Ramadan Readathon TBR

Ramadan Mubarak! 

The month of Ramadan is upon us and this year I’m delighted to actually be organized enough to participate in the Ramadan Readathon. For those who don’t know, the Ramadan Readathon is run by the wonderful Nadia @ Headscarves and Hardbacks and is a time dedicated to reading Muslim authors throughout Ramadan.

My partner is Muslim so our household has been very busy over the past couple of weeks getting ready for Ramadan as lots of planning needs to go into preparing meals around fasting. I’m not Muslim and I don’t fast during Ramadan, so I’ve been really looking forward to the Readathon as it’s something that me and my partner can do together throughout Ramadan ❤

As the Readathon takes place from the 17th May – 15th June, I’ve planned to read the majority of these books at the end of May and beginning of June as I want to focus on my Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month reads for May. This TBR is also super flexible as I want to have the space to discover new books by Muslim authors.

Laughing all the Way to Mosque by Zarqa Nawaz

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Being a practicing Muslim in a Western society is sometimes challenging, sometimes rewarding and sometimes downright absurd. How do you explain why Eid never falls on the same date each year; why is it that Halal butchers also sell teapots and alarm clocks? How do you make clear to the plumber that it’s essential the toilet is installed within sitting-arm’s reach of the tap? Zarqa Nawaz has seen and done it all, and in Laughing all the way to Mosque Zarqa paints a hilarious portrait of growing up in a household where, according to her father, the Quran says it’s okay to eat at McDonald’s-but only if you order the McFish.

I picked this up completely at random when in my local library’s non-fiction section and couldn’t resist bringing it home to read to my partner. We started reading it last night and it is literally laugh out loud funny, a great read to kick Ramadan off with!

 

The Djinn Falls in Love and Other Stories edited by Mahvesh Murad and Jared Shurin

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A fascinating collection of new and classic tales of the fearsome Djinn, from bestselling, award-winning and breakthrough international writers.

Imagine a world filled with fierce, fiery beings, hiding in our shadows, in our dreams, under our skins. Eavesdropping and exploring; savaging our bodies, saving our souls. They are monsters, saviors, victims, childhood friends. 

Some have called them genies: these are the Djinn. And they are everywhere. On street corners, behind the wheel of a taxi, in the chorus, between the pages of books. Every language has a word for them. Every culture knows their traditions. Every religion, every history has them hiding in their dark places. There is no part of the world that does not know them.

They are the Djinn. They are among us.

I must have been living under a rock because I had never heard of this anthology until the @MuslimReadathon twitter retweeted someone else reading it for the readathon. I love the theme and have really gotten into anthologies recently so it’d be great to pick this one up!

 

A Torch Against the Night by Sabaa Tahir

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Elias and Laia are running for their lives. After the events of the Fourth Trial, Martial soldiers hunt the two fugitives as they flee the city of Serra and undertake a perilous journey through the heart of the Empire.

Laia is determined to break into Kauf—the Empire’s most secure and dangerous prison—to save her brother, who is the key to the Scholars’ survival. And Elias is determined to help Laia succeed, even if it means giving up his last chance at freedom.

But dark forces, human and otherworldly, work against Laia and Elias. The pair must fight every step of the way to outsmart their enemies: the bloodthirsty Emperor Marcus, the merciless Commandant, the sadistic Warden of Kauf, and, most heartbreaking of all, Helene—Elias’s former friend and the Empire’s newest Blood Shrike.

Bound to Marcus’s will, Helene faces a torturous mission of her own—one that might destroy her: find the traitor Elias Veturius and the Scholar slave who helped him escape…and kill them both.

I read An Ember in the Ashes last year and have been meaning to get round to reading the second book in the series but have just never found this time so it would be a perfect time to pick it up.

 

The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi 

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Persepolis is the story of Satrapi’s unforgettable childhood and coming of age within a large and loving family in Tehran during the Islamic Revolution; of the contradictions between private life and public life in a country plagued by political upheaval; of her high school years in Vienna facing the trials of adolescence far from her family; of her homecoming–both sweet and terrible; and, finally, of her self-imposed exile from her beloved homeland. It is the chronicle of a girlhood and adolescence at once outrageous and familiar, a young life entwined with the history of her country yet filled with the universal trials and joys of growing up.

I started reading Persepolis a long time ago but never got round to finishing it, but found the complete edition when I was at the library yesterday so would love to finally finish it.

 

Ms. Marvel Vol 1: No Normal by G. Willow Wilson

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Kamala Khan is an ordinary girl from Jersey City — until she’s suddenly empowered with extraordinary gifts. But who truly is the new Ms. Marvel? Teenager? Muslim? Inhuman? Find out as she takes the Marvel Universe by storm! When Kamala discovers the dangers of her newfound powers, she unlocks a secret behind them, as well. Is Kamala ready to wield these immense new gifts? Or will the weight of the legacy before her be too much to bear? Kamala has no idea, either. But she’s comin’ for you, Jersey! 

I’ve wanted to read Ms. Marvel for years but apparently missed the memo about her being Muslim and I know that my library definitely has this so I can get it next time I go.

Are you taking part in the Ramadan Readathon?
What’s on your TBR?
#RamadanReadathon

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