Currently reading 'Nile' by Laurie Devine. Looking to buy 'Married to a Bedouin' by Marguerite van Geldermalsen. I'm waiting 3 books on order from Amazon which are biographies on women's lifes in Egypt and Saudi.
Posted by Clear and QSY (Member # 15597) on :
I am reading a book called Living in Hell which is written by a woman named Ghazal Omid. It's an autobiography about her life in Iran.
Posted by Clear and QSY (Member # 15597) on :
quote:Originally posted by young at heart: Currently reading 'Nile' by Laurie Devine. Looking to buy 'Married to a Bedouin' by Marguerite van Geldermalsen. I'm waiting 3 books on order from Amazon which are biographies on women's lifes in Egypt and Saudi.
Oh, Married to a Bedouin - I was holding that in my hands at Virgin in City Stars just the other night. But I didn't get it. It looks interesting. The woman married a guy in Jordan and moved into a cave with him. It has lots of pictures. I might get it next time I go back there if it's still there. There was only one copy.
Posted by Questionmarks (Member # 12336) on :
I'm reading the latest Alaa El Aswani: Friendly Fire. Short stories, not impressed yet... For therest, there are 6 books with sports-regulations waiting, that's even worse...lol
Posted by Tigerlily (Member # 3567) on :
*Bearded Collie* by L. Baumgart (in German)
Posted by Kalila : ) (Member # 14517) on :
The Serpent Bride - by Sarah Douglas
Posted by Shanta Qadeama (Member # 9889) on :
Fiction:
Just finished Pillars of The Earth and about to start A Thousand Splendid Suns
Non-fiction:
Just finishing Longitudes & Attitudes and about to start Solar Revolution
Posted by Ayisha (Member # 4713) on :
Living the Egyptian Dream - A middle Aged Womans Gap Year by Margaret Rowswell (signed copy )
and
Nights of Rain and Stars by Maeve Binchy
Posted by Sashyra8 (Member # 14488) on :
quote:Originally posted by Ayisha: Living the Egyptian Dream - A middle Aged Womans Gap Year by Margaret Rowswell (signed copy )
and
Nights of Rain and Stars by Maeve Binchy
Just put it on my Wish list on Amazon,Ayisha.Seems interesting.
By the way,another i finished reading on Egypt narrative experiences subject,and loved it is this one.
The difference is that its all about a man´s experience side.A Western man experience view. Highly recomend it.Guarantee you wont get bored. Posted by Sashyra8 (Member # 14488) on :
quote:Originally posted by young at heart: Currently reading 'Nile' by Laurie Devine. Looking to buy 'Married to a Bedouin' by Marguerite van Geldermalsen. I'm waiting 3 books on order from Amazon which are biographies on women's lifes in Egypt and Saudi.
Heyy,YAH,i got that Married to a Beduin on my Amazon wish list,too.Im waiting to finish the bunch at my bedside first
See that we like to read very similar books,YAH. Keep me informed.
Read this one and loved every minute of it,too. You could like it.
The hammam expat experiences tales are extremely funny. Posted by Cheekyferret (Member # 15263) on :
I am reading Misery by Stephen Kind with Papillion at the ready...
Posted by Sashyra8 (Member # 14488) on :
quote:Originally posted by young at heart: Currently reading 'Nile' by Laurie Devine. Looking to buy 'Married to a Bedouin' by Marguerite van Geldermalsen. I'm waiting 3 books on order from Amazon which are biographies on women's lifes in Egypt and Saudi.
On the same line of the subjects you like to read,did you read this one?If not,get it,you will enjoy it.
I've read the book from Marguerite van Geldermalsen, she is Dutch. It's a nice book, a lot of appreciation for the culture, but partly it is once again the usual story; written down without the emotional part. Her story differs to the usual stories because her marriage seems to be succesful ( she is not completely clear about that) and isn't ending as a drama.
Posted by Questionmarks (Member # 12336) on :
A Good Husband Sometimes Beats his Wife Published July 24, 2008 Non-fiction 8 Comments Tags: Egypt, Joris Luyendijk, Middle East
Don’t worry, this is not my opinion, but that of a female university student from Egypt. It is also the title of a book by Dutch journalist Joris Luyendijk about the year he spent in Egypt as a student in the mid-nineties. The original Dutch title is Een goede man slaat soms zijn vrouw. It has been translated into German, but I don’t think the book has been translated into English.
Een goede man was first published in 1998, so before 9/11 and the changing attitudes towards Islam and Muslim people in the West. However, I think that this is not a dated book, and I think it would actually still be an eye-opener for quite a few people. Een goede man is an interesting and at times absurd book about a Westerner’s experiences trying to integrate into a Muslim-society and about the lives and ideas of Egyptian university-students, written several years before the integration of Muslims became a hot topic in Holland and other Western countries. Luyendijk talked with his Egyptian friends and other young people about Islam, the Western world, love, sex, gays, Jews, women’s rights, fundamentalism etc. There are times when he wonders: “Do I want to be friends with people who think gays should be killed and that it is okay to cut off the hand of a thief or for a husband to beat his wife?” Then he considers that his Egyptian friends probably think something similar about him: “Do we want to be friends with a guy who is okay with his wife working outside the house, who doesn’t believe in any god, and who doesn’t mind if his sister walks around in shorts or has sex before she marries?”
