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I will do a book review of “Embracing February 14: Celebrating Love, Romance, and Relationships” by Mohammed Sulaiman in this review.
The creation process of this review was a bit different than most reviews I’ve done in the past. You’ll see, in preparation for Valentine’s Day, I was looking for a suitable review when the author, Mohammed Sulaiman, reached out to me.
It happened on the 9th of February, so I took a deep breath and read the 60-page book in the evening.
As always, I will share my honest opinion with you, like the things I like and dislike about the book, and give you my conclusions.
If you don’t want to miss out on any future reviews I’ll make, make sure to sign up for my newsletter below.
Without any further ado, let’s start this review.
An Exposé of the Historical Roots of Saint Valentine’s Day and Giftgiving
The book begins with an historical exposé of the historical roots of Saint Valentine’s Day, and then moves on to discussing how the celebration has evolved and changed over the centuries.
It continues by focusing on how the celebration has spread over the last century and is today a world-wide phenomenon to express your love and appreciation for people who are close to your heart, even if they are your colleagues, so even platonic love is celebrated in parts of Asia (Japan and South Korea) on this day.
If you want a quick overview of the history of Valentine’s Day, please read the article “Why do we celebrate Valentine’s Day?“
He then continues to discuss the meaning of different gifts and how they are associated with the celebrations.
Planning Your Perfect Celebration of Valentine’s Day
Mohammed Sulaiman then moves on to discuss the intricacies of planning the perfect celebration for his special night. He discusses everything from the location and decor to lightning and adding a few personal touches to give the celebration uniqueness.
After that he discusses the importance of choosing the perfect gift for the people you love, including presents, romantic gestures, thoughtful tokens, and experiences before ending with some date night ideas.
If you want some ideas, check out my article 21 best date night ideas for Valentine’s Day next.
Different Celebrations for Different Relationships
Much to my surprise, the book moves on to discuss the different celebrations for different kinds of relationships.
He begins with the most obvious one: Romantic relationships.
It comes as no surprise to me that this section focuses on the pillars of romantic relationships, such as acts of services, thoughtful gestures, spending quality time together, communication, and showing physical affection.
The book moves on to focus on other kinds of love, such as celebrating the love for your family, which is a delight to read, as well as cherishing the friendship.
The Cheapskate’s Version of Valentine’s Day – DIY Gift Ideas
In the next section of the book, Mohammed Sulaiman discusses DIY Valentine’s Day ideas such as crafting your own cards and gifts, photo albums, personalized jewelry, other customized gifts, and spa kits.
If you want some more ideas and details, please read this guide to DIY Gift Ideas for Valentine’s Day.
Then the book discusses cooking romantic meals together, and other budget-friendly date ideas that you will enjoy if your on a tight budget, and that is definitely one of the best sections in the entire book.
It makes the book relevant to all kinds of celebrations and budgets.
Virtual Valentine’s Day
Another strongpoint that the book has, is when Mohammed Sulaiman discusses celebrating Valentine’s Day in long-distance relationships, which isn’t unheard of in today’s interconnected world, and something I have done myself many times in the past.
The book continues to discuss how you can host Valentine’s Day parties virtually from the comfort of your home, and sending digital love notes, cards, and messages.
Focusing on Self-Love and Self-Care
In the latter part of the book, Mohammed Sulaiman focuses on the importance of self-love and self-care.
As I already discussed on many of my articles on this blog, as well as on many written articles, I have shared the importance of loving yourself and taking care of yourself.
I was delighted to find this section of the book, which I think is the most important part of it, especially if you’re single at the moment, as you can take this day to nurture your relationship with yourself, cultivating inner peace and contentment, enhancing emotional resilience, and setting boundaries and prioritizing your needs.
He then moves on focusing on the importance of self-care rituals, positive self-talk, celebrating your accomplishments, and practicing gratitude and appreciation.
Spreading Love and Kindness
In the last section of his book, Mohammed Sulaiman, focuses on spreading love and kindness around you.
In this section he shares different ways of spreading your love and kindness and extending it to others, such as:
- Random acts of kindness
- Volunteering your time to a cause you are compassionate about
- Practicing active listening
- Sharing your talents and skills with the rest of the world
- Cultivating gratitude and positivity
- Giving back to others
- Building empathy and compassion
- Strengthening social connections
- Making a positive impact on your local community
- Fostering personal growth
All of that will surely give a ripple effect of love and compassion to those around you.
After that he concludes the book by sharing some final thoughts that I will not share with you here, but if you’re interested, you might want to read the entire book by clicking or tapping on the button below.
The Pros of Embracing February 14: Celebrating Love, Romance, and Relationships
As I already told you, there are several pros that I found throughout this book, and I have shared some of them with you, but to do a short recap, they are:
- The book doesn’t solely focuses on romantic relationships, but all kinds of relationships and human interactions.
- The book shares different gift and date ideas for both long-distance and short-distance relationships that fits all kinds of budgets and things you can do even if you live on the other side of the world from each other.
- The emphasis the book puts on self-love and self-care is a much welcome surprise since it shares actionable things you can do if you’re single right now.
- The list at the end on spreading your love without spreading yourself too thin is another strong point that I want to include in this section.
- The font he uses makes it easy and quick to read.
- The price of $3.89 makes it cheap and a no-brainer.
The Cons of Embracing February 14: Celebrating Love, Romance, and Relationships
There are a few things I found when I read the book where I think it could improve, which are:
- It would be interesting if he would discuss a little bit more of the customs and traditions of Valentine’s Day in other European countries than France and Great Britain, as well as the countries in the Middle East and Africa, and how they celebrate it there. Since I am a European myself, I know that it varies a lot.
- Sometimes it feels like he is repeating himself by saying things twice.
- I think the book could also be better if he was sharing more gift ideas and date ideas, and the section about self-love could be expanded a bit further too.
This concludes my review of “Embracing February 14: Celebrating Love, Romance, and Relationships” by Mohammed Sulaiman.
If you want to purchase the book, click or tap on the button below. I will not earn anything from it, but I still think it is a great read.
To your success,
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