Middle East/North African Lit discussion

Please share your thoughts and ideas about the group in 2019 and what do you expect in 2020 . :)

As always, I'm curious to hear members' thoughts about 2019 and possible directions for 2020.

I'm currently reading Reem Bassiouney's Mamluk trilogy (أولاد الناس: ثلاثية المماليك / Awlad al-Nas, in Arabic only at present). Some other books I might read in 2020 include:
Last Train to Istanbul
Halide's Gift: A Novel
Travels with a Tangerine: A Journey in the Footnotes of Ibn Battutah
An Apartment Called Freedom
Little Songs in the Shade of Tamaara
Words Under the Words: Selected Poems
(I have more books in Arabic to read - always happy to hear if someone wants to do a group read in Arabic.)

Would you like a challenge again? I know on my part having one encourages me to read books I otherwise might not, however if no one is interested I can still do this on my own.

I found the challenge very helpful this year for organizing my readings. Thank you for putting it together!

Thank you Jalilah , that will be great ! :)

I wanted to apologize for being so busy lately because of my study , hopefully things will be easier for me by February or March , I would very much love seeing this group moving on and not stopping .

Great list Melanie! as usual :)

Niledaughter wrote: "Please share your thoughts and ideas about the group in 2019 and what do you expect in 2020 . :)"

The most recent book I loved was Spirits/Souls of Edo, by the brilliant S Sudanese writer Stella Gaitano, it's hard to get but I have a PDF of it. I think Sawad Hussain is working on a translation.

I'm currently reading Palestine as Metaphor - Mahmoud Darwish - which is really interesting

Some books forthcoming in translation that I think will be exciting in 2020 include:

The Magnificent Conman of Cairo, by Adel Kamel, translated by Waleed Almusharaf, with a foreword by Naguib Mahfouz (Hoopoe: March 2020)

Book of Sleep, by Haytham al-Wardani, translated by Robin Moger (Seagull: March 2020)

Wondrous Journeys in Amazing Lands, by Sonia Nimr, tr me (Interlink: Fall 2020)

From Aleppo to Paris: The Travels of a Young Syrian in the Time of Louis XIV, translated by Elias Muhanna and Johannes Stephan (Library of Arabic Literature: Fall 2020)

Dear Jalila , I made a discussion board for 2020 and you can set a topic for the next year challenge in it if you would to . :)

One of the books I would like to read as a group in 2020 is Leila Lalami's latest one, The Other Americans. I have a copy but haven't read it yet.

Niledaughter wrote: "Dear Jalila , I made a discussion board for 2020 and you can set a topic for the next year challenge in it if you would to . :)"


We could always repeat the challenge of 12 different MENAT areas or countries. I am always happy with that we could created a new challenge based on the suggestions of different members.

Eileen wrote: "One of the books I would like to read as a group in 2020 is Leila Lalami's latest one, The Other Americans. I have a copy but haven't read it yet."

Hi Eileen , I hope there will be more interest so it could be a buddy read .

I’m not sure if this is the place for this suggestion. I’m making it here because I don’t know where else to suggest it.

Africa Reads has a Bingo thread. It works somewhat like this.
At the beginning of 2020 make a list of 24 books you would like to read. Assign each book a number.
The goal is to read 12 books from that list.

Each month a moderator post a number and you read the book that corresponds to that number.

Each month post which book you have read from your TRB list.
This generates a wide variety of titles.

More details in the Africa Reads Comminity.

I would also be interested in reading The other Americans as part of a group.

Ardene wrote: "I would also be interested in reading The other Americans as part of a group."

I think you and Eileen can set a date for a buddy read and maybe others can join you :)

Nan wrote: "I’m not sure if this is the place for this suggestion. I’m making it here because I don’t know where else to suggest it.

Africa Reads has a Bingo thread. It works somewhat like this.
At the begin..."

I guess it is a nice and interesting idea ! we can study it :)

Thanks Niledaughter. It’s just another way to keep motivated to read To Be Read Books for anyone who may have such a group.

Nan wrote: "Thanks Niledaughter. It’s just another way to keep motivated to read To Be Read Books for anyone who may have such a group."