In the book Luyendijk focuses mostly on the differences between him and his Egyptian friends. Eventually he concludes that at that time (before 9/11) people and media in the West portrayed people elsewhere (not just in the Middle-East) as “being on the road to becoming the same as us / the West”. They are just different, and their road of development is just a bit slower than that of people in the West, but eventually they’ll get to “the same level”.
During his year in Egypt, however, he finds out that the people he meets do not want to become like the people in the West, on the contrary, they don’t see the West as superior or as a model society. In the afterword he wrote in 2007 to the edition I have (printed in 2007), Luyendijk makes a very fitting comparison. He was raised to view history as a long train, the first carriage of which was the West and the first coupe in this carriage was Holland. His Egyptian friends on the other hand were raised with a similar, but at the same time very different, view on history. For them human history was also a train, but for them the first carriage was reserved for Islam, the front part of that carriage for the Arab world and on the very first bench up front the Egyptian people were sitting. At the time this discovery was a huge shift in his worldview for Luyendijk, but I think that after 9/11 it has probably become clearer to many people that maybe, just maybe, being like people in the West is not the ideal for many or most Muslims. Though I suppose there are still plenty of people who don’t recognize this and for whom reading Een goede man could still be very ‘beneficial’.
I enjoyed reading Een goede man slaat soms zijn vrouw, though towards the end it became a bit repetitive with the same themes popping up over and over again. It is well-written and fast-paced, at times funny (though unintentionally so) when the two worldviews bump into each other (on purpose I am not using the word ‘clash’ here) and it gives plenty of food for thought about how ‘we Westerners’ (sorry for the huge generalization here as well as in most of this post) perceive Muslim cultures and the other way around, how they see us. The book gives some insight into how people from a non-Western, Muslim culture view Western society and where these ideas originate from.
On a personal level I could relate to this book as well, though my situation of moving to Armenia was definitely less extreme than Luyendijk’s time in Egypt. First of all, Armenia is a Christian country. The problem is, that people in Armenia receive most of their information about “the West” from tv, in other words from Hollywood movies and videoclips. Go figure what a distorted image that is! A lot of people are obviously reasonable and smart enough (or they have been abroad or have friends or relatives there) to understand that at least part of that image is incorrect. But still, enough of the distorted image (especially when it comes to relationships, sex and things like that) remains.
Een goede man was Luyendijk’s first book as a result of which he was asked to work as correspondent in the Middle-East for some major Dutch media-outlets. Another of Luyendijk’s books, Het zijn net mensen (appr. They’re Just Like Humans), became a bestseller in Holland two years ago and a somewhat controversial book at that. Luyendijk wrote in Het zijn net mensen about the limitations journalists have and especially journalists working for Western media in the Middle-East: they have to deal with many limitations on the information they can gather and how they can convey this information to their audience. As a result, people in the West get a very simplified picture of a complicated region. Luyendijk claims that journalists should be much more aware of and much opener about all these limitations, about what they don’t know or cannot know and about what part of the news they are unable to tell because of lack of time, space or lack of background knowledge of their audience. I am obviously giving Luyendijk’s point in a very abbreviated form. This stance caused an uproar among some of Luyendijk’s colleagues. I read this book last summer (I think), just before I started blogging and I found it a very interesting and though-provoking book about journalism. Het zijn net mensen has been translated in several languages (among others French, German and Italian), but not in English. You can read two articles in English about this book here and here.
People Like Us: Misrepresenting the Middle East By Joris Luyendijk Translated by Michele Hutchison Soft Skull Press $14.95, 240 pages FT Bookshop price: Ł10.39
Joris Luyendijk covered the Middle East for Dutch newspapers and Dutch state television from 1998 to 2003. Then he went home to the Netherlands and tried to write the usual correspondent’s book: an attempt to explain the Middle East. He found that he couldn’t, however, because he himself didn’t understand the Middle East. “I didn’t want to write a book explaining how the Arab world could become democratic, how tolerant or intolerant Islam is, or who is right or wrong in the conflict between Israel and Palestine.” Instead, he wrote a book that explained, in the casual style of a man chatting to a friend in a bar, that it was impossible for TV in particular or indeed for any journalist to explain what was happening in the Middle East.
A book that takes perhaps three hours to read changed the way readers thought about the Middle East and the media. The Dutch edition of People Like Us, published in 2006, sold 250,000 copies. Now this important book has broken beyond the Netherlands. That’s a feat in itself: a Dutch Moscow correspondent once complained that if the Messiah returned to earth and he reported the event in Dutch, the world would never find out.
In 1998, Luyendijk began work as a 26-year-old newspaper correspondent in Cairo, where he had studied at university. He dutifully covered summits and presidential speeches, and interviewed “talking heads”. He gradually realised this did not convey Egyptian reality, however. Hardly anyone in Egypt who was allowed to speak in public could be believed. The “talking heads” – academics or human rights activists, for instance – were paid by the government or by western NGOs, or were terrified of the secret police. Whenever Luyendijk did manage to interview the “common man”, he heard weird things. One man answered a question about an Egyptian “referendum” by telling him that Hitler had been subsidised by Jews who charged 38 per cent interest, we learn here. Was this common man typical? In a country without polls or fair elections or freedom of speech, it was impossible to know.
