Tag Archives: Middle East

Destiny Disrupted, by Tamim Ansary (audio)

Posted on April 30, 2015 by Thistle

Subtitled: A History of the World Through Islamic Eyes It comes as no surprise that different parts of the world view the history of the world in different ways, or that the western view of history that I learned in … Continue reading →

Posted in 2015, Adult, Prose | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Together Tea, by Marjan Kamali

Posted on December 4, 2014 by Thistle

I’m taking a break from my HP rereading to escape into a few quiet, soft comfort books in December. Together Tea was first up on my list. The back of the book synopsis is a bit misleading, I felt, and the GoodReads … Continue reading →

Posted in 2014, Adult, Prose | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Castle in the Air, by Diana Wynne Jones (audio)

Posted on January 16, 2012 by Thistle

In Zanzib, a city in a land south of Ingary, a carpet merchant named Abdullah dreams of meeting and falling in love with a princess. He buys a magic carpet from a stranger one day, and that night, finds himself … Continue reading →

Posted in 2012, Prose, Young Adult | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Habibi, by Craig Thompson

Posted on October 9, 2011 by Thistle

This could have been a really nice story, with beautiful illustrations, all woven together very well. However, the cultural portrayals made me very uncomfortable, and I was very distracted by the constant vomiting and juvenile humor written/drawn throughout. I noticed a … Continue reading →

Posted in 2011, Adult, Visual | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Shooting Kabul, by NH Senzai

Posted on April 18, 2011 by Thistle

I have a difficult time reading children’s or middle-grade fiction because I recognize too many of the elements that go into writing them. Shooting Kabul was no different, and at first I struggled, but the story was so engaging that … Continue reading →

Posted in 2011, Children's, Prose | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

City of Veils, by Zoë Ferraris

Posted on March 19, 2011 by Thistle

When the body of a dead woman – beaten, burned, and bloated – turns up on the beach in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, an investigation begins into her death. I don’t normally read thrillers, but this one sounded interesting to me, … Continue reading →

Posted in 2011, Adult, Prose | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

The Woman Who Fell from the Sky, by Jennifer Steil

Posted on February 11, 2011 by Thistle

In the mid-2000s, Jennifer Steil agreed to teach a three-week course on proper journalism in Yemen. At the end of her time there, she was offered a year-long contract managing the newspaper, and after a few weeks of reflection back … Continue reading →

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Mondays in the Middle East, by David Cross

Posted on January 6, 2011 by Thistle

Mondays in the Middle East is a collection of emails. David Cross and his family lived in the Middle East for many years, where he studied the culture. Every week on Monday he would send an email home to friends/family … Continue reading →

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Returning to Haifa, by Ghassan Kanafani

Posted on December 16, 2010 by Thistle

My sister recommended three novellas by Ghassan Kanafani, and so I read all three. This was the last of them. In this story, Said and his wife Safiyya are going back to their home town Haifa twenty years after they … Continue reading →

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Men in the Sun, by Ghassan Kanafani

Posted on December 13, 2010 by Thistle

My sister recommended three novellas by Ghassan Kanafani, and so I read all three. Men in the Sun was the second I read. This is the story of three desperate men from Palestine trying to make their way to Kuwait … Continue reading →

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