday Nights All Right for Fighting

What about the new Friday Firday song? So popular, and the singer is a sister of yours :p

I am more bored than you man.

Bob: LOL – I don’t think Friday Friday girl is a sister – I think she is Latino
I think l’m bored more. I am bored about being bored.

7aki: I am so bored of listening to you say how you are bored about being bored. LOL

Bob: You win.
Now I’m officially bored to death.

7aki: Well I died of boredom and was brought back to life; that experience was boring.

Bob: I listened to one of Stan’s (name changed to protect the innocent) stories recapping an episode from old British sci-fi series that no one in north America has heard of.

7aki: I heard you talking about listening to one of Stan’s stories recapping an episode from old British sci-fi series that no one in north America has heard of and that bored me even more

Bob: You win again. But l’m too bored to care.

7aki: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Touché

I am so bored I looked up the word in Wiki

 

10 Year Wedding Anniversary Part 2

BamBam (who’s a good friend) emailed me today and told me that I was a “Poo Poo Head” for cramping Baba 7aki’s style and that I should have let him “do his thing” and I can go buy myself the IPad.

Little does he know that before I even read his email I was feeling HORRIBLE about being a flat out surprise spoiler ( yeah Baba 7aki was a bit miffed) and now I feel even WORSE.

SO THANKS FOR THAT Bam :P .

And then he wanted to know what I got my man so here goes:

I got him this yesterday:

We already have the PS3 and I knew he had his eye on the PS3 move for a while .

I spent about an hour setting it up and downloading some games; we have an entertainment centre that is about 9 feet away from the TV and all the wiring is snaked inside the wall(maybe I will share some pics one day) so I had to buy USB extension cord and set the “eye” on top of the TV to make sure it’s positioned properly and did all this good stuff before he got home. To my luck he was working a bit late and came in JUST as I finished setting things up ; I managed to sneak in some play time, MWAAAHAHAHAHA , my arm hurts though, that move gets you moving!

I wanted to show it to him this morning but I CANNOT WAIT TO SURPRISE SOMEONE TO SAVE MY LIFE so I showed him his present last night…he he he I am such a loser. He LOVED it

Baba 7aki is lucky to have a techie wife I tell ya :D . And don’t tell him I said this but sometimes my technical skills surpass his. heheeeeee . Fo realz yo.

Tonight we will have our dinner and little does he know that I have another surprise up my sleeve; he thinks he got the “Move” and that is it but I also got him this:

I hope he likes it.

And yeah, I will be lucky if I get a MOFO shib-shib (flip flops) after upsetting him yesterday . LOL.

 

What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures

The non fiction book “What the Dog Saw” by Malcolm Gladwell is a fun book to read.

The book contains 19 essays that Malcolm wrote in the New Yorker spanning over 8 years I think which makes it an easy read for people with a short attention span or people who don’t have hte time to read, you read an essay, put the book aside until you are ready to read another essay.

The book is split into three parts titled:

- Minor Geniuses:
This part talks about people who are not revered in the media for their achievements but non the less are amazing at what they do. One of the examples of these people is Ron Popiel, a household name here in North America, for those who don’t know the name does the phrase ” Set it and forget it” ring a bell?

Another essay that I found VERY interesting talks about the birth of the birth control pill, honestly this essay was sooooo interesting that getting your hands on the book just to read that is worth it.

- Theories, Predictions, and Diagnoses:
This part is so fascinating. One of the essays talked about the fall of Enron, I think people will still talk about Enron 100 years from now, and what caused them to fail.

Another essay talked about true geniuses with an IQ higher than 150. their was a study done on these geniuses to track them through life expecting them to be the cream of the crop once they are older just to be shocked at the end that no, being a genius does not mean you will be successful. Pretty cool!

Another essay in this part I liked is the one discussing the failure of the challenger mission. It basically concludes that it’s not one big huge problem that causes things to fail it’s actually a chain of very ordinary small problems that create a huge failure, very interesting!

- Personality, Character, and Intelligence:
One of the essays talks about late bloomers, mostly artists and writers, and how some write/paint brilliant work and then fizz out as opposed to those who reach their 40s painting and writing full-time all through their lives with no tangible success and then BOOM become an overnight household name.

For a full list of the essays click here

This book opened my mind a bit and I felt I learned something from it and applied it to my day-to-day life.

Go to your public library today :) .

For more reviews click here

The Well-dressed Ape: A Natural History Of Myself

LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT.

I have not read a non fiction kinda scientific book (biology) in a while that was sooooo much fun, the author, Hannah Holmes, is hilariuos.  At one point in the book she stood in the front of the mirror naked and used herself as a study specimen and OMG I couldn’t stop laughing.

She manages to use self deprecating humor in such a great balance that I giggled throughout the whole book but still got SO much information out of it.

