Open Books Challenge 2026: By a Muslim Author

The Open Books Reading Challenge is a year-long reading challenge for people interested in pushing the boundaries of their reading. For full details of the program, please check-out our page at: https://www.rplmn.org/books-more/discover-more/open-books-reading-challenge

These are some ideas that fit the 2026 category "By a Muslim author."

Happy Reading!

Updated December 31, 2025
Rochester Public Library RPL Staff
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Open Books Challenge 2026: By a Muslim Author

The Open Books Reading Challenge is a year-long reading challenge for people interested in pushing the boundaries of their reading. For full details of the program, please check-out our page at: https://www.rplmn.org/books-more/discover-more/open-books-reading-challenge

These are some ideas that fit the 2026 category "By a Muslim author."

Happy Reading!

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Between two moons : a novel
Abdel Gawad, Aisha
Paper Book
LONGLISTED FOR THE 2024 CAROL SHIELDS PRIZE FOR FICTION AND THE NEW AMERICAN VOICES AWARD * A BOOKLIST BEST BOOK OF 2023 * Set in the Arab immigrant enclave of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, following three siblings coming of age over the course of one Ramadan, "a moving look at...
Radiant fugitives : a novel
Ahmed, Nawaaz
Paper Book
FINALIST FOR THE 2022 PEN/FAULKNER AWARD FOR FICTION FINALIST FOR PUBLISHING TRIANGLE'S EDMUND WHITE DEBUT FICTION AWARD In the last weeks of her pregnancy, a Muslim Indian lesbian living in San Francisco receives a visit from her estranged mother and sister that surfaces long...
Martyr!
Akbar, Kaveh
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * SHORTLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD * ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW'S 10 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR * A TIME MUST-READ BOOK OF THE YEAR * A newly sober, orphaned son of Iranian immigrants, guided by the voices of artists, poets, and...
Homeland elegies : a novel
Akhtar, Ayad
Paper Book
This "profound and provocative" work by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Disgraced and American Dervish followsan immigrant father and his son as they search for belonging--in post-Trump America, and with each other (Kirkus Reviews). "Passionate, disturbing,...
Life as a unicorn : a journey from shame to pride and everything in between
Al-Kadhi, Amrou 1990-
Paper Book
From a god-fearing Muslim boy enraptured with their mother, to a vocal, queer drag queen estranged from their family, this is a heart-breaking and hilarious memoir about the author's fight to be true to themself My name is Amrou Al-Kadhi - by day. By night, I am Glamrou, an...
Rich and pretty
Alam, Rumaan
Paper Book
Named a Best Book of 2016 by Esquire, Refinery29, and Nylon One of Bustle's 17 Of 2016's Most Anticipated Books To Put On Your Wishlist Immediately One of the Wall Street Journal's Ten Titles to Watch in Summer Fiction An Amazon Editors' Beach Reads pick One of...
Love from Mecca to Medina
Ali, S. K.
Paper Book
On the trip of a lifetime, Adam and Zayneb must find their way back to each other in this surprising and romantic sequel to the "bighearted, wildly charming" (Becky Albertalli, New York Times bestselling author) Love from A to Z that's a "contemplative exploration of faith, love,...
The moon that turns you back
Alyan, Hala
Paper Book
From the author of The Arsonists' City and The Twenty-Ninth Year, a new collection of poetry that traces the fragmentation of memory, archive, and family-past, present, future-in the face of displacement and war. A diaspora of memories runs through this poetry collection--a...
Courting Samira : a novel
Awad, Amal
Paper Book
Set in Sydney, Australia, Courting Samira is a charming, big-hearted rom-com about a twenty-seven-year-old Palestinian woman who finds herself in an unexpected love triangle--a sparkling ode to meddling best friends, traditional courtship, The Princess Bride, and, of course, the possibility of...
American fever : a novel
Aziz Amna, Dur E
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE ASIAN/PACIFIC AMERICAN AWARD FOR LITERATURE USA Today Best books of August Christian Science Monitor Ten Best Books of August The Millions Most Anticipated Books of 2022 Harper's Bazaar Must-Read Books of August 2022 Debuts of the Season...
