Middle East/North African Lit discussion

Welcome Marie , nice to have you with us :)

Hey, I'm from small-town Oklahoma but lived two years in Palestine, based in Ramallah and traveling all over as a journalist, foreign press coordinator, and avid olive harvester! My first book, Fast Times in Palestine, is about those times. (It's kind of George Orwell's Homage to Catalonia meets Eat Pray Love in the Holy Land.) I really fell in love with the Middle East, and Dahab is probably my favorite place on earth.

Great to find this group here!

Welcome Pamela :D
It's great to have someone like you in the group.. You can probably talk about the Mideast better than anyone here... You're Westerner and you lived the experience up close..
I'm sure you'll also have great times with us here :))

Hey, I just joined this group.

It's actually the very first group I join here on goodreads. I'm European, living in Jordan and lived in Morocco and Egypt in the past.

Initially I've joined this website just because it offers a good widget for my wordpress blog, but I actually start liking it a lot :D

Welcome "Sum of Mind" , I hope you will like it here with us :)

yes, Sum! what ND said... :D

Thank you girls :)

Assalamu alaikum Aasiyah :) and warm welcome !

Glad you joined us and hope you will like it in here , I did not read for Jhumpa Lahiri , thank you for talking about her . we had a novel for Shahriar Mandanipour in our last poll , we may read for him at some point . Did you watch Miral: A Novel as a movie ?

I'm looking forward to have you in our discussions , feel free to join any thread :)

Welcome Aasiyah! i really enjoyed the Mandanipour book and Museum of Innocence so i think you won't be disappointed in the Mandanipour. :D

Aasiyah ,
I just noticed that I wrote (Assalamu alaikum) instead of (Walaikum assalam) ...that is embarrassing for someone with mother tongue Arabic) :o

No , I do not like watching movies before books (I prefer books in general) , but it happened that I heard about the movie first , that is why I asked (but I do not have both).

I think you will like Goodreads , have a Have a great day too .:D

Hello Aasiyah -- welcome :-) If you want, you can take the easy way on Miral (like me) and just watch the movie. That way I won't be the only slacker in the group :-)

I couldn't finsish reading all comments.
It seems for me that should take me a year to finish it. lol
My name is Mohamed ,and Im Egyptian living in the U.S.
and want to say hi every body.

Salamat Mohamed :) welcome and hope you will like it here with us :D

Welcome Mohamed! what an interesting time to be in the U.S... :D

Salaam Books Aficionados,

I am Omar and I live and work in United States.I use to be a ferocious reader few years ago but my appetite slowed down due to starting a wonderful family and busy workload.

I really enjoy the list of books that you have here and I will do my best to engage fully when ever I have the opportunity. keep up the good work.

It really is great to be part of such an international group.

Salam Omar , Glad you joined us and hope you will find to read or share your thoughts with us :D

Sue wrote: "It really is great to be part of such an international group."

:D this makes me happy ...

Hello everyone!
I'm Jenine from Canada. I love reading and have always had a large interest in the Middle East, not only in literature (I would love some recommended reading) but I am interested in cuisine, languages, culture etc. I converted to Islam in 2006 and although I am slowly learning my faith there is lots more to learn. I look forward to discussions here!

Jenine wrote: "Hello everyone!
I'm Jenine from Canada. I love reading and have always had a large interest in the Middle East, not only in literature (I would love some recommended reading) but I am interested in..."

Welcome Jenine , very happy to have you with us :D and hope you will like it in here ...

cuisine....well , well :D l we have a thread here , wish to make it richer ;)

explore the group , feel free to goin any discussion and if you need any help just ask , we are around ...

Hello all. I am a Croatian living on the island of Newfoundland in Canada. I became interested in the Middle Eastern and North African Literature as an extension of my interest in photography and literature from southeastern Europe (and food, I guess). Writers such as Ivo Andric and Mesa Selimovic in Bosnia draw heavily on the historical and political connections between the Ottoman Empire and their homeland so after reading their work going over to Orhan Pamuk was not a big stretch... from there I just kind of kept going and started reading some Egyptian authors and am looking to expand that further.

