sometimes i read stuff
A screenshot of my account page with the TO public library. My local branch is pretty small, so I typically just request books and pick them up when they come in. It occurred to me this afternoon that I've requested a lot of books recently.
I'm currently reading Servants of Allah: African Muslims Enslaved in the Americas (and a few romance novels but those aren't as interesting). Holy cow this book is fascinating, and humbling. That mix of feelings I have when I'm learning something I never knew before, but realize I probably should have - awe, eagerness to learn more, and vague embarrassment that I didn't know something so seemingly obvious before. Like the fact that hundreds of thousands of Muslims were enslaved in the Americas; like how Islam was actually the second monotheistic religion to reach the Americas, after Catholicism; like how many of those enslaved Muslims were highly educated warrior-priests and scholars who probably had a far greater understanding of the world they lived in than their white "owners" ever would. Gah. It's very good you guys, if you're into nonfiction or history or religious studies, definitely check this out.