Friday, September 7, 2018

Breaking Down the Perfect Next Move for Kevin Owens After 'Quitting' WWE Raw

Breaking Down the Perfect Next Move for Kevin Owens After 'Quitting' WWE Raw
Kevin Owens returned to Raw on Monday after taking a week off due to the beating Braun Strowman gave him at SummerSlam, but his comeback was about as short-lived as it could be.
After Owens failed to defeat Seth Rollins for the Intercontinental Championship, The Prize Fighter sat in the middle of the ring with tears in his eyes as he said "I quit" before walking away.
His Twitter bio is empty, his profile picture is gone and he deleted all but two tweets from August 27 showing pictures of his feud with Braun Strowman and various title wins from his time in WWE - Want to watch wwe online ?
We know this is just a storyline, but many fans are still wondering where it will lead. We have seen Owens portray a frustrated employee before on SmackDown, but this time feels different. The way WWE handles his next few appearances will be important to the success of this storyline.
The promo KO delivered before his match with Rollins and the way The Architect reacted afterward might give us some clues as to how this will all play out.
Owens was distraught over losing to Strowman at SummerSlam, but he seemed even more upset that he had to wrestle the match without his best friend, Sami Zayn by his side.
Once Rollins won, he looked down at his defeated opponent and gave an approving nod, indicating Owens had earned his respect after a hard-fought and entertaining contest.
These are small details, but they seem to imply WWE (watch wwe online now !) might be ready to turn Owens into a babyface after spending his entire run as a heel.
Why a Babyface Turn Can Work
Turning a top villain into a sympathetic figure is not going to be easy, but Owens is lucky enough to have a large following to give him a headstart on most heels.
Even though we all like to boo him when he insults our hometowns or cheats, it's hard not to like The Prize Fighter as a person and a performer.
Not only is he gifted in the ring and on the mic, but he has shown himself to be a loving father and husband through his social media accounts over the years.
The respect the WWE Universe has for him means the foundation is already built for a face turn. WWE just needs to make sure it handles the change properly.
The Next Step
The WWE Universe needs time to miss Owens. Management should have him remain at home pretending he actually quit until after Hell in a Cell on September 16.
After having some time to reflect, KO should be shown approaching Paige about returning to SmackDown as a more mature competitor, but she has to make him earn it.
The crowd needs to see The Prize Fighter battling for his career. There's something about a guy who is down on his luck that makes you want to cheer for him. Once he passes a few tests, the real work will begin.
Owens doesn't need to change much about his character. Braun Strowman is essentially the exact same person whether he is a heel or a babyface. He just directs his anger at whoever works best for his current role. The same thing can work for KO.
As one of the most entertaining talkers in the company, the former universal champion could easily turn the WWE Universe to his side with a few scathing promos directed at a heel like Randy Orton or Samoa Joe.
His skill in the ring is on par with the best in the company, so the only thing he would have to adjust about his style is how often he tries to cheat. He doesn't have to stop being vicious, he just needs to do it within the rules.
The whole transition would be complete in a few weeks. By the time Survivor Series rolls around on November 18, Owens could be in a high-profile feud, possibly fighting for one of SmackDown's titles.
Giving him a fresh start as a babyface is the best way to breathe new life into his character and create new opponents for him to face inside the ring. The only downside would be WWE losing one of its best heels, but there are plenty of other Superstar who can fill the void. What do you think? Should WWE turn Owens babyface? Are you want towatch wwe online now ?

Ronda Rousey completed her rapid rise to the top of WWE at SummerSlam - but who will face her next?

Ronda Rousey completed her rapid rise to the top of WWE at SummerSlam - but who will face her next?
The 'baddest woman on the planet' confirmed on Raw the following evening that she will be "a fighting champion" and intends to compete in the ring every night.
With that in mind, we've picked out five candidates to challenge Rousey for her Raw women's championship in the coming months.
Alexa Bliss
Bliss will have a rematch as part of standard WWE (Want to watch wwe online) procedure and a solid argument can be made for her program with Rousey continuing.
The two had decent chemistry in the build-up to their SummerSlam match - largely in part to Bliss' ability to generate heat through her promo ability.
But after the bell rang it was a complete mismatch and the multi-brand champion was deposed in short order. She may need to be rebuilt before another long-term shot at the gold.
Nia Jax
Jax is the polar opposite of Bliss in the sense that she has the size and the power to make it believable that she could beat Rousey.
In their match at Money In The Bank, Jax got in plenty of offense and the contest was largely even until Bliss' briefcase-shaped interruption.
They definitely have unfinished business and that could be the key factor in a storyline reigniting their rivalry.
Natalya
It showed enormous courage and determination for Natalya to appear at Rousey's side at SummerSlam, wearing the jacket her very recently-deceased father had sported at the 1990 edition of the event.
Natalya would be a great opponent for her friend and training partner. She is a great in-ring technician in her own right but her closeness to Rousey in the Performance Center should lead to some excellent matches.
But it would be impossible to turn her heel at this point. She is well loved by the fans and admired and respected by her colleagues. This is a program which might have to wait.
Shayna Baszler
Rousey and Baszler are long-time friends and colleagues in the MMA version of the Four Horsewomen which also comprises Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir, both of whom are training with WWE (watch wwe online now !).
But a storyline feud between the two is a straightforward one to write; Rousey was Baszler's coach on The Ultimate Fighter in 2010 despite having seven years' more experience in the sport than her. It could easily be portrayed that she is not happy to have been in Rousey's shadow for so long.
Baszler dropped the NXT title to Kairi Sane at the TakeOver before SummerSlam and is therefore free to move up to Raw. But it would be a major acceleration of her push to face the company's biggest female star, even if she has shown she is a highly capable operator.
Charlotte Flair
Rousey and Flair are on collision course as the two leading lights of WWE's women's division and as the figureheads - and now champions - of Raw and SmackDown.
There really is no rush with this one. The seeds can potentially be sown soon at Survivor Series in November, when the red and blue champions traditionally go head to head. Wait !!! Want to watch wwe online ???
But the match itself has to be saved for WrestleMania. It would have to involve one of the participants losing their title and then winning the Royal Rumble to earn the chance to win it back as part of a redemption arc. Either would be a good fit for that.
With the correct build-up, Ronda Rousey v Charlotte Flair could easily be the first women's match to be the WrestleMania main event.

