Welcome back to Wednesday Links!
I just got back from taking Linus to the vet for a check up and he’s gained a pound, which is great. (Backstory: Linus was diagnosed with a thyroid condition about two years ago and seeing his weight come back has been great.) However, he is very much a grumpy old man with lots of fighting spirit.
We’re also getting some fall weather in New England, so I’m making chili! This was a household staple for us and my brother usually requested it as his birthday meal. To all you Texans out there, sorry to say that my chili does indeed included beans.
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Halal romance novels are on the rise! You can read more about them and get some recs in this article on Hyphen.
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The Ashland Library, which is located in Massachusetts, has kicked off a pretty cool romance auction. Authors are offering up “swag bags” which include things like books, art, and even Zoom calls.
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As if we don’t all have a big enough TBR pile, Tor has recommendations for dark academia fantasy with angry heroines. Definitely my jam!
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Enjoy British greats, Matt Berry and Peter Capaldi, as they reenact a “fiery letter exchange.”
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Don’t forget to share what cool or interesting things you’ve seen, read, or listened to this week! And if you have anything you think we’d like to post on a future Wednesday Links, send it my way!
I didn’t see it mentioned in the Hyphen article, but Paris Daillencourt is About to Crumble by Alexis Hall features a practicing Muslim character.
I’ve shared that letter with several people. It’s often good for a chuckle. There is a painting of the Zaporozhian Cossacks standing over a scribe who’s writing this response.
There’s another version of that same exchange, read by Olivia Colman & Adrian Edmondson. Contrast & compare, if you will: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t49ZNkvGvhg
I enjoy them both equally.
Re: Halal romance novels increasing: I love to see it! I read a book some years ago called “Courting Samira” and I just saw over the weekend that it’s getting a big publishing release, a decade after it was first published independently. “Inspirational romance” has been synonymous with “evangelical Christian romance” for so long, it’s marvelous to see it finally start diversifying. I want my Muslim love stories to actually reflect Islamic values and practices, and they do that best when they’re written by Muslim authors.
I don’t even know how things work in the way of X/twitter these days, so this link may not work, but listening to Peter Capaldi talk about his ‘first kiss’ (the first important one anyways, makes me swoon a little.
https://twitter.com/DrUnfuckable/status/1218188713433485317?lang=en
My apologies if this is broken!
I wish the hyphen article took better stock of the subgenre, I mean Sophia Khan is not obliged is from 2015, Ayesha at last is from 2017, Hana Khan carries on and First comes like were published in 2021. The comparison with k-drama is interesting, though.
Thank you for featuring our Auction!! We’re SUPER excited about it. Bidding started last night and ends on Wed. Oct 18th at 8pm ET.
@Pangolin: Not surprised. “Paris Daillencourt is About to Crumble” wouldn’t be counted as halal romance because it’s a queer romance. Halal romance is, by default, strictly heterosexual. The closest you could probably get to portraying a queer character in halal romance would be like it was done in “Sofia Khan Is Not Obliged” – a potential suitor turns out to be gay, Sofia treats him kindly and with compassion, moves on, and he’s never mentioned again.
There are a number of romances I’ve seen (can’t remember who wrote them or the titles, but I read one, DNFed the next, and didn’t bother with the third) where the characters are heterosexual and nominally/culturally Muslim – Islam as a religion doesn’t have a big impact on their lives; they date, sleep around, drink alcohol, even eat pork, etc. They wouldn’t qualify as halal romance, either, for all those reasons.
Halal romance isn’t just about characters being Muslim, but about them being practicing Muslims whose lives are guided by the teachings of Islam in a way that is significant and reflective of the lived experiences of Muslim readers. Having nominally Muslim characters who don’t live or act differently from non-Muslim characters would turn off readers looking for halal romance.
A recent holiday release, Three Holidays and a Wedding by Uzma Jalaluddin and Marisa Stapeley would fit the bill as a Halal holiday women’s fiction/romance. It’s set in 2000, when Ramadan, Hanukkah, and Xmas all fell within the same week (a once every 30 yrs or so occurrence) so it gives somewhat equal weight to all three. Because one of the two FMCs is Muslim and is observing Ramadan with her family, Ramadan traditions are prominently featured. Being Muslim is just who the characters are. Religion and/or any conflicted feelings about it does not drive the plot.