So according to my brother-in-law, Haddi and I don’t read “normal” books and as much as I hate to agree with George on anything (love ya George…who is reading this because Haddi forces him to. Gotta keep our readership up 😉 I can certainly understand his point. Though Haddi and I might read books off the beaten path and from the margins of pop culture or literary classics we still both find great joy in what might be called “fluff.” It just looks a little odd on us….because if it wasn’t weird, it would be us!
For myself, I love a good yearn! Some of my favorite books and authors are men and women who weave incredible tales, telling simple stories that I lose myself in. But I will be honest, as I have gotten older I find, I read those types of books a lot less. I think it’s because I get my “fluff” more from television now a days, and my reading leans toward the thought-provoking. Now, I am a believer that we all have to curate our own worlds of understanding and none of us “do it right.” We just do us, so my personal fluff comes in the form of Park and Recreation, Friday Night Lights, Stargate SG1 and The Great British Baking Show. Yes, Netflix and chill is a real thing in my life ;).
And it was while I was enjoying a lovely binge watch of the second season of The Great British Baking Show and falling in love with Nadiya Hussain that I also found myself reading Sofia Khan is Not Obliged by Ayisha Malik (recommended by Kimberly Babcock-Mashek, thank you dear!). Now I find myself slightly obsessed with both Nadiya and Ayisha. Yes! I have followed both of them on social media. Yes, I have been watching so many YouTube of Nadiya Hussain that every time I open the app I am greeted with an image of her beautiful smile. Yes, I have added all of Malik’s current and pre-order books to my 2018 Amazon wish-list as well as a couple authored by Hussain.
To help you better understand my newfound love of young English Muslim women, take a minute and watch this video of Nadiya Hussain, as she becomes the winner of the 2015 The Great British Baking Show:
You get it right?!?! She is everything!! EVERYTHING! I want to be her, except for the whole baking part….I don’t care about that. So while watching and falling in love with Nadiya Hussain she was also a stand-in for Sophia Khan morphing in my brain into one beautiful story about life and love and I was lost. (Only to discover that Hussain’s real life love story is also a thing of beauty.)
So, in the midst of my “fluff” television and a “Muslim Bridget Jones” I am claiming, loudly and boldly, to anyone who will listen my new obsession! These women are strong, snarky, standing in their space and modeling what it looks like to be a secure public woman of faith (something I struggle with daily). I am going to obsess a little longer, enjoy their smiles, joy, care and presence in my life for as long as I can and hope and pray they rub off on me.
So yeah, maybe George is right. My fluff, particularly when it comes to books, looks different than it used to, but it’s still fair game and I do still indulge…it usually just leads to new obsessions…which is dangerous. Be careful the fluff 😉
Happy Reading Everyone!!!
Goodreads review of Sofia Khan is Not Obliged
