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My family is a large part of why I love reading. My older siblings and mom constantly read books to me, and my dad would read the newspaper to me every day until I was old enough to complain.

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When I was younger and learning how to talk, my family discovered that I had a fairly chronic issue with speech. From the ages of 3 to 11, I attended speech therapy, and it was the place where I really learned how to talk and read. Although I'm proud of my younger self for overcoming my speech impediment, it still held me back from learning my father's native language, Arabic.

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This was one of my favorite picture books that my mom read to me before bed.

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Growing up, I would spend hours outside playing, reading, and swimming. As I've grown up, my love of the outdoors has grown into a love of hiking and exploring state parks.

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This book series was my absolute favorite thing to read when I was in elementary/middle school. Even to this day, I still like to reread some of them.

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My parents always made sure to expose me to new areas of the country and world through travel. Now, as I've gotten older, it's become a passion of mine and inspires a lot of my reading.

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Khaled Hosseini, an Afghan-American author, has become one of my favorite all-time authors. His works, especially "And the Mountains Echoed", really help me connect to my own Arab-American identity

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My mom baked sourdough bread during my entire childhood (still does), and baking became a large part of my life. Some of my earliest memories are my sister and mom teaching me how to bake pies and measure ingredients. The photo below is a photo I took on Thanksgiving last year (yes, we made all of it from scratch)!