SAN ANTONIO – The 2020 San Antonio Book Festival was canceled due to the COVID-19 crisis, but they are encouraging people to read while at home. To that end, the festival released two lists with suggested reads, one for kids and one for adults.
Here are the recommended books for adults:
If You Feel Like Confronting the Pandemic Head-On:
Fiction:
- Cold Storage by David Koepp
- The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa
- Severance by Ling Ma
- Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
- The Dog Stars by Peter Heller
Nonfiction:
- Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How It Changed the World by Laura Spinney
If You'd Rather Be Distracted:
Fiction:
- The Jetsetters by Amanda Eyre Ward
- A Good Neighborhood by Therese Anne Fowler
- Simon the Fiddler by Paulette Jiles
Nonfiction:
- The Hunt for History by Nathan Raab
- The Falcon Thief by Joshua Hammer
- The Rumi Prescription by Melody Moezzi
Here are the recommended books for kids and teens:
Kids:
- Wayside School Beneath the Cloud of Doom by Louis Sachar
- Prairie Lotus by Linda Sue Park
- Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeeed
Teens:
- Tigers, Not Daughters by Samantha Mabry
- The Hand on the Wall by Maureen Johnson
- Bull by David Elliot
The San Antonio Book Festival unites readers and writers in a celebration of books, ideas, and literary culture. The 2020 festival was supposed to take place in April but has since been canceled.
Sprituatlity and Practice: The Rumi Prescription Book Review (review by Frederic & Mary Ann Brussat)
10 Inspo Muslim Reads to Make It Through Quarantine →
Self-distancing, quarantine, lockdown, whatever anyone calls it, days couped up in the house can be draining. Limited socializing, lack of access to faith spaces and concern about the well being of family, friends and community takes a spiritual toll.
Fortunately, there are plenty of inspirational (inspo) books by Muslim authors sharing their experiences through an array of memoirs and biographies, which offer authors a chance to share their lives and motivate readers drawn to their stories.
We asked our followers to list books written by Muslims they found moving and motivating. Check out a list of memoirs recommended by NbA Muslim readers, who attested to their potential to lift the spirits, which is sorely needed during these times of uncertainty.
https://www.patheos.com/blogs/nbamuslims/2020/03/30/10-inspo-quarantine-reads
Kirkus Reviews: Entertaining Nonfiction to Lift Your Spirits (Book List)list
In a book that is more memoir than how-to manual, Moezzi (Haldol and Hyacinths: A Bipolar Life, 2014, etc.) chronicles her effort to apply Rumi’s 13th-century poetry to her 21st-century life.
Some readers may be surprised that the bestselling poet in the United States is a Muslim mystic who died nearly 750 years ago. Moezzi, however, isn’t the least bit stunned that Rumi’s words resonate with contemporary Western readers; it just took her a while to embrace them herself. She grew up in Ohio “dodging dead Persian poets” because her father “is a tried-and-true Rumi addict, and like most children of addicts, I grew up resenting the object of my father’s addiction.” But as an adult, the author decided to mine the Sufi mystic’s poetry to seek remedies for some of her own modern maladies—e.g. anxiety, fear, etc.—and found his words life-changing. Each of the chapters begins with a diagnosis and ends with a prescription, featuring stanzas of Rumi’s work that Moezzi translated and studied with her father. Though Rumi's poetry and its impact on her life are noteworthy, there are two narrative elements that stand out more. First, the author’s prose offers an intimate, endearing look at her relationship with her father. Second, Moezzi weaves throughout the narrative discussions of her interminable efforts to destigmatize both Islam and mental illness—not in a self-promoting way but as an advocate for herself and others; the book could shatter a variety of prejudices and stereotypes. Furthermore, the author’s translation of Rumi’s poetry will appeal to many readers because it’s well distilled and reads much like a series of aphorisms. Moezzi doesn’t claim to fully understand or precisely apply Rumi’s ancient wisdom; she’s simply telling the story of how his body of work has influenced her life.
A heartening narrative of family, transformation, and courage.
WILMA Magazine's Living Guide: Author Melody Moezzi on her newest book →
by Johanna Cano
Melody Moezzi is an activist, speaker, columnist, attorney, visiting assistant professor at UNCW, and most recently, the author of her newest book The Rumi Prescription.
Her impressive resume, and writing endeavors, were guided by her desire to make a difference in the world and finding different ways of attempting to do so.
“I do what I do because I want to change the world, and I’m optimistic (some may say delusional) enough to still think that I can,” Moezzi says. “More specifically, I want to make the city, state, country, and planet we live in a more just and empathetic place. That’s why I became an activist as a teenager, and it’s why I became a lawyer as a young adult. But I’m impatient and the law moves painfully slowly, and aside from hula-hooping, writing is my only other talent.”
