Alaa Qui

Dear Netizens,  A while ago I read The Extraordinary Etab of Julian Newcomber by Michael Seese. It is a middle grade Sci-fi novel about Julian who has an inventor for a father. His father invents for him the Etab, which by accident allows Julian to time travel. The plot is fun, the characters are quirky and the resolution is funny but satisfying.   At the beginning, I wasn't completely sold with Julian's character, because he speaks/sounds much older than his actual age, and he is quite snarky at the beginning. Another thing that bothered me is the repetitive use of "what the smart folks call" each time the author is about to use a word that is new for the target audience. However, both of the things I just complained about, grew into me and I started liking them. Julian's character and the other characters are meant to feel graphic, and this does come off the page, and "what the smart folks call" became funny.  Julian reminds me a lo...

Hello Netizens,  The Baby-sitters Club was never part of my childhood, I didn't grow up reading it. However, I was curious to why was it loved by many, hence, why I decided to give it a shot. If you don't know, The baby-sitters Club is about a group of friends who come together to create a babysitting "business". There are four girls in the book, Kristy, Mary Anne, Claudia and Stacey. Each girls has strikingly different personality  and it creates for an interesting dynamic among them.  I thought this book would only be about babysitting, but it is not. Kristy's parents are divorced and she trying to come to terms with her mother's new boyfriend. The girls' friendship was going through a rough time, because Claudia's interests were diverging from Kristy's and Mary Anne's. Stacey is acting a bit weird, but in the end the girls find out why.  I love how all the different topics were handled in the book, and I am actually impressed....

Hello Netizens! Today I just finished reading Moonwalking with Eistein, which is the story of how Joshua Foer, a guy like any of us, came to learn the techniques to memorisation in six months and utalising it to compete in the USA memory championship. The book delves into various scientific topics on how the brain works, how memorisation works and discusses instances where individuals had unusual brains and brain abilities.  I enjoyed reading the narrative of the book the most, and instead of feeling like I am reading a boring non-fiction book, I was engulfed by the strong voice the author carries in his book. I was also entertained by the different personalities present in the book; Ed and Tony Buzan being my favourite to read about. This book is not a manual on how to learn memorisation techniques, but it is an experiment on whether can any one learn these techniques and how much work and time is needed to reach a decent level. The book is neutral, which I appreciate a ...

Dear Netizens,  Recently I realised that I scratch off ideas too soon, or when someone tells me about their ideas, I cannot help but think about all the possible problems arising. This worries me, because I am an industrial design student and I am supposed to be creative. So when I saw this book in the library, it felt like it was pointing its finger at me, hence I had to read it.  Creativity for Critical Thinkers is an 80 pages book, that discusses some methods on how to generate ideas quickly and it gives the reader tips on how to loosen up. I did find myself coming up with ideas as I read the book and it inspired me to look at problems from a different angle. Although that is easier said than done. The methods the author provides to generate ideas are five, and the ways to reframe problem are three.  Even though it is a short book, the author did repeat points over-and-over again (which is a trend I am seeing with almost every non-fiction book I read). I...

Hello Netizens,  Recently I read a new book, and it is  Effective Presentation Skills by Steve Mandel.  Effective Presentation Skills by Steve Mandel, is a book that offers tips on how to improve and conduct a successful presentation.  It is a quick read and a short book.  The content of the book is direct and sufficient. I usually complain about nonfiction books, because they tend to repeat points and over-explain topics, however, this book did not do this. The writing style is simple; Easy to read. I flew through this book in less than an hour.  I did find the skills the book contains to be useful. I haven't applied them yet, nevertheless, the book made me aware in which area I am lacking and it has opened my eyes on what I should do to better my presentations. I would recommend you this book if you need to do presentations. Although the book is old, it did not come across as outdated, as it teaches skills that can be applied on the technol...

Dear Netizens, Yesterday night, I stayed up quite late to finish a novel I have been enjoying the past couple days. I had fun reading Cell by Stephen King, hence, I have got a lot of opinions to express along. Clayton Riddell is a comic artist hoping to have his big hit with his latest work, unfortunately, the Pulse hits the world before he could. In his journey of survival, Clay, meets a couple stranger who would become his friends for the long journey to find his son.  Cell is a zombie novel, that wants to tackle various topics in only 400+ pages. These themes ranged from fatherhood, programming, Zombies, humanity, Herd Mentality, and Friendship. I have enjoyed all the aspect of the book, but they barely scrapped the surface for most part.  'At bottom, you see, we are not Homo sapiens at all. Our core is madness. The prime directive is murder. What Darwin was too polite to say,my friend, is that we came to rule the Earth not because we were the smartest, or even ...

Hello Netizens, This week I finished reading 'Ergonomics For Beginners: A Quick Reference Guide by Jan Dul and Bernard A.Weerdmeester'. This book is an introduction to Ergonomics and provides a wide understanding of how ergonomics is applied or incorporated in various fields.  I didn't know much about ergonomics, and this book provided me with a brief and direct introduction to the ever-expanding field. I like the writing style, it is direct and to the point and there is no beating around the bush or repetition of the same points. Keep in mind, this book was first published in 1963, hence, some of the information regarding technology (and computers) are extremely outdated. Nevertheless, I would still recommend this book if you have no idea what ergonomics is and you would like to start reading about it. I gave this book 4/5 stars  ⭐ Thank you for reading!