Ronda Rousey completed her rapid rise to the top of WWE at SummerSlam - but who will face her next?

Ronda Rousey completed her rapid rise to the top of WWE at SummerSlam - but who will face her next?
The 'baddest woman on the planet' confirmed on Raw the following evening that she will be "a fighting champion" and intends to compete in the ring every night.
With that in mind, we've picked out five candidates to challenge Rousey for her Raw women's championship in the coming months.
Alexa Bliss
Bliss will have a rematch as part of standard WWE (Want to watch wwe online) procedure and a solid argument can be made for her program with Rousey continuing.
The two had decent chemistry in the build-up to their SummerSlam match - largely in part to Bliss' ability to generate heat through her promo ability.
But after the bell rang it was a complete mismatch and the multi-brand champion was deposed in short order. She may need to be rebuilt before another long-term shot at the gold.
Nia Jax
Jax is the polar opposite of Bliss in the sense that she has the size and the power to make it believable that she could beat Rousey.
In their match at Money In The Bank, Jax got in plenty of offense and the contest was largely even until Bliss' briefcase-shaped interruption.
They definitely have unfinished business and that could be the key factor in a storyline reigniting their rivalry.
Natalya
It showed enormous courage and determination for Natalya to appear at Rousey's side at SummerSlam, wearing the jacket her very recently-deceased father had sported at the 1990 edition of the event.
Natalya would be a great opponent for her friend and training partner. She is a great in-ring technician in her own right but her closeness to Rousey in the Performance Center should lead to some excellent matches.
But it would be impossible to turn her heel at this point. She is well loved by the fans and admired and respected by her colleagues. This is a program which might have to wait.
Shayna Baszler
Rousey and Baszler are long-time friends and colleagues in the MMA version of the Four Horsewomen which also comprises Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir, both of whom are training with WWE (watch wwe online now !).
But a storyline feud between the two is a straightforward one to write; Rousey was Baszler's coach on The Ultimate Fighter in 2010 despite having seven years' more experience in the sport than her. It could easily be portrayed that she is not happy to have been in Rousey's shadow for so long.
Baszler dropped the NXT title to Kairi Sane at the TakeOver before SummerSlam and is therefore free to move up to Raw. But it would be a major acceleration of her push to face the company's biggest female star, even if she has shown she is a highly capable operator.
Charlotte Flair
Rousey and Flair are on collision course as the two leading lights of WWE's women's division and as the figureheads - and now champions - of Raw and SmackDown.
There really is no rush with this one. The seeds can potentially be sown soon at Survivor Series in November, when the red and blue champions traditionally go head to head. Wait !!! Want to watch wwe online ???
But the match itself has to be saved for WrestleMania. It would have to involve one of the participants losing their title and then winning the Royal Rumble to earn the chance to win it back as part of a redemption arc. Either would be a good fit for that.
With the correct build-up, Ronda Rousey v Charlotte Flair could easily be the first women's match to be the WrestleMania main event.

Friday, August 3, 2018

A Thousand Splendid Suns reviews

It’s not that hard to understand why Khaled Hosseini’s first novel, “The Kite Runner” (2003), became such a huge best seller, based largely on word of mouth and its popularity among book clubs and reading groups. The novel read like a kind of modern-day variation on Conrad’s “Lord Jim,” in which the hero spends his life atoning for an act of cowardice and betrayal committed in his youth. It not only gave readers an intimate look at Afghanistan and the difficulties of life there, but it also showed off its author’s accessible and very old-fashioned storytelling talents: his taste for melodramatic plotlines; sharply drawn, black-and-white characters; and elemental boldfaced emotions.

Whereas “The Kite Runner” focused on fathers and sons, and friendships between men, his latest novel, “A Thousand Splendid Suns,” focuses on mothers and daughters, and friendships between women. Whereas “Kite Runner” got off to a gripping start and stumbled into contrivance and sentimentality in its second half, “Splendid Suns” starts off programmatically and gains speed and emotional power as it slowly unfurls.

Like its predecessor, the new free novel online features a very villainous villain and an almost saintly best friend who commits an act of enormous self-sacrifice to aid the hero/heroine. Like its predecessor, it attempts to show the fallout that Afghanistan’s violent history has had on a handful of individuals, ending in death at the hands of the Taliban for one character, and the promise of a new life for another. And like its predecessor, it features some embarrassingly hokey scenes that feel as if they were lifted from a B movie, and some genuinely heart-wrenching scenes that help redeem the overall story.

Mr. Hosseini, who was born in Kabul and moved to the United States in 1980, writes in straight-ahead, utilitarian prose and creates characters who have the simplicity and primary-colored emotions of people in a fairy tale or fable. The sympathy he conjures for them stems less from their personalities (the hero of “Kite Runner” was an unlikable coward who failed to come to the aid of his best friend) than from the circumstances in which they find themselves: contending with unhappy families, abusive marriages, oppressive governments and repressive cultural mores.

This heavy-handed opening quickly gives way to even more soap-opera-ish events: after her mother commits suicide, the teenage Mariam — the illegitimate daughter of a wealthy man, who is ashamed of her existence — is quickly married off to a much older shoemaker named Rasheed, a piggy brute of a man who says it embarrasses him “to see a man who’s lost control of his wife.”

Rasheed forces Mariam to wear a burqa and treats her with ill-disguised contempt, subjecting her to scorn, ridicule, insults, even “walking past her like she was nothing but a house cat.” Mariam lives in fear of “his shifting moods, his volatile temperament, his insistence on steering even mundane exchanges down a confrontational path that, on occasion, he would resolve with punches, slaps, kicks, and sometimes try to make amends for with polluted apologies and sometimes not.”

"A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini The life of the novel’s other heroine, Laila, who becomes Rasheed’s second wife, takes an even sharper trajectory toward ruin. Though she is the cherished daughter of an intellectual, who encourages her to pursue an education, Laila finds her life literally shattered when a rocket — lobbed by one of the warlord factions fighting for control of Kabul, after the Soviet Union’s departure — lands on her house and kills her parents.

Her beloved boyfriend, Tariq, has already left Kabul with his family — they have become refugees in Pakistan — and she suddenly finds that she is an orphan with no resources or friends. When she discovers that she is pregnant with Tariq’s child and learns that Tariq has supposedly died from injuries sustained in a rocket attack near the Pakistan border, she agrees to marry Rasheed, convinced that she and her baby will never survive alone on the streets of Kabul.

