Current stop: Sri Lanka The countryside wore a dress of green and white–tea bushes and waterfalls. A delicate sweep of rolling hills that gave way to the great rain forest Sinharaja beyond. I will be honest: I picked this book because I was out of town and finished my previous book and forgot to pack…
Clear Light of Day
Current stop: India The room rang with her voice, then with silence. In the shaded darkness, silence had the quality of a looming dragon. It seemed to roar and the roar to reverberate, to dominate. To escape from it would require a burst of recklessness, even cruelty. I’ve loved pretty much every book I’ve read…
I Am Malala
Current stop: Pakistan Peace in every home, every street, every village, every country – this is my dream. Education for every boy and every girl in the world. To sit down on a chair and read my books with all my friends at school is my right. To see each and every human being with…
Zoya’s Story
Current stop: Afghanistan If peace returns to my country, I would like to go back and walk the destroyed streets of Kabul, the sun shining not on a burqa but on my face. I would think not of the past but of the future. As I mentioned previously, it was difficult for me to find novels…
The Complete Persepolis
Current stop: Iran. When we’re afraid, we lose all sense of analysis and reflection. Our fear paralyzes us. Besides, fear has always been the driving force behind all dictators’ repression. This graphic novel has been on my to-read list for years, so this reading challenge was the perfect motivation for me to pick it up…
The Last Girl: My Story of Captivity, and My Fight Against the Islamic State
Current stop: Iraq I still think that being forced to leave your home out of fear is one of the worst injustices a human being can face. Everything you love is stolen, and you risk your life to live in a place that means nothing to you and where, because you come from a country…
Sabriya: Damascus Bitter Sweet
Current stop: Syria Damascus became like a humble dove that fold its wings over a fracture and remains silent in steadfast defiance. Damascus, a smile of sorrow, harboring tragedy. The secret of your eternal survival, dear Damascus, is that silence in the face of disaster. You have suffered so much. Through raids and plunder, you…
Salt Houses
Current stop: Kuwait Alyan’s debut novel explores a Palestinian family caught between present and past, between displacement and home.–halaalyan.com Home can be a tricky thing to place. Is it where you were born? Where you grew up? Where you currently live? Or is it more difficult to pin down? As the above quote suggests, this…
The Girl Who Fell to Earth
Current stop: Qatar. Having a second world to belong to immediately made me cast doubt on my place in the first. I was really eager to read this book right away, and that is because of my utter lack of knowledge regarding Qatar. Additionally, the author, Sophia Al-Maria was actually born in Washington state, as…
I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced
First stop around the world: Yemen. I didn’t want to leave my family. I didn’t feel prepared. I already missed school painfully. Catching sight of my little sister, Haifa’s sad face during the celebration, I realized with a pang that I would miss her as well. I felt a sudden rush of fear: What if…
