04.19.23
flying back to davao after a short trip to manila. i'm reading farah naz rishi's 'i hope you get this message.' :)
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I Hope You Get This Message - Farah Naz Rishi
[review] You should read this book. It's so good. An emotional piece that's not only about what three people would do for their loved ones at the end of the world but also why the world is worth saving. It speaks in a way about how humans have destroyed earth. I loved every minute of it. I mean this book as at the top of the list. It made me laugh, cry, and yearn. One of the few times i've seen a muslim character in a book, and definitely touched my heart.
Representation: Gay
Quotes from the Book:
And Jesse would stay here. Jesse would always stay here. Above him, the stars were winking. Gloating, maybe. Or maybe they felt sorry for him, too.
In the poem, Rumi banters with God over life's usual philosophical questions: what to do with that pesky thing called a heart, where to focus one's eyes, etcetera, etcetera. But when Rumi asks God what to do with his pain and sorrow, God tells him, "Stay with it. The wound is the place where the Light enters you.
"You can afford to be a little selfish every once in a while, you know. Do you even know how to live for yourself? Because that's a thing, Cate. That's a thing people do. And now is kind of a great time to start."
I swear to all you alien colonizers out there, if I die before Derek knows I've been crushing on him all year, I'm taking you bitches down with me. Up yours, Mia
The thing about the end of the world was this: either everything mattered, or nothing did.
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Title: I Hope You Get This Message | Author: Farah Naz Rishi | Publisher: HarperTeen (2019)
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But mostly, it was the smell that got to me, the familiar scent of pine, of mintโand something else, something sweet I could never put my finger on. Pheromones, maybe?
โFarah Naz Rishi, It All Comes Back to You
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Sometimes when Dad isn't home, I stand in Mom's closet and take in the familiar scent of antibacterial Softsoap and jasmine oil, just to /remember/, just to reassure myself I still /can/ remember. With Dad working his clinical research job all the time -- trying /not/ to remember, probably -- and Amira living in New York, the silence gets unbearable, and I get scared that my memories of Mom will just keep scattering, beyond recognition, until the day they fade away for good.
It All Comes Back To You, Farah Naz Rishi
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Title: It All Comes Back to You
Author: Farah Naz Rishi
Series or standalone: standalone
Publication year: 2021
Genres: fiction, romance, contemporary
Blurb: After Kiran Nooraniโs mom died, Kiran vowed to keep her dad and sister, Amira, close...then, out of the blue, Amira announces that sheโs dating someone and might move cross-country with him. Kiran is thrown. Deen Malik is thrilled that his older brother Faisal has found a great girlfriend, even if itโs getting serious quickly. Maybe now, their parentsโ focus will shift off Deen, who feels intense pressure to be the perfect son. When Deen and Kiran come face to face, they silently agree to keep their past a secret. Four years ago - before Amira and Faisal met - Kiran and Deen dated, but Deen ghosted Kiran with no explanation. Kiran will stop at nothing to find out what happened, and Deen will do anything - even if it means sabotaging his brotherโs relationship - to keep her from reaching the truth. Though the chemistry between Kiran and Deen is undeniable, can either of them take down their walls?
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part 2 of the 2023 version of this post: young adult books!
part 1: middle grade books | part 3: adult books
this is a very incomplete list, as these are only books I've read and enjoyed. not all books are going to be for all readers, so I'd recommend looking up synopses and content warnings. feel free to message me with any questions about specific representation!