As he recounts, Luyendijk came to understand that covering an Arab country while saying little about ordinary life under dictatorship was like covering the Netherlands in 1943 while saying little about the Nazi occupation. Dictatorship was the story. The western media depicted the Arab world as a chessboard, but it was more like a poorhouse run by corrupt thugs. Luyendijk didn’t manage to convey this to his Dutch newspaper readers, because in a dictatorship it’s hard to get anyone to describe what life in a dictatorship is like.
Moreover, he points out, few western correspondents in Arab countries speak good Arabic or mix much with Arabs. Luyendijk himself speaks decent Arabic, or at least the Cairo variant, but he too struggled to socialise with locals. And so, hardly anyone in the west knows much about Arab reality. This became painfully obvious after the attacks of 9/11. How many Arabs supported Osama bin Laden? Impossible to know, says Luyendijk. How many supported the purportedly non-violent Muslim fundamentalists – and were these people truly non-violent? Impossible to know, too.
People Like Us helps explain the geopolitical tragicomedy of the past eight years. When western governments began trying to change the Arab world after 2001, they went in blindfolded, Luyendijk demonstrates. The western leaders and secret services with the most information made elementary misjudgments. They were stunned by 9/11. They were stunned when the Palestinians, finally allowed to vote, voted for Hamas. Many were stunned when Iraqis did not welcome American soldiers with flowers. They were stunned when Saddam turned out not to have weapons of mass destruction. Luyendijk blames the farce around WMD on how clueless the west is about the logic of dictatorship: “Saddam had allowed the impression that he had those kinds of weapons to persist, right to the bitter end: it was to prevent an insurrection among his own subjects”.
All these misjudgments were in part failures of the media, says Luyendijk. Years later, western coverage of the Middle East has not improved. The most reported event in the region in recent months was probably Barack Obama’s speech in Cairo, itself an event made for TV.
After Cairo, Luyendijk moved to Lebanon and then to East Jerusalem to cover the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for Dutch TV. Here he came across new distortions. The conflict was produced for TV, he argues. The stone-throwing, the suicide bombs, the 24 hours that Israel waits before responding to a Palestinian attack so that the world can reflect on Israel’s pain – all this exists chiefly so that TV news can cover it.
“The common idea about correspondents is that they ‘have the story’,” Luyendijk writes, “but the reality is that the news is a conveyor belt in a bread factory. The correspondents stand at the end of the conveyor belt, pretending we’ve baked that white loaf ourselves, while in fact all we’ve done is put it in its wrapping.” He also reminds us that TV reporters are slaves to their images; they can tell only the story shown by the images, because images speak so much louder than words. TV can convey the horror of a suicide bomb but it is less effective at conveying the humiliation of daily life under occupation. In any case, the Palestinians are no good at producing those images for TV.
Israel excels at baking the bread. It knows just how to package a soundbite or image for TV, whereas Palestinian spokesmen drone on in incomprehensible language. In fact, the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat deliberately kept articulate Palestinians off air for fear that they would acquire their own power bases.
Luyendijk acknowledges that a few serious publications, such as the New York Review of Books and a handful of others, carry accurate reporting on the Middle East. Unfortunately, hardly anyone reads them. TV, the dominant medium, distorts the picture and rarely explains how it gets “the story”.
Much of Luyendijk’s argument is familiar from the field of media studies. However, what sets People Like Us apart is that it is theory written by a practising journalist about a fantastically misunderstood region. The book applies beyond the Middle East: in Russia, where journalists trot around Kremlin press conferences as if that was the way to find out what was happening; and in South Africa, where journalists living in white Johannesburg suburbs were stunned by popular support for Jacob Zuma. Luyendijk’s next project is to try to propose a new way of doing journalism. Judging by certain recent misreadings of the world, it might help.
Simon Kuper is co-author of ‘Why England Lose’ (HarperSport) Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. You may share using our article tools. Please don't cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web.
Posted by Tigerlily (Member # 3567) on :
quote:Originally posted by Questionmarks: I've read the book from Marguerite van Geldermalsen, she is Dutch. It's a nice book, a lot of appreciation for the culture, but partly it is once again the usual story; written down without the emotional part. Her story differs to the usual stories because her marriage seems to be succesful ( she is not completely clear about that) and isn't ending as a drama.
Jeanne Eck´s view is totally about the emotional part.I rarely care anymore about the tourist views,and with this i mean the sights,the places,the monuments....etc.One can get plenty of that by reading a good tourist guidebook,but travel narrative is a world apart from that.
Posted by young at heart (Member # 10365) on :
Some really interesting books mentioned here. More to add to my wishlist I should not have ordered more books until I read the pile I have! Books really are a failing of mine . Yes Sash I think we have similar tastes. I have read Jeanne Eck. Found it very interesting. I plan to reread it as the first time I read it I had not been to Cairo so I think I will get more out of it the second time round. Anymore recommendations gratefully received Posted by Clear and QSY (Member # 15597) on :
quote:Originally posted by Shanta Qadeama: Fiction:
Just finished Pillars of The Earth and about to start A Thousand Splendid Suns
I just bought A Thousand Splendid Suns. I loved the Kite Runner until the very end. I'm told the second book is better.
