Readings

At the beginning of 2021 I wrote in my notes app how I wanted to "go back to the basics". What that meant was that after a long time of not doing what I truly enjoyed, I was going to go back to it. When I was in middle and the first half of high school I would do all sorts of crafts, read books, try to become better in my deen etc. etc., but for a long time I stopped. So in 2021 I was tired of being separated from those things and I wanted to go back to who I was. 

So that day I started a list of books that I've completed that I keep going to this day. I just wanted to write about some books that I've really enjoyed. I think I'll just go in the order that I've read them. This includes audio books btw.

  • "Love from A to Z"- this was such a cute Muslim romance book. I was so grateful that I restarted my reading journey with such a wonderful book. I remember highlighting so many parts that I found funny, relatable, or interesting. I've been kinda wanting to re-read it but I think since I'm a bit older, I can't relate to the characters as much but I do recommend it to someone in the high school age range.
  • "Animal Farm"- I feel like I missed a lot of classics during my primary school years so I wanted to read them outside of school. This book traumatized me. This visuals and frustrating-ness of it made me so upset. I did not enjoy reading it but I have to give it its props for invoking such strong emotions in me. 10/10 lol
  • "Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine"- there were times in this book where I was frustrated with the main character but there were times where I completely related to her. I loved the character growth in this story.
  • "The Giver/Gathering Blue/Messenger"- I read The Giver in school and I loved it. Dystopias have a special place in my heart. After I read The Giver, I also read the books that follow it and I decided to reread them (all except the last one bc I remember not liking it lol). They're a classic and Messenger had me sobbing.
  •  "Gone Girl"- Recommended to me by my brother because he said it was so bad (in the kinda good way. It was definitely a crazy ride. I'm so glad I went into it blindly because somehow I never came across any spoilers. This is the kind of book that again makes you so frustrated that you gotta give it its flowers.
  • "The Silent Patient"- probably my favorite book. I can't even review it I just love it. I recommended it to my brother and we bonded over how good it was. 
  • "My Sister's Keeper"- I liked the ethical questions that this book brought up about body autonomy vs. life and death. I also LOVED this author's choice of words. Her style in writing is just amazing to me.
  • "Before I Go To Sleep"- by this point you have to know that I fell in love with psychological thrillers. This book had me HOOKED. It is definitely up there with The Silent Patient. 
  • "Fahrenheit 451"- I've come across a couple of Ray Bradbury's short stories and they've always left me feeling a deep emotion that I could never describe so I knew this was going to be a good book. Again, I love dystopias so I was eating it up. To be honest, my reading comprehension skills are kinda bad so I had to reread a couple parts to know what was going on but that's literally a skill issue lol.
So that is some of the books I've enjoyed. This got me thinking that I should also do a list of books that I didn't like too.

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Random memory: Sitting in the front of my science class in middle school and I felt a draft on my neck and I realized my hijab had slipped off my head. This was one of the first times I've worn a chiffon scarf and this event TRAUMATIZED me. I was so mad that noone told me and I had no idea how long it had been like that. It didn't help that someone I liked was sitting behind me. I was mortified at the time but now I laugh at the memory. It took me a long time so trust chiffon scarves 😭

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