#samra habib

[themancorialist]

Newton Street, Manchester.

[bookaddict24-7]

RECO OF THE WEEK!

We Have Always Been Here by Samra Habib

Synopsis:

"How do you find yourself when the world tells you that you don't exist?

Samra Habib has spent most of their life searching for the safety to be themself. As an Ahmadi Muslim growing up in Pakistan, they faced regular threats from Islamic extremists who believed the small, dynamic sect to be blasphemous. From their parents, they internalized the lesson that revealing their identity could put them in grave danger.

When their family came to Canada as refugees, Samra encountered a whole new host of bullies, racism, the threat of poverty, and an arranged marriage. Backed into a corner, their need for a safe space--in which to grow and nurture their creative, feminist spirit--became dire. The men in Samra's life wanted to police them, the women in their life had only shown them the example of pious obedience, and their body was a problem to be solved.

So begins an exploration of faith, art, love, and queer sexuality, a journey that takes them to the far reaches of the globe to uncover a truth that was within them all along. A triumphant memoir of forgiveness and family, both chosen and not, We Have Always Been Here is a rallying cry for anyone who has ever felt out of place and a testament to the power of fearlessly inhabiting one's truest self."

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Check out my review on Goodreads here.

Add this book to your TBR on Goodreads here.

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Have you read this book? Would you recommend it?

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Happy reading!

[pickledandjarred]

book recs for aapi heritage month 🕺🕺

a bit late, but happy aapi heritage month! i’ve been getting back into reading this past year after my pandemic slump, so here’s some books that i really enjoyed by aapi authors 

the poppy war trilogy by rf kuang - this series is a fantasy based on 19th-20th century china. it’s hilariously written with some of my favorite characters of all time, and deals with some really heavy topics like colonialism, the effects of warfare, and classism in a brutally honest fashion. i have so much to say about it but that’s for a much longer post-

babel: an arcane history by rf kuang - at this point i will read this woman’s grocery list, she is such a skilled writer and genius storyteller. babel is set in an alternate 1800s oxford university, in a world which the british empire’s power is built upon magic silver. babel unpacks the intrinsic ties between academia and empire from the perspective of someone on the inside and the concept of resistance. it also really hits home to the feeling of disconnect from your native language as a bilingual/third culture kid- overall just brilliant book imo. the magic system is also really interesting (as is that of rf kuang’s other work)- she builds upon the real world to create a fantasy that is engaging, but also very representative of the motifs of her work?? idk how to explain it but 🙏rebecca🙏

you’re the only one i’ve told: the stories behind abortion by meera shah - you’re the only one i’ve told is a collection of stories about abortion entrusted to shah, a medical practitioner who works as an abortion provider. the book humanizes these people and their experiences from a variety of different backgrounds and circumstances, and is a really compelling read. 

we have always been here: a queer muslim memoir by samra habib - we have always been here is a memoir about  habib’s experience growing up as an ahmadi muslim in pakistan, coming to canada as refugees in their teenage years, and grappling with queer identity within an environment where their body and personhood was thought to have been needed to be controlled. habib discusses faith, sexuality, and love through a lens of self discovery and finding community that you didn’t know existed. 

the henna wars by adiba jaigirdar - this book is set in dublin, and follows a young bangladeshi girl named nishat. nishat has fallen for an estranged childhood friend, flávia, who just so happens to be her rival in an upcoming school business competition. and by some luck, they both have chosen to create the same business; henna tattoos. i’m a sucker for fluff so this book got me, but it also deals with appropriation and queer romance (particularly from a 3rd culture experience) quite delicately. nishat’s relationship with her sister was also so well written, and i think was one of the most compelling bonds in this book!

this is how you lose the time war by amal el-mohtar - okay i’m still in the process of finishing this book, but it has been so good so far! this is a story about two rival agents moving through a war that stretches across time, fighting tooth and nail for their own victory in a vaguely apocalyptic world. they begin a correspondence that spills into something that could change the course of time extremely literally. the writing style and descriptions are gorgeous, and the fragmented format of letters jumping across thousands of years is a really interesting reading experience. very cool book!

on earth we’re briefly gorgeous by ocean vuong - god this man is such a talent- everything good you’ve heard about his work is true and you should go read it rn. on earth we’re briefly gorgeous is written in the form of a letter from a son to his illiterate mother, and tells a story that crosses over 3 generations with it’s epicenter rooted in vietnam. the narrator unpacks how the effects of warfare, immigration and generational trauma have shaped his relationship with his mother and his own life. i’m not doing it justice (not for any of these rlly i cannot elevator pitch books), but vuong’s writing is so beautiful and intimate yet quiet? 💃💃🙏🫶👍🙏👌💃

that’s all i have for now, if you have any recs pls do tell!! to my fellow asian/pacific islander americans, your voices and stories deserve to be uplifted and celebrated without being fetishized, appropriated or pigeonholed. have a great may! 

