Sumbul Ali-Karamali

This year, for the first time in my writing career, I resolved to focus completely on the scheduled May release of my new book, Demystifying Shariah: What It Is, How It Works, and Why It’s Not Taking Over Our Country. Alas for my scheduling hubris! The virus has delayed the release until August, which disappointed me at first, but which I now realize gives me a bit of extra time to transition from the solitary and often hair-pulling work of writing to the pragmatically social work of book-touring and building intercultural bridges. Demystifying Shariah has just received a starred review from Booklist, which leads me to hope my readers will find the subject as fascinating as I did! 

In the meantime, how grateful I am to have shelter and a comfortable place! My daughter is at high risk from this virus, so it’s a scary moment. But we are thankful that we can take care of her. When Ramadan starts on April 23 (a month of fasting!), it will, as always, help us focus on gratitude and how we can help others. 

I do miss my weekly library visits, though, and have consequently overspent online at my local booksellers. I regularly hunt for excellent writing that won’t depress me for days, give me nightmares, or blindside me with stereotypes of Muslims – harder than you may believe. My nightstand therefore boasts some comforting old favorites as well as new ones. 

Whenever I need vivid, unpretentious prose of the most beautiful kind I reread A.S. Byatt’s The Matisse Stories. Michael Chabon’s creamy writing I savor slowly, like Darjeeling, and of his books, I revisit The Final Solution most often. I periodically take one-story sips from Samiak Vossoughi’s Better Than War. I have just finished Anthony Marra’s A Constellation of Vital Phenomena, which is one of the best books I’ve read in a decade. 

I do love good whodunits, especially if detailed settings and rich atmosphere round out the mystery. I’m waiting impatiently for Alan Bradley to write a new Flavia novel: I always marvel at how well he depicts a preteen sleuth in an adult book, while simultaneously maintaining a first-person narrative that’s anything but childlike. In the meantime, I’ve acquired the latest in Sherry Thomas’ Lady Sherlock series, at the risk of increased cravings for tea and cakes. I’ve also newly discovered Benet Brandreth’s The Spy of Venice, a William Shakespeare mystery! It’s full of sly, clever references to the plays. 

Sometimes, at least for me, too much fiction is like too much candy. I need to intersperse it with some healthy (but delicious) nonfiction, such as: White Mughals by William Dalrymple; Juan Cole’s groundbreaking and readable biography, Muhammad; and Sophia Rose Arjana’s Veiled Superheroes. 

I hope you, too, all have a comfortable place to shelter with books. In case you need humor to get through some of the news, try hilarious satire by Terry Pratchett, like Going Postal. And if you, like me, find yourself cooking more than you ever have, do peruse Mourad Lahlou’s Mourad (it is so much more than just a cookbook). And do please support your local bookstore if you can!