This is a running list of the group reads happening at MENA on Goodreads.

For the latest updates, check the MENA Lit Group page!

2024

  1. Jan-Mar Open Read for Children’s/YA (my focus on author Naomi Shihab Nye)
  2. Apr-Jun Open Read for Poetry
  3. Jul-Sep Open Read for Imaginative Lit (my focus on new book The Jinn Daughter by Rania Hanna)
  4. Oct-Dec | The Djinn’s Apple (Ar. تفاح الجن) by Jamila Mourani. English translation by Sawad Hussain.
For the following, the Group Discussion has ended

but the conversation is always open to new contributions

2023

  1. The Night Will Have Its Say by Ibrahim al-Koni (Jan.-Mar. Rasha)
  2. The House of Rust by Khadija Abdalla Bajaber (Apr.-Jun. Melanie)
  3. Open Non-Fiction Read (Jul.-Sep. I’m reading Shelf Life: Chronicles of a Cairo Bookseller by Nadia Wassef)
  4. Oct.-Dec. | If it is available in English translation (by Sawad Hussain) by then, The Djinn’s Apple (Ar. تفاح الجن) by Jamila Mourani. You can read an excerpt here:
    https://wordswithoutborders.org/read/…
    You can read about the book here:
    https://arablit.org/2018/01/23/why-dj…

2022

  1. Sons of the People by Reem Bassiouney (Jan.-Feb. Melanie)
  2. Bird Summons by Leila Aboulela (Mar.-Apr. Niledaughter)
  3. The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak (May-June Melanie)
  4. Stealth by Sonallah Ibrahim (July-Aug. Marcia)
  5. The Night Will Have Its Say (Sep.-Oct. Niledaughter – skipped, perhaps in 2023)
  6. Jokha Alharthi (Celestial Bodies and Bitter Orange Tree) (Nov.-Dec. Niledaughter/Marcia)

2021

  1. Flight Against Time by Emily Nasrallah (Jan.-Feb. Melanie)
  2. Women without Men (Mar.-Apr. Niledaughter)
  3. A Border Passage by Leila Ahmed (May-June Melanie)
  4. Granada by Radwa Ashour (July-Aug. Marcia)
  5. For Bread Alone by Mohamed Choukri (Sep.-Oct. Niledaughter)
  6. The Book Smuggler by Omaima Al-Khamis (Nov.-Dec. Melanie)

2020

1. The Seven Days of Man (January-March)

2. The Quarter (April-June)

3. An Apartment Called Freedom (July-September)

4. Travels with a Tangerine: A Journey in the Footnotes of Ibn Battutah (October-December)

2019

Jan. In the Name of Identity Amin Maalouf (Eileen)

Feb. Baghdad: City of Peace, City of Blood Justin Marozzi (Tamara)

Mar. Always Coca-Cola Alexandra Chreiteh (Melanie and M. Lynx Qualey)

Apr. (Topic: Beirut)

May (Topic: MENA Historical Figures) – I’m leading a discussion of The Architect’s Apprentice starting May 7. Anyone interested can contribute to our earlier discussion of the same book here.

June (Topic: Cairo) and Embrace on the Brooklyn Bridge by Ezzedine Fishere (Melanie)

July Mhani Alaoui Books (Melanie)

Aug. (Topic: Isfahan/Shiraz)

Sep. (Topic: Feminism)

Oct. (Topic: Istanbul)

Nov. (Topic: Fantasy & Folktales)

Dec. (Topic: Jerusalem)

2018

Jan. 15 – Mar. 1 North Africa The Open Door, Latifa Zayyat (Melanie leading) Goodreads discussion here, my post of related resources here

Mar. 1 – Apr. 30 North Africa Horses of God, Mahi Binebine (Carol leading)

May 1 – Jun. 30 Special Read: 101 Nights, Bruce Fudge (Melanie leading)

Jun. 15 – Jul. 31 The Levant (Al -Sham) Code Name: Butterfly, Ahlam Bsharat (Marcia leading)

Jul. 15 – Aug. 31 Arabian Peninsula (#1) The Green Bicyle by Haifaa al Mansour (Melanie leading)

Aug. 15 – Sep. 30 History Book A History of the Arab Peoples by Albert Hourani (Nile Daughter leading)

Sep. 15 – Oct. 31 Vertigo event (Marcia leading)

Oct. 15 – Nov. 30 Iran / Turkey #1 – Three Daughters of Eve (Lila leading)

Nov. 30 – Dec. 31 Iran / Turkey #2 – Refuge by Dina Nayeri (Eileen leading)