[grouchydairy]

Grown-ups, who are supposed to protect their children, are limited by what "best" has felt like to them, based on the circumstances they grew in and the privilege they did or did not have. The lines between grown-up and child were often blurred between me and my mom. Her "best" did not look like mine; in fact, it looked like danger. It felt like surrender.

#Samra Habib (We Have Always Been Here: A Queer Muslim Memoir)

[sapphicbookoftheday]

We Have Always Been Here by Samra Habib

Today's sapphic book of the day is We Have Always Been Here by Samra Habib!

Summary: "How do you find yourself when the world tells you that you don't exist?

Samra Habib has spent most of her life searching for the safety to be herself. As an Ahmadi Muslim growing up in Pakistan, she faced regular threats from Islamic extremists who believed the small, dynamic sect to be blasphemous. From her parents, she internalized the lesson that revealing her identity could put her in grave danger.

When her family came to Canada as refugees, Samra encountered a whole new host of challenges: bullies, racism, the threat of poverty, and an arranged marriage. Backed into a corner, her need for a safe space--in which to grow and nurture her creative, feminist spirit--became dire. The men in her life wanted to police her, the women in her life had only shown her the example of pious obedience, and her body was a problem to be solved.

So begins an exploration of faith, art, love, and queer sexuality, a journey that takes her to the far reaches of the globe to uncover a truth that was within her all along. A triumphant memoir of forgiveness and family, both chosen and not, We Have Always Been Here is a rallying cry for anyone who has ever felt out of place and a testament to the power of fearlessly inhabiting one's truest self."

[ramyeongif]

Not everyone is equipped for activism in the traditional sense-marching, writing letters to officials-but dedicating your life to understanding yourself can be its own form of protest, especially when the world tells you that you don't exist.

#Samra Habib (We Have Always Been Here: A Queer Muslim Memoir)

[outragedtortilla]

Grown-ups, who are supposed to protect their children, are limited by what "best" has felt like to them, based on the circumstances they grew in and the privilege they did or did not have. The lines between grown-up and child were often blurred between me and my mom. Her "best" did not look like mine; in fact, it looked like danger. It felt like surrender.

#Samra Habib (We Have Always Been Here: A Queer Muslim Memoir)

[eggwhiteswithspinach]

Not everyone is equipped for activism in the traditional sense-marching, writing letters to officials-but dedicating your life to understanding yourself can be its own form of protest, especially when the world tells you that you don't exist.

#Samra Habib (We Have Always Been Here: A Queer Muslim Memoir)

[ramyeonpng]

Not everyone is equipped for activism in the traditional sense-marching, writing letters to officials-but dedicating your life to understanding yourself can be its own form of protest, especially when the world tells you that you don't exist.

#Samra Habib (We Have Always Been Here: A Queer Muslim Memoir)

[godsoftheocotillo]

“Maybe this identity - this label I wear that defines me - is my house. And my voice was in here all along. My siblings have the keys, and my parents are finally regular visitors here. Maybe the roof opens on a hinge, to show that there are no rigid limits, no boundary between this house and the sky, the rest of the world. What luck, to have this house, with its solid foundation, this home that supports me as I refine my perspective, over and over and over again.”

- Samra Habib

From “We have Always Been Here, A Queer Muslim Memoir”

[quiltedlovers]

samra habib’s articulation of queerness in We Have Always Been Here is among the most succinct I’ve come across; “I knew it was time to pursue relationships with women and people who identified as trans and non-binary. I wanted to hold their hands and kiss in public, two people whom society rejected, dismissed, and disapproved of daring to be seen, daring to be in love even when we were told we weren’t allowed to be. I wouldn’t let the fact that I was coming out of a relationship with a man make me feel that I wasn’t queer enough—being queer, I learned, is so much more than who you sleep with. It’s who you are, whether that means rejecting traditional gender roles or embracing non-normative identities and politics (pp. 154-155).”

[cecilereads]

Isaacs reading list in Heartstopper

Season 1

Dune Messiah - Frank Herbert

Naruto vol. 72 - Masashi Kishimoto

Quantum Mechanics - Leonard Susskind & Art Friedman

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder - Holly Jackson

Proud - Gareth Thomas

Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

Radio Silence - Alice Oseman

Gender Explorers - Juno Roche

The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger

Noughts & Crosses by Malorie Blackman

There is no Planet B - Mike Berners-Lee

Season 2

Ace of Spades - Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

The Importance of Being Earnest and Other Plays - Oscar Wilde

Booklovers - Emily Henry

Les Misérables - Victor Hugo

The Little Prince - Antoine de Saint-Exupery

We Are Okay - Nina Lacour

The Outsider - Albert Camus

Birthday - Meredith Russo

The Awakening - Kate Choppin

Crush - Richard Siken

Boy Erased - Garrard Conley

The Swimming Pool Library - Alan Hollinghurst

I Love This Part - Tillie Walden

We Have Always Been Here - Samra Habib

Summer Bird Blue - Akemi Dawn Bowman

Ace - Angela Chen

[makingqueerhistory]

