D.J. Murphy

396 pages

Fatima Shihabi is an Iraqi woman who is forced to marry her cousin who is verbally and physically abusive. When she disappoints him by giving birth to a daughter, he abruptly divorces her.  She goes to live with her brother and attends college. With her new freedom she begins to pursue journalism and poetry. Through pursuit of this she begins awaken to the injustice and suffering around her. When she eventually comes across information which could mean her demise, it becomes necessary for her to flee the country but she is caught and detained.

Charles Sherman is a high powered attorney who has Fatima’s case thrown into his lap. Having many contacts from his years spent in Saudi Arabia he tries to find someone to take Fatima in. However, things have changed. It’s one year post 9/11 and no one wants to help.

Part fiction and part fact, this story goes a long way toward showing us what the people of Iraq and especially the women have endured. It also highlights how people can affect each other’s lives.

I highly recommend this book if you are interested in the plight of the people of Iraq.(4/5)

Would you like to win my gently-used copy of A Thousand Veils?

If so, please leave me a comment by 8 P.M.(EST) on October 1 and I will enter you in a drawing to receive this book.

Audiobook

I had only a meager understanding about what has gone on in Darfur when I read The Translator by Daoud Hari. It’s not a pleasant topic but it is one that everyone should be aware of.

On the same topic, this book deals with the atrocities witnessed by Brian Steidle as he served on the Joint Military Commission monitoring the Sudanese ceasefire and his frustration that no one seems to care.

This book did not give a lot of the political and social information behind the conflict which could have been valuable but there are other resources available that can do that. Steidle’s eye-witness accounts of what he saw are both horrific and gripping and I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to know more about the crisis in Darfur.(4/5)

For many more resources including the names of books, videos and organizations that can help please visit Natasha at Maw Books.

Owen Sheers

Imagine that you go to bed one night and sleep late the next morning. Your country is embroiled in World War II and the rumors that German troops are drawing near are growing stronger every day.

Imagine that you wake up and your husband and all the other men of the village have disappeared without a word.

Imagine that Germany had successfully occupied England.

Imagine a German patrol shows up in your village and there is no one to protect you.

With World War II more than 5 decades in the past, it is hard to imagine that things could turn out any differently than they did. However, in a short section in the Afterword, author Owen Sheers tells us that for a period of time in 1940, the scenario imagined in the book Resistance was a possibility. For Sarah Lewis and her neighbors, Mary, Menna, and Maggie, it is reality.

Things do not unfold as expected though and the story is not predictable. Nazi officer Albrecht Wolfram is battle weary by the time he and his patrol reach the village in Wales. He has seen and done things that he would rather forget and he is not interested in tyrannizing the women. Instead, he is interested in peaceful coexistence. The question then becomes will outside forces allow this. We don’t get neat and tidy answers and must draw our own conclusions but the story itself is the treasure.

I found this book to be a captivating story and I was constantly caught between wondering which parts were fact and which parts were imagined. Fortunately, the author took the time to let us know at the end of the book. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading about WW II. (4/5)

Mohsin Hamid
184 pages

A Pakistani man named Changez comes to the US to attend college. He ends up graduating at the top of his class at Princeton and wins a much coveted job at a valuation firm. After graduation, he meets and falls in love with Erica who is a fellow Princeton graduate with an emotionally unstable history. Changez stands out at his firm and is adjusting to live in New York and he is taking baby steps in his relationship with Erica. Then the events of 9/11 unfold and things begin to unravel.

I expected this book to be a difficult read for me because I tend to be very patriotic. It is a very compelling read and that was completely unexpected for me. I actually had a hard time putting it down.

I did find myself getting angry at some of the points made but I also found myself trying to understand from Changez’ point of view. Ultimately, I had to agree with some of the points despite the fact that I find them uncomfortable. (4/5)

Amal Rifa’i and Odelia Ainbinder
150 pages

Reason for Reading:
Triple 8 Challenge, Book Around the World, Expanding Horizons Challenge.

Amal Rifa’i(a pseudonym used for her protection) and Odelia Ainbinder are teenagers who met through a student exchange program to Switzerland. Amal is Palestinian and Odelia is Israeli. Their first meeting wasn’t great but through the mediation of a foreign correspondant, they were able to start a frank discussion about what it is like for each side in the conflict that rages in their homeland.

I admit that I don’t understand a lot of the history that is behind the situation in the Middle East. However, I did learn some things from this short little book. It has a chronology of events to help and a glossary for terms that the average person may not understand. I enjoyed hearing the differing perspectives of Odelia and Amal and though I am still somewhat confused, I found this to be a worthwhile book. (3.5/5)

I didn’t know that when I made my TSS post last week that not only would I not finish The Translator last Sunday, I wouldn’t even finish it last week. I had such high hopes for my reading schedule last week too but the real world intervened.

