MENA Book Club

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

We are on "The Saffron Kitchen" now and it's really good!

[nunyab 0]

STANDING ALONE by Asra Q. Nomani; An American Woman's Struggle for the Soul of Islam.

This is an excellent read!

Standing Alone in Mecca yes great book just finished reading it!!!!

now I am reading Extremely Loud & incredibly close by Jonathan Safran Foer about a 9 yr old boy who's father died in 9/11 buildings.

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

I'm waiting for the rest of my books to come for the book club so in the meantime I picked up "Three Cups of Tea".

Mom says it's the best book she's ever read.

[chaishai 1]

STANDING ALONE by Asra Q. Nomani; An American Woman's Struggle for the Soul of Islam.

This is an excellent read!

Standing Alone in Mecca yes great book just finished reading it!!!!

now I am reading Extremely Loud & incredibly close by Jonathan Safran Foer about a 9 yr old boy who's father died in 9/11 buildings.

i bought that and didnt crack it open yet - is it totally depressing?

i loved everything is illuminated both th emovie and book thats why i bought it

[chaishai 1]

We are on "The Saffron Kitchen" now and it's really good!

the cookbook? if so, try the tunisian fish ball recipe its awesome.

[nunyab 0]

I miss the book club---I never did finish the pomagranate book, and I regret it. Count me in if you want to revive the club for another book!

I just finished Once in a Promised Land by Laila Halaby. It is about a Jordanian couple living in America during the 9/11 attacks.

Jackie

JJ I didn't get in the last book club that would be cool..... anyone want to start it up?

STANDING ALONE by Asra Q. Nomani; An American Woman's Struggle for the Soul of Islam.

This is an excellent read!

Standing Alone in Mecca yes great book just finished reading it!!!!

now I am reading Extremely Loud & incredibly close by Jonathan Safran Foer about a 9 yr old boy who's father died in 9/11 buildings.

i bought that and didnt crack it open yet - is it totally depressing?

i loved everything is illuminated both th emovie and book thats why i bought it

well to be honest I am only on page35 and so enjoy his writting. I got a little teary at one point but hold great hopes further. Give me a couple of days and i'll let you know how it goes.....

Rajaa

[nunyab 0]

oh oh oh!!!!! there is a club... when's the next book?

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

Alright I got Zohra's Ladder and Once in a Promised Land today! That makes five books to cruise through now! Excuse me while I become book immersed!

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

Alright I got Zohra's Ladder and Once in a Promised Land today! That makes five books to cruise through now! Excuse me while I become book immersed!

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

My review of "Three Cups of Tea" by Greg Mortenson

I am impressed with this man's insight into the region and the work he is doing and the development of the Taliban and the perception of the various ppl involved in the book. It took me a few chapters to get into the book but once in I really wanted to know what happens next. Some parts really had me in tears and other parts lost my attention when it started getting detailed. That's when I knew I had to put the book down for a break to process all I had absorbed from reading.

This book took two parts for me. The first part is the love interests of this man and him finding his way through his successes and failures to his purpose in life. We also see the development of his dream to build secular schools in Pakistan and educate girls mostly with the foundation of the CAI by wealthy donors. The second part of the book is the turn his purpose took post 9/11 and the powerful connections he made with others who helped him along the way and the spread of building schools in Afghanistan. I was especially peaked when I read the parts about how journalist played a role because that's part of my area of interest. I noted to myself I may be revisiting this book later for a paper I might work on in my curriculum.

Overall his use of Arabic words in the book has given me the best understanding to date of what they mean in the context they are used. Now I can say I have a better grasp of these words when I see or hear them elsewhere.

I recommend this book to others seeking insight into the Muslim culture, and the poverty and ignorance that lead to the spread of the Taliban, and al-Queda. This man's work is incredible and admirable and possibly someday he will be nominated for a noble peace prize if he hasn't already. I have to say he is truly one of my new American heroes and if I won the lottery I would certainly donate to his foundation.

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

Thx Jenn! The combined threads make it much easier to find book reviews and eliminate double postings.

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

We are on "The Saffron Kitchen" now and it's really good!

the cookbook? if so, try the tunisian fish ball recipe its awesome.

My Review of the Saffron Kitchen:

This was the authors first book and I could tell that in some places she was repeating descriptions. She did a good job of making me feel I was the characters and going through what they were going through. I bawled my heart out when Maryam's father punished her the way he did and then banished her and I bawled my heart out again when her daughter Sara lost her baby. I was beginning to wonder what in the world is wrong with me if this book is making me so emotional.

The author did a great job telling the story of their entangled lives and the journey they each went through. Every time Sara ached for her Husband I ached for mine but maybe that is because I related with her being in her prime and young going through what she was going through not really feeling like you have a place. In someways that was the same as her Mother being lost between two worlds and two homes.

I was also pleasantly surprised that this book took place in both Iran and England. It is my first book becoming familiar with Iran and I wasn't as much as aware of the rich history it had. I see that Iran was concerned with what the English and American thought of them. And I was struck by the statement snuck in the book, "Do you think Americans are terrified people who just want to protect their homes?"

Later I learned this book came as a post 9-11 book and though it wasn't mentioned a lot in the book the author did want to inject points about perceptions since 9-11. I question if this book was not only written as a documentation of resolve for her own family life but also as a way to extend some light to readers about the region she is from. That it is not all bad and that there are people there now that just want the same things as we do. To live a peaceful life, a free life, and protect our homes.

I have studied the Iranian Revolution before and in this book I saw shades I hadn't seen before. Though this time reading this book was from a non-scholarly perspective. I did look up what Persepolis was and learned a little bit more about the region then I had prior known. I was already aware of some of the Greek history and mythology but to see some of where it was practiced with the burning the Persepolis in the once Persian empire was an interesting independent study.

Another part about the Iranian Revolution that I saw being described in this book was shadows cast from the other book we've read, "The Last Summer of Reason" being put into practice. As that book was written in Algeria I am unsure if this foreshadowed what was taking place in Iran or if it was inspired by the same movement in Iran.

I was confused a bit because I guess before I had read a review that this was like a cook book telling the story of a mother and daughter and the recipes the daughter learned from her mother. I was interested in gaining some knowledge and stories behind some Persian recipes but this book was all fiction and an entirely different story.

It was a beautiful pleasure to read and I would most certainly recommend it to others.

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

My review of:

For Bread Alone

In the introduction the translators explains that the book was

written in classical Arabic which he didn't understand and so the

book had to be translated again to a common language. So for me the

book starts out in blunt simple language. The real author describes

frankly what happened to him as a child. His abuse by his murderous

father, his awareness of his status in society, and then goes on into

great depth about his sexual revolution. I was shocked by some of

what I read in regards to the ####### and thieve hives. And also in the

openness about the practices of gays there and men raping other men

or in this case children.

He explained at length his level of poverty and his hunger. He

touched on a little bit of the politics. He did a lot of smoking and

drinking and sleeping with hookers. It was not what I expected at all

of Morocco. As the author ages his language becomes more complex and

we are invited on adventures into infidelity and smuggling. His mind

seems to become more cunning and manipulative as he describes his

thoughts to himself as he learns new things and gets into various

fights with others.

The books ending wasn't very poetic nor summed up anything. Just that

he decided to learn to read and write and some people were going to

help him do that. It almost seemed like it was a rush to finish the

book. Parts of the book skip several years between ages and as you're

reading along you get and intuitive sense from the language that he

is older but it takes a few pages until he reveals his age to the

reader. I'd recommend this book with a disclaimer and warning to

others that it might be too graphic for some readers.

[~Jackie~ 30]

Did you read Once upon a Promised Land yet?