Moezzi wrote her first book, War on Error: Real Stories of American-Muslims, while attending Emory University School of Law. The book was aimed at combating the rising hostility and discrimination targeting Muslims, and especially Muslim-Americans after 9/11, she says.
“I quickly realized that it was much easier to change minds as a writer than it was to change the law as a lawyer. And bonus: writing was a lot more fun than lawyering,” Moezzi says.
So, she decided to become a full-time writer. “I feel incredibly blessed that this has worked for me, and I’m grateful to everyone who has helped make my career possible, because writing is indeed a solitary profession, but making a career out of it is not something I ever could have achieved on my own,” she says. “My family sacrificed for this; my friends encouraged me to keep at it when things felt hopeless, and a whole boatload of strangers who have since become friends have supported me along the way.”
In her new book, The Rumi Prescription, Moezzi translates and examines the work of the 13th-century Persian poet and applies her discoveries to her own life.
Moezzi is currently on a book tour in many locations in North Carolina and California.
Read the full interview: https://www.wilmamag.com/living-guide
WUNC's The State of Things: ‘The Rumi Prescription’ Embraces The Nuances of Insanity (interview by Frank Stasio)
Growing up in Ohio, Melody Moezzi resented her father’s obsession with Rumi’s poetry. While his run-on couplets reminded her father of the Iran he loved and had to flee from, for her, his mysticism was contrary to the tenets of American identity she received in school.
Read MoreEncore Magazine: RUMI NATION - Author Melody Moezzi on finding inspiration in a 13th-century mystic poet (Interview by Jeff Oloizia) →
In 2014, while promoting the paperback release of her second book, a memoir about living with bipolar disorder, Melody Moezzi suffered what she calls “a complex compound fracture of the human soul.” Spiritually drained and left wanting by success, Moezzi found herself unable to write. After a period of despair, she eventually found relief in the form of the great Persian mystic poet Molana Jalaloddin Muhammad Balkhi Rumi.
Read MoreRead it Foward: Books to Read When You Need Some Inspiration
“When she sat down with the works of the 13th century Persian poet Rumi, Melody Moezzi expected to find some sage wisdom in each simple verse. What she discovered instead was a lifeline she did not entirely realize she needed. Immersing herself in these works, Moezzi discovered a path to living a life with intention and ease, while embracing love, against the chaotic backdrop of an ever-more divisive modern world. The Rumi Project charts that journey.”
Kirkus Review: The Rumi Prescription →
In a book that is more memoir than how-to manual, Moezzi (Haldol and Hyacinths: A Bipolar Life, 2014, etc.) chronicles her effort to apply Rumi’s 13th-century poetry to her 21st-century life.
Some readers may be surprised that the bestselling poet in the United States is a Muslim mystic who died nearly 750 years ago. Moezzi, however, isn’t the least bit stunned that Rumi’s words resonate with contemporary Western readers; it just took her a while to embrace them herself. She grew up in Ohio “dodging dead Persian poets” because her father “is a tried-and-true Rumi addict, and like most children of addicts, I grew up resenting the object of my father’s addiction.” But as an adult, the author decided to mine the Sufi mystic’s poetry to seek remedies for some of her own modern maladies—e.g. anxiety, fear, etc.—and found his words life-changing. Each of the chapters begins with a diagnosis and ends with a prescription, featuring stanzas of Rumi’s work that Moezzi translated and studied with her father. Though Rumi's poetry and its impact on her life are noteworthy, there are two narrative elements that stand out more. First, the author’s prose offers an intimate, endearing look at her relationship with her father. Second, Moezzi weaves throughout the narrative discussions of her interminable efforts to destigmatize both Islam and mental illness—not in a self-promoting way but as an advocate for herself and others; the book could shatter a variety of prejudices and stereotypes. Furthermore, the author’s translation of Rumi’s poetry will appeal to many readers because it’s well distilled and reads much like a series of aphorisms. Moezzi doesn’t claim to fully understand or precisely apply Rumi’s ancient wisdom; she’s simply telling the story of how his body of work has influenced her life.
A heartening narrative of family, transformation, and courage.
SELF: 17 Therapist-Approved Books That Will Teach You Something New About Yourself →
Thrilled to be in the same company with so many great books and authors!
Excerpt from Anna Borges’ piece:
“I don’t know about you, but reading about mental health is a huge part of my self-care routine. Expanding my reading list to include everything from self-help books to memoirs to reference texts has been, if not life-changing, then at least very life-improving. I’m pretty much always on the lookout for book recs. To beef up my reading list—and yours—I decided to crowdsource some of the best books on mental health.
“Who did I ask? First, the experts: psychologists, therapists, counselors, and other mental health professionals. Then I asked people what books their therapists have recommended they read on their quests for better self-knowledge. Here are some of the titles you might want to add to your TBR list (and for even more suggestions this callout on Twitter is filled with recs that came in after I wrapped this article up).”
Read More