list of books under the cut โฌ๏ธ
aces wild by amanda dewitt
the chandler legacies by abdi nazemian
bruised by tanya boteju
juliet takes a breath by gabby rivera
picture us in the light by kelly loy gilbert
when we were magic by sarah gailey
iron widow by xiran jay zhao
the rise of kyoshi by f.c. yee
jane unlimited by kristin cashore
summer of salt by katrina leno
the wicker king by k. ancrum
the dead and the dark by courtney gould
wilder girls by rory power
i kissed shara wheeler by casey mcquiston
her royal highness by rachel hawkins
tell me how you really feel by aminah mae safi
the weight of the stars by k. ancrum
you should see me in a crown by leah johnson
last night at the telegraph club by malinda lo
the grief keeper by alexandra villasante
crier's war by nina varela
how to excavate a heart by jake maia arlow
imogen, obviously by becky albertalli
in other lands by sarah rees brennan
carry on by rainbow rowell
cemetery boys by aiden thomas
felix ever after by kacen callendar
i wish you all the best by mason deaver
little thieves by margaret owen
technically you started it by lana wood johnson
the gentleman's guide to vice and virtue by mackenzi lee
the infinite noise by lauren shippen
bonds of brass by emily skrutskie
the darkness outside us by eliot schrefer
simon vs. the homo sapiens agenda by becky albertalli
what if it's us by becky albertalli and adam silvera
aristotle and dante discover the secrets of the universe by benjamin alire sรกenz
like a love story by abdi nazemian
different for boys by patrick ness
history is all you left me by adam silvera
twelfth grade night by molly horton booth, stephanie kate strohm, and jamie green
across a field of starlight by blue delliquanti
heartstopper by alice oseman
check, please! by ngozi ukazu
bloom by kevin panetta and savanna ganucheau
laura dean keeps breaking up with me by mariko tamaki and rosemary valero-o'connell
the princess and the grilled cheese sandwich by deya muniz
if you'll have me by eunnie
on a sunbeam by tillie walden
the girl from the sea by molly knox ostertag
always human by ari north
rust in the root by justina ireland
dread nation by justina ireland
pet by awkwaeke emezi
the darkest part of the forest by holly black
elatsoe by darcie little badger
i was born for this by alice oseman
loveless by alice oseman
i hate everyone but you by gaby dunn and allison raskin
you know me well by nina lacour and david levithan
the black flamingo by dean atta
spinning by tillie walden
dreadnought by april daniels
a lesson in vengeance by victoria lee
all the bad apples by moira fowley-doyle
clap when you land by elizabeth acevedo
summer bird blue by akemi dawn bowman
the miseducation of cameron post by emily m. danforth
we are okay by nina lacour
radio silence by alice oseman
we used to be friends by amy spalding
a neon darkness by lauren shippen
i hope you get this message by farah naz rishi
are you listening? by tillie walden
alone in space by tillie walden
all out edited by saundra mitchell
out now edited by saundra mitchell
out there edited by saundra mitchell
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๐ Ramadan Mubarak - Books ft. Muslims
๐ฆ Good morning, my beautiful bookish bats. To celebrate this Islamic holy month, here are a FEW books featuring Muslim characters. I hope you consider adding a few to your TBR.
โWhat was the last book you read that taught you something new OR what's at the top of your TBR?
๐ A Woman is No Man - Etaf Rum
๐ Amal Unbound - Aisha Saeed
๐ Love From A to Z - S.K. Ali
๐ Hana Khan Carries On - Uzma Jalaluddin
๐ Yes No Maybe So - Becky Albertalli and Aisha Saeed
๐ Evil Eye - Etaf Rum
๐ I Am Malala - Malala Yousafzai
๐ Exit West - Mohsin Hamid
๐ Written in the Stars - Aisha Saeed
๐ The Night Diary - Veera Hiranandani
๐ Much Ado About Nada - Uzma Jalaluddin
๐ The Eid Gift - S.K. Ali
๐ More Than Just a Pretty Face - Syed M. Masood
๐ Yusuf Azeem Is Not a Hero - Saadia Faruqi
๐ If You Could Be Mine by Sara Farizan
๐ Snow - Orhan Pamuk
๐ Sofia Khan Is Not Obliged - Ayisha Malik
๐ The Proudest Blue by Ibtihaj Muhammad
๐ And I Darken - Kiersten White
๐ The Last White Man - Mohsin Hamid
๐ Hijab Butch Blues - Lamya H
๐ The Bad Muslim Discount - Syed M. Masood
๐ Ms. Marvel - G. Willow Wilson
๐ Love from Mecca to Medina - S.K. Ali
๐ The City of Brass - S.A. Chakraborty
๐ The Love Match by Priyanka Taslim
๐ A Map of Home by Randa Jarrar
๐ A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi
๐ An Emotion of Great Delight by Tahereh Mafi
๐ The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali by Sabina Khan
