Books That Disappointed Me This Year

Every year there are books you are excited for and yet they end up disappointing you for various reasons. This year these are the books that ended up disappointing me.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab – I found this so boring to read and honestly how is a girl who wants to see the world not set foot in Asia or Africa in 300 years. I guess she only wanted to see the white world. The erasure of BIPOC in this book was another reason I really did not like this book.

More Than Just a Pretty Face by Syed Masood – This book was full of one dimensional stereotypes and even the cute romance couldn’t save it. My full review is here

Once and Future Queen by Clara O’Conner – I dnfd this book it moved too slowly and I got bored.

Make Up Break Up by Sandhya Menon – This was probably the book I’m most sad about because I love her YA books but I just didn’t enjoy this and ended up dnfing.

Hijab and Red Lipstick by Yousra Imran – This book had me filled with rage. My full review is here

A Curse of Gold by Annie Sullivan – I really loved the first book so I was sad I didn’t love this one as much. I liked it but I didn’t love it unfortunately.

Poisoned by Jennifer Donnelly – Another book that didn’t live up to my expectations. After loving Stepsister I had high hopes for this. Unfortunately I didn’t love this one as much.

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini – I loved the beginning but then I got bored and I just couldn’t deal with the MC constantly looking at herself in the mirror and commenting on her body. I dnfd this.

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi – Everyone seems to love this book but I just didn’t. I think it was more the writing style than the story though because I struggled to really get into it despite being interested in the storyline.

Anyways these are the books that disappointed me this year. Are there any that disappointed you?

My Favourite Books of 2020

This year has been crazy in so many ways but one thing that I have loved is all the incredible books that have been published this year that making this list was so difficult. But here are my favourite reads of 2020, not including rereads.

1 The Empire of Gold by S.A. Chakraborty – Is this a surprise to anyone? I absolutely loved everything about this book especially Nahri and Ali’s journey. You can read my full review here

2 These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong – I loved this book so much. I completely fell in love with Juliette and the story was so interesting. My full review is here.

3 The Damned by Renee Ahdieh – I love everything that Renee writes and this was amazing! My full review is here

4 A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne A Brown – I will protect Malik with my life. My full review is here.

5 We Free the Stars by Hafsah Faizal – This book was incredible and painful and wonderful and I loved every second of it.

6 The Bloodprint by Ausma Zehanat Khan – This book is so wonderful and fed my soul. My full review is here

7 A Sky Beyond the Storm by Sabaa Tahir – I am deceased. That is all.

8 The Beauty of Your Face by Sahar Mustafa – This book was heart breaking in so many ways and heart warming in so many ways. My full review is here

9 Prime Deceptions By Valerie Valdes – I loved the sequel even more that Chilling Effect and I cannot wait for the next book! My full review is here

10 Legendborn by Tracy Deonn – This book was such a surprising read. I completely fell in love. My full review is here.

So these are my favourite books of 2020! Do share your favourite books with me!

Top 10 Tuesday – My Favourite (Fiction) Books I Read in 2019

Hey booknerds! I’m taking part in another week of Top Ten Tuesday!

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. You can find more information here

I’m going to share my favourite fiction books I read this year! There was so many amazing books this year so it was really difficult to narrow it down but here are my favourites:

The Kingdom of Copper by S.A. Chakraborty – MY FAVOURITE BOOK SERIES EVER. I cannot explain how much I loved this book and this trilogy as a whole. I am completely obsessed and you all need to read these books! My review is here

All American Muslim Girl by Nadine Jolie Courtney – This book is absolutely amazing and everyone needs to read it. I felt so seen. It had me sobbing and I stayed up until 5am to read the whole book in one sitting. My review is here

The Beautiful by Renee Ahdieh – I love everything Renee writes and this is no exception! I fell in love with her writing and Celine has become a new favourite character! I cannot wait for the next book! My review is here

The Candle and the Flame by Nafiza Azad – Loved this book so much! Full of badass women in their own way. My review is here

Love From A to Z by S.K. Ali – The halal romance story that I finally saw myself in! I love Adam and Zainab so much! My review is here

All The Things We Never Said by Yasmin Rahman – I loved the Muslim rep and the mental health rep was done wonderfully too. My review is here

The Never Tilting World by Rin Chupeco – I fell in love with the wonderfully diverse characters and the amazing story and I cannot wait for the next book! My review is here

We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal – I just need more zumra! They’re all amazing and I loved the world that Hafsah created! My review is here

The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi – I cannot believe I took so long to read this because it is amazing and I adore the characters and I just need the next book already!

The Tiger at Midnight by Swati Teerdhala – I fell in love with the story and the tension between them throughout the book was done so well! My review is here

So these are my top reads of the year! Also an honourable mention goes to Renegades by Marissa Meyer as I have only just read it so I didn’t get to include it but omg I absolutely loved it! I cannot wait to start Archenemies.

What were some of your favourite reads this year?

Books I Read This Year From My Muslim Shelf Space

We are finally getting more books being published by Muslim authors and I am so excited to read them all! I am already excited to see what books will be published next year and some I am already eagerly awaiting!

I have made an effort to try to read more books by Muslim authors and help to promote them so we can continue to get more books by Muslim authors. I am actually surprised by how many I actually read this year but I am also extremely happy to get such a variety.