The book is VERY informative but NEVER boring. It’s like the books : A short history of nearly everything and a short history of progress.

Well as the title suggest the book talks about humans and studies them as if they were animals, talks about the food they eat, their habitat , mating rituals, their brains , even why they have hair and many many things.

I urge you to read it, not a lot of times do you find books that educate you AND entertain you at the same time.

I am going to bookmark all her books.

3 thumbs up! Maybe in 10000 years after humans evolve another thumb.

Read more of my reviews.

The Glass Castle

What shocked me the most about the book “The Glass Castle” is the fact that it is a memoir.

I kept saying to myself, there is NO WAY there are people in the United States who lived/live like this!

This is the story of the author Jeannette Walls, her Mom, Dad and her three siblings.

The story starts with her 3-year-old self cooking hotdogs on the stove and sustaining 3 degree burns that left her scarred for life, which goes to show the degree of negligence she was living with. What does she do when she goes home from the hospital? She gets hungry and starts cooking hot dogs with  her parents cheering her on and telling her , way to go kid, this is how you should face your fears.

With a very intelligent alcoholic father, that taught his kids everything they knew, who unfortunately always spent the family money on booze and only thought of his next drink, and a mother who failed to grow up and refused to face reality. Despite that the story still manages to be a story of triumph and success.

As sad as her childhood was , no food for days on end, living in the desert because they had no place to stay, walking for miles when their car broke down on the highway, living in a home with no heat, electricity or in some cases even stairs to go into the house, they had to climb through a window to get in , I found myself unable to hate her parents who are without a doubt the reason of this families trials.

Jeannette managed to write a powerful memoir that made you understand the weakness and limitations of some humans, you could be the most intelligent and loving father but still fail to provide and protect your family because of reasons beyond your control.

I absolutely enjoyed the book, it opened up my eyes to a new world I thought never existed!

If I could take only one message from this book it is no matter what difficulties you face in life if you are smart and determined you will always succeed.

I give it the 2 thumbs up

Currently reading: What the dog saw by  Malcolm Gladwell

For more reviews click here

A Mini Mixed Review: True Blood and the Sookie Stackhouse Books

I loved watching the first 2 seasons of the show True Blood so when I knew there were NINE books that inspired the show I jumped right in and started reading them.

I really enjoyed reading the books which were very entertaining and quick reads!

The show differs from the books but I think the difference is actually good, I like the changes they made which makes watching the show exciting, like Jason’s character plays a very big role in the show not so much in the book, also Lafayette is awesome in the show and he is barely mentioned in the books. There is one exception though, Tara plays a big role on the show and is barely in the books and I hate Tara’s Character,  if Tara dies tomorrow (on the show of course )  I would be glad, she KILLS ME.

Back to the books. I will not deny that these books are by no means literature feats but they are fun and an entertaining diversion from the real world since they are based on fairies, vampires werewolves witches and telepaths. They are filled with mystical creatures and worlds.

So if you are tired of reading serious books and you like vampires, hop on the true blood bandwagon and enjoy the ride.

More book reviews click here.

World Without End

World Without End is a sequel of The Pillars of the Earth. A book rich in history, social issues and religion with architecture sprinkled on top.

Unlike the pillars of the earth that revolved around building the Kingsbridge cathedral and was rich in architectural history this book focused more on the social aspects of life in the early 1300’s and all the politics that surrounded Kingsbridge priory .

You see the struggle of young against old, new ideas against well established traditions , women’s fight against prejudice and most importantly it talks about a love story that spanned decades of hardship and struggle.

One of the things that fascinated me is how women used to live and how they had to fight hard for their rights , for example if a woman speaks up or is gifted somehow and is a threat to the old based traditions or is against certain cultural issues she is deemed a witch and gets hanged or whipped to death.

It also talked about the black death and how thousands upon thousands of people died leaving behind empty cities and homes. It talks about how doctors used to treat patients and how one woman made a big difference it fighting the plague.

It’s not a short book to read, it’s about 1000 pages long but it kept me hooked and kept me wanting more.

You know a book is good that when it ends you are sad it did.

I give it the 7aki Fadi thumbs up

Currently reading: The Glass Castle

For more reviews click here

An Echo In The Bone

I am a big fan of the outlander series by Diana Gabaldon.

The Outlander series is a story about a woman who lived around the time of world war II in the 1940′s who while visiting Scotland finds herself suddenly and inexplicably back 200 years in time in  the Eighteenth Century.

As per wiki:

The novels are not easily classified by genre. On one level, the works are romance novels with a focus on the romantic relationship between the two main characters. However, the books break certain romance genre conventions—the heroine, for instance, is slightly older and more experienced than the hero. The books could be described as a work of historical fiction with a detailed account of eighteenth century Scottish clan life. The novels could also be considered science fiction with a plot propelled by time travel when Claire journeys from the 1940s to the eighteenth century.