Posted by Clear and QSY (Member # 15597) on :
quote:Originally posted by young at heart: Anymore recommendations gratefully received
You may have already read this one but it is a must as well:
And these are just some of my favorites from my collection. I've read most of these already. I told you I shipped 610 pounds worth of books from the US. Posted by *Dalia* (Member # 13012) on :
I tend to read several books at the same time and pick them according to my mood. At the moment I'm reading the following:
Thanks for all the recommendations! On order I have: In the Land of the Invisible Women.. Quanta Ahmed
Nine parts of Desire (The Hidden world of Islamic Women).. Geraldine Brooks
The View from the Garden..Carolyn Baugh (fiction)
Posted by Sashyra8 (Member # 14488) on :
quote:Originally posted by young at heart: Thanks for all the recommendations! On order I have: In the Land of the Invisible Women.. Quanta Ahmed
Nine parts of Desire (The Hidden world of Islamic Women).. Geraldine Brooks
The View from the Garden..Carolyn Baugh (fiction)
Have read all of those already,YAH. Nine Parts of Desire is several years old now,but extremely interesting.
In The Land of Invisible Women,the only part that i found tooo long and tiresome to read,at least for me,is the very long chapter on the Haj. Other than that,its very good,too.
The View From the Garden is sad and poignant,but worth every reading.
Clear and QSY and Young at Heart,seems as if we had consulted each other on the books before ordering. Posted by Ayisha (Member # 4713) on :
just finished both the ones I was reading Posted by Sashyra8 (Member # 14488) on :
quote:Originally posted by *Dalia*: I tend to read several books at the same time and pick them according to my mood. At the moment I'm reading the following:
Read it years ago when my fixation Morocco started.
Posted by Sashyra8 (Member # 14488) on :
quote:Originally posted by Ayisha: just finished both the ones I was reading
Tell us about it,how you liked it and such.....and get some more. Posted by young at heart (Member # 10365) on :
quote:Originally posted by Sashyra8:
quote:Originally posted by young at heart: Thanks for all the recommendations! On order I have: In the Land of the Invisible Women.. Quanta Ahmed
Nine parts of Desire (The Hidden world of Islamic Women).. Geraldine Brooks
The View from the Garden..Carolyn Baugh (fiction)
Have read all of those already,YAH. Nine Parts of Desire is several years old now,but extremely interesting.
In The Land of Invisible Women,the only part that i found tooo long and tiresome to read,at least for me,is the very long chapter on the Haj. Other than that,its very good,too.
The View From the Garden is sad and poignant,but worth every reading.
Clear and QSY and Young at Heart,seems as if we had consulted each other on the books before ordering.
Thanks Sash for your input. It's nice to get other points of view and ideas for future buys. I do tend to be on catch up most of the time Posted by Sashyra8 (Member # 14488) on :
This one is another hard to put down until you finish.
Ohhh,Young at Heart,and ive not even started listing them since there are many i buy originally written in Spanish,by Spain numerous book publishing press that dont have an English tranlation version,yet. Posted by young at heart (Member # 10365) on :
quote:Originally posted by Sashyra8: This one is another hard to put down until you finish.
Added to wishlist I enjoyed the novel: In the eye of the sun by Ahdaf Soueif.
Posted by Ayisha (Member # 4713) on :
quote:Originally posted by Sashyra8:
quote:Originally posted by Ayisha: just finished both the ones I was reading
Tell us about it,how you liked it and such.....and get some more.
The Egyptian one I enjoyed as I can relate to much of it with living here. It started as a diary she was writing so as not to forget even the trivial joys and and frustrations of daily life and getting to fit in and know a different culture. she sent this to her family and friends in pieces and they encouraged her to put it into a book. It is an excellent account of daily getting by here for 7 months.
The Maeve Binchy I also enjoyed, set on a Greek Island 4 people from different lives and with different problems meet and sort out their lives.
thoroughly enjoyed both Posted by young at heart (Member # 10365) on :
Added to wishlist Ayisha. I swear you will all bankrupt me Posted by Kalila : ) (Member # 14517) on :
Next i'm going to read THE CODEX ALERA by Jim Butcher 6 books up to now in the series i can't wait Posted by Ayisha (Member # 4713) on :
next book, Second Time Around by Marcia Willett, I LOVE Marcia Willet books if anyone sees any in second hand shops before they come to Luxor It will be my 3rd time reading this one Posted by Sashyra8 (Member # 14488) on :
Another one i read on the topic of Saudi women,and greatly enjoyed is,
Oh god I forgot that I have that on order too Posted by Sashyra8 (Member # 14488) on :
quote:Originally posted by young at heart: Oh god I forgot that I have that on order too
Posted by Questionmarks (Member # 12336) on :
quote:Originally posted by Sashyra8:
quote:Originally posted by Questionmarks: I've read the book from Marguerite van Geldermalsen, she is Dutch. It's a nice book, a lot of appreciation for the culture, but partly it is once again the usual story; written down without the emotional part. Her story differs to the usual stories because her marriage seems to be succesful ( she is not completely clear about that) and isn't ending as a drama.
Jeanne Eck´s view is totally about the emotional part.I rarely care anymore about the tourist views,and with this i mean the sights,the places,the monuments....etc.One can get plenty of that by reading a good tourist guidebook,but travel narrative is a world apart from that.
