HappymessHappiness

Quote of the Week (2026-44)

What we have once enjoyed deeply we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us.

~ Helen Keller

Quote of the Week (2026-43)

Solitude is a silent storm that breaks down all our dead branches; Yet it sends our living roots deeper into the living heart of the living earth.

~ Kahlil Gibran

Quote of the Week (2026-42)

Knowing how to be solitary is central to the art of loving. When we can be alone, we can be with others without using them as a means of escape.

~ Bell Hooks

My September Reads

And so September came and went just like that! Whew!

Hello there, Homo sapiens! I hope you are all doing well. Just a quick post to share the 9 books I’ve read in September.

5 Stars

4 Stars

3.5 Stars

3 Stars

2.5 Stars

Quote of the Week (2026-41)

Learn your way around loneliness. Make a map of it. Sit with it, for once in your life. Welcome to the human experience. But never again use another person’s body or emotions as a scratching post for your own unfulfilled yearnings.

~ Elizabeth Gilbert

Quote of the Week (2026-40)

Be so fulfilled with yourself, that even when you are alone, you feel in good company.

~ Irina Zoica

Quote of the Week (2026-39)

Don’t let yesterday take up too much of today.

~ John Wooden

Quote of the Week (2026-38)

No man is rich enough to buy back his past.

~ Oscar Wilde

Quote of the Week (2026-37)

You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards.

~ Steve Jobs

My August Reads

Good day, Homo sapiens! The ber months are here, my favorite months of the year, but let me share with you first today the books I’ve read in August.

4 Stars

3 Stars

Have you read any of these books? What did you read in August? Any new favorites?

Quote of the Week (2026-36)

In the business world, the rearview mirror is always clearer than the windshield.

~ Warren Buffett

Quote of the Week (2026-35)

I think you will find when your death takes its toll, all the money you made will never buy back your soul.

~ Bob Dylan

Quote of the Week (2026-34)

While money can’t buy happiness, it certainly lets you choose your own form of misery.

~ Groucho Marx

My July Reads

Hi there, Homo sapiens! I hope everyone is having a great day! Life’s been busy, as usual, but let me share with you today the books I’ve read in July.

5 Stars

4 Stars

3 Stars

2 Stars

Have you read any of these books? What did you read in July?

Quote of the Week (2026-33)

Wealth, my son, should never be your goal in life. Your words are eloquent but they are mere words. True wealth is of the heart, not of the purse.

~ Og Mandino

Quote of the Week (2026-32)

Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.

~ Epictetus

Quote of the Week (2026-31)

There is a gigantic difference between earning a great deal of money and being rich.

~ Marlene Dietrich

Quote of the Week (2026-30)

As much as we need a prosperous economy, we also need a prosperity of kindness and decency.

~ Caroline Kennedy

Quote of the Week (2026-29)

Prosperity in the form of wealth works exactly the same as everything else. You will see it coming into your life when you are unattached to needing it.

~ Wayne Dyer

Quote of the Week (2026-28)

If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.

~ Josh Billings

My June Reads

Hello there, Homo sapiens!

I’m sharing with you today the books I’ve read in the month of June.

5 Stars

4 Stars

3 Stars

2 Stars

Quote of the Week (2026-27)

Your most precious, valued possessions and your greatest powers are invisible and intangible. No one can take them. You, and you alone, can give them. You will receive abundance for your giving.

~ W. Clement Stone

Quote of the Week (2026-26)

Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding.

~ Albert Einstein

Quote of the Week (2026-25)

There is peace even in the storm.

~ Vincent van Gogh

Quote of the Week (2026-24)

World peace must develop from inner peace. Peace is not just mere absence of violence. Peace is, I think, the manifestation of human compassion.

~ Dalai Lama XIV

My May Reads

Hello there, Homo sapiens!

May has gone just like that! Whew! Here are the books I’ve read in May.

5 Stars

4 Stars

3 Stars

Quote of the Week (2026-23)

Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.

~ Siddhartha Gautama

Spell the Month in Books – May

Hi there, Homo sapiens!

It’s the end of the month and I haven’t done Spell the Month in Books for May yet. So here I am!

The idea is to spell the month in books using the first letter in the first word of a title and it was originally created by Jana @ Reviews From the Stacks. I didn’t see any theme update/post from Jana so I’ll be choosing my own theme this time.

For this month’s theme: Books with flowers on the cover

M- Moloka’i by Alan Brennert

A – All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque

Y – Yellow Crocus by Laila Ibrahim

Until next time! Happy reading!

Quote of the Week (2026-22)

Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.

~ Anais Nin

Quote of the Week (2026-21)

Friendship marks a life even more deeply than love. Love risks degenerating into obsession, friendship is never anything but sharing.

~ Elie Wiesel

Quote of the Week (2026-20)

Silence makes the real conversations between friends. Not the saying, but the never needing to say that counts.

~ Margaret Lee Runbeck

Quote of the Week (2026-19)

Friendship is the hardest thing in the world to explain. It’s not something you learn in school. But if you haven’t learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven’t learned anything.

