What did I just finish reading?

I read a really good book called Brutal by Nabila Sharma
It's difficult to describe a book of this nature as 'really good' because it's an extremely sad and true memoir of a young Muslim girl growing up in the Midlands UK. Nabila was abused across a period of years by her religious teacher.

It's truly sad to hear the horrific things that happened to Nabila, especially when described from the perspective of a child, it adds to how confusing it must have been.
On another level the story is a great insight into the close knit Muslim community.
The storytelling is fluid throughout the book but I found myself becoming progressively angry throughout the narrative as there were a few indications across the years to indicate what was happening to Nabila but they were ignored. The book works to a conclusion with Sharma eventually seeking counselling, finding some solace in her personal life and eventually reporting these crimes committed against her to the police, I wanted to know more about how the case was being followed up and to not know was unsatisfying.
If you enjoy reading these tragic child memoirs there are shelves stacked high and wide in book shops but this makes for a fresh take on a saturated genre.

So you had a bad day?

I read this great quote once that said "Don't let a bad day make you think you have a bad life"

Another influence for me has beena  book by Katie Piper titled 'Beautiful'
Since the day I began reading it  any time I feel as though I'm having a bad day, I remember the most horrendous day of this ladies life and suddenly nothing seems like it's so bad after all. Katie's story is similar to reading a personal diary that documents her life from naive beginnings right through to the mile stones in her recovery, it's very raw and gripping and until the point of a horrendous acid attack that melts away the face that was making her a name in the land of glitz and glamour television. The reader is plagued with the sense that everything is going to end 'tomorrow' but you keep reading to find out when 'tomorrow' is.
The part of the story that has imprinted in my mind even more vivdly than the acid attack itself, is her description of the nightmares that followed. They are described in a way that made it feel as though the nightmares were being woven into reality and coming to life around me, I was completely visually absorbed into Katie's world at that time.

Many memoirs adopt a type of victim approach, an element of seeking out sympathy and I believe this is what sets Katie Pipers story apart. Adament from the start that she would not be seen as a victim, this experience was just adding another layer to her character and a development of her personality. As a whole it was wonderfully refreshing and not just 'another tragic story'.
There is something that everyone could learn from Katie's story. She reminds me that a bad day isn't so bad afterall.

So you've had a bad day?