Middle East/North African Lit discussion

In this thread everyone can suggest what types books for 2018 reading challenge.
If there are any particular themes or ideas that interest you just mention them here!
Anyone else interested?

Great spirit as always Lila ! :D
Thanks !

I would like us to suggest books that offer a glimmer of hope. Most of the books I have read from the region are quite pessimistic. I am not running away from big issues and conflict, but it would be nice to have a more optimistic view of the world for a change.
Alternatively, why don't we go for different genres - biography, history, crime, SF, short stories, etc.

Ewa wrote: "I would like us to suggest books that offer a glimmer of hope. Most of the books I have read from the region are quite pessimistic. I am not running away from big issues and conflict, but it would ..."

Good idea!
So maybe
1. One biography
2. One Historical Novel ( or actual history book?)
3. One Crime Thriller
4. One Science Fiction ( I'll add Dystopian because there seem to be more of these in MENA lit)
5. One collection of stories

That's a start! How would you word the books that offer hope?

I'd like to see us again group all of the MENA countries into maybe 4-5 tasks in order to encourage reading from different countries. We'd need to try to split them so that at least one country in each task has a fair amount if English translations available. Maybe:

One from Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Bahrain, or UAE.
One from Egypt, Libya, Kuwait, Malta, Oman or Yemen.
One from Lebanon, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Syria or Iraq.
One from Iran, Israel, Palestine, Qatar, Ethiopia, Sudan, Djibouti [and Turkey?]

Just an idea and could be expanded to include all greater MENA countries, at your option.

Another task idea is to define the main character in some manner, e.g., a female MC under 20 or over 60.

Lila wrote: "Ewa wrote: "I would like us to suggest books that offer a glimmer of hope. Most of the books I have read from the region are quite pessimistic. I am not running away from big issues and conflict, b..."

Lila wrote: "Ewa wrote: "I would like us to suggest books that offer a glimmer of hope. Most of the books I have read from the region are quite pessimistic. I am not running away from big issues and conflict, b..."

Lila wrote: "Ewa wrote: "I would like us to suggest books that offer a glimmer of hope. Most of the books I have read from the region are quite pessimistic. I am not running away from big issues and conflict, b..."
We could also add young adults, travel book, any genre people are interested in. As for the 'positive books' we can recommend them to each other.

Carol wrote: "I'd like to see us again group all of the MENA countries into maybe 4-5 tasks in order to encourage reading from different countries. We'd need to try to split them so that at least one country in ..."

I like the different MENA countries too no on my own could not think of anything else.
But even if we take Ewa's suggestion everyone can deliberately select books from the various countries they want to read.

Lila wrote: "Carol wrote: "I'd like to see us again group all of the MENA countries into maybe 4-5 tasks in order to encourage reading from different countries. We'd need to try to split them so that at least o..."

Certainly. I wasn't certain how many tasks you wanted to incorporate. I generally tend to focus on different countries and diverse voices rather than types of reading.

Carol wrote: "Certainly. I wasn't certain how many tasks you wanted to incorporate. I generally tend to focus on different countries and diverse voices rather than types of reading. .."

I'm not at all experienced in creating challenges or even taking them!
The first time for this group was last year. I'd helped create a couple in the Into the Forest Group, but in all cases everyone made different suggestions and we just put them together.
So we'll do the same here.

Lila wrote: "Carol wrote: "Certainly. I wasn't certain how many tasks you wanted to incorporate. I generally tend to focus on different countries and diverse voices rather than types of reading. .."

I'm not at..."

And we all thank you :)

Carol wrote: "I'd like to see us again group all of the MENA countries into maybe 4-5 tasks in order to encourage reading from different countries. We'd need to try to split them so that at least one country in ..."

Carol you remind me of the time we started this group , were you around then ?
I thought you may like to have a look on our previous geographical reading tours :

2011
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...

2012
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...

2013
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...

Lila wrote: "1. One biography
2. One Historical Novel ( or actual history book?)
3. One Crime Thriller
4. One Science Fiction ( I'll add Dystopian because there seem to be more of these in MENA lit)
5. One collection of stories .."

I think that is great ! thanks Lila :)

Niledaughter wrote: "Carol wrote: "I'd like to see us again group all of the MENA countries into maybe 4-5 tasks in order to encourage reading from different countries. We'd need to try to split them so that at least o..."

Thanks! I have checked them out previously and appreciate the reminder.

So I made a list of 12 books using both Ewa's and Carol's ideas:
Personally I like it, but please feel free to suggest any changes!


1. One biography
2. One Historical Novel ( or actual history book?)
3. One Crime Thriller
4. One Science Fiction ( I'll add Dystopian because there seem to be more of these in MENA lit)
5. One collection of stories
6. One book that offers hope
7.A book by an author from Al Mashriq (Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, Syria and Iraq)
8. A book by an author from the Arabian Gulf Gulf ( Saudi Arabia,Yemen,Oman,U.A.E.,Qatar,Bahrain,Kuwait)
9. A book by an author from Al Ma·ghreb (Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia)
10. A book by an author from Egypt
11. A book from a Turkish author
12. A book from an Iranian author

Sounds exciting - 'tho I know I won't make it through 12. I'm up for the challenge.

I love this, Lila. Thanks so much for pulling it together!

Sounds good, and we can combine genre with countries if we are not up to 12 :-) Thanks Lila

I love Lila's idea! I'm in :)

The challenge is out in here :
https://www.goodreads.com/challenges/...