Thank you for the help :)
Do you think it can be put together in a way to serve the challenge and in the same time "the best Arabic books"list ?

Eileen and Ardene , just let me know if you decided a reading period and you need The Other Americans to be marked as upcoming read .

Unfortunately I am not ready to start reading right now. I'll let you know when is a good time. It will probably be next year sometime.

Eileen wrote: "Unfortunately I am not ready to start reading right now. I'll let you know when is a good time. It will probably be next year sometime."

No problem at all, it is totally up to you, whether you want to read it or not and when.

I have barely participated in the discussions, although I have completed my challenge 2019. Next year I would love to find the time and sometimes the mood to have a more active participation.
My readings don't interest those around me therefore I have no practice in the exercise of sharing and discussing ideas about these readings.

In the coming months I will be reading some books that have been waiting for some time, others recently published and others to be published at the beginning of the year, if someone wants to join in any of these readings or if they are interesting to include them in the 2020 plan, some of those books are:
The Ungrateful Refugee
Book of Disappearance
Doing Psychoanalysis in Tehran
A Sky So Close
An Imam in Paris: Al-Tahtawi's Visit to France 1826-1831
Velvet
Contemporary Plays from Iraq: A Cradle; A Strange Bird on Our Roof; Cartoon Dreams; Ishtar in Baghdad; Me, Torture, and Your Love; Romeo and Juliet in Baghdad; Summer Rain; The Takeover; The Widow
The Penguin's Song
Palestine as Metaphor
Daughter of the Tigris
The Old Woman and the River
Printed in Beirut
Mama Hissa's Mice
Our Riches
God 99
The Frightened Ones

I just found this list and although I have read other books by some of the authors mentioned, I have not read the books on the list itself https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/soc...
Maybe we can consider some of these titles?

That's a nice list. Thanks for sharing it.

Yes, thanks! I have Bird Summons, The Quarter, and "Find Another Dream" on my to-read (or listen, in the case of the latter) list.

Melanie wrote: "As always, I'm curious to hear members' thoughts about 2019 and possible directions for 2020.

I'm currently reading Reem Bassiouney's Mamluk trilogy (أولاد الناس: ثلاثية المماليك /..."

I think I have a copy of An Apartment Called Freedom somewhere ...I need to search , I would love to read it this year .

* Anyone is interested in reading The Seven Days of Man in January ?

Kenza wrote: "I have barely participated in the discussions, although I have completed my challenge 2019. Next year I would love to find the time and sometimes the mood to have a more active participation.
My re..."

Thanks Kenza, I will add them to our bookshelves, The Book of Disappearance seems very interesting .

Hello everyone :)
Soon we will announce our plan for 2020.
For now our first read will be The Seven Days of Man

Hi everyone, I am delighted that there will be a challenge again, I found it extremely helpful to explore authors or countries that I will not go for naturally. This year I would like to suggest 2 books that I loved in 2019: Woman at Point Zero ( Nawal El Saadawi) and Al Joumhouriya Ka'anna ( Alaa El Aswany) .
Thank you for the suggested book , it will be great if we could add a non fiction sections within the challenge which will cover the history or the science which has been in the region:). Happy New Year to everyone !!!!

Hi Majdouline, I have a book by Nawal El Saadawi on my to-read shelf that might interest you...My Travels Around the World. Happy New Year!

Majdouline wrote: "Hi everyone, I am delighted that there will be a challenge again, I found it extremely helpful to explore authors or countries that I will not go for naturally. This year I would like to suggest 2 ..."

Hi Majdouline , I am glad we have you with us and thanks for the recommendations:) we are always open to host buddy reads, and I wish more members will show interest . I do not think we read for Nawal El Saadawi before in the group, even though I read Woman at Point Zero years ago.

Melanie wrote: "Hi Majdouline, I have a book by Nawal El Saadawi on my to-read shelf that might interest you...My Travels Around the World. Happy New Year!"

This sounds interesting :)

N.B
I can see that The Republic As If: A Novel will not be available in English before August? I guess we can mention it again by the then ?

