Middle East/North African Lit discussion

Please share your recommendations in here .

Edit 9/2/2020
Here are the books we already read in the group from Iraq:

The Last of the Angels
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Baghdad Burning: Girl Blog from Iraq
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Naphtalene: A Novel of Baghdad
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

The American Granddaughter
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

The Long Way Back: Fuad Al-Takarli - A Modern Arabic Novel
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
Iraq + 100: stories from a century after the invasion
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

When Baghdad Ruled the Muslim World: The Rise and Fall of Islam's Greatest Dynasty
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Gilgamesh of Uruk
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Baghdad: City of Peace, City of Blood
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

#Some book recommendations
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

#Kurdish Literature
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

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

Daughter of the Tigris

Recommended by Kenza ,message 20
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Hi I’m new here and so pleased to have discover this group!!

My recommendations- both non-fiction but read like novels:

Late for Tea at the Deer Palace
Between Two Worlds: Escape from Tyranny

How do you tag books and authors?

Ru wrote: "Hi I’m new here and so pleased to have discover this group!!

My recommendations- both non-fiction but read like novels:

Late for Tea at the Deer Palace
Between Two Worlds: Escape from Tyranny

H..."

Hi Ru,
you use the add book/author "button" above the comment box. Your recommendations sound interesting!

I recommend The Book of Collateral Damage by Sinan Antoon. I read it last year and thought it was great.

I am not sure if it's good or not, but I currently have a copy of Naphtalene: A Novel of Baghdad by Alia Mamdouh and was planning on reading it at some point

Jalilah wrote: "I am not sure if it's good or not, but I currently have a copy of Naphtalene: A Novel of Baghdad by Alia Mamdouh and was planning on reading it at some point"

I have the same book. I read it years ago, but I can't remember anything about it. I might re-read it for the challenge.

Jalilah wrote: "I am not sure if it's good or not, but I currently have a copy of Naphtalene: A Novel of Baghdad by Alia Mamdouh and was planning on reading it at some point"

We read it in the group if you would like to check the discussion
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Niledaughter wrote: "Jalilah wrote: "I am not sure if it's good or not, but I currently have a copy of Naphtalene: A Novel of Baghdad by Alia Mamdouh and was planning on reading it at some..."

Thank you for the link! Sometimes when I order books from the library they all come at once. This one came with 5 others and there is no way for me to find the time to read them all at once. I had already had a look at Naphtalene and my feelings were like what some of the people in the group read said. It seemed very stream of consciousness which is not what I am in the mood for now, I decided to read Salt Houses first and am now reading A Map of Home instead.

Edited to add 5 months later, when I wrote the above I obviously thought this was the thread for Al Sham

So many interesting books. Books I haven’t read yet are Daughter of the Tigris, The President’s Gardens, The Old Woman and The River.

The Corpse Washer, and The Book of Collateral Damage are books I have read and liked.

I updated the list of what we read from Iraq in the group in my first post .
I read Absent long time ago and remember liking it .

Jalilah wrote: "Thank you for the link! ..."

You are welcome :) ...So many books to read! I know the feeling .

Nan wrote: "So many interesting books. Books I haven’t read yet are Daughter of the Tigris, The President’s Gardens, The Old Woman and The River.

The Corpse Washer, and The Book of Collateral Damage are book..."
Thanks for the recommendations
Daughter of the Tigris
The President's Gardens
The Old Woman and the River

#####
I think this is the second time someone shows interest in reading Daughter of the Tigris

Dear fellow book lovers, I have been extremely quiet over the last nine months or so - as i was busy moving myself, two kids and one hairless cat halfway around the world, from the US to Australia! I am only now able to squeeze in a little free time to check my Goodreads notifications. Very happy to see Niledaughter's post among the most recent in my cobwebbed inbox! I used to live in Baghdad (under Saddam Hussein, and later after the US-led invasion) and I have quite a few Iraqi books in my collection. like one of the earlier posters, I enjoyed Baghdad Burning. I felt it gave a very accurate view of the situation at the time, and was told with a good amount of wry humour. For a look at a slightly earlier point in time (but still under the Saddam regime) I can recommend Betool Khedari's "Absent" - you can see my review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... I have also read the Corpse Exhibition (short stories) by Hassan Blasim, which received very good reviews in general - but I found to hard to connect with it. I know this forum focuses on books by Arabic authors but i also would like to recommend 'The Marshlands" by Mathew Olshan. It is is set somewhere in between Iraq's past (under British colonial rule) and sometime in the future - hard to explain but definitely worth reading - you can see my review here https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... I'm glad I was able to check back in with this always interesting group and look forward to participating more often now that the moving boxes are (almost) unpacked!

Nan wrote: "So many interesting books. Books I haven’t read yet are Daughter of the Tigris, The President’s Gardens, The Old Woman and The River.

The Corpse Washer, and The Book of Collateral Damage are book..."
Thank you, Niledaughter for greening my list.

Gina wrote: "Dear fellow book lovers, I have been extremely quiet over the last nine months or so - as i was busy moving myself, two kids and one hairless cat halfway around the world, from the US to Australia!..."

Thank you very much for sharing! :)
I read Absent: A Novel almost ten years ago , I remember it as a very good read even though I can't remember most of it- I wonder if I still have a copy - I was also considering reading A Sky So Close: A Novel at some point.

Nan wrote: "Thank you, Niledaughter for greening my list...."

You are welcome! :)

I think this novel should be mentioned Frankenstein in Baghdad as it is the winner of the international Prize for Arabic Fiction 2014, and Man Booker International Prize Nominee 2018 and Arthur C. Clarke Award Nominee 2019.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/22/bo...

I am going to attempt to read I Stared at the Night of the City by Bakhtiyar Ali for this category. I don't know how I heard about it, here in this group? In any case my library has it, so I'll give it a try.

Jalilah wrote: "I am going to attempt to read I Stared at the Night of the City by Bakhtiyar Ali for this category. I don't know how I heard about it, here in this group? In any c..."

Please keep us updated :)

I think I may read a historical book about mythology, I wanted to read it for a while now, لغز عشتار: الألوهة المؤنثة وأصل الدين والأسطورة. It is about Ishtar "Inanna", I think it is only available in Arabic. Or, I would reads a novel that I had for a while ,An Iraqi in Paris

The Baghdad Clock by Shahad Al Rawi ⭐⭐⭐⭐ my review