My Favourite Friendships

I love seeing wonderful friendships in books sometimes even more than the romantic relationships. I love how much they love and care for each other and how much they would do for each other. I love seeing the banter and sarcastic remarks and the sibling type arguing. I want to see more great friendships in books! So I thought I would share some of my favourite friendships in books.

Laia and Izzy in An Ember in the Ashes – I loved the friendship that built between them, the tentative way they started to get to know each other because they knew that this would be a weakness that the Commandant would use to hurt them but still decided to become friends, to have at least something good no matter what the Commandant did to them. The way they tried to protect and shield each other and risked their own lives to protect theirs. I really loved them.

Ali, Aqisa and Lubayd in The Kingdom of Copper – I adored their friendship and I was so glad to see that Ali finally met people who he could trust and who would be there for him without wanting something in return. They had such great banter and I loved all of their interactions. I love how they protected each other and some of my favourite scenes are of the three of them.

Cinder and Thorne in The Lunar Chronicles – I read this book years ago and still Cinder and Thorne’s friendship is one of my favourites. They have such witty banter and sass and I love how much they help each other despite only having met when they were both escaped prison. That Thorne stayed with her during her whole revolution despite knowing how dangerous it is and how Cinder did her best to protect him and never forgot him despite everything.

Ayesha and Clara from Ayesha at Last – I loved these two so much and how they had such a wonderful sister bond with each other. How Clara was always there for Ayesha and pushed her to achieve her potential and how Ayesha helped her with her relationship. They are so understanding and even a part of their families lives.

Will And Jem from The Infernal Devices – I absolutely adore these two and their parabatai bond is unlike any other in this universe. The way they look out for each other and care so deeply for each other that they would sacrifice their own happiness and even their life for each other. I also love how much they roast each other and have such funny sarcastic sassy banter. Them being sarcastic to each other is some of my favourite scenes.

Which books have your favourite friendships?

Diverse Retellings You Need to Read

I love retellings and the last few years we have been getting some amazing diverse retellings and my heart feels so happy. I thought I would share the ones I’ve read and loved because I know lots of other people also love retellings.

So here are some of my favourite ones:

Ayesha at Last by Uzma Jalaluddin – This is one of my favourite books ever! A modern Pride and Prejudice retelling with Muslim characters! It is hilarious and touches upon some really important issues too.

Thorn by Intisar Khanani – I loved this character driven retelling of The Goose Girl. It had wonderful discussions about self worth and being true to yourself.

More to the Story by Hena Khan – This is a beautiful modern middle grade retelling of Little Women with Muslim characters and set in America.

Pride by Ibi Zoboi – Another modern Pride and Prejudice retelling which had it’s own unique twists which made it fresh and unique.

Cinderella and the Glass Ceiling by Laura Lane & Ellen Haun – A short story collections where different fairytales are retold. There was a mix of stories some which I loved more than others.

The Star Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi – A hades and Persephone retelling which is written so beautifully and immerses you into the world.

The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh – One of my all time favourite books and a retelling of 1001 Arabian Nights. Beautiful writing and full of Persian culture and a wonderful seductive story.

Kingdom of the Blazing Phoenix by Julie C Dao – A Snow White retelling with some unique twists and where Snow White must go on a quest to save her kingdom.

Pride, Prejudice and Other Flavours by Sonali Dev – A really unique retelling of Pride and Prejudice where Elizabeth and Darcy’s characters are swapped. This was so much fun!

Of Curses and Kisses by Sandhya Menon – A modern beauty and the beast retelling set at a boarding school and my favourite BatB retlling I’ve read!

The Forbidden Wish by Jessica Khoury – An Aladdin retelling but the genie is a young woman and it’s also told from the point of view of the genie! I really enjoyed this book.

Geekerella by Ashley Poston – A modern nerdy Cinderella retelling partly set at a comiccon and I highly recommend this whole series which are all retellings and perfect for all book nerds!

I know there are lots more retellings but these are some of my favourites. Share some of yours in the comments so we can find some new recommendations!

Top 10 Tuesday – Books I Loved But Never Reviewed

I have a top 10 Tuesday post for you all today! I’m going to share some amazing books I read this year but never had a chance to review.

You can find the prompts here

1 The Trouble With Hating You by Sajni Patel

2 You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson

3 Notes on a Nervous Planet by Matt Haig

4 We Set the Dark on Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia

5 Rage Becomes Her by Soraya Chemaly

6 Pride by Ibi Zoboi

7 Period Power: A Manifesto for the Menstrual Movement by Nadya Okamoto

8 More to the Story by Hena Khan

9 Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez

10 What We’re Told Not to Talk About by Nimko Ali

So these are a mix of fiction and non fiction reads which I gave either a 4 or 5 star and I highly recommend them all!