I am going to share my top 10 and then the rest of the Muslim authored books I read this year:

The Kingdom of Copper by S.A. Chakraborty – My favourite book of the year! You should all know by now how absolutely OBSESSED I am with this trilogy and I cannot get enough! I have a Daevabad section on my blog where you can find all Daevabad related posts! You can read my review here

All American Muslim Girl by Nadine Jolie Courtney – This book blew me away! I had no idea what to expect when I started it but I absolutely adored it and it had me sobbing. I felt so seen reading this book. You can read my review here

The Candle and the Flame by Nafiza Azad – This book is full of amazing women who are all badass in their own ways. I cannot explain how much I loved this book! You can read my review here

Love From A to Z by S.K. Ali – The halal romance book I’ve been waiting for my whole life! I adored this book so much! I really loved Adam and I related to Zainab so much! You can read my review here

All the Things We Never Said by Yasmin Rahman – This book deals with mental health and suicidal thoughts and does so wonderfully. One of the MCs is a young Muslim girl and I finally read a book that incorporated all aspects of my life including my faith in relation to how I deal with mental health. You can read my review here

We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal – I love the zumra so much! From broody Nasir to charismatic Altair and of course badass Zafira! I cannot wait for the second book! You can read my review here

Prayers of the Pious by Omar Suleiman – This book is full of beautiful gems and I know I will comde back to it again and again. You can read my review here

The Light at the Bottom of the World by London Shah – This is wonderful story of hope even in the worst situations and that the youth can do so much to make changes in the world. You can read my review here

It’s Not About the Burqa edited by Mariam Khan – Full of wonderful essays that show that Muslim women are not monolith and there is so much more to them than the scarf they wear on their heads. You can read my review here

Kick the Moon by Muhammad Khan – Dealing with toxic masculinity it was a really great read. You can read my review here

Ayesha Dean – The Istanbul Intrigue by Melati Lum – review

Ayesha Dean – The Seville Secret by Melati Lum – review

The Weight of our Sky by Hanna Alkaf

Light Upon Light by Nur Fadhilah Wahid – review

The Bird King by G. Willow Wilson – review

A Pocketful of Stars by Aisha Bushby – review

The Battle by Karuna Riazi – review

Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga

A History of Islam in 21 Women by Hossein Kamaly – review

The Arabic Quilt by Aya Khalil

Thorn by Intisar Khanani

Rereads:

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir – review
The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty – review

So that’s all the books I read this year by Muslim authors! I have several more on my tbr and I am eagerly awaiting the release of several next year!

What was your favourite book by a Muslim author?

Friday Favourites – My Favourite (Non-Fiction) Reads of 2019

This is hosted by Something of the Book who created this tag out of a love for lists. There are different topics for us all to be able to take part and you can find the prompts here.  There isn’t a specific number of favourites so it’s entirely up to you how many you share.

I’m going to be sharing my top 10 non fiction reads of the year. I have read so many amazing books so I thought I would split the books between fiction and non fiction.

All of the books I’m sharing on here are one’s that not only were they interesting and insightful but have impacted my life this past year. Some have reignited my passions for speaking up about female empowerment. Some have helped me with my faith. And some have made me, a brown Muslim woman in a hijab, feel seen and heard. So they all mean a lot to me.

So in no particular order, here are my top 10 non-fiction reads of 2019:

It’s Not About the Burqa edited by Mariam Khan – I loved this book so much! I hope we see more of these type of books being published. You can read my review here

Prayers of the Pious by Omar Suleiman – Imam Omar is one of my favourite Islamic teachers and so I knew I had to read his book and it was phenomenal. This is a book I will come back to time and time again. You can read my review here

The Hormone Diaries by Hannah Witton – There was so many things I learnt from reading this book! It’s easy to read and one that you can read different sections at different times depending on what’s relevant for you at the time.

Fight Like A Girl by Clementine Ford – I had been meaning to read this for a long time and I’m so glad I finally did. It was a really great read and had me pumped! You can read my review here

I Will Not Be Erased by Gal-Dem – I loved the essays in this book! It made me realise that I wasn’t alone in feeling not quite like I belonged at times growing up. You can read my review here

Yes I’m Hot in This by Huda Fahmy – I love her comics that she shares on Instagram so when I saw she was releasing a book I knew I had to buy it. It was absolutely hilarious and so relatable! I love flicking through different pages.

A History of Islam in 21 Women by Hossein Kamaly – I was so excited to see a book filled with Muslim women and their amazing achievements! I really loved reading through it. You can read my review here

Boys Will Be Boys by Clementine Ford – After reading Fight Like A Girl I knew I had to read this book. It deals with toxic masculinity and the patriarchy and how it is damaging to both women and men. It is a really great book and one that is much needed. You can read my review here

Love and Happiness by Yasmin Mogahed – One of my favourite Islamic teachers, who’s teachings and books have helped me through some really difficult times. I highly recommend this book and her other book, Reclaim Your Heart, to just read a few pages at a time as it’s full of short words of wisdom.

Light Upon Light by Nur Fadhilah Wahid – I really enjoyed reading through her short reflections and found most of them very relatable. You can read my review here

So these are my favourite non-fiction books. What was your favourite non-fiction books? What type of non-fiction do you enjoy reading?