Welcome Bojan :)
That was a very interesting background , I wish you will like it here . we are already discusssing a book for Orhan Pamuk if you would like to check the discussion , so who are the Egyptian authors that you read to ?

Thanks! My foray into Egyptian literature is fairly limited right now. For research reasons, I am reading a fair bit of literature that comes from small islands. However I have read and liked The Yacoubian Building by Alaa Al Aswany and Midaq Alley by Naguib Mahfouz. Looking forward to more suggestions. I should also probably mention a tiny bit of poetry by Moroccan Tahar Ben Jelloun who contributed verses to one of my favourite photography books, The Italians. I am looking forward to reading more work from the region.

Welcome Bojan and everyone i have missed welcoming! i've been a little absent lately. apologies...

i hope everyone likes it here and joins in as much of our fun as time permits. :D

Bojan wrote: "Thanks! My foray into Egyptian literature is fairly limited right now. For research reasons, I am reading a fair bit of literature that comes from small islands. However I have read and liked [book..."

That great :)
I read both novel but (Midaq Alley) from long time , also we discussed (The Yacoubian building) here , right after the Egyptian revolution . I have not read for Ben Jelloun yet , but hope to do that soon ..

Make yourself feel at home in here , and BTW , we are discussing our plan for the next year in Here

Hello. I'm currently studying (and reading, reading, reading!) on the Middle East and North Africa as I take a graduate degree in the subject from Princeton. I'm specifically researching the Rashidun Caliphs, Allah Bless them, with the hope to write something along the lines of an accurate historical fiction to bring those days and people to an English-reading audience.

My family and I most recently lived in Oman before coming here to Princeton.

I write a slightly humorous Middle Eastern culture blog at http://not-quite-right.net and my first novel One Hundred and One Nights about the small town in Iraq called Safwan (on the border of Kuwait) is forthcoming from Little Brown next month.

I look forward to participating here. I read in both English and Arabic and would be especially interested in taking on a translation project, if someone knows of an Arabic author who badly needs to be translated!

Wow , Welcome Benjamin ! :D

I hope you will like it with us , I will definitely check your blog and the novel . BTW ; I think you may like our 2012 tour , part of it is going to be historical (follow the link in my message 338) .

Feel free to participate in any of the group activities :)

I already checked your blog Benjamin and the novel looks interesting. Welcome to the group.

Hello everyone! My name is Angela. I am from Virginia. I am currently reading The Bastard of Istanbul and I was perusing the reviews
and I stumbled upon this group. Happy I did I must say. I have a new found interest in reading literature from Middle East/Northern Africa since what we see in the media is often negative and one sided. I hoping reading books based there will give me better insight into their culture, feelings, and experiences. I look forward to being part of the group.

Hello Angela and welcome on board :) I hope you will like it in here , feel free to explore the group and waiting for your comments about "The Bastard of Istanbul":)

Welcome Benjamin and Angela! I checked out your link to your new book Benjamin and have added it to my wishlist. It looks good! I hope you will enjoy this group! Did you check out the author's corner yet?

Hey, Angela! i know you! :D
jump right into the discussion for Bastard of Istanbul, Angela. i still have things to add...for instance, Wendy asked me a question that i haven't had a chance to answer yet. :S

and welcome Benjamin!...all of that sounds amazing. i must check your blog ASAP.

Hey all

It's taken me weeks to discover a Middle East forum here! Great to see so many active readers from the region. I'm haunting GoodReads mainly because I've self published my first novel, Olives . However, I'm finding more and more reasons to delve into the site.

I thought it slightly odd there was no mention of the Sharjah International Book Fair on the events thread, BTW - the fair draws over 500,000 visitors and is currently taking place - it's on until the 26th November. You can find out more news on it by following #SHJIBF on Twitter...

Hello alexander and welcome in the group , hope you will like it here with us .