~ Muhammad Ali

My April Reads

Good day, Homo sapiens! I hope you are all doing great! Today, I’m sharing with you the books I’ve read in April.

5 Stars

Truly was an amazing read. Great book! I have always been a Lionel Richie fan for sure and I’d be glad to recommend this book to anyone.

4 Stars

A River in Darkness was not a very easy read but necessary. Heartbreaking. One of the best first hand accounts about life in North Korea.

I read Still Alice because Alzheimer’s is a very interesting subject to me. Realistic and scary at the same time. Now it makes me question my forgetfulness lately…

Daughters of the Bamboo Grove was a good exploration of China’s one-child policy and its effect. Very insightful and well-researched.

The Great Successor left me asking more questions instead of finding answers which makes it a good book for me because North Korea fascinates me.

It’s like I’ve been to Sicily after finishing The Sicilian (The Godfather 2). You won’t find here the direct sequel to The Godfather if that’s what you’re up to, mind you.

Hamnet is a moving and heartbreaking story. A little slow for my taste but I admire the author’s skills in writing about death and grief.

Watching Jackie Chan movies is a happy reminder of my childhood. So I was excited to read Never Grow Up which was an easy, fast and fun read.

3 Stars

Maybe I would have loved Illusions if I’ve read it when I was younger? Anyhow, it was still an interesting, short read.

What did you read in April?

Quote of the Week (2026-18)

A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked.

~ Bernard Meltzer

Quote of the Week (2026-17)

Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.

~ Marcus Aurelius

Quote of the Week (2026-16)

Of all forms of caution, caution in love is perhaps the most fatal to true happiness.

~ Bertrand Russell

Spell the Month in Books – April

Good day, Homo sapiens!

So… I’m doing Spell the Month in Books for April. The idea is to spell the month in books using the first letter in the first word of a title and it was originally created by Jana @ Reviews From the Stacks.

For this month’s theme: Easter or Pastel Covers

I’m choosing Easter and I’ve decided to use children’s Easter books.

A – The April Rabbits by David Cleveland

P – Peppa’s Easter Egg Hunt by Neville Astley

R – The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown

I – It’s the Easter Beagle by Charles M. Schulz

L – Little Bunny’s Easter Surprise by Jeanne Modesit

My March Reads

Hello there, Homo sapiens! How’s everyone doing? I wonder if any of you guys are also living here in the Middle East? I hope you’re safe and doing well. Ceasefire, so I hope everyone’s sleeping well at night.

Anyway, I managed to read 7 books in March and let me share them with you today.

5 Stars

The Sideways Life of Denny Voss is so far my favorite fiction read this year. Heartwarming, sweet, funny and heartbreaking at the same time.

4 Stars

The Secret Keeper of Jaipur is the sequel to The Henna Artist. I liked this book as it brings me the smell and interesting culture of India once again.

It’s very sad to know that Departure(s) will be Julian Barnes’ last published book. Mr. Barnes is one of my favorite authors. The Sense of an Ending is one of my top favorite books of all time where he talks about how we imperfectly or incorrectly remember the past while Departure(s) talks about how we prepare to leave it behind. Sad.

99 Ways to Die and How to Avoid Them is a very informative read, humorous and a bit tragic.

I enjoy anything Mitch Albom writes and Twice is my recent read from him. Complex love story. Ha! The twist surprised me! Mr. Albom never fails me.

I found The Last Kings of Hollywood a very insightful read because I don’t watch movies a lot but I sure have watched epic movies made by these three filmmakers — Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg.

3 Stars

Broken April is my first from an Albanian author, Ismail Kadare. The book is a bit disturbing and barbaric but I guess you don’t read it to be entertained. It made me feel glum and depressed so I want to give Albanian literature another try.

Have you read any of these books? What were your March reads?

Quote of the Week (2026-15)

Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.

~ Mahatma Gandhi

Quote of the Week (2026-14)

We tend to forget that happiness doesn’t come as a result of getting something we don’t have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.

~ Frederick Keonig

Quote of the Week (2026-13)

The amount of good luck coming your way depends on your willingness to act.

~ Barbara Sher

Quote of the Week (2026-12)

Luck is predictable; the harder you work, the luckier you get.

~ Brian Tracy

Spell the Month in Books – March

Hi there, Homo sapiens!

Today, I’m doing Spell the Month in Books for March. The idea is to spell the month in books using the first letter in the first word of a title and it was originally created by Jana @ Reviews From the Stacks.

For this month’s theme: Green Covers

M – The Master by Christopher Clarey

A – Augustus by John Williams

R – Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor

C – A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin

H – Heaven by Mieko Kawakami

That’s it! Until next time!

Quote of the Week (2026-11)

The only sure thing about luck is that it will change.

~ Bret Harte

My February Reads

Hi there, Homo sapiens! Things were crazy and stressful the past couple of weeks and likely may still be due to the Israel/US-Iran war that is very much affecting the GCC countries. I am currently in Kuwait and was supposed to fly out on March 3rd but the airport was closed since the afternoon of Feb-28. So… work, as usual…

Anyway, let me share to you today the books I enjoyed in the month of February.