The Middle Eastern Culture Book Club is a place to increase our knowledge of Middle Eastern Culture through enjoyable reading and conversation. To support that goal, we will be focusing on one novel and two related, supporting books each quarter and discussing them in a special forum topic. The novel will, of course, in some way increase our knowledge of some area, culture, or time period in the Middle East. It may be a novel by a Middle Eastern author or one that realistically portrays some slice of life in the Middle East (or both.) We will primarily, but not exclusively, focus on the novel during the second month.
The other two books will stand on their own, but will also provide background information for reading the novel. The first book will be something suitable to all ages and hopefully fun, easy reading – pictures or some kind of activity will usually be involved. This book will usually be non-fiction, but may occasionally be a picture book and could be almost any type of writing – history, art, cooking, etc. It will be chosen with the goal of building some sort of basic knowledge related to the topics covered in the novel. In many cases, this book will be an excuse to check out many of the beautifully illustrated books in the children's section of my local library and bookseller. We will start our quarter's discussion with this book.
The third book will be a work of non-fiction, generally history, anthropology, sociology, politics, or current affairs. It will be a book that provides further depth on the subjects in the novel. My goal is to pick a book that will answer any “Gee, I wish I knew a little more about...” type thoughts you might have while reading the novel. However, like the other two books, it will be a book that stands on it's own. I have noticed that there are several excellent authors who are writing both fiction and non-fiction books on similar topics related to Middle Eastern culture, and where applicable, we will read one of the novelist's non-fiction books after their novel. I love non-fiction, but I am well aware that some non-fiction is very dry and some is very readable. Since we are doing this for personal enjoyment and enrichment, we'll try to stick to the more readable books, but this is certainly a fair topic for discussion. We will primarily focus on this book during the third month.
This is not a required course, it is a book club to enrich our lives and have fun! Please feel free to read as much or as little of each book as you desire and to join the discussions whether or not you have read (or finished) any or all of the books!
Note: I've included links to purchase books from both Amazon and Alibris. Many people are more comfortable ordering over the internet with Amazon, but I have found that I tend to have better luck, in general, finding books related to Middle Eastern culture on Alibris.
Current Selections
| July | August | September |
|---|---|---|
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| We just want to live here by Amal Rifa'i and Odelia Ainbinder with Sylke Tempel | The Attack by Yasmina Khandra | Prisoners : a Muslim and a Jew across the Middle East divide by Jeffrey Goldberg |
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Prior Selections
| April | May | June |
|---|---|---|
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| Daily Life in Ancient and Modern Istanbul by Robert Bator | The Janissary Tree by Jason Goodwin | Lords of the Horizons : A History of the Ottoman Empire by Jason Goodwin |
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| Discuss | Discuss |
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