The city of brass
Chakraborty, S. A.
Paper Book
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Library Journal | Vulture | The Verge | SYFYWire Step into The City of Brass, the spellbinding debut from S. A. Chakraborty, an imaginative alchemy of The Golem and the Jinni, The Grace of Kings,...
Song of a captive bird
Darznik, Jasmin
Paper Book
LOS ANGELES TIMES BESTSELLER * A spellbinding debut novel about the trailblazing Iranian poet Forugh Farrokhzad, who defied society's expectations to find her voice and her destiny "A complex and beautiful rendering of [a] vanished country and its scattered...
A tempest of tea
Faizal, Hafsah
Paper Book
*An Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller* "Brewed to perfection." --Rebecca Ross, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Divine Rivals Now available in a deluxe paperback edition with gorgeous stenciled edges, Hafsah Faizal's deliciously...
Exit west
Hamid, Mohsin
Paper Book
One of The New York Times's 100 Best Books of the 21st Century FINALIST FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE & WINNER OF THE L.A. TIMES BOOK PRIZE FOR FICTION and THE ASPEN WORDS LITERARY PRIZE "It was as if Hamid knew what was going to happen to America and the...
A case of exploding mangoes
Hanif, Mohammed.
Paper Book
This novel reimagines the conspiracies and coincidences leading to the mysterious 1988 plane crash that killed Pakistan's dictator General Zia ul-Haq.
The girl and the ghost
Hanna Alkaf
Paper Book
* Chosen as a 2020 Kirkus Prize Finalist for Young Readers' Literature! * A Malaysian folk tale comes to life in this emotionally layered, chilling middle grade debut, perfect for fans of The Book of Boy and The Jumbies. I am a dark spirit, the ...
The weight of our sky
Hanna Alkaf
Paper Book
A music loving teen with OCD does everything she can to find her way back to her mother during the historic race riots in 1969 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in this heart-pounding literary debut. Melati Ahmad looks like your typical movie-going, Beatles-obsessed sixteen-year-old....
The Jasad heir
Hashem, Sara
Paper Book
"A remarkable, razor-sharp debut that cuts straight to the heart."―Chelsea Abdullah, author of The Stardust Thief A fugitive queen strikes a bargain with her greatest enemy that could resurrect her scorched kingdom or leave it in ashes forever in...
Jana goes wild
Heron, Farah
Paper Book
Kirkus Best Books of the Year Library Journal Best Books of the Year The highly acclaimed author of Accidentally Engaged delivers a delightful rom-com of one woman trying to shed her perfect image at a destination wedding with...
The kite runner
Hosseini, Khaled.
Paper Book
The #1 New York Times bestselling novel beloved by millions of readers the world over. "A vivid and engaging story that reminds us how long his people [of Afghanistan] have been struggling to triumph over the forces of violence--forces that continue to threaten them even today...
Detective aunty : a novel
Jalaluddin, Uzma
Paper Book
Named a Best Book of the Year by Kirkus Reviews, The Washington Post, Library Journal, The Globe and Mail, and the Chicago Public Library "I'll read anything Uzma Jalaluddin writes."--New York Times bestselling author Kate Quinn When her grown...
The map of salt and stars
Joukhadar, Zeyn
Paper Book
"This imaginative but very real look into war-torn Syria is a must." -Booklist (starred review) This rich, moving, and lyrical debut novel is to Syria what The Kite Runner was to Afghanistan; the story of two girls living eight hundred years apart--a modern-day...
Unmarriageable
Kamal, Soniah
Paper Book
"This inventive retelling of Pride and Prejudice charms."--People   "A fun, page-turning romp and a thought-provoking look at the class-obsessed strata of Pakistani society."--NPR Alys Binat has sworn never to marry--until an encounter...
As long as the lemon trees grow
Katouh, Zoulfa
Paper Book
A love letter to Syria and its people, As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow is a speculative novel set amid the Syrian Revolution, burning with the fires of hope, love, and possibility. Perfect for fans of The Book Thief and Salt to the Sea.
Like the moon loves the sky
Khan, Hena
Paper Book
