Middle East/North African Lit discussion

Hello everyone :)

We would like to hear from you about your experience in MENA group this year. Also, what do you want to see next year.

We had a suggestion to read a prize winning literature, we have this list so far (message 19) :
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Last poll dealt with reading from the best Arabic literature is here- In case you would like to continue reading from it :
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2...

Please, let us talk together :D

I think I will wait for the book smuggler, which I already started as I am a bit slow (and it is a bit slow too)

Inji, looking forward to reading that with you! BTW, I just finished reading Jhumpa Lahiri's "In Other Words" from your recommendation. I loved the chapter "The Wall" the most - about how some Italians perceive her and her Italian as more foreign than her Spanish husband, despite the fact that her Italian is far more developed than his. Perceptions are fascinating.

I really enjoy the challenges because they encourage me to keep reading new books. The same for the group reads although this year I could find most of the books.

I enjoy the challenges, too. I've read several new-to-me authors from different MENA countries as a result of the challenges. I've got a couple of books left to complete this year's challenge.

I have been absent for the most part this year. I hope to be available more next year. I may try reading from some of the lists provided in past challenges as recent selections have been difficult for me to find. I can’t think of the name of the list at the moment but I have been following other members’ progress and those books are available.

Though I haven’t been participating, I have been reading messages and trying to follow what’s happening.

Melanie, I am so glad you liked it :)

As for the book club, I like getting exposed to more books but I definitely feel like I am missing the in person human component, would love to have a zoom book discussion for instance.

Jalila and Tamara

I think we can repeat the challenge as it is next year, unless you have some different idea. suggestions are welcome:)

Inji wrote: "would love to have a zoom book discussion for instance..."

Interesting idea, I guess we can study it.

Sue wrote: "I have been absent for the most part this year. I hope to be available more next year. I may try reading from some of the lists provided in past challenges as recent selections have been difficult ..."

It is always pleasure having you. The problem of books availability was mentioned several times. I do not know what we can do about it.

Niledaughter wrote: "Jalila and Tamara

I think we can repeat the challenge as it is next year, unless you have some different idea. suggestions are welcome:)

Inji wrote: "would love to have a zoom book discussion for..."

I'm fine with it the way it is, with a book from each different geographic area or country. I would have never read some of the books I did had I not felt compelled to look for books from places where I was not that familiar with the literature!

So far, we will keep the challenge as it is. but I am not sure about our reading plan for the next year.

Sorry. I didn't know which folder to put this. I thought some of you might be interested to read the good news. It took a long time to sort this out, but better late than never.
(Feel free to move this post if there is a more appropriate folder.)

https://www.theguardian.com/books/202...

Tamara wrote: "Sorry. I didn't know which folder to put this. I thought some of you might be interested to read the good news. It took a long time to sort this out, but better late than never.
(Feel free to move..."

This is great news! I read about it in a Facebook group I am in calked We Love Mesopotamia.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/58311...
They post lots of great stuff there, articles photos etc. It's worth joining Facebook just for this group!

We will be reading Sons of the People: The Mamluk Trilogy in January.

We will set the next year challenge as it was for the last couple of years. Any other opinion?

This sounds great. I'm also willing to read Stealth by Sonallah Ibrahim as a group read in 2022 if anyone else is interested. Any other books people want to read together?

Hi everybody!
A quick feedback on my experiences with the MENA group this year:

First of all, thanks for hosting this group, I much appreciate it!
This year I tried to participate more in the challenges and discussions than in 2020.
I managed to read 4/12 of the books in my challenge so I am perfectly happy that the challenge continues in 2022 as there are still lots of titles on my TBR :))
I am reading by whim (not by lists) and as my interests lie in African, European and MENA literature alike (and as I have lots of work-related reading to do which unfortunately does not fall into any of the three categories) I have to stay realistic about my reading goals and am quite happy about having finished the 4 titles on my list.

So thank you to all active group members for enabling me to broaden my horizon and for sharing your recommendations and thoughts on MENA literature!!!
I am looking forward to participating again in this group and to reading about your recommendations and reviews/thoughts.

I just want to echo Orgeluse. I would never have read this widely without this group's plans and resources. I have completed 10 of the tasks and hope to complete at least one more this year.

Thank you so much for sharing ideas, I look forward to participating next year!

I’m good with this year’s list. The only thing that I’d be interested in is looking for books by authors for ethnic groups in the region I haven’t usually read, e.g. Kurds, Berbers.

Thank you Orgeluse and Carolien, this spirit is what keeps this group going. :)

Nicole wrote: "I’m good with this year’s list. The only thing that I’d be interested in is looking for books by authors for ethnic groups in the region I haven’t usually read, e.g. Kurds, Berbers."

I guess we can push for it in the recommendations threads. I remember we had a discussion for minorities books at some point. I will search for it.

Melanie wrote: "This sounds great. I'm also willing to read Stealth by Sonallah Ibrahim as a group read in 2022 if anyone else is interested. Any other books people want to read together?"
I like Sonallah Ibrahim!

I will set the challenge soon !

I found this one for Kurdish literature since 2014
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

2022 challenge
https://www.goodreads.com/challenges/...

I have a new book to suggest as a 2022 Group Read (in addition to Stealth, although that one doesn't seem to interest anyone) - The Island of Missing Trees. I read the free sample and thought the writing was lovely (not surprising for Elif Shafak) and the story had potential. Anyone interested?

As this is partly set on the island of Cyprus and as it is a rather newly published novel I would be in for a (buddy/group) read!!

I'm in for Island of Missing Trees. I bought it for myself for my birthday in December.

Melanie wrote: "I have a new book to suggest as a 2022 Group Read (in addition to Stealth, although that one doesn't seem to interest anyone) - The Island of Missing Trees. I read t..."

I'm very much interested in reading Stealth as a group read. Sounds very interesting.

I am up for Stealth too.

I have a copy of " The island of missing trees" .

Niledaughter has added The Island of Missing Trees as an upcoming read for May-June.

For Stealth, would July-August work?

There's a forthcoming book (the English translation) that looks like it would be of interest to this group: The Night Will Have Its Say. The release date is May 10. If there's interest, we could read it Sep.-Oct. Anybody interested?

At this stage, The Night Will Have its Say doesn't seem to be available in Kindle, so I would need to skip that one.

I understand! We'll wait until the book is out before deciding about it. Thanks!

Melanie wrote: "Niledaughter has added The Island of Missing Trees as an upcoming read for May-June.

For Stealth, would July-August work?

There's a forthcoming book (the English t..."

Count me in!

Has anyone read or is planning to read Planet of Clay by Samar Yazbek? I'd love a discussion group for it.

Marie wrote: "Has anyone read or is planning to read Planet of Clay by Samar Yazbek? I'd love a discussion group for it."

Anyone?

Please nominate a buddy read for September/ October.
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We started discussing Stealth in here:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

We will be reading Celestial Bodies in November/December.

I read Syria Crucified