I mean with "without the emotional part" that it's more a chronologic base of what happened without mentioning feelings. I guess she must have had them otherwise she wouldn't marry there, but feelings are left unwritten. If I remember well, there is a part when she discovers that her husband has had identical attempts to get in a relationship with foreigners before she came in, but that was kind of vague. They lived in a Western country for a while, but ( again, if I remember well) it wasn't a succes. I've learned to appreciate books like Joris Luyendijk more, because they are about a bigger part of life, not only relationships. But of course it is, because this fits more into my own interest. Still I think it's a fascinating culture. The more you know, the more questions...
Posted by Sashyra8 (Member # 14488) on :
If i remember well,Jeanne wasnt married anymore when she lived in Cairo,and didnt marry again,either.
Are we talking about the same book,QM? Im Happier to Know You,by Jeanne Eck? Posted by Clear and QSY (Member # 15597) on :
quote:Originally posted by Sashyra8: Another one i read on the topic of Saudi women,and greatly enjoyed is,
I have this one too (it's in the pile of books I plan to sell at Bookspot next week). I considered putting it on the list as well, but it's more of a fiction type book like the "Princess" series by Jean Sasson. Even though it says based on actual events it reads more like a novel. Very good though. I think I read it in 2 days because it was hard to put down.
Posted by * 7ayat * (Member # 7043) on :
I'm reading the "Cellist of Sarajevo." It's good but not amazing
Posted by Sashyra8 (Member # 14488) on :
quote:Originally posted by Clear and QSY:
quote:Originally posted by Sashyra8: Another one i read on the topic of Saudi women,and greatly enjoyed is,
I have this one too (it's in the pile of books I plan to sell at Bookspot next week). I considered putting it on the list as well, but it's more of a fiction type book like the "Princess" series by Jean Sasson. Even though it says based on actual events it reads more like a novel. Very good though. I think I read it in 2 days because it was hard to put down.
I do believe the Sultana series is based in actual events that really happened, but i guess the author,Jean Sasson uses this type of novel like narrative on purpose to make the reading flow,and maybe even entice others to get interested in the story she wants to get across.
Posted by Clear and QSY (Member # 15597) on :
Is anyone planning on reading this book? Posted by *Dalia* (Member # 13012) on :
quote:Originally posted by Questionmarks:
A Good Husband Sometimes Beats his Wife Published July 24, 2008 Non-fiction 8 Comments Tags: Egypt, Joris Luyendijk, Middle East
I read this book years ago before I moved to Cairo and liked it.
Very interesting and a good read, not very sophisticated in terms of language and literary style though.
I'm not that much into harem stories, although I'll definitely read this one at some point. I really like Fatima Mernissi. But for now I'm more interested in theological issues.
quote:Originally posted by young at heart: I enjoyed the novel: In the eye of the sun by Ahdaf Soueif.
Me too.
For some reason I couldn't get into "The Map of Love" though. I hardly ever put a book aside once I started it, but couldn't really finish that one. It's on my big stack of books for sale or giving away now ...
And speaking of Egyptian authors -- I really liked The Open Door by Latifa Al-Zayyat.
Posted by advocate (Member # 13367) on :
quote:Originally posted by Sashyra8: If i remember well,Jeanne wasnt married anymore when she lived in Cairo,and didnt marry again,either.
Are we talking about the same book,QM? Im Happier to Know You,by Jeanne Eck?
I have read this book Sash, it's great
Posted by Dubai Girl (Member # 15488) on :
Ah I love books, they are my big passion in life.
We have a really cool secondhand bookshop in Dubai called house of prose which always has a great mix of new and old books and even better they give you half your money back if you return the books after reading!
I have a few on the go at the moment as always
I just finished Daughters of Shame by Jasvinder Sangera...it's an biographical book and tells the stories of British women who are being made to enter forced marriages by their parents as well as honour killings when the girls try to rebel. I bought this with my groceries on Saturday afternoon and I literally couldn't put it down, I finished it the same day.
I strongly recommend this one. It is the sequel to the authors autobiography telling about her own forced marriage when she was a teenager..I have not read that one so I will have to try and get hold of it.
I'm still on with Chigaco by Alaa Aswany...I really enjoyed Yacoubian Building so I bought this on the strength of that
I just bought Martina Cole's new one called Hard Girls...have only just started it. I recommend her books though, I have read them all and she is now one of bestselling UK authors.
I am also reading what to expect when you're expecting Posted by Shanta Qadeama (Member # 9889) on :
That reminds me - I saw "Inside Egypt" in the Egyptian American Bookshop in Carrefour (Alex Desert Rd) during the summer - I thought we weren't supposed to be able get it here?
Posted by young at heart (Member # 10365) on :
I bought the Daughters of Shame when I was shopping for groceries too DG! Enjoyed it. Your last book is that something you want to tell Posted by Sashyra8 (Member # 14488) on :
quote:Originally posted by young at heart: I bought the Daughters of Shame when I was shopping for groceries too DG! Enjoyed it. Your last book is that something you want to tell
Whats the author of that one,YAH?quick!!!
I also read this one some years ago and liked it much.
I searched that ofDaughters of Shame by Jasvinder Sangera..,and didnt find any with that author,Dubai Girl- Posted by young at heart (Member # 10365) on :
Jasvinder Sangera Will check your recommendation thanks.