Inshallah you are all that is gentle and good. Inshallah you feel safe, like all children should. Like The Moon Loves the Sky is Hena Khan's daily wish for her children. With lyrical lines, each based on a verse of the Quran, and narrative illustrations that trace the life of a child...
We are big time
Khan, Hena
Paper Book
SWISH! Cheer courtside for a Muslim teen in this graphic novel-inspired by a true story-as she joins an all-girls, hijab-wearing basketball team and learns that she's much more than a score. Aliya is new to Wisconsin, and everything feels different than Florida. The Islamic...
Thorn
Khanani, Intisar
Paper Book
Hunted meets The Wrath and the Dawn in this bold fairytale retelling--where court intrigue, false identities, and dark secrets will thrill fans of classic and contemporary fantasy alike. Princess Alyrra has always longed to escape the confines of her royal life, but when her mother...
The dream hotel : a novel
Lalami, Laila
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER ● READ WITH JENNA BOOK CLUB PICK AS FEATURED ON TODAY ● From Laila Lalami--the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award finalist and a "maestra of literary fiction" (NPR)--comes a riveting and utterly original novel about one woman's fight for freedom, set in...
Furthermore
Mafi, Tahereh
Paper Book
This captivating and colorful adventure that reads like a modern day fairy tale, from the bestselling author of the Shatter Me series is the perfect gift! "Brimming with color and magic." --New York Times Book Review   ★...
This woven kingdom
Mafi, Tahereh
Paper Book
New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestseller from the acclaimed author of the Shatter Me series! Clashing empires, forbidden romance, and a long-forgotten queen destined to save her people--Tahereh Mafi's first in an epic romantasy series inspired by Persian mythology. To...
The bad Muslim discount : a novel
Masood, Syed
Paper Book
Following two families from Pakistan and Iraq in the 1990s to San Francisco in 2016, The Bad Muslim Discount is an inclusive, comic novel about Muslim immigrants finding their way in modern America. "Masood's novel presents a stereoscopic, three-dimensional view of...
A month in Siena
Matar, Hisham
Paper Book
From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Return comes a profoundly moving contemplation of the relationship between art and life.   NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE WASHINGTON POST AND EVENING STANDARD After finishing...
My friends : a novel
Matar, Hisham
Paper Book
NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST * LONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE * A "masterly" (The New York Times, Editors' Choice), "riveting" (The Atlantic) novel of friendship, family, and the unthinkable realities of exile, from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Return ...
The return : fathers, sons, and the land in between
Matar, Hisham
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE * The acclaimed memoir about fathers and sons, a legacy of loss, and, ultimately, healing--one of The New York Times Book Review's ten best books of the year, winner of the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award, and a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle...
A place for us : a novel
Mirza, Fatima Farheen
Paper Book
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * NATIONAL BOOK AWARD "5 UNDER 35" NOMINEE * NEW YORK'S "ONE BOOK, ONE NEW YORK" PICK Named One of the Best Books of the Year: Washington Post * NPR * People * Refinery29 * Parade * BuzzFeed "Mirza ...
Haldol and hyacinths : a bipolar life
Moezzi, Melody
Paper Book
With candor and humor, a manic-depressive Iranian-American Muslim chronicles her experiences with both clinical and cultural bipolarity. Born to Persian parents at the height of the Islamic Revolution, Melody Moezzi was raised amid a vibrant, affectionate, and gossipy Iranian...
The fortune men
Mohamed, Nadifa
Paper Book
BOOKER PRIZE FINALIST * Based on a true event, this novel is "a blues song cut straight from the heart ... about the unjust death of an innocent Black man caught up in a corrupt system" (Walter Mosley, best-selling author of Devil in a Blue Dress). In Cardiff, Wales in...
The mis-arrangement of Sana Saeed: a novel
Mughees, Noreen
Paper Book
