Dune: A Discussion

I recently read DUNE by Frank Herbert for the seventh time! The first time I read it was in high school for my Sci Fi class. (It was one of the only books I actually read.) I fell in love with the story that first time I read it. Over the years, DUNE has become my all-time favorite book. I adore everything about it. I love Herbert’s writing, the characters, the setting, the complexity of the story, and the ethical/moral issues it explores.

I understand why some new readers have a hard time with it. I had my IRL book club read it almost seven years ago and most gave up or didn’t understand the political and economical aspects of the book. In today’s publishing world, so much of DUNE would’ve been edited out and the third-person omniscient POV isn’t for everyone.

I’ve never read any of DUNE’s sequels. I’ve toyed with the idea, but I’ve decided against it. I don’t want to be disappointed and I don’t want that disappointment to ruin my love for DUNE. Fortunately, DUNE stands well enough alone that I don’t need to go on.

During this reread, I was very aware of how much Herbert relied on Islamic culture as his inspiration for DUNE. In past reads, I had wondered if some of the words were inspired by Arabic. It wasn’t until I was watching the new movie that I became more curious about Herbert’s inspiration. As I did a little research, I was surprised to find out how much of Islamic culture he used. It made me wonder … is DUNE a misappropriation of Islamic beliefs? If so, can I still love DUNE, acknowledge the misappropriation for what it is, AND help society do better by also supporting Muslim authors and authentic Muslim stories?

What are your thoughts? Do you have any recommendations for Muslim authors and authentic Muslim stories that I should read?

P.S. My shortest read of 2021 was DUNE, THE GRAPHIC NOVEL, BOOK 1 at 160 pages and my longest read was DUNE at 894 pages. Ha!

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Bout of Books 33 Progress

Bout of Books is a week-long readathon held every January, May, and August. It’s low-pressure. There are optional reading sprints, Twitter chats, and Instagram challenges.

During the week as I participate in Bout of Books, I’ll keep track of my progress on this post. At the end of the week, I’ll post a wrap-up post with my totals.

So far I’ve had a good time reading and joining in on the Instagram prompts. If you’d like to follow me on Instagram , click here.

Progress

Monday

Pages Read: 84
Time Read: 3 hours (I’m a slow reader)
Book Finished: None
Currently Reading: ANXIOUS PEOPLE by Frederik Backman
Comments: I’m really enjoying ANXIOUS PEOPLE so far. It’s funny and sad. I’m very curious as to what the whole picture is. It reminds me a little bit of TRULY MADLY GUILTY by Liane Moriarty.

Tuesday

Pages Read: 38 pages
Time Read: 1 hour
Book Finished: None
Currently Reading: ANXIOUS PEOPLE
Comments: I wasted too much time doing other things. By the time I started reading, it was really late and I couldn’t stay awake for longer than an hour.

Wednesday

Pages Read: 108 pages
Time Read: 3 hours 33 minutes
Book Finished: None
Currently Reading: ANXIOUS PEOPLE
Comments: I think I’ll finish ANXIOUS PEOPLE tomorrow. I’m so excited to see what happens!

Thursday

Pages Read: 224 pages
Time Read: 2 hours 38 minutes
Book Finished: KEEP MOVING by Maggie Smith
Currently Reading: KEEP MOVING
Comments: I started feeling sick (not COVID–have to specify) on Tuesday and I’ve just been feeling worse and worse, especially today. When I’m feeling this sick, I don’t often like to read because I can’t concentrate on the words. Fortunately, my IRL book club book for January that I put on hold at the library came available and it was a really easy read.

Friday

Pages Read: 122 pages
Time Read: 3 hours 41 minutes
Book Finished: ANXIOUS PEOPLE
Currently Reading: ANXIOUS PEOPLE
Comments: I’m glad that I felt well enough to read today and I’m so glad I finished ANXIOUS PEOPLE. It was such a joy to read.

Saturday

Pages Read: 0 pages
Time Read: –
Book Finished: None
Currently Reading: –
Comments: I felt too sick today to read. As I said on Thursday, I don’t often like to read when I’m feeling this sick because I can’t concentrate on the words. Hopefully, tomorrow will be better.

Sunday

Pages Read: 180 pages
Time Read: 4 hours 58 minutes
Book Finished: THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE by CS Lewis
Currently Reading: THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE
Comments: I’m glad I felt well enough to read for so long today, especially since the later the day got the worse I felt.

