Welcome to Sweena's Blog!

You all probably know by now that I love reading and love to talk about books. But one of my favourite things to do is recommending books to other people. I've been meaning to write a blog recommending books for people who would like to get into reading, read more or are in a reading slump and just don't know what to pick up next. Please bare in mind, that I only read fiction. I haven't read enough non fiction books to be able to recommend some to people, maybe in a few years time if I ever get into them! I  honestly wasn't sure how to curate this list, so I spent some time going through Goodreads and looking at the books that I've read in the last few years trying to see which books would cater to people. Fantasy Fantasy is my favourite genre and the one I constantly pick up. I'm pretty sure majority of the books I've read in my lifetime (which is not that long) is fantasy. But I know with the world building and all the fun but complicated politics, it can ...

Hi all, it's been a while. I feel like this is a regular opening sentence for my posts, but HI!  First of all, can you even believe that it's the last month of 2023? It makes no sense to me as to how fast this year has gone because, I genuinely  can't even recall what happened before August. But at the same time, it's kind of refreshing that this is the time to start winding down, and just prepare for a well deserved fresh start.  It's been 5 years since I started this blog, and honestly when I began I didn't know what direction I was going to take it but here we are. Starting this blog is probably the best decision I've made. It's a nice outlet to come back to every now and then when I just want to word vomit and it's also just always nice, when someone randomly stumbles across my blog and just sends a message. It makes my day. But as I look back at the beginning of this blog and just the person I was when I started - I began to realise that part of...

but there are still many paths to choose from " Growing up, I had many dreams that I wanted to achieve. Some, have been accomplished but there are some that I'm just not that passionate about anymore to try since I never started and accomplish or I just can't remember. But I used to always aim for something and once I started it, I would always try to accomplish even if I lost a bit of passion along the way. But these days, it feels like I'm not really sure what I'm aiming for and what my goals or dreams are. There are so many dreams out there but I can't help but wonder why there isn't a dream that I want. I feel like a my last few posts have kind of been repetitive and in a way this blog has become a small space for me to kind of just vent and whoever reads it, reads it. It helps, in a way. I'm entering my mid-twenties and I guess I can't help but feel lost and I'm just constantly trying to find my way. There's hasn't been any highs o...

Hello, it's been a while. Is it too late to say Happy New Year? Either way, HAPPY NEW YEAR!! Crazy how we're already in our fourth month into 2023, time seems to be flying and I can't seem to keep up. But if you were to ask me how I've been or what I've been up to the last few months I would not be able to tell you.  I've been in a bit of a slump which is why it's been quiet on this blog and even on my guitar page and for that I apologise, but hopefully I'll be up and running soon and post one or two things this year. But this slump has kind of got me thinking and then I skimmed through ' Portrait of a Thief ' and I came across a few quotes which sparked some inspiration to write this post. And the topic of today's blog is : art and the different forms.  Whilst skimming through the book, I had noticed that I had underlined this quote: "Will, who had always art, who saw beauty and wanted it, to make or to consume or to just be around....

I feel like everybody who knows me, would know at this point that I love reading. Through every book that I read, I feel as if I meet new people or a group of people that I would never actually meet in real life and I learn so much from them. When I'm reading a book, it feels as if these fictional characters are temporary friends - people just passing by, everything that they go through, I also go through. But there are also times where I'm reading from a characters perspective and I feel as if I'm looking at a reflection of myself, and I'm able to take a breather and think to myself 'Okay, I'm not the only one'. And honestly, after graduating, reading and seeing characters go through certain situations although they're fictional, when you feel so isolated it makes you feel sort of sane.  A few months ago, I read a book called ' Portrait of a Thief ' by Grace D. Li. It's a book that I still think and can't stop thinking about. In this boo...

                                                            "...But a dream within a dream?" I recently re-read a poem by Edgar Allan Poe called 'A Dream Within a Dream' and it got me thinking (again - no surprise there, haha) about the last two years and how everything has changed. How the norm of our every day lives have changed and how the old 'normal' seems so foreign and far away as it was never reality. Do you ever just sit and question whether this is what life is nowadays? Because, yeah me too. The poem by Edgar Allan Poe is one of my favourite poems ever and one that I often go back to because of how much the words bring comfort to me and in a way also motivates me, especially when I feel lost or confused. Through this poem, Edgar Allan Poe expresses so beautifully the doubt and uncertainty that you can feel about reality and even...