Perfect for fans of Sonali Dev and Uzma Jalaluddin, Noreen Mughees's immersive debut novel reunites star-crossed childhood sweethearts against all odds, only for their second chance to clash with their parents' strict beliefs. Thirty-three-year-old hijabi Sana Saeed has put away...
The boldest white : a story of hijab and community
Muhammad, Ibtihaj
Paper Book
In this call to bravery from Olympic medalist Ibtihaj Muhammad, Faizah learns to overcome her fears and stand in front of the crowd in this beautiful celebration of family, fencing, and community.   Faizah loves being part of the community at her mosque, and...
This is what America looks like : my journey from refugee to Congresswoman
Omar, Ilhan
Paper Book
Named a Best Political Book of the Year by The Atlantic "This Is What America Looks Like is the origin story of a leader who, finding no set path that would take a person like her to the places she wanted to go, was forced, and free, to chart her own." -The New York Times...
Nights of plague : a novel
Pamuk, Orhan
Paper Book
From the the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature: Part detective story, part historical epic--a bold and brilliant novel that imagines a plague ravaging a fictional island in the Ottoman Empire. It is April 1900, in the Levant, on the imaginary island of Mingheria--the...
You truly assumed
Sabreen, Laila
Paper Book
"You Truly Assumed is a beautiful portrayal of the multitude of ways to be Black and Muslim while navigating our contemporary world. A must-read for everyone."--Adiba Jaigirdar, author of The Henna Wars   In this compelling and thought-provoking debut novel, after a...
Grounded
Saeed, Aisha
Paper Book
When a thunderstorm grounds all flights following a huge Muslim convention, four unlikely kids are thrown together. Feek is stuck babysitting his younger sister, but he'd rather be writing a poem that's good enough for his dad, a famous poet and rapper. Hanna is intent on finding a lost cat in the...
Best of friends
Shamsie, Kamila
Paper Book
"A profound novel about friendship. I loved it to pieces." --Madeline Miller "A shining tour de force about a long friendship's respects, disrespects, loyalties and moralities." --Ali Smith  From the acclaimed author of Home Fire, the moving and surprising...
The good immigrant : 26 writers reflect on America
Shukla, Nikesh/ Suleyman, Chimene (EDT)
Paper Book
By turns heartbreaking and hilarious, troubling and uplifting, these "electric" essays come together to create a provocative, conversation-sparking, multivocal portrait of modern America (The Washington Post). From Trump's proposed border wall...
A thief among the trees
Tahir, Sabaa
Paper Book
Taking place years before the bestselling An Ember in the Ashes novel series, this standalone original graphic novel follows three young military recruits: Elias, Helene, and Tavi, during their brutal training as soldiers for the Martial Empire. WITHIN THE EMPIRE THERE ARE NO QUESTIONS, ONLY ORDERS....
Ms. Marvel. Vol. 1, The new mutant
Vellani, Iman
Paper Book
Kamala Khan is back - and she's an X-Man! Ms. Marvel bursts into the next phase of her life in an exciting adventure co-written by Iman Vellani, the MCU's own Kamala, and Sabir Pirzada of both DARK WEB- MS. MARVEL and her Disney+ series! That's right - the good news is that in the wake of her recent...
The bird king
Wilson, G. Willow
Paper Book
One of NPR's 50 Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Books of the Decade: A fifteenth-century palace mapmaker must hide his powers in the time of the Inquisition . . . Award-winning author G. Willow Wilson's debut novel Alif the Unseen was an NPR and Washington Post Best...
Fundamentally : a novel
Younis, Nussaibah
Paper Book
A wickedly funny and audacious debut novel following an academic who flees from heartbreak and lands in Iraq with a one-of-a-kind job offer--only to be forced to do the work of confronting herself. *AN INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER* *AN NPR BOOKS WE LOVE PICK* *SHORTLISTED FOR...
A dutiful boy : a memoir of a gay Muslim's journey to acceptance
Zaidi, Mohsin
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE 2021 LAMBDA LITERARY AWARD FOR GAY MEMOIR/BIOGRAPHY A Guardian Best Book of the Year A GQ Best Book of the Year A New Statesman Best Book of the Year A Dutiful Boy is Mohsin's personal journey from...
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