I needed
something easy to write about while I was feeling a little brain dead and stuck
and this felt like an easy list to make. Forty of my favourite books by the age
of forty.
1.
The Sealed Nectar by Sheikh Safi-ur-Rahman
al-Mubarakpuri – an important and easy to read biography of the beloved Prophet
ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam (peace and blessings of Allah be upon
him),
covering all of the important thing you need to know.
2.
Life of the Prophet in Makkah: The Makkan Crucible
by Zakaria Bashier – some details I had not seen anywhere else. The part where the Kaaba was rebuilt and green
stone found under the foundations gave me goose bumps
3.
The Autobiography of Malcom X – brutally honest,
brave, eye-opening and inspiring
4.
Dracula by Bram Stoker – creepy, interesting and
just a cracking good story
5.
The Chrysalids by John Wyndham – absolutely love
this book: the characters, the setting, the way even the villains stayed with
me long after and of course the brilliant story. Unlike any of his other books
in tone or style.
6.
The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham – walking
plants in a dystopian/utopian future – a favourite genre
7.
The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien – old fashion
story-telling peopled with wonderful characters, who couldn’t love the hobbits?
8.
Cannery Row by John Steinbeck – unexpectedly funny
book by a writer of usually grim novels.
9.
Finding Your Own North Star by Martha Beck – I find
inspiration every time I open one of her books:
“The way
to find your own North Star is not to think or feel your way forward but to
dissolve the thoughts and feeling that make you miserable. You don't have to
learn your destiny - you already know it; you just have to unlearn the thoughts
that blind you to what you know.”
10. A
Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini – sisterly love and sacrifice in a
society that has no place for women, This one had me sobbing.
11. The Red
Tent – an interesting re-telling of one of the bible stories from the point of
view of one of the women. I loved the opening lines in this book:
"I
am so grateful that you have come. I will pour out everything inside me so you
may leave this table satisfied and fortified. Blessings on your eyes. Blessings
on your children. Blessings on the ground beneath you. My heart is a ladle of
sweet water, brimming over.
12. The Rice
Mother by Rani Manicka – a heart-breaking, painful read set in a beautifully
imagined place.
13. Cloud
Atlas by David Mitchell – expansive, mysterious, satisfying
14. Kiss Kiss
by Roald dahl – deliciously wicked stories for grown-ups by one of my favourite
children's writers.
15. Beloved
by Toni Morrison (and just about everything else she has written)
16. Cold
Comfort farm by Stella Gibbons – had me laughing out loud.
17. That Old
Ace in the Hole by Annie Proulx (and all of her other books of short stories) –
just such a good writer.
18. The
Exorcist by William Peter Blatty – this scared me god when I read it in my
early teens – as much because I was looking over my shoulder for moy parents
who would never have let me read it as how scary the book actually was. I think I am due to re-read this one to see
which.
19. From the
Holy Mountain by William Dalrymple - I wouldn't have expected a travel book to
be so fascinating and Dalrymple's writing has a lovely humour (worth reading
other travel books by him including White Mughals and City of Djinns)
20. The Olive
Readers by Christine Aziz – didn't get the best reviews and the feel of the
book changed abruptly midway, but I remember finding it quite satisfying.
21. Women who
Run with Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes– paradigm shifting for me, made me
rethink my approach to ageing:
“To take
the world into one's arms and act towards it in a soul-filled and
soul-strengthening manner is a powerful act of wildish spirit.”
22. Lightening
by Dean Koontz – I'm not sure what it is about this book that stuck in my mind
when I read it as a teen, but it always stayed with me. I re-read it as an adult and enjoyed it, and
it is still the archetypical Koontz book to me, but perhaps not the impact the
first reading had (His The Taking had the most impact as an adult).
23. Zorro by
Isabel Allende – so much fun.
24. Daughter
of the Forest by Juliette Marillier – I love a good retelling of a fairy or folk
tale and once you get started, you will want to tear through the Sevenwaters
series.
25. The
Handmaids Tale by Margret Atwood – cracking story, ramps up the tension.
26. Love in
the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez – I rarely have patience for
surrealism and other literary pretentions, but in this case the writer is
justified, writing under a brutal regime of things that can't be said out loud.
27. Zen and
the Art of making a Living by Laurence G Boldt – probably my favourite
self-help book of all and one I still enjoy randomly dipping into.
28. Dune by
Frank Herbert – fun, creative, dramatic space saga
29. I Could do Anything if Only I knew What it Was
by Barbara Sher – Read this at an impressionably young age and found it
profound and eye-opening at the time, particularly how your future is laid out
by the views and wishes of others.
30. Eucalyptus
by Murray Bail – poignant story that stayed with me after closing the last
page.
31. The
Lieutenant by Kate Grenville – heart breaking love story or commentary on
colonialism. No easy answers here.
32. The
Shadow of the Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafon, mystery, romance, humour, a secret
library, lovable characters, all the ingredients you need and well written too.
33. The Help
by Kathryn Stockett – worth it just for the chocolate cake scene 😊
34. Tommy
Knockers by Stephen King – creepy, archetypical Stephen King, I still have to
read the Stand, but sounds like just my kind of book.
35. The Four
Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz – some good ideas to live by.
36. The Bees
by Laline Paul – I didn't think I would like this, the characters are
bees...but I loved it.
37. Toxic
Childhood: How the Modern World is Damaging Our Children and What We Can Do
About It by Sue Palmer – a must read parenting book.
38. The
Underground Railroad by Coulson Whitehead – moving book on a difficult subject,
loved the main character. Also
interesting insight into elements of slavery in America I had not known about
before.
39. Jinnah,
Pakistan and Islamic Identity: The Search for Saladin by Akbar S Ahmed – well
written, accessible and insightful.
40. The Seven
Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R Covey – such a useful book.
I thought
that would be a tough list to get to 40, but my brain is fizzing over with more
to add 😊. Ones I loved but didn't make the list include:
Delirium
by Lauren Oliver - a dystopian love story
The
Grishaverse books Leigh Bardugo (the Six of Crows duology and the Shadow and
Bone trilogy)
The
Hannibal series of books by Thomas Harris
The Road
by Cormac McCarthy – but too harrowing to include it in a favourites list
The King
Killer Chronicles (Trilogy) by Patrick Rothfuss
Walden by
Henry David Thoreau
Mornings
in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa
The Giver
by Louis Lowry
Big Magic
by Elizabth Gilbert
Ok I
better stop now...
On my
wish list going forward for the coming year are:
More
Islamic books including tafsir and seerah
The Stand
by Stephen King
Something
by Martha Beck to get me feeling inspired.
Ruin and
Rising by Leigh Bardugo, then King of Scars by her
The
Testaments by Margaret Atwood
Pandemonium
by Lauren Oliver (a sequel to Delirium which I didn’t realise until now
existed).
What are
you favourite books? What would you recommend me to read next? What’s on your
reading wishlist?