I did finally finish today though. What a powerful book this was!

Daoud Hari
200 pages

Reason for Reading: LibraryThing Early Reviewers title, Pub ‘08 Challenge.

For those of us living in the United States, the suffering that goes on in other parts of the world is unimaginable. Darfur is one of the places where such suffering takes place. Genocide is occurring there and military power is constantly shifting. The reasons for this are complicated. However, this book contains an appendix that helps to explain it.

Daoud Hari is a brave man who risked his life repeatedly to take reporters into dangerous areas so that they could get the story out to the world. I found myself wondering constantly as I read his story if I would have the courage to withstand the things that he did to help his fellow countrymen.

I cannot say that this was a “good” book because it is so difficult to read about the suffering of these people. However, this was a very enlightening book and offers a lot of information about the situation in Darfur. (4.5/5)

Daoud Hari
200 pages

Reason for Reading: LibraryThing Early Reviewers title, Pub ‘08 Challenge.

For those of us living in the United States, the suffering that goes on in other parts of the world is unimaginable. Darfur is one of the places where such suffering takes place. Genocide is occurring there and military power is constantly shifting. The reasons for this are complicated. However, this book contains an appendix that helps to explain it.

Daoud Hari is a brave man who risked his life repeatedly to take reporters into dangerous areas so that they could get the story out to the world. I found myself wondering constantly as I read his story if I would have the courage to withstand the things that he did to help his fellow countrymen.

I cannot say that this was a “good” book because it is so difficult to read about the suffering of these people. However, this was a very enlightening book and offers a lot of information about the situation in Darfur. (4.5/5)

Dalia Sofer
338 pages

Reason for Reading: Expanding Horizons Challenge, Triple 8 Challenge, Book Around the World, and The Notable Books Challenge.

On the Flap
“In the aftermath of the Iranian revolution, rare-gem dealer Isaac Amin is arrested, wrongly accused of being a spy. Terrified by his disappear-ance, his family must reconcile a new world of cruelty and chaos with the collapse of everything they have known.”

My Thoughts:
This was a touching and tragic story of a man who has worked his way into privilege and wealth from humble beginnings only to lose it all when the winds of government change directions. Touching because we see the bonds of family strengthened. Tragic because we are witness to the suffering and death of innocent people.

Not only do we experience the sufferings of Isaac and the prisoners but also that of Isaac’s family.

His wife Farnaz, who at one point wonders how she had married such a man, realizes how much she misses Isaac and has taken him for granted.

Son Parviz is safe in America going to college but he is drifting through his life unable to focus because he has lost the anchor that is his family.

Daughter Shirin is just nine years old but risks her life and her family’s safety in an impulsive act to help people she doesn’t know.

I though the author did a good job of showing the grief, shame and injustice of what the entire family felt at going from positions of prestige and authority to losing everything and fleeing for their life. The book also dealt with complex issues such as mortality, family ties, loyalty, and faith. This was a very worthwhile read. (4/5)

The 195 Countries of the World W/Capital Cities:

Afghanistan -Kabul

• A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini
• The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
• The Bookseller of Kabul - Asne Seierstad

Albania - Tirane

Algeria - Algiers

Antarctica -

• Decipher - Stel Pavlou
• Brief History of the Dead - Kevin Brockmeier
• Ice Bound - Jerri Nielsen

Andorra - Andorra la Vella

Angola - Luanda

• Jaime Bunda, Secret Agent - Pepetela

Antigua and Barbuda - Saint John’s

Argentina - Buenos Aires

• The Tango Singer - Tomas Eloy Martinez

Armenia - Yerevan

Australia - Canberra

• The Secret River - Kate Grenville
• A Town Like Alice - Neville Shute

Austria - Vienna

Azerbaijan - Baku

The Bahamas - Nassau

Bahrain - Manama

Bangladesh - Dhaka

• Banker to the Poor - Muhammed Yunus

Barbados - Bridgetown

Belarus - Minsk

Belgium - Brussels

• The Sorrow of Belgium - Hugo Claus

Belize - Belmopan

Benin - Porto-Novo

Bhutan - Thimphu

Bolivia - La Paz

• I Am a Taxi - Deborah Ellis

Bosnia and Herzegovina - Sarajevo

• The Cellist of Sarajevo - Steven Galloway
• People of the Book - Geraldine Brooks

Botswana - Gaborone

• The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency -Alexander McCall Smith