Canadian Queer Books

Park Cruising: What Happens When We Wander Off the Path

Marcus McCann

People Change

Vivek Shraya

The Subtweet

Vivek Shraya

Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars: A Dangerous Trans Girl's Fantabulous Memoir

Kai Cheng Thom

Disintegrate/Dissociate

Arielle Twist

Indigiqueerness: A Conversation about Storytelling

Joshua Whitehead

A History of My Brief Body

Billy-Ray Belcourt

We Have Always Been Here: A Queer Muslim Memoir

Samra Habib

Iron Widow

Xiran Jay Zhao

I Hope We Choose Love: A Trans Girl's Notes from the End of the World

Kai Cheng Thom

I'm Afraid of Men

Vivek Shraya

[grouchydairy]

Not everyone is equipped for activism in the traditional sense-marching, writing letters to officials-but dedicating your life to understanding yourself can be its own form of protest, especially when the world tells you that you don't exist.

#Samra Habib (We Have Always Been Here: A Queer Muslim Memoir)

[sillypenguinwitch]

isaac's books in heartstopper s2

episode 1:

Tillie Walden: I Love This Part

Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé: Ace of Spades

episode 2:

Nina LaCour: We Are Okay

Oscar Wilde: The Importance of Being Earnest

episode 3:

Ocean Vuong: Night Sky with Exit Wounds (the one he is carrying under his arm, I'm assuming that's his and not for the display?)

has read: Ritch C. Savin-Williams: Bi: Bisexual, Pansexual, Fluid, and Nonbinary Youth

Emily Henry: Book Lovers

episode 4:

Victor Hugo: Les Misérables

Antoine De Saint-Exupéry: The Little Prince

Kate Chopin: The Awakening

Nina LaCour: We Are Okay (again)

episode 5:

Albert Camus: The Outsider

episode 6:

Martin Handford: Where's Wally? The Great Picture Hunt

Meredith Russo: Birthday

Jules Verne: Around the World in Eighty Days

Sara Pennypacker: Pax Anne Berest, Audrey Diwan, Caroline de Maigret, Sophie Mas: How to Be Parisian Wherever You Are ? ? ? Damian Dibben: The Color Storm Alice Oseman: Loveless Susan Stokes-Chapman: Pandora Katy Hessel: The Story of Art Without Men ? Evelyn Waugh: Rossetti Arthur Conan Doyle: The Hound of the Baskervilles A.O. Scott: Better Living Through Criticism ?: Then We Came to an End (?) Ruth Millington: Muse Dr. Jaqui Lewis: Fierce Love Charlotte Van Den Broek: Bold Ventures - Thirteen Tales of Architectural Tragedy ?

Richard Siken: Crush

episode 7:

Garrard Conley: Boy Erased

George Matthew Johnson: All Boys Aren't Blue

Samra Habib: We Have Always Been Here

episode 8:

Akemi Dawn Bowman: Summer Bird Blue

Angela Chen: Ace

bonus:

Truham school library pride display (seen in ep. 3 and 8):

top to bottom, left to right: Angela Chen: Ace Andrew Holleran: The Kingdom of Sand Mary Jean Chan and Andrew McMillan: 100 Queer Poems Scott Stuart: My Shadow Is Pink Lotte Jeffs: My Magic Family Tucker Shaw: When You Call My Name Ritch C. Savin-Williams: Bi - Pansexual, Fluid, Nonbinary and Fluid Youth Alok Vaid-Menon: Beyond the Gender Binary George M. Johnson: All Boys Aren’t Blue Mason Deaver: I Wish You All the Best Alex Gino: George Melissa

on top of shelves (left to right): Kevin Van Whye: Nate Plus One Xixi Tian: This Place is Still Beautiful Becky Albertalli: Leah on the Offbeat Mya-Rose Craig: Birdgirl Bernardine Evaristo: Girl, Woman, Other Connie Glynn: Princess Ever After Saundra Mitchell: The Prom

Charlie's choice at Shakespeare and Co (ep. 6): Allan Hollinghurst: The Swimming Pool Library

That's it for now.

Sorry about the ones i couldn't identify and sorry if i missed any! Might try and do some of the ones in Isaac's room later but that'll take a minute

[ramyeongif]

Grown-ups, who are supposed to protect their children, are limited by what "best" has felt like to them, based on the circumstances they grew in and the privilege they did or did not have. The lines between grown-up and child were often blurred between me and my mom. Her "best" did not look like mine; in fact, it looked like danger. It felt like surrender.

#Samra Habib (We Have Always Been Here: A Queer Muslim Memoir)