Niledaughter wrote: "The challenge is out in here :
https://www.goodreads.com/challenges/..."

Thanks for putting it up Nile Daughter! I just noticed I made a typo:
I wrote ArabIan Gulf Gulf 😝 LOL! (8. A book by an author from the Arabian Gulf Gulf (Saudi Arabia,Yemen,Oman,U.A.E.,Qatar,Bahrain,Kuwait)Arabia,Yemen,Oman,U.A.E.,Qatar,Bahrain,Kuwait)

Also: with # 2. One Historical Novel ( or actual history book?). I wrote History book with a question mark because I was not sure which one the person who made the suggestion meant.
And here:
4. One Science Fiction ( I'll add Dystopian because there seem to be more of these in MENA lit)

I wrote the "I'll add Dystopian "in parentheses but it would probably be better as "One Science Fiction or Dystopian novel set in a MENA country"

Sorry I did not know what I wrote would be written down exactly as it is for the challenge!

Sorry ! I did not check , I had a list of thing to do ...:D

Done !
Thanks

Hello, I'll be taking part in the challenge. I plan to read 11 books:

1. One biography: I Saw Ramallah by Mourid Barghouti OR The First Well: A Bethlehem Boyhood by Jabra Ibrahim Jabra
2. One Historical Novel/History Book: We Look Like the Enemy: The Hidden Story of Israel's Jews from Arab Lands by Rachel Shabi
3. One Crime Thriller: N/A
4. One Science Fiction or Dystopian novel set in a MENA country: Frankenstein in Baghdad by Ahmed Saadawi
5. One collection of stories: The Hidden Light of Objects by Mai Al-Nakib
6. One book that offers hope: We Crossed a Bridge and It Trembled: Voices from Syria
7. A book by an author from Al Sham: Orientalism by Edward Said
8. A book by an author from The Arabian Peninsula: The Corpse Exhibition and Other Stories of Iraq by Hassan Blasim
9. A book by an author from The Maghreb: The Meursault Investigation by Kamel Daoud
10. A book by an author from Egypt: Woman at Point Zero by Nawal El-Saadawi
11. A book by a Turkish author: My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk
12. A book by an Iranian author: The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

I hope it's OK to share this here! :)

Sofia wrote: "Hello, I'll be taking part in the challenge. I plan to read 11 books:

1. One biography: I Saw Ramallah by Mourid Barghouti OR [book:The First Well: A Bethlehem Boy..."

Such an ambitious list :)
I thought you may like to have a look at our discussions of
"I Saw Ramallah" in here :
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

"My name is Red" in here :
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

And " Orientalism " in here
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Niledaughter wrote: "Sofia wrote: "Hello, I'll be taking part in the challenge. I plan to read 11 books:

1. One biography: I Saw Ramallah by Mourid Barghouti OR [book:The First Well: A..."

Oh thank you! :) I've had a couple of these books on my TBR for a while so hopefully I can read them next year.

Hello, I'm going to take part in the reading challenge this year. I'm aiming to read 12 books from the list.

FYI, for anyone interested in Tariq Ali's Islam Quintet, which is about the Muslim experience in Grenada, but I'm rationalizing fits here because of its interest to readers focused on Islamic history, experience and culture, Verso Books' 50% off all print books and 90% off all ebooks (until Jan 1) includes all 5 books:

Night of the Golden Butterfly
The Stone Woman
Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree
A Sultan in Palermo
The Book of Saladin

I'm also looking at The Blue Manuscript by Sabiha al Khemir. The average rating is discouraging, but as I read the reviews, those who dinged it don't seem to be our sort, as it were.

https://www.versobooks.com/books/subj...

Carol wrote: "FYI, for anyone interested in Tariq Ali's Islam Quintet, which is about the Muslim experience in Grenada, but I'm rationalizing fits here because of its interest to readers focused o..."

Hello Carol , I read about "Islam Quintet" and I am interested in it but I can not reach the books in the mean time .

We had a discussion for "A Sultan in Palermo" in here before :

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Niledaughter wrote: "Carol wrote: "FYI, for anyone interested in Tariq Ali's Islam Quintet, which is about the Muslim experience in Grenada, but I'm rationalizing fits here because of its interest to rea..."

Thanks so much! I ended up buying Book of Saladin, and will start there but look forward to reading Palermo at a later date.

Carol wrote: "FYI, for anyone interested in Tariq Ali's Islam Quintet, which is about the Muslim experience in Grenada, but I'm rationalizing fits here because of its interest to readers focused o..."

I read Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree and would be interested in reading the others in this series!

Hi Everyone!
I just created a new thread for the 2018 Challenge where you can track your progress, discuss what you'd like to read, share your impressions etc.
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Sofia wrote: "Hello, I'll be taking part in the challenge. I plan to read 11 books:

1. One biography: I Saw Ramallah by Mourid Barghouti OR [book:The First Well: A Bethlehem Boy..."

That's a great list Sofia!
To avoid confusion, I just created a new thread where we can specifically discuss what we are reading in the 2018 and posted it above!

Not that good with reading challenges, but Pamuk's 'Red' is definitely on my list this year.

Niraj wrote: "Not that good with reading challenges, but Pamuk's 'Red' is definitely on my list this year."

I read Pamuk's My Name is Red a couple of weeks ago. I loved it.