๐ The Moorโs Account - Laila Lalami
๐ Only This Beautiful Moment by Abdi Nazemian
๐ Salt Houses by Hala Alyan
๐ When a Brown Girl Flees by Aamna Quershi
๐ Jasmine Falling by Shereen Malherbe
๐ Between Two Moons by Aisha Abdel Gawad
๐ Sea Prayer by Khaled Hosseini
๐ A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
๐ The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
๐ Unmarriageable by Soniah Kamal
๐ Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie
๐ All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir
๐ The Bohemians by Jasmin Darznik
๐ Ayesha at Last by Uzma Jalaluddin
๐ A Case of Exploding Mangoes by Mohammed Hanif
๐ Chronicle of a Last Summer by Yasmine El Rashidi
๐ A Girl Like That by Tanaz Bhathena
๐ Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga
๐ The Mismatch by Sara Jafari
๐ Does My Head Look Big In This? by Randa Abdel-Fattah
๐ You Truly Assumed by Laila Sabreen
๐ Saints and Misfits by S.K. Ali
๐ Once Upon an Eid - S.K. Ali and Aisha Saeed
๐ Tell Me Again How a Crush Should Feel by Sara Farizan
๐ Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson
๐ The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar
๐ A Show for Two by Tashie Bhuiyan
๐ Nayra and the Djinn by Michael Berry
๐ All-American Muslim Girl by Lucinda Dyer
๐ It All Comes Back to You by Farah Naz Rishi
๐ The Marvelous Mirza Girls by Sheba Karim
๐ Salaam, with Love by Sara Sharaf Beg
๐ Queen of the Tiles by Hanna Alkaf
๐ How It All Blew Up by Arvin Ahmadi
๐ Zara Hossain Is Here by Sabina Khan
๐ Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi & Yusef Salaam
๐ She Wore Red Trainers by Na'ima B. Robert
๐ Hollow Fires by Lucinda Dyer
๐ Internment by Samira Ahmed
๐ Against the Loveless World by Susan Abulhawa
๐ Love in a Headscarf - Shelina Zahra Janmohamed
๐ Courting Samira by Amal Awad
๐ The Other Half of Happiness by Ayisha Malik
๐ Huda F Are You? by Huda Fahmy
๐ Love, Hate & Other Filters by Samira Ahmed
๐ Mad, Bad & Dangerous to Know by Samira Ahmed
๐ Muslim Girls Rise - Saira Mir and Aaliya Jaleel
๐ Amira & Hamza - Samira Ahmed
๐ The Weight of Our Sky by Hanna Alkaf
๐ Nura and the Immortal Palace by M.T. Khan
๐ As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh
๐ Counting Down with You by Tashie Bhuiyan
๐ Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor by Xiran Jay Zhao
๐ The Yard - Aliyyah Eniath
๐ When We Were Sisters by Fatimah Asghar
๐ The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty
๐ Maya's Laws of Love by Alina Khawaja
๐ The Chai Factor by Farah Heron
๐ The Beauty of Your Face - Sahar Mustafah
๐ Hope Ablaze by Sarah Mughal Rana
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On siblings
The Sibling Connection, Jane Mersky Leder // Little Women screenplay, Robin Swicord // Mansfield Park, Jane Austen // Little Women, dir. Gillian Armstrong // Twelfth Night, William Shakespeare // Queen of Air and Darkness, Cassandra Clare // Elektra, Sophokles trans. Anne Carson // TikTok user blaineunderstudy // The Sibling Connection // The Raven King, Maggie Stiefvater // The Sibling Connection // I Hope You Get This Message, Farah Naz Rishi // The Cruel Prince, Holly Black // Pride and Prejudice, dir. Joe Wright // These Happy Golden Years, Laura Ingalls Wilder
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Thanks for joining me on this ride through 2022! When I started my reading spree in autumn 2021 I did not expect to find so much joy (and sometimes frustation) to motivate me to write hundreds of words about books every month. I read and write what I want and because I want to, but it's nice to know that sometimes thereโs actually someone interested in what I have to say. So thank you for even the small interactions. :)
I had to edit this overview like five times because whenever I thought I was done I found another book I missed. So if I counted correctly I have read a total of 93 books (written and audio, not including manga, comics and non-fiction). That is ... a damn lot! Like 6 years combined compared to before. I also reread two of those books and while editing my novel I read it two whole times. That counts, right? (Thatโs why thereโs 94 covers up there. Because i snuck it inbetween. Because I can. uAu) Only 14 of all these books I would categorise as non-queer. Funnily enough, 6 of those I didnโt like very much. Of the remaining 75 queer books I only found 1 book really bad and Iโm picky about 2 more. Huh.
On to the award ceremony! (But donโt expect laudations. I wouldnโt shut up.)
Least favourite phrase:
... it smelled like boy.