Thanks for telling us about the Sharjah International Book Fair :)

Hi, I am really happy to be a part of this group and find new books to read. I have traveled quite a bit through out the Middle East and North Africa. I speak a bit of Arabic and love reading books by Syrian and North African authors. I am looking forward to reading beyond my usual boundaries.

Alexander wrote: "Hey all

It's taken me weeks to discover a Middle East forum here! Great to see so many active readers from the region. I'm haunting GoodReads mainly because I've self published my first novel, Oli..."

Welcome Alexander and Tamara! Your book looks interesting Alexander -- I just added it to my wishlist. Hopefully I can get to it soon. I hope you will consider joining in our discussion of Fast Times in Palestine since it sounds like you have a fair amount of knowledge on the subject :-)

Welcome Tamara , I think you are in the right place . just go and explore the group and feel free to join any discussion , glad to have you with us :)

Hi, I'm Linda A from Texas married to a Jordanian. I love to read books about the M.E. or written by M.E. based authors. I do not read Arabic, however.

Welcome Linda :)that is interesting .For Arabic ; It is ok , we discuss our selected books in English and we choose books that have English translations . BTW , if you know any Jordanian books in English please recommend them in "book recommendations" thread .

Nile daughter wrote: "Welcome Tamara , I think you are in the right place . just go and explore the group and feel free to join any discussion , glad to have you with us :)"

Thank you!!

Hello! My name is Steve. I have had an interest in the history of the Middle East for some time. As a result I have wanted to read more novels and short stories from the region in addition to History and non-fiction. Delighted to have discovered this group. Would love to get suggestions from group members. Thanks!

Welcome Steve , you joined the group in the right time for our historical tour ! hope you will like it with us , feel free to explore the group and if you need any help just tell us about it :)

Welcome, Steve!

Mona wrote: "Hello all! I joined the group in 2011 (I think maybe in August or September) but have never posted or followed along with the book selections. I hope to join in with the 2012 book cruises, however,..."

a belated welcome, Mona! i read Samarkand years ago and LOVED it and i'm so excited to read it again. i'm glad you'll be joining us. :D

Hi everyone! I just joined Goodreads and this group a few days ago. I look forward to seeing what books are discussed and recommended.

Welcome Mona and Keely , hope you will like it with us :)

Hi, I'm Tiff. I joined the group because I want to learn more about Arab/middle east culture. I am a recent convert to Islam and will be starting Arabic lessons in February. My Arabic now is very poor, just a few phrases and what I've memorized to pray. I'm excited to learn more and am setting a goal to read 6 books from the region this year- at least!

Welcome Tiff :D

I think /hope this group will help you increase your reading from the region and help you in developing your Arabic language , we have a new section for that :
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/group_...

Tareq wrote: "Hello. My name is Tareq Hassan, I am a first-time author from Amman. I hope I can bring a unique perspective to some of the discussions. No-No Boy is a favorite because that is sometimes how I fe..."

Welcome Tareq and I hope you will like it here with us :) I did not hear about "No-No boy"but I will check it .

Hello everyone and Nile daughter. I'm a book lover and an author by profession. I was born and raised in Lebanon and sadly witnessed the country go to pieces in the 70s. When I left to pursue a post-graduate degree in England, I was constantly asked what it was like to live in times of war, how people coped and so on. It was painful to realise that while your homeland was crumbling, the world at large was left in the dark. That was well before 24hour TV coverage.

So, eventually, I wrote a book about it. A work of fiction that was intended to capture the reader with a story line while revealing aspects of daily life in war-torn Lebanon. I'm not clear on whether I should mention the title here, so I won't. I went on to write another novel since, which is also women's fiction.

I look forward to interacting with fellow readers. Next on my to read list is 'The Hand of Fatima'.La mano de Fátima


Has anyone read it? I'm told it's excellent

Ahleen Dana , that was a very interesting intro ! I hope you will like it in here . I do not know about .The Hand of Fatima but I think one of my friends is reading it , we will see it may come up again in anther thread .

Feel free to explore the group :)