What I've Been Reading Lately

Salam=)

I'm coming at you today with another kind of post, dealing with my reading- I know the title says 'What I've Been Reading Lately', but it will deal with the books for the newt three months, I guess. You can call it a false claim =)

1. The Qur'an. This is our must-read book, right? Unfortunately, i haven't read a lot of it since Ramadan (boo me!), I do miss the reading and the reflection upon it, but I'm willing to get back on track insh'Allah!

2. The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer. If you knew me in real life, you'd know that I'm a sucker for anything history, especially the Middle Ages era, for some reason. When I was in middle school, my class and I went to Kent, UK for a week, in order to visit and learn about British history. Our teachers brought us to that place in London where they recreated the whole CT atmosphere and decor, and the characters were human-size puppets. We were given headphones, where the story was aired, and we would move in the decor, alongside the puppet characters. The whole thing was super creepy and cool at the same time. I think it stuck with me. In one of my British literature classes, the professor mentioned it, and I remembered all about it.

It deals with a group of pilgrims that are on their way to Canterbury, where a saint called Thomas Beckett was buried. To make the travel more entertaining, they all agree to tell a story. There are several characters from a variety of backgrounds, the whole thing is rhymed, the stories are different, based on the teller… Very interesting!

3. Roots, Alex Haley. What can I say about this book? I discovered it through the TV series based on this work. It was aired in France, each Sunday afternoon, my family and I would sit and watch the story of Kunta Kinte and his offspring. I was about 7, and it upset me. I remember I was struck by the brutality of slavery, how Kunta's legacy made it through and was preserved, and also the fact that they're Muslim. I was really happy I bought it, goes to show that Muslims were in the West for some time now- check out Sylviane Diouf's work for more info on that subject.

That's it for the books I'll read. Let me know what you've been reading :)