(from: The Song that moves the Sun, Darius the Great (probably the 2nd) and the third time I already blocked from my mind (Here the Whole Time???))
That sentence came up fucking three times! Seriously. WHY?! I hate it. 8D
Favourite phrase:
But we have more important things to do than hook up.
(from: The Darkness Outside Us)
I laughed so hard at this sentence. Finally someone who gets it! All stupid YA heroines should listen to this.
Favourite protagonists:
Jack Shannon (Aces Wild) and Neil Josten (All for the Game)!
Favourite covers:
Least favourite books:
A Far Wilder Magic (Allison Saft) and If You Change Your Mind (Robbie Weber)
Favourite books (no order):
The Darkness Outside Us (Eliot Schrefer)
Aces Wild: A Heist (Amanda DeWitt)
The City Beautiful (Aden Polydoros)
Every Bird a Prince (Jenn Reese)
All for the Game series: (Nora Sacavic)
I Wish You All the Best (Mason Deaver)
I Hope You Get this Message (Farah Naz Rishi)
More books I greatly enjoyed:
Both can be true (Jules Machias)
A Taste of Gold and Iron (Alexandra Rowland)
The Language of Seabirds (Will Taylor)
A Complicated Love Story Set in Space (Shaun David Hutchinson)
At the Edge of the Universe (Shaun David Hutchinson)
Milo and Marcos at the End of the World (Kevin Christopher Snipes)
Little Black Bird (Anna Kirchner)
The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea (Axie Oh)
In Deeper Waters (F.T. Lukens)
So this is Ever After (F.T. Lukens)
All thatโs Left in the World (Erik J. Brown)
.... aaaand many many more! uAu
Bonus!
At the half year point I actually counted how often the protagonists names were being used throughout those different books. I felt to lazy do to it in detail for the second half, but I can still present you my preliminery count of most used names for the protagonist, love interest and possibly best friend. These came up at least 3 times!
Will/William
Matt
Nate/Nathan
Andrew/Drew
Daniel
Lame, right? 8D
My favourite name choice award goes to Rosemary and Rowan from Mirrored in Evergreen by B. Pigeon!
Thatโs it! Phew! Thanks the universe for books! :D
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top 9 books! tagged by @arthursdent thank youuu !!!!
ok i am very bad at ranking so these are going to be in random order ! i have decided..not to decide <3
just thieves by gregory galloway - love, love, love crime novels that make a point to focus on the people behind the crime and it is definitely one that i come back to a lot!
under the whispering door by tj klune - oh my gosh such a sweet read, which is so strange to say of a book about death, which is why i also must admit that this book is quite heartbreaking as well... super beautiful though and just. yeah <3
the palace of illusions by chitra banerjee divakaruni - i read this at a point where i felt super disconnected from my family and my culture and it was just a beautiful way of connecting the two while also not making me feel... ashamed for such a disconnection
sherlock holmes..the complete collection by arthur conan doyle - YEAH YIPPEE i started reading sherlock holmes in 3rd grade and never looked back... i love my mysteries soooo much you cannot pry them from my cold dead hands
the secret garden by frances hodgson burnett - yes it's a children's book but! it holds a special place in my heart and whenever i am feeling grey and desolate, i remember this story
i hope you get this message by farah naz rishi - LOVE this one and consequently ignited a frantic search for books about the end of the world but about the people... a really really lovely novel!
baby & solo by lisabeth posthuma - umm it made me cry. a lot. moving on!
the great mistake by jonathan lee - maybe the theme here is that there is death.. but there are also character backstories! a really solemn-ish novel, but written in such a feathery way that made me so entranced
we were eight years in power by ta-nehisi coates - really succinctly described how and why the u.s. is how it is right now and a read i am always thinking about...
HONORABLE MENTION: hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy by douglas adams - im not copying i promise (prommy even)! this book was genuinely my whole personality for two years and then i couldn't find another sci-fi book that i liked like this one so i returned to murder (BOOKS) as one does... but such a fun writing style that is so absurd but works incredibly well <3
thank you so much for tagging me!!! and this definitely made me realize i need to read more.. so please send recommendations if anybody has any!!
tagging: @therapizededdie @cacaos @gaylicense @pharmacycowboy @tummyacheworld @watchyourbuck @justinefrischmanngf only if you would like to do this!!
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Poki's Top 10s for 2023
I ended up enjoying a great many new pieces of media this year so, for no reason other than doing it for myself, I thought I do a roundup of all the ones I loved the most. So, in no particular order, here are some lists.