At first Mariam sees Laila as a rival and accuses her of stealing her husband, but when Laila’s baby, Aziza, arrives, Mariam begins to soften. Gradually, she and Laila become allies, trying to shield each other from Rasheed’s rages and demands. Mariam becomes a second mother to Aziza, and she and Laila become best friends.

SEE SAMPLE PRIVACY POLICY OPT OUT OR CONTACT US ANYTIME In the opening chapters of the free novel online the characters are so one-dimensional that they feel like cartoons. Laila is the great beauty, with a doting father and a protective boyfriend — a lucky girl whose luck abruptly runs out. Mariam is the illegitimate daughter of a bitter woman and a disloyal father — an unlucky girl whose luck turns from bad to worse. And Rasheed is the evil bully, a misogynist intent on debasing his two wives.

Gradually, however, Mr. Hosseini’s instinctive storytelling skills take over, mowing down the reader’s objections through sheer momentum and will. He succeeds in making the emotional reality of Mariam and Laila’s lives tangible to us, and by conjuring their day-to-day routines, he is able to give us a sense of what daily life was like in Kabul — both before and during the harsh reign of the Taliban.

He shows us the Taliban’s “beard patrols,” roaming the streets in Toyota trucks “on the lookout for clean-shaven faces to bloody.” He shows us hospitals turning away women in labor because men and women are supposed to be seen at different hospitals. And he shows us the “ ‘Titanic’ fever” that gripped Kabul in the summer of 2000, when pirated copies of that film turned up in the city: entertainment-starved people surreptitiously dug out their TVs (which had been hidden away, even buried in backyards) and illicitly watched the movie late at night, and riverside vendors began selling Titanic carpets, Titanic deodorant, Titanic toothpaste, even Titanic burqas.

In the end it is these glimpses of daily life in Afghanistan — a country known to most Americans only through news accounts of war and terrorism — that make this novel, like “The Kite Runner,” so stirring, and that distract attention from its myriad flaws.

Wednesday, July 25, 2018

Why Reading Books Should Be Your Priority, According to Science

When was the last time you read free novels, or a substantial magazine article? Do your daily reading habits center around tweets, Facebook updates, or the directions on your instant oatmeal packet? If you’re one of countless people who don’t make a habit of reading regularly, you might be missing out: reading has a significant number of benefits, and just a few benefits of reading are listed below.

1. Mental Stimulation
Studies have shown that staying mentally stimulated can slow the progress of (or possibly even prevent) Alzheimer’s and Dementia, since keeping your brain active and engaged prevents it from losing power. Just like any other muscle in the body, the brain requires exercise to keep it strong and healthy, so the phrase “use it or lose it” is particularly apt when it comes to your mind. Doing puzzles and playing games such as chess have also been found to be helpful with cognitive stimulation.

2. Stress Reduction
No matter how much stress you have at work, in your personal relationships, or countless other issues faced in daily life, it all just slips away when you lose yourself in a great story. A well-written novel can transport you to other realms, while an engaging article will distract you and keep you in the present moment, letting tensions drain away and allowing you to relax.

3. Knowledge
Everything you read fills your head with new bits of information, and you never know when it might come in handy. The more knowledge you have, the better-equipped you are to tackle any challenge you’ll ever face.
Additionally, here’s a bit of food for thought: should you ever find yourself in dire circumstances, remember that although you might lose everything else—your job, your possessions, your money, even your health—knowledge can never be taken from you.

4. Vocabulary Expansion
This goes with the above topic: the more you read, the more words you gain exposure to, and they’ll inevitably make their way into your everyday vocabulary. Being articulate and well-spoken is of great help in any profession, and knowing that you can speak to higher-ups with self-confidence can be an enormous boost to your self-esteem. It could even aid in your career, as those who are well-read, well-spoken, and knowledgeable on a variety of topics tend to get promotions more quickly (and more often) than those with smaller vocabularies and lack of awareness of literature, scientific breakthroughs, and global events.
Reading books is also vital for learning new languages, as non-native speakers gain exposure to words used in context, which will ameliorate their own speaking and writing fluency.

5. Memory Improvement
When you should free novels reading, you have to remember an assortment of characters, their backgrounds, ambitions, history, and nuances, as well as the various arcs and sub-plots that weave their way through every story. That’s a fair bit to remember, but brains are marvellous things and can remember these things with relative ease. Amazingly enough, every new memory you create forges new synapses (brain pathways)and strengthens existing ones, which assists in short-term memory recall as well as stabilizing moods. How cool is that?

6. Stronger Analytical Thinking Skills
Have you ever read an amazing mystery novel, and solved the mystery yourself before finishing the book? If so, you were able to put critical and analytical thinking to work by taking note of all the details provided and sorting them out to determine “whodunnit”. That same ability to analyze details also comes in handy when it comes to critiquing the plot; determining whether it was a well-written piece, if the characters were properly developed, if the storyline ran smoothly, etc. Should you ever have an opportunity to discuss the book with others, you’ll be able to state your opinions clearly, as you’ve taken the time to really consider all the aspects involved.

7. Improved Focus and Concentration
In our internet-crazed world, attention is drawn in a million different directions at once as we multi-task through every day. In a single 5-minute span, the average person will divide their time between working on a task, checking email, chatting with a couple of people (via gchat, skype, etc.), keeping an eye on twitter, monitoring their smartphone, and interacting with co-workers. This type of ADD-like behaviour causes stress levels to rise, and lowers our productivity.
When you read a book, all of your attention is focused on the story—the rest of the world just falls away, and you can immerse yourself in every fine detail you’re absorbing. Try reading for 15-20 minutes before work (i.e. on your morning commute, if you take public transit), and you’ll be surprised at how much more focused you are once you get to the office.

8. Better Writing Skills
This goes hand-in-hand with the expansion of your vocabulary: exposure to published, well-written work has a noted effect on one’s own writing, as observing the cadence, fluidity, and writing styles of other authors will invariably influence your own work. In the same way that musicians influence one another, and painters use techniques established by previous masters, so do writers learn how to craft prose by reading the works of others.

9. Tranquility
In addition to the relaxation that accompanies reading free novels online, it’s possible that the subject you read about can bring about immense inner peace and tranquility. Reading spiritual texts can lower blood pressure and bring about an immense sense of calm, while reading self-help books has been shown to help people suffering from certain mood disorders and mild mental illnesses.