Allah Loves by Omar Suleiman – Book Review

Thank you to Kube Publishing for sending me this book in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved this book. It was such a spiritually uplifting book which I read during Ramadan.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Synopsis:

In Allah Loves Omar Suleiman explores who and what Allah loves so that we may become one of those who are beloved to Him. The Prophet Muhammad said that one of the supplications of Prophet Dawud was, “O Allah I ask You for Your love and the love of those that love You and all of those actions that would bring me closer to being loved by you.” Looking at our actions, characteristics and beliefs, this book will help us become better people, citizens and believers that are deserving of Allah’s endless, infinite and ever-lasting love. Made up of 30 short and spiritually enriching chapters, this book is a reminder that throughout our lives, the Creator’s love is always there, increasing through everyday actions such as showing generosity or remaining consistent with unnoticeable good deeds.

This book was adapted from his Ramadan series and honestly I am so happy to have it in a book form. I love watching his online classes and talks and having it in a book is so great to be able to refer back to. If you enjoy his classes then I highly recommend picking up his books.

This is the type of book you can come back to again and again and continue to benefit from it. It’s a short book but full of important lessons and reminders that Allah’s love is infinite and that small everyday deeds can bring us close to him. We often think we need to be perfect but that isn’t the case. 

Each chapter begins with a specific quality that Allah loves; piety, justice, patience, gentleness and so much more. Then we learn about why Allah loves this quality with Quran and hadith. I loved how each quality was spoken about and we learnt that it isn’t big grand gestures but the small everyday acts that Allah loves most. To incorporate these qualities in our lives and be consistent in them.

This is such a heartfelt book and I loved reading through it. It is written in such a easy to read way and understand. I know I will come back to this book time and time again. It is full of beautiful gems and words of wisdom. It will help us to re-evaluate our lives and work to improve ourselves and build good habits.

I highly recommend this book for everyone to read and I also recommend reading his first book, Prayers of the Pious.

Amazing Muslims Who Changed the World by Burhana Islam – Book Review

Thank you to Puffin Books for sending me this book in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book so much! Full of amazing Muslims throughout history and all over the world. It was so wonderful to see so many Muslims who often are forgotten and don’t get included in other history books and I loved it so much.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Do you think you know who first thought of the theory of evolution?
Have you ever wondered who created the oldest university in the world?
Is Joan of Arc is the only rebel girl who led an army that you’ve heard of?

If so, then you need this stunningly illustrated treasure trove of iconic and hidden amazing Muslim heroes!
You’ll find people you might know, like Malala Yousafzai, Sir Mo Farah and Muhammad Ali, as well as some you might not, such as:
Hasan Ibn Al-Haytham: the first scientist to prove theories about how light travels, hundreds of years before Isaac Newton.
Sultan Razia: a fearsome female ruler.
G. Willow Wilson: the comic book artist who created the first ever Muslim Marvel character.
Ibtihaj Muhammad: the Olympic and World Champion fencer and the first American to compete in the games wearing a hijab.
Noor Inayat Khan: the Indian Princess who became a British spy during WWII.

There are so many more amazing Muslim men and women who have changed our world, from pirate queens to athletes, to warriors and mathematicians. Who will your next hero be?

This book is the book that I have spent my whole life wishing for. It is full of such incredible Muslims throughout history and all over the world and I just loved seeing them in the book. When I read books about amazing people throughout history Muslims are often not included in these books. I really wanted to see people who looked like me who had a similar culture to me who were also Muslim and this book finally gave me all that and more. It made my heart so full.

We are introduced to so many amazing people throughout history who achieved such amazing things in all areas from sports to maths and science to being activists to being leaders and rulers. I really loved how so many were included that we don’t usually get to see in books.

I really loved how much information about each person we get and how each one was so fascinating to read and we also get illustrations of each person! I loved the illustrations as much as reading about each person. They are so cute and I really loved being able to see people who looked like me in the book, not just being able to read but also see them. I think especially kids would love being able to see people who looked like them and see that we are capable of achieving amazing things.

Some of my favourites were Sayyida al Hurra, Noor Inayat Khan, Khawlah bint Al-Azwar and Zheng He. There were lots of people I had heard of but there were still several I hadn’t heard of and I loved learning about them. It was so fascinating to read and the history nerd in my was squealing with joy!

I highly recommend this book to absolutely everyone. It’s a book that I think is so important for kids today but also anyone of any age will benefit from it.