So the books are truly  enjoyable. There’s a lot of history that starts in Scotland then goes to France and then moves on to North America. It talks about many wars and battles in detail. The books are really rich in history.

So you can imagine how excited I was when I picked up An echo in the bone. I couldn’t wait to buy it and start reading it and I tell you this book took me FOREVER to finish.

I don’t know what it was with this book that I didn’t like;  it was just too long with too many details . I only started getting into it after 200 pages in.  It took forever for the action to start.

But because I am a fan of the series I was patient of course since I have invested interest in the characters and the story and I  did enjoy it but not as much as I did with the other 6 books.

I even saw a woman on the train who approached me while I was reading the book and said: ” I love the series I read all six books but I am having a hard time getting into this one so I put aside and started reading something else” I told her that it did take me a while to get into it.

Also the ending I felt it was left with too many loose ends, I understand that Diana wants to write the 8th book but come on, at least tie some of those loose ends!

All in all I think loyal fans will read it because you must have read the previous six books to enjoy this one.

Currently reading:
- Dead as a doornail by Charlaine Harris.
- Lion Of Jordan – The Life Of King Hussein In War And Peace

My Favorite Books of 2009

OK this title could be misleading because most of the books I read in 2009 have been published for years but none the less they affected me in 2009 one way or another.

Click on the links to read my reviews of the books.

- The Blind Assassin

Such a complex book!

- His Dark Materials

Surprisingly very Philosophical for a childrens book.

- A Fine Balance

A very good book. I couldn’t put it down. Depressing though but not in a “I want to kill myself” way

- Murder in the Name of Honour

I hope this will be the first book of many for Rana.

- To Kill a Mocking Bird

Oh how I loved this book. I loved it sooooo much. If you will pick just one book from this list to read pick this one!

- The Boy in The Striped Pyjamas

This is such a sad sad book. What a sad story. Amazing though. Honestly it breaks your heart.

Go read something, it makes you love you more.

Love

7aki

PS:  Shut up. Yes I am still doing 2009 favorites.  I think it’ll be 2011 before I finish but I WILL POST THEM DAMMIT!

The Inevitable Avatar Movie Review

Where do I begin with this one.

WOW

The fact that the cast was perfect? I would not change anyone.

The fact that the Graphics were BEYOND this world? The planet Pandora was a rich beautiful magical place.

The fact that the 3D effects made you feel like you were there? I felt I was there spying on their world, peaking through a window.

The vivid colors, the sound effects, the different creatures. It was all just perfect.

Everything about the movie was great. I even liked the story, some people said the story was weak but I disagree, there was not one dull moment in the movie and the three hours felt like one.

And it has a message to deliver that we should be one with nature, listen to it not just go destroy it pell-mell because there could be some forces in it that we are not aware of an organized order , harmony. Us not seeing it does not mean it does not exist.

I give it two thumbs up.

YOU HAVE TO WATCH IT IN 3D.

It could even convince Roba into going to the theater

Click here for lots  more reviews and ratings.

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What Color is Your Blog?

I haven’t done any quizzes for a very long time.  So I thought, why not.

Nishita inspired this post. I like Nishita, she’s interesting.


Your Blog Should Be Yellow


You’re a cheerful, upbeat blogger who tends to make everyone laugh.You are a great storyteller, and the first to post the latest funny link.

You’re also friendly and welcoming to everyone who comments on your blog.

What about you?

New Moon – The Movie

Two words,  Team Jacob.

Rain never looked so good.

The movie was a hundred times better than Twilight. Twilight bored me to tears when I watched it, it was so bad, but this movie was much better.

Just like in the Novel I want Bella to die because she irritates me … A LOT. She is just so … needy .. I don’t know what Jacob and Edward see in her. I mean, maybe Edward loves her because he can’t read her mind but WHY JACOB??? He can do SO much better.

The acting was sub par, when Edward and Bella kiss they look like they SHOULD be in pain but never accomplish the effect. And another thing, I understand Edward is a vampire and all and his body is hard as marble and blah blah, but should his acting be so rigid and cold and marbly too? And Bella’s acting is just so NON EXISTENT .
HOW did those two get cast?

But the Volturi scene does not disappoint. Aro is a really really good actor. In one scene he reads Edwards mind where he sees how he desires Bella so much that Edwards desire makes him thirsty so the Volturi salivates and swallows and YOU (the movie watcher) feel thirsty. And Jane ,helloooooooo, is DAKOTA FANNING!!! Great choice.

The Volturi will make the last movie installment (Breaking Dawn) AWESOME.

You are welcome!

So, if we were scoring Jacobs hotness I would give the movie a 10/10. But since we need to be objective and take everything into consideration and blah blah blah I would give the movie a 7/10.

IMDB

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