Bookversations

Buchi Emecheta’s Second Class Citizen was the perfect opportunity for us to discuss some of the wild statements we see on social media about women. We discuss how women can uphold patriarchy, the importance of choosing the right partner and finding hope in difficult situations. 

As always, we're excited to hear your thoughts! Email us at [email protected] or drop us a message here: https://anchor.fm/bookversations/message

Follow us on Instagram for more book reviews.

Next Bookversations Read: In The Early Hours by Khurram Murad (Chapter 1)

This episode's conversation is inspired by Dr Meg Jay's 'The Defining Decade: Why Your Twenties Matter And How to Make the Most of Them Now.' 

We are joined by Olamide A, software engineer and fitness extraordinaire.

We talk about:

Why it's worth trying out different things in your 20's, the importance of mentors and asking for help, keystone habits that transformed our 20's and being intentional about love.

As always, we're excited to hear your thoughts! Email us at [email protected] or drop us a message here: https://anchor.fm/bookversations/message

Follow us on Instagram for more book reviews. 

Next Bookversations Read: Second Class Citizen By Buchi Emecheta

This episode's conversation is inspired by Yaa Gyasi's 'Transcendent Kingdom', a novel about the life of a Ghanaian immigrant family ravaged by depression, addiction and grief. We talk about mental illness, how faith impacts seeking help, dealing with spiritual wounds caused by hostile places of worship and healing from past trauma.

Next month will be a Ramadan edition of Bookversations. And we're excited to share the launch of our Ramadan Journal with you all. 

Click on this link to find out more. 

Next Bookversations Read: In The Early Hours by Khurram Murad

This episode's conversation is inspired by Accepted Whispers, a collection of over 200 duas from the Quran and Hadith for daily reading. 

We catch up on Ramadan and the importance of seeking forgiveness in the last 10 days. We share our favourite duas from the Quran, the one thing that changed our dua game forever and tips/advice for people who are struggling with making dua. We hope you enjoy the episode and as always, email us your thoughts at [email protected]

This episode's conversation is inspired by 'Intimations', a collection of personal essays by Zadie Smith. We talk about the challenges of working during Covid, PMS, our love for essays and our biggest lessons from the pandemic. We hope you enjoy the episode and as always, email us your thoughts at [email protected]

Next Bookversations Read: Transcendent Kingdom By Yaa Gyasi

This episode's conversation is inspired by Ryan Holiday's 'The Obstacle Is The Way.' We discuss issues with self-help books, outgrowing books and practical tips on how to overcome adversity.  We hope you enjoy the episode and as always, email us your thoughts at [email protected]

Next Bookversations Read: Intimations By Zadie Smith

This episode's conversation is inspired by 'Travellers', a novel by Helon Habila which explores the interconnected experiences of migrants. In this episode, Suad shares her experience of feeling unsafe in Berlin, we discuss the importance of empathy, what makes a good ally and how we can make a difference in the world. We hope you enjoy the episode and as always, email us your thoughts at [email protected]

Next Bookversations Read: The Obstacle Is The Way By Ryan Holiday

In this episode, we discuss John Mark Comer's, 'The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry,' focusing on issues with productivity culture. We talk about the impact of capitalism on our attitude towards time, burn-out and practical tips to slow down and find more joy in our lives. We hope you enjoy the episode and as always, email us your thoughts at [email protected]

This episode's conversation is inspired by Kamila Shamsie's, 'Home Fire', a reworking of Antigone, a tragic greek play written by Sophocles. Set in contemporary London, Home Fire is the tale of two British families, intertwined by fate. Dealing with issues of terrorism, faith and love, Home Fire explores what it means to be loyal to a state.

We discuss the issue of placing too much expectation on authors who write about Muslim characters and what Capitol Hill has made glaring about radicalisation and terrorism.

We hope you enjoy the episode and as always, we would love to hear your feedback and comments at [email protected]

The next Bookversations will be on: The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry (How to Stay Emotionally Healthy and Spiritually Alive in the Chaos of the Modern World) by John Mark Comer

In this episode, we discuss Bolu Babalola’s debut anthology ‘Love In Colour.’ We share our thoughts on the importance of a book cover, our initial perception of romance genre, Hollywood's impact on our perception of love and the difficulties of relating to love stories as Muslim women.⠀⠀

Fact-checking references⠀

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African Books Have The Same Covers - https://qz.com/207527/the-reason-every-book-about-africa-has-the-same-cover-and-its-not-pretty/⠀

Male Authors Writing Female Characters - https://www.theatlantic.com/sexes/archive/2013/03/the-mixed-results-of-male-authors-writing-female-characters/273641/⠀

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We hope you enjoy the episode and as always, we would love to hear your feedback and comments at [email protected]