Hi Melanie, thank you for the suggestions I ll put My travels Around the world on my to be read :)

Hi Niledaugher, The republic as if: A novel sounds excellent as well !!!

Thank you for your suggestions girls!
I ll add a shelf on my goodread for the challenge and add these great recommandations.

I love buddy reads so I will be hapoy to coordinate my reads with people from the group :)

Niledaughter, I just checked The Republic As if , and it is the same book that I was mentionning initially..Really my favorite read of 2019 , I highly recommended it yo the group !!!!! :)

Majdouline wrote: "Niledaughter, I just checked The Republic As if , and it is the same book that I was mentionning initially..Really my favorite read of 2019 , I highly recommended it yo the group !!!!! :)"
Thanks ! :)

Niledaughter wrote: "Hello everyone :)
Soon we will announce our plan for 2020.
For now our first read will be The Seven Days of Man"

The discussion is open in here
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

I wish to be more involved tho year :) and to find more ebooks in Arabic

The other Americans yes. Also would love to reread Tayib Saleh Season of Migration to the North

Majdouline wrote: "Niledaughter, I just checked The Republic As if , and it is the same book that I was mentionning initially..Really my favorite read of 2019 , I highly recommended it yo the group !!!!! :)"
The Republic As If: A Novel is still banned in Egypt, I hope I can reach a digital copy of it, when the English version is out we may have a chance to read it as a group.

Inji wrote: "The other Americans yes. Also would love to reread Tayib Saleh Season of Migration to the North"

Hello Inji, I see several members are interested in reading The Other Americans, I hope we will be managed to read it as a group.

As for Season of Migration to the North, we already read it in the group, you can check the discussion in here:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Hello Everyone,

Are you guys interested in reading Jokha Alharthi "Celestial bodies" سيدات القمر ?

It is the first arabic novel to win the man booker prize, also it is set in Oman which is a very interesting country to discover.

I'm interesting. And I want to read it in the first 6 Month this year. I'm also interesting in someone to read together.

Mahmoud wrote: "Hello Everyone,

Are you guys interested in reading Jokha Alharthi "Celestial bodies" سيدات القمر ?

It is the first arabic novel to win the man booker prize, also it is set in Oman..."

Mahmoud, I read it last year. I really enjoyed it and can highly recommend it.

Mahmoud wrote: "Hello Everyone,

Are you guys interested in reading Jokha Alharthi "Celestial bodies" سيدات القمر ?

It is the first arabic novel to win the man booker prize, also it is set in Oman..."

I too read it last year. It wasn't my absolute favourite of the year, but I did like it.

Mahmoud wrote: "Hello Everyone,

Are you guys interested in reading Jokha Alharthi "Celestial bodies" سيدات القمر ?

It is the first arabic novel to win the man booker prize, also it is set in Oman..."

Are you interested in a certain date for a buddy read for Celestial Bodies ?

Yes, but ohnely when there are more as 2 Persons. Otherwise I cann conntect Mahkoud by my own. Thanks

agree with above. سيدات القمر is excellent.
I'm not sure if someone mentioned this book before, but I would love to read 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World by Elif Şafak.

If you guys want to make a group read for Jokha Alharthi "Celestial bodies" ... we could read it next month if that is convenient for you.

Very good idea.

Would February 1st or 15th be good or after ?
I have a copy, I am not sure I could catch up or not but I will try.

You mean the date for beginning or finishing? For me the end date 15th or end of februari is ok. I've the book at home. And have once started reading. But for a year or so, and not finished!
Somebody has said to me, there is also a film of it. Do you know something about that?

Johanna wrote: "You mean the date for beginning or finishing? For me the end date 15th or end of februari is ok. I've the book at home. And have once started reading. But for a year or so, and not finished!
Someb..."

I mean a start date to mark it on the group page so may be others who would love to join or follow the discussion can reach a copy of the book .
I have no idea about the movie, could be....

I'll google a little bit for the movie. Start date... everything ok for me! And Niledaughter thanks for the good things you do for this group. I'm realy like it.

I’m in for A group read for Celestial Bodies starting in February. I’ve read it and would be interested in hearing what others have to say. Thanks for the suggestion.