10. Free Entertainment
Though many of us like to buy books so we can annotate them and dog-ear pages for future reference, they can be quite pricey. For low-budget entertainment, you can visit your local library and bask in the glory of the countless tomes available there for free. Libraries have books on every subject imaginable, and since they rotate their stock and constantly get new books, you’ll never run out of reading materials.
If you happen to live in an area that doesn’t have a local library, or if you’re mobility-impaired and can’t get to one easily, most libraries have their books available in PDF or ePub format so you can read them on your e-reader, iPad, or your computer screen. There are also many sources online where you can download free e-books, so go hunting for something new to read!
There’s a reading genre for every literate person on the planet, and whether your tastes lie in classical literature, poetry, fashion magazines, biographies, religious texts, young adult books, self-help guides, street lit, or romance novels, there’s something out there to capture your curiosity and imagination. Step away from your computer for a little while, crack open a book, and replenish your soul for a little while.

How is the habit of book-reading useful to a person

Reading free novels is like going through someone's thought process. It's like reading their mind in and out. That process gives us many insights about life in general. There are many kind of books out there. Depending on what you're reading, they'll be useful to you. I'll classify a few categories according to my knowledge. Please excuse if there are any inaccuracies. Novels : These are works of fiction. They're fun to read. Few books are generally pot boilers with nothing new to teach. Like the book called “If tomorrow comes.” And there are extraordinary books like ‘The Fountainhead’ which teach you a hell lot. Depending on the book, there are many possibilities. If you choose a random erotica or a stupid sassy romance novel, then it's not going to teach you anything. But might give you pleasure. These novels may or may not teach you something new. Non Fiction : These are everything else apart from fiction novels. Now these books will be more on the ‘Productive’ side. You could read good personality development books. Books on various topics that interest you. Like economics, finance, relationships, science, history etc., Comics : Don't know whether I must mention this as a separate category or not. But chuck it. These are super fun. I personally love all kinda books.. But these are special. They might or might not be informative. At the end, I would like to say that a book can or cannot give you info, knowledge or output based on YOU only. At the end of it all, YOU have to read free novels. If YOU have the capability to comprehend what's written or discussed in a particular book.. You'll definitely understand and learn. And yeah, when you're someone who wants to learn about Time Management but buys ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ and says books aren't informative or worth reading, then you are crazy. No offense, but pick the right kind of books. Pick the books that are relevant to you. That's all what I can say. Cheers. Happy Reading.

Books Should Be Your Priority, According to Science

More than a quarter--26 percent--of American adults admit to not having read even part of a free novels online within the past year. That's according to statistics coming out of the Pew Research Center. If you're part of this group, know that science supports the idea that reading is good for you on several levels.

Reading fiction can help you be more open-minded and creative
According to research conducted at the University of Toronto, study participants who read short-story fiction experienced far less need for "cognitive closure" compared with counterparts who read nonfiction essays. Essentially, they tested as more open-minded, compared with the readers of essays. "Although nonfiction reading allows students to learn the subject matter, it may not always help them in thinking about it," the authors write. "A physician may have an encyclopedic knowledge of his or her subject, but this may not prevent the physician from seizing and freezing on a diagnosis, when additional symptoms point to a different malady."

People who free read novels live longer
That's according to Yale researchers who studied 3,635 people older than 50 and found that those who read books for 30 minutes daily lived an average of 23 months longer than nonreaders or magazine readers. Apparently, the practice of reading books creates cognitive engagement that improves lots of things, including vocabulary, thinking skills, and concentration. It also can affect empathy, social perception, and emotional intelligence, the sum of which helps people stay on the planet longer.

Reading 50 books a year is something you can actually accomplish
While about a book a week might sound daunting, it's probably doable by even the busiest of people. Writer Stephanie Huston says her thinking that she didn't have enough time turned out to be a lame excuse. Now that she has made a goal to read 50 books in a year, she says that she has traded wasted time on her phone for flipping pages in bed, on trains, during meal breaks, and while waiting in line. Two months into her challenge, she reports having more peace and satisfaction and improved sleep, while learning more than she thought possible.

Successful people are readers It's because high achievers are keen on self-improvement. Hundreds of successful executives have shared with me the free novels online that have helped them get where they are today. Need ideas on where to start? Titles that have repeatedly made their lists include: The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz; Shoe Dog by Phil Knight; Good to Great by Jim Collins; and Losing My Virginity by Richard Branson.

Wednesday, July 18, 2018

A Thousand Splendid Suns reviews

It’s not that hard to understand why Khaled Hosseini’s first novel, “The Kite Runner” (2003), became such a huge best seller, based largely on word of mouth and its popularity among book clubs and reading groups. The novel read like a kind of modern-day variation on Conrad’s “Lord Jim,” in which the hero spends his life atoning for an act of cowardice and betrayal committed in his youth. It not only gave readers an intimate look at Afghanistan and the difficulties of life there, but it also showed off its author’s accessible and very old-fashioned storytelling talents: his taste for melodramatic plotlines; sharply drawn, black-and-white characters; and elemental boldfaced emotions.

Whereas “The Kite Runner” focused on fathers and sons, and friendships between men, his latest novel, “A Thousand Splendid Suns,” focuses on mothers and daughters, and friendships between women. Whereas “Kite Runner” got off to a gripping start and stumbled into contrivance and sentimentality in its second half, “Splendid Suns” starts off programmatically and gains speed and emotional power as it slowly unfurls.

Like its predecessor, the new free novel online features a very villainous villain and an almost saintly best friend who commits an act of enormous self-sacrifice to aid the hero/heroine. Like its predecessor, it attempts to show the fallout that Afghanistan’s violent history has had on a handful of individuals, ending in death at the hands of the Taliban for one character, and the promise of a new life for another. And like its predecessor, it features some embarrassingly hokey scenes that feel as if they were lifted from a B movie, and some genuinely heart-wrenching scenes that help redeem the overall story.

Mr. Hosseini, who was born in Kabul and moved to the United States in 1980, writes in straight-ahead, utilitarian prose and creates characters who have the simplicity and primary-colored emotions of people in a fairy tale or fable. The sympathy he conjures for them stems less from their personalities (the hero of “Kite Runner” was an unlikable coward who failed to come to the aid of his best friend) than from the circumstances in which they find themselves: contending with unhappy families, abusive marriages, oppressive governments and repressive cultural mores.