Posted by Dubai Girl (Member # 15488) on :
It's Jasvinder Sangera Sash
Yes YAH my oven is containing a small Bun
It's not a secret anymore although I was sort of keeping it quiet but people (mainly family as my mother has took out an advert in the news of the world) keep writing on my wall on Facebook , I was deleting them because my inlaws are major superstitous, evil eye and all that but now I've just decided to leave the posts on there because I don't get on facebook everyday and probably loads of people have seen it...besides I am 3 months I've known for almost 2 and I hate keeping things quiet too!
Posted by Dubai Girl (Member # 15488) on :
Sorry typo her surname is spelt "Sanghera"
Posted by Sashyra8 (Member # 14488) on :
quote:Originally posted by Dubai Girl: It's Jasvinder Sangera Sash
Yes YAH my oven is containing a small Bun
It's not a secret anymore although I was sort of keeping it quiet but people (mainly family as my mother has took out an advert in the news of the world) keep writing on my wall on Facebook , I was deleting them because my inlaws are major superstitous, evil eye and all that but now I've just decided to leave the posts on there because I don't get on facebook everyday and probably loads of people have seen it...besides I am 3 months I've known for almost 2 and I hate keeping things quiet too!
Thanks,DG.Done finding it and added to my wish list.
Lovely news DG. Very happy for you Look after yourself.x
Posted by Sashyra8 (Member # 14488) on :
My Amazon wish list is about to explode in any moment soon. Posted by young at heart (Member # 10365) on :
Tell me about Sash! I'll be remortgaging the house at this rate Posted by Sashyra8 (Member # 14488) on :
quote:Originally posted by young at heart: Tell me about Sash! I'll be remortgaging the house at this rate
My book pile beside my night table is almost embarrasing to show by now. Posted by Sashyra8 (Member # 14488) on :
Do all of you readers always finish the book you started reading no matter what,or is it me the only one that has more than once gotten frankly bored and put it aside?
Posted by Clear and QSY (Member # 15597) on :
quote:Originally posted by Sashyra8: Do all of you readers always finish the book you started reading no matter what,or is it me the only one that has more than once gotten frankly bored and put it aside?
I read 3 or 4 books at a time
Posted by Sashyra8 (Member # 14488) on :
quote:Originally posted by Clear and QSY:
quote:Originally posted by Sashyra8: Do all of you readers always finish the book you started reading no matter what,or is it me the only one that has more than once gotten frankly bored and put it aside?
I read 3 or 4 books at a time
Ive read 2 at a time,too,but if the book doesnt inmediatly get me interested i put it away for good. I get attracted initiallly by the topic or title,then go and read the back description of the subject or plot,then decide to buy-read.
Posted by Ayisha (Member # 4713) on :
I browsed the bookshop yesterday and found The Five people You Meet In Heaven, just finished it, great book and thanks to who recommended it.
Posted by Cheekyferret (Member # 15263) on :
I recommended that book when I first joined and I was laughed at as it was deemed ****.
It is one of my favourite books... Tuesdays with Morrie is also a Joe Ablom book and is a tear jerker, even for a cold cow like me Posted by young at heart (Member # 10365) on :
quote:Originally posted by Ayisha: I browsed the bookshop yesterday and found The Five people You Meet In Heaven, just finished it, great book and thanks to who recommended it.
What is it about Ayisha? Hiding from Sash before I get a telling off Posted by Sashyra8 (Member # 14488) on :
quote:Originally posted by young at heart:
quote:Originally posted by Ayisha: I browsed the bookshop yesterday and found The Five people You Meet In Heaven, just finished it, great book and thanks to who recommended it.
What is it about Ayisha? Hiding from Sash before I get a telling off
I can even hear your pile of books screaming at you desperate for attention. Posted by young at heart (Member # 10365) on :
I know Sash I know Posted by Ayisha (Member # 4713) on :
quote:Originally posted by young at heart:
quote:Originally posted by Ayisha: I browsed the bookshop yesterday and found The Five people You Meet In Heaven, just finished it, great book and thanks to who recommended it.
What is it about Ayisha? Hiding from Sash before I get a telling off
When you die you meet 5 people, in turn, who have affected your life or you theirs in some way, even people you may not have met or were born long before you. These 5 people explain a part of your life to you where they had been linked in some way. Its worth reading, I couldnt put it down
I bought 2 more books, dunno if anyones read them, Nora Roberts - Key of Light and Key of Knowledge, there is a third apparently so will keep an eye out for that.
One of my favourite books is River God by Wilbur Smith.
Posted by young at heart (Member # 10365) on :
Sounds good Ayisha. Will add it to the the ever expanding wishlist! I have River God in my pile (burrows further to avoid Sash!)
Posted by Sashyra8 (Member # 14488) on :
quote:Originally posted by young at heart: Sounds good Ayisha. Will add it to the the ever expanding wishlist! I have River God in my pile (burrows further to avoid Sash!)
*raises an arched eyebrow and frowns at the same time*
Posted by young at heart (Member # 10365) on :
Burrowing even deeper to avoid Sash Posted by Sashyra8 (Member # 14488) on :
quote:Originally posted by young at heart: Burrowing even deeper to avoid Sash
*pokes YAH in the eye*
Posted by young at heart (Member # 10365) on :
Ouch! that hurt Posted by samaka (Member # 9228) on :
I am reading Ian McEwan's Atonement and Esther and Jerry Hicks, The Astonishing Power of Emotions - have been described on another forum as a New Age Freak, but who cares, each to his own! Posted by Clear and QSY (Member # 15597) on :
Just finished reading Not Without My Daughter in two days time. I saw the movie but had never read the book.
