Books To Read by Black Authors

We all know what is happening in the world and we all need to make sure we stand up and fight the oppression and injustice happening to Black people. It is not a time to be silent, although we should never have been silent in the first place.

One of the ways we can support Black people is that as book nerds we can support Black authors by buying, promoting and sharing their books. So here is a list of books by Black authors to get you started.

There are so many more than the small list I have shared and please do comment any that I missed so we can all share the love!

Fiction Books

Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman

Mirage by Somaiya Daud

She Wore Red Trainers by Naima B Robert

Kingdom of Souls by Rena Barron

Pride by Ibi Zoboi

Watch Us Rise by Renee Watson &Ellen Hagan

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

The Rage of Dragons by Evan Winter

A River of Royal Blood by Amanda Joy

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

Tried and Tested by Umm Juwayriyah

On the Come Up by Angie Thomas

Daughters of Nri by Reni K Amayo

The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton

Triston Strong Punches a Hole in the Skky by Kwame Mbalia

A Phoenix First Must Burn by Patice Cadwell

A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne A Brown

You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson

A Song Below Water by Bethany C Morrow

Dear Martin by Nic Stone

The Good Luck Girls by Charlotte Nicole Davis

 Slay by Brittney Morris

Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo

Non-Fiction Books

I Will Not be Erased by Gal-Dem

Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People about Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge

From My Sisters Lips by Naima B Robert

Becoming by Michelle Obama

The Autobiography of Malcolm X

Slay in your Lane by Elizabeth Uviebinene & Yomi Adegoke

Brit(ish) by Afua Hirsch

The Fundamentals of Tawheed by Bilal Philips

Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women White Feminists forgot by Mikki Kendall

So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo

Feminism, Interrupted: Disrupting Power by Lola Olufemi

We Should all be Feminists by Chimamanda Adiche

10 Things You Can Do In Ramadan If You Can’t Fast

Following on from my previous post about how I am no longer able to fast in Ramadan, I thought I would share some things that I can still do. Especially as I know there are many people who, like me, are unable to fast. Whether it’s because of health reasons or because many women will be on their period at some point and unable to fast then.

There are so many reasons as to why people can’t fast but here are things we can all do regardless of whether we are fasting or not, to be able to increase in our worship and gain that closeness to Allah.

1 Read the Quran – try reading on a daily basis, even if it just a few pages a day. For every letter you read you get rewarded. It is what will help you gain that connection to Allah because He is talking directly to you through the Quran.

2 Listen to the Quran recitation – you can play the Quran recitation during your commute to and from work or any other time during the day especially if you cannot physically pick up the Quran to read at the time.

3 Read the translation of the Quran – read it in a language you understand best. For me, that’s English. I read the Sahih International version as I find that easiest to understand. It will help you to understand the Quran so much better.

4 Read the tafsir of the Quran – the translation only gives us a superficial knowledge of what the Quran is teaching us but reading or watching a lecture on tafsir will give you a much deeper understanding. For reading I recommend Ibn Kathir and listening, I recommend Omar Suleiman or Nouman Ali Khans lectures which are available on YouTube

5 Dhikr – remembering Allah throughout the day and is probably the most easiest form of worship to do. You can recite Alhamdulillah, Subhanallah, Allah Hu Akbar while you are at work, driving, cooking basically doing almost anything.

6 Dua – there are so many duas we can learn and recite and I highly recommend picking a few and making it a goal to learn and implement these. It can be anything from the dua to enter your house or a dua for ease in your studies. Fortress of a Muslim is a great book to have and small enough to fit in your pocket. There are also special times when dua is most accepted so we can make the most of our worship by praying especially in these times. The last third of the night, laylatul qadr, at the time of breaking the fast are some of these times.

7 Increase in Islamic Knowledge – pick a topic you want to learn more about and focus on learning something new about it. It could be anything learning about the Prophet (saw) or the mothers of the believers or self improvement or anything else. Learning more will help us to gain that connection with Allah. It can be reading, audio, watching lectures, attending a course.

8 Making Istighfar – seeking forgiveness is something we are all taught we should do regularly. None of us are perfect so our worship won’t be perfect. We forget, we make mistakes, we commit sins. And so we should also seek forgiveness for those.

9 Feed a fasting person – if we can’t fast we can still help those who are fasting. Maybe make something and give it to a neighbour or send money through a charity so they can provide food for those who fast and can’t afford to buy food to open their fast. We gain the reward for feeding a fasting a fasting person.

10 Give in charity or volunteer for a charity – we are always more generous in Ramadan, and there are always charities that are doing great work across the world in need of funding. Even if you can’t afford to give money, maybe volunteering a few hours to help them is an act of charity too. Smiling is a charity, helping an elderly neighbour, babysitting or helping out a friend or family member, so many possibilities.