This heavy-handed opening quickly gives way to even more soap-opera-ish events: after her mother commits suicide, the teenage Mariam — the illegitimate daughter of a wealthy man, who is ashamed of her existence — is quickly married off to a much older shoemaker named Rasheed, a piggy brute of a man who says it embarrasses him “to see a man who’s lost control of his wife.”

Rasheed forces Mariam to wear a burqa and treats her with ill-disguised contempt, subjecting her to scorn, ridicule, insults, even “walking past her like she was nothing but a house cat.” Mariam lives in fear of “his shifting moods, his volatile temperament, his insistence on steering even mundane exchanges down a confrontational path that, on occasion, he would resolve with punches, slaps, kicks, and sometimes try to make amends for with polluted apologies and sometimes not.”

"A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini The life of the novel’s other heroine, Laila, who becomes Rasheed’s second wife, takes an even sharper trajectory toward ruin. Though she is the cherished daughter of an intellectual, who encourages her to pursue an education, Laila finds her life literally shattered when a rocket — lobbed by one of the warlord factions fighting for control of Kabul, after the Soviet Union’s departure — lands on her house and kills her parents.

Her beloved boyfriend, Tariq, has already left Kabul with his family — they have become refugees in Pakistan — and she suddenly finds that she is an orphan with no resources or friends. When she discovers that she is pregnant with Tariq’s child and learns that Tariq has supposedly died from injuries sustained in a rocket attack near the Pakistan border, she agrees to marry Rasheed, convinced that she and her baby will never survive alone on the streets of Kabul.

At first Mariam sees Laila as a rival and accuses her of stealing her husband, but when Laila’s baby, Aziza, arrives, Mariam begins to soften. Gradually, she and Laila become allies, trying to shield each other from Rasheed’s rages and demands. Mariam becomes a second mother to Aziza, and she and Laila become best friends.

SEE SAMPLE PRIVACY POLICY OPT OUT OR CONTACT US ANYTIME In the opening chapters of the free novel online the characters are so one-dimensional that they feel like cartoons. Laila is the great beauty, with a doting father and a protective boyfriend — a lucky girl whose luck abruptly runs out. Mariam is the illegitimate daughter of a bitter woman and a disloyal father — an unlucky girl whose luck turns from bad to worse. And Rasheed is the evil bully, a misogynist intent on debasing his two wives.

Gradually, however, Mr. Hosseini’s instinctive storytelling skills take over, mowing down the reader’s objections through sheer momentum and will. He succeeds in making the emotional reality of Mariam and Laila’s lives tangible to us, and by conjuring their day-to-day routines, he is able to give us a sense of what daily life was like in Kabul — both before and during the harsh reign of the Taliban.

He shows us the Taliban’s “beard patrols,” roaming the streets in Toyota trucks “on the lookout for clean-shaven faces to bloody.” He shows us hospitals turning away women in labor because men and women are supposed to be seen at different hospitals. And he shows us the “ ‘Titanic’ fever” that gripped Kabul in the summer of 2000, when pirated copies of that film turned up in the city: entertainment-starved people surreptitiously dug out their TVs (which had been hidden away, even buried in backyards) and illicitly watched the movie late at night, and riverside vendors began selling Titanic carpets, Titanic deodorant, Titanic toothpaste, even Titanic burqas.

In the end it is these glimpses of daily life in Afghanistan — a country known to most Americans only through news accounts of war and terrorism — that make this novel, like “The Kite Runner,” so stirring, and that distract attention from its myriad flaws.

Thursday, July 12, 2018

Có nên đầu tư vào dự án park vista

Park vista, do tập đoàn Anpha Corp cùng với Đông Mê Kông cùng bắt tay đầu tư xây dựng, là dòng sản phẩm cao cấp của Khu vực Nam thành phố. du an park vista nằm tại khu 11, có mặt tiền đường Nguyễn Hữu Thọ, hiện nay đã làm bất động sản khu vực phía Nam Sài Gòn nóng lên không ít.

Đầu tư dự án lần này, Anpha Corp đã rót không ít kinh phí cũng như sự tận tâm, chăm chút đến từng chi tiết của dự án. Ngay từ những công đoạn đầu những sai sót đã không được cho phép xảy ra, vì, tất cả những điều Anpha Corp mong muốn chính là đem một sản phẩm hoàn thiện nhất giao đến tay khách hàng của họ. Giá các căn hộ thuộc sự án được đánh giá là khá tốt trong bất động sản khu vực, khách hàng có thể yên tâm sẽ được nhận ưu đãi từ chủ đầu tư.

Thời gian dự án park vista tiếp cận với thị trường cũng là lúc các dự án khác đang gấp rút triển khai giai đoạn chào bán. Ấy vậy nhưng sức hút của Dự án Park Vista là không thể chối cãi được. Có một lượng lớn khách hàng đặt chỗ và giữ chỗ tại dự án.

Hệ thống giao thông khu vực quanh dự án đang ngày càng được nâng cấp và mở rộng. Đây là một bàn đạp tốt, đẩy giá trị bất động sản của khu này lên cao. Trong tương lai, khi quy hoạch trở nên đồng bộ và hoàn thiện, sức tăng của con số giá trị không biết sẽ dừng lại ở vị trí nào. Do đó, chọn mua sớm chính là một giải pháp tối ưu giúp bạn tiết kiệm kha khá kinh phí.

Giá bán của một căn hộ dao động từ 18 đến 23 triệu trên một mét vuông. Nhanh tay liên hệ để sở hữu những vị trí đẹp nhất.

Monday, July 9, 2018

Ready Player One

Ernest Cline’s “Ready Player One” is a book filled with references to video games, virtual reality, ’80s pop-culture trivia, geek heroes like E. Gary Gygax, and funny-sounding cult items like Frobozz and Raaka-Tu. Yet it works for people who like books without pictures too.

Mr. Cline is photographed on the jacket standing in front of an open-flapped DeLorean, like the one in “Back to the Future.” He looks a bit like the filmmaker Kevin Smith, one of the few people on the planet who may be capable of catching all of Mr. Cline’s geekoid references. (Mr. Cline himself wrote the screenplay for the 2009 film “Fanboys,” about unusually fanatical “Star Wars” devotees.) Another is the science-fiction writer John Scalzi, who has aptly referred to “Ready Player One” as a “nerdgasm.” There can be no better one-word description of this ardent fantasy artifact about fantasy culture.