Last night I bought and started reading Inside Egypt: The Land of the Pharaohs on the Brink of a Revolution. It's by John R. Bradley. It is the book that was banned in Egypt last year. It's really good.
Has anyone else read this yet?
Posted by tina kamal (Member # 13845) on :
my book finally came in its called a woman in berlin.and its over die at the library. opps.havent read it all yet.but its a good book written by anonomous
Posted by *Dalia* (Member # 13012) on :
quote:Originally posted by samaka: Esther and Jerry Hicks, The Astonishing Power of Emotions - have been described on another forum as a New Age Freak
I checked out their website before, I'm a New Age freak too. Posted by Questionmarks (Member # 12336) on :
I've just read Zeitoun, written by Dave Eggers.
It's a real story about a Syrian immigrant, married to an American lady, builded a life in New Orleans, got 4 children, all pretty succesfull, until Katrina came. After this hurricane, he got caught by the police, he hadn't done anything wrong, but his Arabic background caused a lot of trouble.
It ws impressive to read.
A review:
36 of 38 people found the following review helpful: Simple Story, Simply Told, Simply Horrifying, August 11, 2009 By B. K. Davis - See all my reviews
First off, Zeitoun painted my house about 8 years ago so maybe I'm a little bit biased. I also think Dave Eggers is a great writer (doubly biased, perhaps). This story needs to be told to a large audience and Mr. Eggers is just the person to tell it. Maybe we can knock Eggers for the simplistic style he chose to write this book. On the other hand, this story frankly didn't need much artistic enhancement. It is shocking on its own accord and told in a very straightforward manner. Appropriate for the material, I believe.
Every American NEEDS to read this book. What we find in it is an America that lost its core. It is truly shocking that no matter how bad things were in New Orleans immediately following Katrina (most reporting was inaccurate and sensationalized), we are still Americans with common beliefs in our system of rights. That these rights were tossed out the window is appalling.
Mr. Zeitoun is a kind and gentle man. His signs are ubiquitous in New Orleans and he is a stranger to no one and well liked by all who have met him. That he could be mistreated is a crime and an outrage. That others were rounded up and treated even worse is one of the worst black eyes on our country. As I read this book I just kept saying out loud over and over again, "This cannot be America."
Posted by young at heart (Member # 10365) on :
quote:Originally posted by Clear and QSY: Just finished reading Not Without My Daughter in two days time. I saw the movie but had never read the book.
Last night I bought and started reading Inside Egypt: The Land of the Pharaohs on the Brink of a Revolution. It's by John R. Bradley. It is the book that was banned in Egypt last year. It's really good.
It's on my bookshelf waiting to be read Hides once again from Sash Posted by Sashyra8 (Member # 14488) on :
quote:Originally posted by young at heart:
quote:Originally posted by Clear and QSY: Just finished reading Not Without My Daughter in two days time. I saw the movie but had never read the book.
Last night I bought and started reading Inside Egypt: The Land of the Pharaohs on the Brink of a Revolution. It's by John R. Bradley. It is the book that was banned in Egypt last year. It's really good.
It's on my bookshelf waiting to be read Hides once again from Sash
*raising her brow*
Ok,which one of this books is still waiting to be read?Cause lemme tell you both are old by now,specially the first one. *repeatedly points her finger at YAH double line book pile*
That Not Without My Daughter is almost ancient reading by now.
Posted by young at heart (Member # 10365) on :
Inside Egypt It'll be even more ancient by the time I get to it Posted by Sashyra8 (Member # 14488) on :
quote:Originally posted by young at heart: Inside Egypt It'll be even more ancient by the time I get to it
*raising her brow again*
That book is a Must read for anyone seriously interested in Egypt.It opens our eyes to modern day to day Egypt and its current situation.Some might seem a grim view,but its the reality. I would recomend you to give it an upgrade putting it in you priority to read list/pile. Posted by young at heart (Member # 10365) on :
I will Sash promise. I think we ordered it at the same time. I need to make more time to read.
Posted by Sashyra8 (Member # 14488) on :
quote:Originally posted by young at heart: I will Sash promise. I think we ordered it at the same time. I need to make more time to read.
Less Mafia Wars and Cafe World
*runs to hide away*
Posted by young at heart (Member # 10365) on :
Don't forget my farm Posted by Sashyra8 (Member # 14488) on :
quote:Originally posted by young at heart: Don't forget my farm
Thanks God im not into that one.Couldnt keep up with the application addiction....looool!
Posted by young at heart (Member # 10365) on :
Oh I know My fish died because I forgot about them Posted by Tigerlily (Member # 3567) on :
Okay I read this week Ian Halperin's *Brangelina* since I am so fixed on Hollywood - and I wasn't disappointed. Angelina Jolie really was a screwed up person earlier in life. It was new to me that her mom allowed Angelina's boyfriend to move in with them when she was only 14. Hollywood or not - I'd never give my permission for that.
Furthermore it was interesting to read about her marriage to fellow actor Billy Bob Thornton and also I learned more about Brad Pitt's biography.
