Love, InshAllah
Nura is back in San Francisco for two weeks and we’ve been having a glorious Bay Area and NorCal book tour, including readings in SF, Menlo Park, Milpitas, Mill Valley (at Throckmorton Theater with author Jane Ganahl) and waaaay up north near the Oregon border in Arcata, CA.
Why Arcata? Nine years ago Nura met not only her hot personal trainer Rohan (whom she writes about in Love InshAllah) during her year in Sri Lanka as a Fulbright scholar, but also the wonderful Hughes family. Her fellow Scholar, Rees Hughes, had brought his wife and daughters with him to SL and they all became good friends. Fast forward to 2012, and Rees and his wife Amy told Arcata’s Humboldt State University (HSU) staff about our book and they invited us up to speak.
The community was extremely excited about the reading (the local paper ran both a book review & feature article, as did the school paper – here, here & here). We set out bright & early in a rented yellow Chevy Aveo for a 5-hour roadtrip north through misty coastal redwood forests and stunning NorCal vistas to HSU.
We worried that the rain might keep people away but the library’s Fishbowl room was packed to the gills with over 120 people. After we did our readings, we had a lively Q&A session (which will be available for viewing in HSU’s digital scholar program), and learned that the book will be taught this fall in their wonderful Critical Gender program! We received insightful questions from local book clubs that had selected Love InshAllah and queries about Islam.
The Hughes family put on a delicious dinner for us that evening with the organizers of the event. This morning before setting off for home we had brunch overlooking stunning Trinidad Beach. With its gorgeous green beauty, and vibrant, artsy & foodie community, we are seriously considering relocating to Humboldt County!
Also check out our host Rees’ lovely book – The Pacific Crest Trailside Reader, an anthology of writing on the fabled California/Oregon trail.
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