With its Pac-Man-style cover graphics and vintage Atari mind-set “Ready Player One” certainly looks like a genre item. But Mr. Cline is able to incorporate his favorite toys and games into a perfectly accessible narrative. He sets it in 2044, when there aren’t many original Duran Duran fans still afoot, and most students of 1980s trivia are zealous kids. They are interested in that time period because a billionaire inventor, James Halliday, died and left behind a mischievous legacy. Whoever first cracks Halliday’s series of ’80s-related riddles, clues and puzzles that are included in a film called “Anorak’s Invitation” will inherit his fortune.

Halliday was “the video-game designer responsible for creating the Oasis, a massively multiplayer online game that had gradually evolved into the globally networked virtual reality most of humanity now used on a daily basis,” Mr. Cline writes. Part of what has made Oasis so attractive is that real life on an impoverished, resource-depleted Earth has grown increasingly grim. So the characters in “Ready Player One” spend their time as avatars bewitched by online role playing. They live as shut-ins and don’t know one another in the flesh. Art3mis, the hot-looking blogger and warrior who becomes the novel’s heroine, may actually be an overweight middle-aged guy named Chuck.

Read novel online - The book’s narrator is a school kid named Wade Watts, whose parents at least had the foresight to give him the alliterative name of a superhero. But Wade’s real circumstances are not exciting. He lives in a tall block of stacked mobile homes and escapes to an abandoned van to adopt his online persona. He goes to school because he has to; his video console and virtual-reality visor will be taken away if he flunks out. But his school avatar is often seen slumped at its desk, sleeping. That’s because Wade is busy being an alter ego called Parzival. Like Art3mis he spells his name funny because the other spellings are already taken.

Wade is obsessed with “Anorak’s Invitation,” not least because there’s something fishy about it: the extras seen with Halliday have been digitally borrowed from old John Hughes films. There’s no knowing what actually happened to Halliday. But Halliday’s knowledge of 1980s trivia was so thorough that Wade is determined to match it. (As a full-time gamer he is competitive by nature. And what else has he got to do?) So he knows everything about every episode of “Family Ties” and every coin-operated arcade game. “Ready Player One” takes its title, sentimentally, from the phrase that signaled the start of games from that era.

In “Anorak’s Invitation” Halliday mentions one of his sentimental favorites, the Atari game Adventure, and the Easter egg that its creator, Warren Robinett, incorporated into it. And now it’s time to start looking things up, if you are hooked by Mr. Cline’s premise but unfamiliar with his huge frame of reference. An Easter egg is a secret sign or clue or whatnot that may be embedded in a game, and Halliday has deliberately created an occasion for egg hunting. A great many egg hunters, known as “gunters” for short, do nothing but try to find Halliday’s eggs. Reader, ask yourself: Would you be interested in Wade’s story if you weren’t sure he was smarter than all the other guys?

SEE SAMPLE PRIVACY POLICY OPT OUT OR CONTACT US ANYTIME Because Wade needs at least a few friends, he bonds with Art3mis and three other avatars. They become known as the High Five when they start racking up high numbers on the cosmic scoreboard. Mr. Cline describes their progress with a winking appreciation of the culture clash that ensues when Wade, a humble schoolboy, reaches the Tomb of Horrors to lock antlers with Acererack the Demi-Lich from Dungeons & Dragons. But “Ready Player One” crosses a line here, when its virtual-reality fetish leads it into Dungeons & Dragons for real.

The book gets off to a witty start, with Wade and his cronies slinging insults about one another’s knowledge of fantasy films and using ’80s-vintage movie quips like “Don’t call me Shirley.” (From “Airplane!” of course.) And if they are capable of arguing endlessly about “Star Wars” trivia, they’re also living in a 27-sector virtual-reality world arranged like a Rubik’s Cube and where the “Star Wars” and “Star Trek” realms are right next door to each other. (See “nerdgasm,” above.) So the breadth and cleverness of Mr. Cline’s imagination gets this daydream pretty far. But there comes a point when it’s clear that Wade lacks at least one dimension, and that gaming has overwhelmed everything else about this book.

Still it will be interesting to see how “Ready Player One” becomes (as is planned) a movie based on a book about songs, TV shows, games and movies. And when lines like “Continue your quest by taking the test” are said out loud and don't forget reading novel online for free

Wednesday, July 4, 2018

Useful Tools To Help You Stop Smoking

Useful Tools To Help You Stop Smoking

If you are a smoker, chances are that you would like to quit and just don't know how to do it. Don't be discouraged, because the information and techniques in this article were designed to help people just like you. Use the tips in this article to help you along the way to becoming a non-smoker.

Hypnosis can help quit smoking. Visiting a licensed hypnotist is an effective strategy that has worked for many individuals. They'll place you into a hypnotic subconscious state which allows them to fill your mind with positivity and motivation. When you wake up, you may find that cigarettes have somewhat lost their appeal, which is a positive step in the quitting process.

You must know why you want to stop smoking. Having shallow reasons, like it is bad for you are not good enough. To really get yourself motivated, you need a personal and powerful reason to quit. Maybe you are scared of lung cancer. Or maybe you would like to keep your family from second hand smoke. It might be because you want to both feel and look younger. Choose a strong reason that outweighs your urge to light up.
Kết quả hình ảnh cho Quit Smoking
Getting in shape will help you to kick the habi,t by distracting you from cravings and restoring your health. Exercising will make your stress disappear. A lack of an exercise routine in your life means taking your time and beginning with short measured increments of activity. Make sure to discuss any exercise routine with your doctor before beginning it.

Try to avoid alcohol if you're trying to quit smoking. Alcohol and cigarettes are naturally complimentary to each other. In addition, alcohol lowers your mental focus, meaning you are more likely to give in to temptation or peer pressure. If you avoid alcohol, you're more likely to stay clear of mind. This might just mean that quitting becomes a bit easier.

Believe it or not, exercise can be the key you need to quitting smoking. Usually, many people smoke because they feel overwhelmed or stressed out. When they feel stressed, they turn to cigarettes for support. Cigarettes can be replaced by exercise. Also, exercise is good for a person's overall health.

When you are fighting the urge to smoke, go and do some exercise. Not only will your body benefit while you are keeping fit, the physical activity can help to keep the urges at bay. Anything that can be used as a distraction while you are working through the crave is a great tool to use.

