Read a book set in a Middle Eastern country

BookBrowse Reading Challenge
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Read a book set in a Middle Eastern country.

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Anyone have any ideas for a good book set in a Middle-Eastern country? I’ve already read (and recommend) There Are Rivers in the Sky.

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It’s been a while since I’ve read anything from that region, but the book I gave the highest rating to was Apeirogan, by Colum McCann.

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I have two recommendations for your middle east book:
Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad
The Human Scale by Lawrence Wright

Enter Ghost is kind of artsy and angsty involving Hamlet, of course, while The Human Scale is almost a thriller that tries to resolve a murder with cops from both Israel and Gaza. Quite a bit of social commentary in each one.

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Thanks, @Anne_Glasgow and @Rannie!

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I had an opportunity to read City of Widows by Nadia Hashimi pre-publication. I recommend it.

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Although it is not explicitly stated that it’s in the Middle East, I think Exit West by Mohsin Hamid could qualify. It’s excellent.

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Here are a few books I have read that take place in the Middle East. Most are non-fiction. Olson, Tamimi, and Shehadeh’s books were my favorites but I learned from all of the books.

Empress of the Nile by Lynne Olson (non-fiction, Egypt)

Leap of Faith: Memoirs of an Unexpected Life by Queen Noor (non-fiction, Jordan) —- read 20 years ago

We Could Have Been Friends - My Father and I by Raja Shehadeh (non-fiction, Palestine)

Fencing with the King by Diane Abu-Jader (fiction, Jordan) —- this was a book was a BookBrowse First Impression Book

They Called Me Lioness: A Palestinian Girl’s Fight for Freedom by Ahed Tamimi (non-fiction, Palestine)

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Oh!!! and,

The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali (fiction, Iran) —- I liked this one quite a bit too.

And one I want to read:

Reading Lolita in Tehran – A memoir by Azar Nafisi

And if you consider Cyprus in the Middle East (which many do), I LOVED Elif Shafak’s The Island of Missing Trees. This was a five - heart fiction book for me. Another of her books I liked and again a Middle East / European country is The Bastard of Istanbul (but does have several potential triggers).

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Elif Shafak is one of my favorite authors. As you can tell from above.

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Haha, now I’ve got TOO MANY options! Thanks everyone, I appreciate your suggestions. :slight_smile:

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I liked The Lion Women of Tehran also but I like The Stationery Store way better and it would count for the middle east prompt also.

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