Brazil - Brasilia

• The Alchemist - Paul Coelho
• Keeper - Mal Peet

Brunei - Bandar Seri Begawan

Bulgaria - Sofia

Burkina Faso - Ouagadougou

Burundi - Bujumbura

Cambodia - Phnom Penh

• First They Killed My Father - Loung Ung
• When Broken Glass Floats - Chanrithy Him

Cameroon - Yaounde

Canada - Ottawa

• The Blind Assasin - Margaret Atwood
• Alias Grace - Margaret Atwood
• Crow Lake - Mary Lawson
• The Other Side of the Bridge - Mary Lawson

Cape Verde - Praia

Central African Republic - Bangui

Chad - N’Djamena

Chile - Santiago

China - Beijing

• The Good Earth - Pearl S. Buck
• Women of the Silk - Gail Tsukiyama

Colombia - Bogota

Comoros - Moroni

Congo, Republic of the - Brazzaville

• A Bend in the River - V.S. Naipaul
• Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
• The Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver

Congo, Democratic Republic of the - Kinshasa

Costa Rica - San Jose

Cote d’Ivoire - Yamoussoukro

Croatia - Zagreb

Cuba - Havana

• The Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemingway
• Our Man in Havana - Graham Greene

Cyprus - Nicosia

Czech Republic - Prague

Denmark - Copenhagen

Djibouti - Djibouti

Dominica - Roseau

Dominican Republic - Santo Domingo

East Timor (Timor-Leste) - Dili

Ecuador - Quito

Egypt - Cairo

• The Yacoubian Building - Alaa Al Aswany
• The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit - Lucette Lagnado

El Salvador - San Salvador

England -

• White Teeth - Zadie Smith
• Black Swan Green - David Mitchell
• The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Shaffer and Barrows(Guernsey)

Equatorial Guinea - Malabo

Eritrea - Asmara

Estonia - Tallinn

Ethiopia - Addis Ababa

• There is No Me Without You - Melissa Fay Greene
• The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears - Dinaw Mengestu

Fiji - Suva

Finland - Helsinki

France - Paris

• The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette - Carolly Erickson
• Suite Francaise - Irene Nemirovsky
• Chocolat - Joanne Harris

Gabon - Libreville

The Gambia - Banjul

Georgia - Tbilisi

Germany - Berlin

• Stones from the River - Ursula Hegi
• The Book Thief - Markus Zusak

Ghana - Accra

Greece - Athens

Grenada - Saint George’s

Guatemala - Guatemala City

Guinea - Conakry

Guinea-Bissau - Bissau

Guyana - Georgetown

Haiti - Port-au-Prince

Honduras - Tegucigalpa

Hong Kong -

• The Language of Threads - Gail Tsukiyama

Hungary - Budapest

• Embers - Sandor Marai

Iceland - Reykjavik

• Independent People - Halldor Laxness

India - New Delhi

• Sister of My Heart - Chitra Divakaruni
• Motherland - Vineeta Vijayaraghavan
• Shantaram - Gregory David Roberts
• Beneath a Marble Sky - John Shors
• The Inheritance of Loss - Kiran Desai

Indonesia - Jakarta

• This Earth of Mankind - Pramoedya Ananta Toer

Iran - Tehran

• Reading Lolita in Tehran - Azar Nafisi
• The Blood of Flowers - Anita Amirrezvani
• The Septembers of Shiraz - Dalia Sofer
  

Iraq - Baghdad

Ireland - Dublin

• The Gathering - Anne Enright
• The Blackwater Lightship - Coim Tolbin

Israel - Jerusalem

• We Just Want to Live Here - Amal Rifa’i and Odelia Ainbinder
• A Woman in Jerusalem - A.B. Yehoshua

Italy - Rome

• A Thread of Grace - Maria Doria Russell

Jamaica - Kingston

Japan - Tokyo

• Samurai’s Garden - Gail Tsukiyama

Jordan - Amman

Kazakhstan - Astana

Kenya - Nairobi

• The Flame Trees of Thika - Elspeth Huxley
• The Camel Bookmobile - Masha Hamilton

Kiribati - Tarawa Atoll

Korea -

• One Thousand Chestnut Trees - Mira Sout

Kosovo - Pristina

Kuwait - Kuwait City

Kyrgyzstan - Bishkek

Laos - Vientiane

Latvia - Riga

Lebanon - Beirut

Lesotho - Maseru

Liberia - Monrovia

Libya - Tripoli

• In the Country of Men - Hisham Matar

Liechtenstein - Vaduz

Lithuania - Vilnius

Luxembourg - Luxembourg

Macedonia - Skopje

Madagascar - Antananarivo

Malawi - Lilongwe

Malaysia - Kuala Lumpur

Maldives - Male

Mali - Bamako

Malta - Valletta

Marshall Islands - Majuro

Mauritania - Nouakchott

Mauritius - Port Louis

Mexico - Mexico City

Micronesia, Federated States of - Palikir

Moldova - Chisinau

Monaco - Monaco

Mongolia - Ulaanbaatar

Montenegro - Podgorica

Morocco - Rabat

Mozambique - Maputo

Myanmar (Burma) - Rangoon (Yangon)