You should commit fully in your effort to quit smoking. If you have failed before, you likely did not fully want to quit smoking. While quitting for the benefits is compelling enough, you should find better motivators to fuel your efforts. You will find yourself more successful in the long run.

When trying to quit smoking, set a goal. Tell yourself that you want to quit by a certain date and that if you are successful, you will reward yourself with something you have been wanting. You can use the money you saved by not smoking to buy this treat! This will give you the motivation you need.

If you have a loved one or friend that is trying to quit smoking and want to help them, then you need to provide them with your patience, love and understanding. This is the best way to help them out. If you try to push them, you may make it harder for them to quit in the long run.

If you are trying to quit smoking, it is vital that you have a goal in mind. You will only be successful if you have proper motivation to quit. There will be times when it is very difficult to resist the temptation to smoke. Remembering the reason you wanted to quit in the first place can carry you through those tough times.

When you have made up your mind that you want to quit smoking, it is important to get some support from others. Let your family, friends, and co-workers know that you are planning on giving up your smoking habit and ask for their support and encouragement. Who knows, some of them may have been successful with breaking the habit and can offer some great advice. With their help and encouragement, it can help you get through the tough days.

Avoid carrying your cigarettes around with you. This makes them harder to get to and you will be able to cut back on smoking by doing this. When they are an inconvenience to get to, you won't smoke them as often. This will eventually help you quit smoking for good.

If you have already decided to quit smoking, you are probably wondering just how you will do it. Just remember to use the tips from this article and it will make your efforts much easier. Take it one day at a time, strengthen yourself with support and useful tips like the ones from above and you will find that becoming a non-smoker is within your reach.

Tips On How To Deal With Giving Up Smoking

Tips On How To Deal With Giving Up Smoking

Even though most people are aware of the negative consequences regarding nicotine dependence, they still seem to have a hard time when trying to quit this habit. If you are among these people, then there is some advice in this article that will help you away from this vice. Use any ideas which you think can help you stop smoking.

When it comes to smoking cessation, do not make things even harder than they already are. Trying to quit by going cold turkey is never a good idea. A massive majority of smokers that try to quit cold turkey fail. If you do fail, talk to your doctor about using a nicotine patch or prescription withdrawal treatment. This will ease you through the early withdrawal stages and make quitting less difficult.

When aiming to kick the smoking habit for good, you should always believe that you can do it. Think about all the incredible things you have accomplished in your life so far. This will help you realize you have the strength to overcome this addiction. Having faith in yourself is not only important for quitting smoking, but it's also important for overall success in your life.
Kết quả hình ảnh cho Quit Smoking
Starting an exercise regimen is a great way to support yourself when you're trying to quit smoking. Under the advice of a doctor, ease yourself into the regimen, especially if you've been a heavy smoking for many years. The exercise will help you not only repair some of the damage smoking has done to your body, but is also a great stress reliever as well.

Try to avoid alcohol if you're trying to quit smoking. Alcohol and cigarettes are naturally complimentary to each other. In addition, alcohol lowers your mental focus, meaning you are more likely to give in to temptation or peer pressure. If you avoid alcohol, you're more likely to stay clear of mind. This might just mean that quitting becomes a bit easier.

Improve your chances of successfully quitting by sharing your plan to quit with supportive loved ones and friends. The encouragement you receive can provide extra motivation during rough patches, and telling people about quitting will help you stay more accountable. Have a few people on stand-by whom you can call for distraction whenever you get a craving.

Do not give up. Relapsing is very common. Many smokers have to try several times before they are successful in putting down the cigarettes. Look at what circumstances and emotions lead to the relapse. Once you decide you are ready to try again, set a date to quit in the very near future.

To get off to the best possible start, talk to your doctor about your plan to quit smoking. Your doctor can be a valuable source of information and support and can also recommend the most effective way to quit, as well as, how to deal with the negative effects of nicotine withdrawal.

Make sure you tell yourself that you are not going to smoke each and every day. As you get up in the morning, you should try telling yourself that you are not going to smoke a single cigarette. Reaffirming this goal in your mind each morning will keep you on track to successful smoking cessation.

As bad as your urge is, it is not okay to take even one little puff. People who are trying to quit smoking believe that it will not harm them to have one puff of a cigarette. The problem is, this one puff leads to one whole cigarette, and then to one whole pack.

When you're ready to quit smoking, don't be afraid to seek the advice of a physician. A doctor can guide you in many ways on how to quit, whether it's recommending a nicotine replacement product, or outlining an exercise plan, or even just offering authoritative words of encouragement and support.

If you have a friend or loved one who is having a hard time trying to quit, then you should try sharing with them some of the painful truths about smoking. Try to be sincere and understanding as you relate this information so that they understand that you are trying to help them and that you are not trying to attack them.

To stay true to your plan to quit smoking, make up motivational note cards to read whenever you get a craving. Keep these cards on your fridge, in your car, in your purse or wallet and even in a drawer at work. Any time a craving strikes, read and repeat the message on the card like a mantra to refocus your efforts.

Using the suggestions outlined above should be a catalyst to help you begin to remove cigarettes from being a part of your life. You deserve a life that is free of the negative effects of smoking. Take any opportunity you find to be free of this powerful addition. Your reward will be increased health and a feeling of well being after you stop smoking cigarettes.

Sound Steps Towards Obtaining Freedom From Tobacco

Sound Steps Towards Obtaining Freedom From Tobacco

There are countless people out there who would love to quit smoking. Smoking doesn't benefit anyone, it just hurts your body for a very long time. So look through this guide and find the things that you could do in order to quit smoking for good.

Look for a support group to help you quit smoking. The best groups have a mix of new quitters, and people who have quit for a while. Talking to your peers will help you to find new techniques for fighting cravings, have emotional support and find new non-smoking friends. People with experience quitting, or going through the same thing as you, can offer their own tips and advice. You can check your local church, rec center, or even the community college to find these support groups.
Kết quả hình ảnh cho Quit Smoking
Though aversion therapies have gotten a bad rap recently, they do sometimes work in helping you to stop smoking. They do not need to be extravagant methods and you don't need to pay a therapist to employ aversion techniques. Try the simple things, such as permeating your favorite sweater with the smoke from that last cigarette you smoke. Then reach for it after not smoking for a day or two; you will be appalled at the offensive odor that you have been subjecting yourself and others to on a daily basis.