Let’s make this a great week!

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Joining the Narniathon21

As I’ve been getting my feet wet visiting other book blogs over the last couple of days, I noticed that a couple of people were participating in a Narniathon–a readalong dedicated to reading one book in the Narniad per month (in published order).

I commented on Anne’s blog, My Head is Full of Books, about how I read the series once 14 years ago (as an adult). I said that I enjoyed some of the books and disliked a couple of them. I also told her I wanted to read them again at some point to see if I feel differently about them now. She responded and told me she was a big believer in reading them in published order.

I think Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe is the best intro to Narnia. If one starts with The Magician’s Nephew all the fun of reading it as a prequel is lost. Plus it’s not as good. It might put readers off.

Anne

I then told her that I think that was why I didn’t like a couple of the books as I read the series in chronological order. She invited me to participate in the Narniathon and after thinking about it, I decided I might as well do it.

I’m a month behind, so for January, I’ll be reading THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE and PRINCE CASPIAN: RETURN TO NARNIA. I already have them checked out from the library. I may read some of Lion, Witch, and Wardrobe during Bout of Books this week.

Thanks, Anne, for the push!

If you want to know more about the Narniathon21, you can visit Chris over at Calmgrove.

Have you read The Chronicles of Narnia before? If so, which order did you read them in? Which book is your favorite?

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Bout of Books 33 Signup

Bout of Books is a week-long readathon held every January, May, and August. It’s low-pressure. There are optional reading sprints, Twitter chats, and Instagram challenges.

Nothing like waiting to the last minute to decide, but I’m joining the Bout of Books readathon from January 3rd to 9th. I’ve been toying with the idea of participating for about a month now. Since school doesn’t start again until January 10th, I decided that Bout of Books would be a great way to jump start my reading for 2022.

I’m hoping that I’ll be able to read my Unofficial Trim Challenge book, ANXIOUS PEOPLE by Frederik Backman, and start my IRL book club book, KEEP MOVING: NOTES ON LOSS, CREATIVITY, AND CHANGE by Maggie Smith. I may read some of my January PBT book as well, HOW TO: ABSURD SCIENTIFIC ADVICE FOR COMMON REAL-WORLD PROBLEMS by Randall Munroe.

Are you going to join in the fun? What are you planning to read?

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Evaluating My 2021 Goals

Last December, I made four bookish goals for 2021. They are:

  • Read at least 24 books.
    • I kept this lower because of my other goals.
  • Read at least 50% of my IRL book club books.
  • Read a book for each monthly tag hosted by my Goodreads group: Play Book Tag (PBT).
  • Participate in the Unofficial Trim Challenge hosted by PBT.

It’s time to evaluate how I did with each of them:

  • I only read 12 books this year.
    • This is the lowest number of books I’ve read in a year since 2007.
  • I read five out of the 15 books we read in book club.
  • I only read a book for two of the 12 tags for 2021.
  • I only read one of the 12 books I chose for the Unofficial Trim Challenge.

As you can tell, I didn’t accomplish any of my goals. This year wasn’t a good reading year. It started out good, though. I read four books in January and two books in February. And, then it all just kind of got thrown for a loop in March because my priorities changed.

Even though I only read 12 books this year, I’m not upset because I accomplished other things. I also enjoyed most of the books I read, as my most common rating was four stars, which I think is the most important thing to remember.

My favorite new read of the year was THE FLATSHARE by Beth O’Leary. It garnered five stars. I also reread my all-time favorite book this year, DUNE by Frank Herbert, after watching the new movie a couple of times.

My least favorite read was THE WIFE UPSTAIRS by Rachel Hawkins. It’s her first foray into adult mystery. It’s a retelling of JANE EYRE. No spoilers. I’ll just say that I only gave it two stars.

Next year, I have similar goals. While I want to make reading a priority, I’m in school and I need to make it a priority as well. Because of school, some of my reading goals are lower than last year. Hopefully, I’ll be able to exceed my expectations. My goals for 2022 are:

  • Read at least 24 books.
  • Read at least 50% of my IRL book club books.
  • Read a book for 50% of the monthly tags hosted by my Goodreads group: Play Book Tag (PBT).
  • Participate in the Unofficial Trim Challenge hosted by PBT.

I’ll keep track of my progress over on my 2022 Reads page.

How did you do with your goals this year? What are your goals for 2022?

May your new year be merry and bright and full of wonderful books!

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