#2020 books

[mxphoebesviewpoint]

#TravelTuesday takes us to Ireland and Iran with stories written by Emma Donoghue and Sara Farizan.

The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue In an Ireland doubly ravaged by war and disease, Nurse Julia Power works at an understaffed hospital in the city center, where expectant mothers who have come down with the terrible new Flu are quarantined together. Into Julia’s regimented world step two outsiders—Doctor Kathleen Lynn, a rumoured Rebel on the run from the police, and a young volunteer…

#TravelTuesday takes us to Ireland and Iran with stories written by Emma Donoghue and Sara Farizan.

[mylifeinfiction]

Harleen by Stjepan Šejić

He smiles... and I make the worst mistake of my life... I smile back.

As fascinating an origin story as it is a compelling, thematically complex study of mental illness, Stjepan Šejić's Harleen shows us the 'meet cute' behind the twisted relationship between Gotham's Clown Prince of Crime, The Joker, and Dr. Harleen Quinzel. It's heavy on the psychiatric, favoring conversations and inner monologue over any substantial action; a choice that works beautifully in showing how inevitable Dr. Quinzel's transformation into Harley Quinn really was. However, the moments of action we do get, throughout, are delivered in a satisfyingly graphic manner that effectively displays the erratic, manipulative psychology of these characters.

I really enjoyed getting a more nuanced look into Harley Quinn, a character I'm mostly familiar with through animated series (where she's little more than a caricature of 'mad love') and films (where's she's so far gone, there's really no trace of Dr. Quinzel left). Šejić's smart writing and gorgeous artwork elevate this character to something more interesting, more consequential, than a secondary villain while also giving further insight into the psyches of several other Batman villains, in the process.

9/10

-Timothy Patrick Boyer.

[cafenervosa]

BOOKS I READ IN 2020: Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

[jovaline]

2020 Books #4. Circe by Madeline Miller

[muslimah-in-academia]

Books I read in 2020

I was lagging behind in my reading for the years while I was working, but I’ve been slowly building up my reading log. I mean, I have to, since I’m back in school now. But I have manged to meet my Goodreads goals for the second year in a row and that made me really happy. 

Here’s my list for 2020. It might not seem like a lot, but I am proud of having achieved this considering I was reading less than 6 books a year prior to this (work life sucks when it steals all your spare time). 

Non-Fiction

More Work For Mother by Ruth Schwartz Cowan

It’s Not About The Burqa edited by Mariam Khan

A History of Islam in 21 Women by Hossein Kamaly

Beyond The Veil by Fatima Mernissi

Qur’an and Woman by Amina Wadud

Being the Other: The Muslim in India by Saeed Naqvi

Philosophy in the Islamic World by Peter Adamson

Women, Culture and Politics by Angela Y. Davis

Fiction

An American Marriage by Tayari Jones

Mornings in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa

My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite 

Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter by Mario Vargas Llosa

Remembrance by Meg Cabot

Woman At Point Zero by Nawal El Saadawi

The Tin Drum by Gunter Grass

Umrao Jan Ada by Mirza Hadi Ruswa

A Golden Age by Tahmima Anam

Sunlight on a Broken Column by Attia Hosein

Sultana’s Dream by Rokeya Sakhawat Hussain

Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi 

Letters for Literary Ladies by Maria Edgeworth

The Contortionist by Kathryn Ann Kingsley

Poetry

Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth by Warsan Shire

Salt by Nayyirah Waheed

Yesterday I Was The Moon by Noor Unnahar 

[crazysublimenightmare]

My reaction to the ending of a kingdom of flesh and fire

[grishae]

BOOKS I’VE READ ⁽²⁰²⁰⁾ ·  call down the hawk, maggie stiefvater

“Everyone thinks their world is the only one. A flea believes a dog is the world. A dog believes the kennel is the world. The huntsman thinks his country is the world. The king believes the globe is the world. The farther out you get, the wider you get, the higher you get, the more you see you have misunderstood the bounds of what is possible. Of what is right and wrong. Of what you can truly do. Perspective, Ronan Lynch.”