Make a list of reasons that you want to quit smoking, and keep them in your wallet. Your reasons may include your family, living to see a special event, or anything you find meaningful. Whenever you have moments of weakness, pull out your list for several reminders of what you are working toward.

Try to avoid alcohol if you're trying to quit smoking. Alcohol and cigarettes are naturally complimentary to each other. In addition, alcohol lowers your mental focus, meaning you are more likely to give in to temptation or peer pressure. If you avoid alcohol, you're more likely to stay clear of mind. This might just mean that quitting becomes a bit easier.

In addition to quitting smoking, you should also cut back on foods and drinks that trigger nicotine cravings. For example, you will be more vulnerable to your nicotine addiction when you drink alcohol. If you regularly drink coffee when you smoke, then you should cut back on that too to reduce craving-inducing associations.

Write down why you're quitting ahead of time and keep that list handy. When that craving hits you, refer to your list for motivation. Understanding ahead of time why quitting is important to you will help to keep you focused in those moments of weakness, and it might even help to get you back on track if you should slip up.

If you are looking for a quick pick me up like a cigarette gives you, try to have a glass of juice instead. This will help you cut down on the amount of cigarettes you have each day, and give you something that is healthy to replace smoking with.

It can be easier to quit smoking if you are able to articulate exactly why you want to quit. Try writing down a list of all of the reasons that you should quit smoking. This can include the benefits you will experience, people in your life, or any reasons at all that are important to you.

If smoking is your reaction to stress, replace it with a positive one. Consider getting a massage when you are stressed or participating in an exercise class. Even doing something simple like taking a bath or enjoying a light snack is a better reaction to stress than smoking is. Doing these things will help you to quit, while still keeping your stress level in check.

Master stress management. Aside from nicotine withdrawal and simple habit, a primary reason you might start smoking again is stress. If you can't avoid all stress during the first few weeks after quitting, do whatever it takes to manage your stress in another way than having a cigarette. Get a massage or try a yoga class. Find something new and healthy to replace what you're giving up.

Use deep breathing techniques to beat a cigarette craving. Use that time to focus on the reasons that you chose to quit. You'll also have the benefit of getting a better supply of oxygen through your lungs, which can be a refreshing break. These breathing techniques are easy to learn, and you can do them anywhere.

Positive thinking makes a big difference when it comes to quitting smoking. You will be able to better conquer temptations if you recognize every day without smoking, as an achievement in itself. By keeping track of small goals, you can keep your self-esteem high and hopefully, conquer that habit for good!

It can only be hoped that this piece will have added to your knowledge and insight about the realistic approach to quitting. It is all about your strength and resolve. It is also about those that care for you, and your desire to care for them, by eliminating the risks that smoking brings.

Your Can Leave That Nasty Habit Behind You

Your Can Leave That Nasty Habit Behind You

You may find yourself making excuses when your loved ones ask you about your smoking habit. You think you are too old to quit, or you have been smoking for too long to make a difference. Excuses do nothing but demotivate you, and are often based on myths. Check your excuses at the door and quit smoking today by following the advice below.

When you smoke, you sometimes are just obsessed with the feeling of having something in your mouth. This can be replaced with a less dangerous habit such as chewing gum or eating candy. Anytime you feel like smoking, just have a piece of hard candy or chew a stick of gum.

Improve your chances of successfully quitting by sharing your plan to quit with supportive loved ones and friends. The encouragement you receive can provide extra motivation during rough patches, and telling people about quitting will help you stay more accountable. Have a few people on stand-by whom you can call for distraction whenever you get a craving.
Kết quả hình ảnh cho Quit Smoking
Quit smoking to make exercise easier. Smoking makes it difficult to breathe, meaning that you aren't getting healthy levels of oxygen to your muscles and organs. This makes exercising much more difficult, which can lead to a life filled with ailments. When you quit, your lung capacity will soon improve, making that daily exercise goal, an easier one to achieve.

Find ways to keep your body and mind busy when you quit smoking. Take up walking as this will also help you get in better shape. Another great idea to keep your hands busy is to find a hobby. Learn to sew, knit or learn woodworking. You won't have time to think about cigarettes when you stay busy.

Receiving support from friends and family members can go a long way in helping you to quit smoking. It's especially important to remind them that getting over an addiction can cause mood swings and irritability. If people close to you are understanding of the situation, it will make relapsing that much easier to avoid.

If you want to quit smoking, don't do it. Quitting smoking are two words that imply losing something, making it a grieving process. Instead, psychologically embrace tobacco freedom. Don't think about how you would make anyone else happy, but what would make you happy if you were free from cigarettes. What could you do with that money and time?

Thinking of all the benefits you will receive when you quit smoking may give you the motivation you need. You will be able to save money, you will feel healthier, you won't smell like cigarettes, and you will live a longer life. If you have children, think of how much they need you.

If you are looking for a quick pick me up like a cigarette gives you, try to have a glass of juice instead. This will help you cut down on the amount of cigarettes you have each day, and give you something that is healthy to replace smoking with.

Find an online forum for quitters. This can provide you with a great amount of support and motivation, while still allowing you to remain anonymous. Online forums can be found everywhere, and you can typically join for free. They will help you to network with individuals all over the world, and you never know what kind of great stop smoking advice you might hear.

Be open about your intention to quit. Let your friends, family and coworkers know that you are going to do it and when your date is. Current smokers will likely be considerate enough to stop smoking around you at that time. You'll also find out who is supportive and who is critical of your habit. Finding support and sources of encouragement might make a future quitting attempt successful, if this one is not the one.

Do not try to start smoking without first developing a plan. Your life has probably been ruled by cigarettes for quite some time. A life without cigarettes will require adjustments in your life. Deciding what you are going to do about cravings, avoiding triggers, and setting your quit date are all essential components of a successful plan for quitting.

Look into non-traditional methods of quitting smoking. No one quits smoking the same way and what works for your friend, may not work for you. If you are having trouble quitting with the more conventional methods, take a look at your options. Hypnosis and acupuncture are both highly successful methods to help you quit.

As you can see, quitting smoking can be a feasible goal for you. You will simply need to tailor a plan to quit smoking that accounts for your unique situation. Keeping track of triggers and other habits centered around smoking will help you gain more control over your life. The above tips will help you create this plan today.