There is so many more things we can all do to try to benefit the most from this month but don’t compare yourself to what others are doing. Allah knows what you are doing and He will not compare you to anyone. Do your best to take advantage of this Ramadan as the rewards are innumerous.

PS. Even if you are fasting you can still do all of these too! 🙂

I hope you find this beneficial and I hope you all have a wonderful Ramadan.

Top 10 Tuesday – Backlist Books I Want to Read

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

This weeks post is about backlist books I want to read.

There are so many books that I have on my shelves unread and yet, I continue to buy books. It’s beginning to get out of hand and I seriously need to read the books that have been sitting there for ages. I know there are some great books, but there’s so many books and so little time. I also find that a lot of my backlist books are ebooks. I always seem to overlook these books when I’m deciding what book to read.

But these are the books I really want to get to:

1 And I Darken – I keep hearing amazing things about this book and I won the first in the trilogy in a giveaway so I really want to read it

2 Truthwitch – another book I keep hearing great things about but I still haven’t got to yet

3 Dorothy Must Die – a wizard of oz retelling?! I knew I had to buy it when I saw it but I just haven’t got round to reading it

4 Air Awakens – I know I will love this book but gahhh still haven’t read it!

5 The Queen of the Tearling – I picked this up because the cover looked pretty but I haven’t got round to reading it yet

6 Graceling – yet another book that I have heard amazing things about but I haven’t read yet

7 The Forbidden Wish – this is an Aladdin retelling so I just had to get it. I hope it’s good!

8 Iron Gold – tbh I’m pretty scared to read this book. The Red Rising trilogy was brutal and heart breaking and I’m not sure I’m ready to have my heart broken again

9 Invictus – this is totally my type of book so I’m hoping to read it soon

10 This Mortal Coil – with the release of book 2 this book is now high up on my tbr hopefully I will read it either this month or next

So these are the books that I really want to read soon especially as they have been on my tbr for far too long!

What books have you had on your tbr for far too long?

Reading On A Budget

So many books so little money! Every month there are so many amazing books being released and I want to buy them all but my bank account is not so keen on buying them. But there is still ways to feed your reading habit without going bankrupt! And I’m going to share some tips that I’ve found to be really helpful in saving money.

1 Buy second hand books – I’ve found some great bargains buying second hand books both online and at book stalls. One stall in my local market sells books for 75p each! And they often look practically brand new!

2 The clearance or sale section at bookshops – here you can often buy newer books at a much cheaper price. I’ve often found hardbacks for £4/5

3 Bookbub – this is a website that is completely free to use and once you register with them they will send you daily deals on ebooks. Some are free and others are 99p or £1.99 This is the link to the website

4 The library – going to your local library not only helps support keeping it open but they have a wide selection of books from older books to new releases available. They can even get books in for you if you request them. My library also has a great online selection of ebooks and audiobooks that I can borrow.

5 Charity shops – I love having a look through my local charity shops for books and I also donate there. The money goes to a good cause and you can find books for a couple pounds

6 Ebook bargains – I use ibooks and they have a lot of books for cheap on there for a limited time. They also have a free ibook of the week and I’ve downloaded books like Throne of Glass and To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before. I’m sure there will be something similar for android users

7 Shops like Poundland or B&M – they may not seem like places to find books but they do have a selection in their shops. You never know you may find a great bargain searching there.

So these are some ways in which you can read when you’re on a budget! Is there any tips I’ve missed do share in the comments! I always love a good bargain! Especially when I buy as many books as I read a month!

Top 5 Wednesday – Favourite Magic Systems

Hey booknerds! It’s another Top 5 Wednesday post! This is hosted by Sam over on Thoughts on Tomes where you share you top 5 for the chosen topic for that week. You can check out each weeks topic over on Goodreads.

So this weeks topic is favourite magic systems

There’s so many ways that magic is incorporated into book and I love discovering all the ways that magic works in that world. They all work so differently from each other and some of my favourite books have magic in them.

1 Harry Potter by J.K Rowling – okay you knew I would mention this one! I mean who hasn’t wanted to go to Hogwarts?!

2 The Last Magician by Lisa Maxwell – I read this book recently but I quickly fell in love with the magic system in this world!

3 A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab – the system in this story is so unique and I just really want to go to Red London!

4 The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty – the way magic works in this world was so different to what I’ve seen and I loved it!

5 Everless by Sara Holland – I really loved the way magic was incorporated into the story especially as it played such a central role to the plot

So here’s some of my favourite magic systems. What books do you love that have unique magic systems?