Listening for the first time
Hello, same as the title, I am listening to the Qur'an for the first time. For some backstory, I was raised Christian, but have been disenchanted with it for a while, and began deconstruction a few years ago. Here in the last year, I have listened to the Hebrew Bible, as translated by Robert Alter, then the New Testament, as translated by David Bentley Hart. I'm now listening to the full cast edition of the Qur'an, as translated by Abdullah Yusuf Ali. (I understand translations are not the actual word, but I hope this audio version is an acceptable version, even if the full cast part is weird to me)
I've made it to Surah 7. And im thinking about starting back over.
When I was going through the previous testaments, I was able to get a lot of cultural background about what was going on when each book was written. Who the letters were going to. What stories were teaching lessons, but intended to be silly, for example.
My understanding of the Qur'an is that these surahs were all given to Mohammed within a short period of time, so i dont really have much cultural background knowledge going on at the time.
Also, while I greatly enjoy listening to the Qur'an, it is beautiful, I dont feel like im absorbing it like I should be. Like, im immersing myself in it, and picking things up here and there, but not like I want to. Not like I did with the previous testaments. I've got more of an understanding of Islam than I had before, to the point im more comfortable talking about what I've learned and where I'm at with it, but not enough to have in depth conversations with my Christian family members who are ... just nasty about Islam. The most I can really tell them is "you know they worship the same God you do, right?", and "the Qur'an doesn't actually say anything about 70 virgins." And then the differences in the couple of stories that are shared between the three books.
Is there anything that anyone would recommend to help with absorption of the text for someone who is just beginning?
Im open to reference texts or just general advice in this area. Its strange (and refreshing) to come to a religious text without any baggage, and I want to give it my respect and attention.