• The Lizard Cage - Karen Connelly
• The Glass Palace - Amitov Ghosh

Namibia - Windhoek

Nauru - no official capital

Nepal - Kathmandu

Netherlands - Amsterdam

New Zealand - Wellington

Nicaragua - Managua

Niger - Niamey

Nigeria - Abuja

• You Must Set Forth at Dawn - Wole Soyinka
• Purple Hibiscus - Chimimanda Ngozi Adichie
• Half of a Yellow Sun - Chimimanda Ngozi Adichie
• Graceland - Christopher Abani

Norway - Oslo

Oman - Muscat

Pakistan - Islamabad

Palau - Melekeok

Panama - Panama City

Papua New Guinea - Port Moresby

Paraguay - Asuncion

Peru - Lima

Philippines - Manila

Poland - Warsaw

Portugal - Lisbon

Qatar - Doha

Romania - Bucharest

Russia - Moscow

Rwanda - Kigali

• Left to Tell - Immaculee Ilibagiza
• A Sunday at the Pool in Kigali - Gil Courtemanche
• We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families - Philip Gourevitch

Saint Kitts and Nevis - Basseterre

Saint Lucia - Castries

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines - Kingstown

Samoa - Apia

San Marino - San Marino

Sao Tome and Principe - Sao Tome

Saudi Arabia - Riyadh

Senegal - Dakar

Serbia - Belgrade

Seychelles - Victoria

Sierra Leone - Freetown

• A Long Way Gone - Ishmael Beah

Singapore - Singapore

Slovakia - Bratislava

Slovenia - Ljubljana

Solomon Islands - Honiara

Somalia - Mogadishu

• Links - Nuruddin Farah
• Knots - Nuruddin Farah
• Aman, Story of a Somali Girl - Virginia Lee Barnes

South Africa - Pretoria

• The Life and Times of Michael K - J.M. Coetzee
• Cry, The Beloved Country - Alan Paton

Spain - Madrid

Sri Lanka - Colombo

Sudan - Khartoum

• The Devil Came on Horseback - Brian Steidle
• Not on Our Watch - Don Cheadle
• The Translator - Daoud Hari
• The Translator - Leila Aboulela

Suriname - Paramaribo

Swaziland - Mbabane

Sweden - Stockholm

Switzerland - Bern

Syria - Damascus

Taiwan - Taipei

Tajikistan - Dushanbe

Tanzania - Dar es Salaam

Thailand - Bangkok

Togo - Lome

Tonga - Nuku’alofa

Trinidad and Tobago - Port-of-Spain

Tunisia - Tunis

Turkey - Ankara

Turkmenistan - Ashgabat

Tuvalu - Vaiaku village, Funafuti province

Uganda - Kampala

Ukraine - Kyiv

United Arab Emirates - Abu Dhabi

United Kingdom - London

United States of America - Washington D.C.

Uruguay - Montevideo

Uzbekistan - Tashkent

Vanuatu - Port-Vila

Vatican City (Holy See) - Vatican City

Venezuela - Caracas

Vietnam - Hanoi

Yemen - Sanaa

Zambia - Lusaka

Zimbabwe - Harare

Ok…I have been over-committed for the 2007 challenges. I admit it. That’s why I have been avoiding all of the new ones that have been popping up, even though some of them look really interesting and fun. But, Melissa over at Book Nut is hosting a challenge that fits right in with my reading plans for 2008. I am participating in the Book Around the World Challenge which I joined for much the same reason that Melissa is hosting this challenge. So far in my international reading, I have found that I really enjoy authors from the Middle East. So, I am choosing to take the first challenge listed. I will read four books written by authors from different Middle Eastern countries.

Here are my choices:

• The Septembers of Shiraz - Dalia Sofer
• Reading Lolita in Tehran - Azar Nafisi
• A Woman in Jerusalem - A.B. Yehoshua (I was supposed to read this in 2007 but I don’t think I will make it)
• Gate of the Sun - Elias Khoury

Alternates:

• Istanbul: Memories and the City - Orhan Pamuk
• The Yacoubian Building - Alaa Al Aswany
• The Reluctant Fundamentalist - Mohsin Hamid

I am looking forward to the fun!