Top 10 TV Shows*:
Severance
Ted Lasso
The Last of Us
The Fall of the House of Usher
The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart
A League of Their Own
Fionna and Cake
Scavenger's Reign
Daisy Jones & The Six
Pushing Daisies
*excluding continuing shows I didn't start watching this year, such as 'Our Flag Means Death', 'Heartstopper', 'Doctor Who', 'The Owl House', and 'Good Omens'. They all certainly would have made it onto this list otherwise, but that wouldn't be fair to all the new shows I watched so instead they are getting listed here as honourable mentions
Top 10 Movies:
Nimona
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-verse
Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol 3
Good Night Oppy
Sing a Bit of Harmony
CODA
A Silent Voice
The Truman Show
Stranger Than Fiction
Entergalactic
Top 10 Video Games*
Portal 2
Omori
The Wolf Among Us
Guardians of the Galaxy
God of War: Ragnarok
The Quarry
Gris
Oxenfree II: Lost Signals
The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe
Control
*that I finished the main story for in 2023, so this list doesn't include any games I played but have not completed as of posting this (RIP 'Disco Elysium' and 'Tears of the Kingdom', maybe next year)
Top 10 Books/Graphic Novels
'How It Feels to Float' by Helena Fox
'Project Hail Mary' by Andy Weir
'Dungeon Club: Roll Call' by Molly Knox Ostertag and Xanthe Bouma
'I Hope You Get This Message' by Farah Naz Rishi
'Red, White & Royal Blue' by Casey McQuiston
'Tim Te Maro and the Subterranean Heartsick Blues' by H.S Valley
'The Martian' by Andy Weir
'House of Hollow' by Krystal Sutherland
'Watch Over Me' by Nina LaCour
'The City We Became' by N.K Jemisin
Top 10 Podcasts
Wolf 359
The Silt Verses
Seen and Not Heard
Dust: Chrysallis
Life with LEO(h)
The Bright Sessions
StarTripper!!
In Strange Woods
Malevolent
Mistholme Museum
And that's it for 2023. Fare thee well, you wonderful, terrible, so-so year.
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hii iโm so in love with your blog! the raven cycleโs like one of my favourite series. could u recommend some similar books?
1) i love you , and Iโm sorry for how long this is about to be :)
2) my go to reccomendation here is the All For the Game series by Nora Sakavic BUT itโs pretty intense and has lots of trigger warning! Chances are youโve already read it if youโre super into the book scene for trc anyways so
if you like the raven cycle for the plotless, magical, kind of whimsical nothingness then i recommend โPiranesiโ by Susanna Clark! Itโs super weird and interesting and kinda personifies this maze/house how they do cabeswater in trcโฆ so fun
if youโre into the boarding school/academia/quest thing then โBabelโ by R.F. Kuang is one of my all time fav academia books that isnโt already SUPER popular like the secret history.
if you really like the character driven stories then either โThe Gilded Wolvesโ and that whole series by Roshani Chokshi, โMiddlegameโ by Seanan McGuire, or โI Hope You Get this Messageโ by Farah Naz Rishi could be some good ones!
if thereโs another secret third thing that i didnโt pick up on dm me or lmk and i will make it my mission to find more recs!
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Title: It All Comes Back to You | Author: Farah Naz Rishi | Publisher: Quill Tree Books (2021)
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Can you suggest me a book with multiple couples? Instead of it focusing on one? I want a book that explores multiple romantic relationships in one story if that makes sense? Thank you in advance.
Because I'm not sure if you mind short stories as well with this, I'll add those too!
Blackout and Whiteout - two books that have short stories on multiple couples that link up, these are great romance books, I particularly enjoyed Blackout and I highly recommend it. Blackout is about multiple YA relationships when New York's power goes out one night.
Starter For Ten by David Nicholls - The story of Brian who wants to join the university's university challenge team and ends up torn between two women, Starter For Ten is certainly about relationships, among the team and with our protagonist.
It All Comes Back to You by Farah Naz Rishi - This book is a romance about a couple who broke up and have to deal with their feelings when their siblings end up getting engaged to each other. I have yet to hear anything bad about it, and it's on my TBR so if you can get your hands on it, let me know if you like it!
I'm also gonna add some links:
Goodreads Multiple Love Interests List.
Messy Complicated Relationship books list via EpicReads.
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