Recommended Readings:

The Qur’an and translations:

The Sublime Quran by Laleh Bakhtiar
The Message of The Quran by Muhammad Asad
The Meanings Of The Holy Qur'an by Abdullah Yusufali

Women in Islam:
Believing Women in Islam by Asma Barlas
Quran and Woman by Amina Wadud                                                                                       
Western Representations of the Muslim Woman by Mohja Kahf
Women and Gender in Islam: Historical Roots of a Modern Debate by Leila Ahmed
Speaking in God's Name: Islamic Law, Authority and Women by Khaled Abou El Fadl        
My Soul Is a Woman: The Feminine in Islam by Annemarie Schimmel

Political Islam
 The two faces of Islam by Stephen Schwartz
The Great Theft: Wrestling Islam from the Extremists by Khaled Abou El Fadl
Journey into Islam: The Crisis of Globalization by Akbar Ahmed

Sufism/Mysticism
The Sufi Path of Knowledge by William Chittick
 Mystical Dimensions of Islam by Annemarie Schimmel
Women of Sufism: A Hidden Treasure - Selected and Introduced by Camille Helminski
The Knowing Heart: A Sufi Path of Transformation - Kabir Helminski

Islam in America
Islam in America – Jane Smith
Living Islam out Loud – Edited by Saleemah Abdul-Ghafur
Taking Back Islam – Michael Wolfe

Life of Mohammad
Mohammad by Martin Lings
 Mohammad by Karen Armstrong
 The Life of Muhammad – Haykal

Others:
The Islamic Roots of Democratic Pluralism – Abdulaziz Sachedina
A History of Islamic Societies – Ira M. Lapidus
The History of al-Tabari (30 volumes!)
Conference of the Birds – the search for beauty in Islam – Khaled abou el Fadl