I have never done this before, but
I came across the idea in this post by the wonderful Shaunta Grimes: an annual reading
list. My goals for 2019 include some books to read as does my 2019 100 things
bucket list (although I haven’t got quite to 100 yet 😊).
I like the idea and It would be
nice to check back at the end of the year and see how many I managed.
Islamic Books
Read the Quran completely at least twice
or more, including one reading during Ramadan.
Tafsir Ibn Kathir – This is considered
to be one of the most comprehensive and complete commentaries on the Quran. I have
this at home in ten volumes because my husband randomly turned up with it one
day from a removal job. Top of my list
to read insh’Allah
Eight Islamic biographies – I have
some at home including those of the four caliphs (RA), the great military strategist
and companion of the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) Khalid bin Walid and Salahuddin
Ayyubi. Hopefully the rest will be of
women, including the Mothers of the Believers (RA).
Hayat-us-Sahabah (Lives of the Sahabah)
by Muhammad Yusuf ibn Muhammad Ilyas Kandihlawi al-Dihlawi. I have this in five volumes and have read
bits in isolation. I would like to read
the whole series again.
Beheshti Zewar (Heavenly Ornaments)
by Mawlānā Ashraf Ali Thanvi, this is a wide-ranging breakdown of various
issues for women including law (fiqh). I
read this some twenty plus years ago and it stood me in good stead over the
years in helping me understand how to practice my faith with confidence and take
away a lot of the uncertainty around key areas like child birth, menstruation as
they pertain to faith. One I hope to
read again this year for a refresh.
There are a few more Islamic books
sitting on my bedside table that I have started reading at various points and
not finished. I hope to get through some
of these. Other than this I would like
to learn more about the lives of the Mothers of the Believers (RA) and the
female companions (RA) of the beloved Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam). I am intensely interested in the everyday
lives and the ordinary details of their lives: what they wore, ate, looked like,
how they ordered their days.
Non-fiction
There are two areas of non-fiction
that interest me: political/opinion and self-help. For political, in particular those that touch
on themes of race and Palestine interest me deeply. There are a few I have at
home that I am trying to finish:
I have been a fan of self-help
since my teens and have quite a few at home I still haven’t read. I gave my book shelf a big clear out at the
start of the year, so what is left are the ones that appeal:
The Secret Lives of Colour by Kassia
St Clair is a book I have been eyeing up for weeks at the bookshop near my
office. I treated myself to it on book store
points and look forward to indulging two of my loves together: books and
colour.
Fiction
Ever since I organised my
bookshelf, changing from thematic ordering to colour blocking, lots of the
books that have been hidden at the back have come to the front and are inspiring
me. I hope to make a dent in some of these stacks.
I would love to read the third
instalment of The King Killer Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss, after really enjoying the first two
in the series but I don’t think there is any news on a release date. Other than
that, I plan to sneak in some really fun books with a cracking story line: the
type you just can’t put down, perhaps Young Adult.
I had so much fun with my office
book club last year, I am also hoping to read another ten to twelve books through
that. Hopefully this year they will be
ones I enjoy, last years choices were hit and miss.
I think this book list is probably
a bit ambitious for one year, and I am not too confident that I will get though
all of it, but I intend to have fun and learn something trying. I hope to spend less time on my phone and internet
surfing and more time reading insh’Allah.
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