Next on my list are *Miami Beach Memories* by Joann Biondi (as I enjoyed my vacation so much there this past summer)
quote:Originally posted by young at heart: Inside Egypt It'll be even more ancient by the time I get to it
*raising her brow again*
That book is a Must read for anyone seriously interested in Egypt.It opens our eyes to modern day to day Egypt and its current situation.Some might seem a grim view,but its the reality. I would recomend you to give it an upgrade putting it in you priority to read list/pile.
Inside Egypt is fantastic. I think it should be given an upgrade as well.
I was not ever planning to read Not Without My Daughter because it is so old and I saw the movie. But when we were in Carrefour I picked it up at the Egyptian American Bookcenter and started flipping through it. I decided to get it anyway and I'm glad I did. It was so good I couldn't put it down. Although the movie does follow the book quite well books are always better than movies.
Posted by Clear and QSY (Member # 15597) on :
quote:Originally posted by Tigerlily: Okay I read this week Ian Halperin's *Brangelina* since I am so fixed on Hollywood - and I wasn't disappointed. Angelina Jolie really was a screwed up person earlier in life. It was new to me that her mom allowed Angelina's boyfriend to move in with them when she was only 14. Hollywood or not - I'd never give my permission for that.
Furthermore it was interesting to read about her marriage to fellow actor Billy Bob Thornton and also I learned more about Brad Pitt's biography.
I'm not really that into reading about celebs, but some of these biographies are quite revealing. I thought Angelina and Billy Bob were a much better couple than her and Brad. Did the book go into why her marriage with him broke up?
Posted by young at heart (Member # 10365) on :
Inside Egypt is under way Thoroughly enjoying it.
Posted by Sashyra8 (Member # 14488) on :
quote:Originally posted by Clear and QSY:
quote:Originally posted by Tigerlily: Okay I read this week Ian Halperin's *Brangelina* since I am so fixed on Hollywood - and I wasn't disappointed. Angelina Jolie really was a screwed up person earlier in life. It was new to me that her mom allowed Angelina's boyfriend to move in with them when she was only 14. Hollywood or not - I'd never give my permission for that.
Furthermore it was interesting to read about her marriage to fellow actor Billy Bob Thornton and also I learned more about Brad Pitt's biography.
I'm not really that into reading about celebs, but some of these biographies are quite revealing. I thought Angelina and Billy Bob were a much better couple than her and Brad. Did the book go into why her marriage with him broke up?
Im soo not into reading celebrities books either. Know some of them already. Posted by Tigerlily (Member # 3567) on :
quote:Originally posted by Clear and QSY: I'm not really that into reading about celebs, but some of these biographies are quite revealing. I thought Angelina and Billy Bob were a much better couple than her and Brad. Did the book go into why her marriage with him broke up?
Well their marriage was all about sex. And when that got old they grew apart. Also Billy didn't support Angelina in her humanitarian work and the couple broke it off pretty quickly.
Billy Bob Thornton really seems to be a ladies man; women absolutely fall for him. It was said that actress Tea Leoni had a fling with him last year while living separated from actor David Duchovny. I am glad though that they gave their marriage another chance after all.
Btw did you know that Billy Bob was already married FIVE TIMES??
Hee hee, hubby and I just watched "Bad Santa" with him again to get us in the right mood for the upcoming holiday!! Posted by Clear and QSY (Member # 15597) on :
Bad Santa is such a funny movie. I'll have to have my husband download it so I can watch it again.
Didn't know Billy Bob was married 5 times.
Posted by Clear and QSY (Member # 15597) on :
It's on tomorrow night so I'll be watching C +Q
Posted by Qmar (Member # 12602) on :
Just finished Burned alive by "souad". Bio about girl from the West Bank who was burned for shaming her family. Looks deep into the idea of Honour killings. Very sad but couldn't put it down. Have here from library Married to a Bedouin, read a few pages and can't really get into it, have to try again before time to return!
Posted by Sashyra8 (Member # 14488) on :
quote:Originally posted by Qmar: Just finished Burned alive by "souad". Bio about girl from the West Bank who was burned for shaming her family. Looks deep into the idea of Honour killings. Very sad but couldn't put it down. Have here from library Married to a Bedouin, read a few pages and can't really get into it, have to try again before time to return!
Thats another oldie but very good one book,Burned Alive.Read it some years ago.
Have that Married to a Bedouin sitting on my latest book pile. Posted by Qmar (Member # 12602) on :
In the middle of "Passing for normal" by Amy Wilensky Bio about Tourette's and OCD. Also The fish finger years (things your mum didn't tell you about bringing up kids) - very funny!! Recently bought Hell on hoe street (novel) and Allah is not obliged (novel). And various other books that I hope to get round to one day!!!
Posted by young at heart (Member # 10365) on :
quote:Originally posted by Sashyra8:
quote:Originally posted by Qmar: Just finished Burned alive by "souad". Bio about girl from the West Bank who was burned for shaming her family. Looks deep into the idea of Honour killings. Very sad but couldn't put it down. Have here from library Married to a Bedouin, read a few pages and can't really get into it, have to try again before time to return!
Thats another oldie but very good one book,Burned Alive.Read it some years ago.
Have that Married to a Bedouin sitting on my latest book pile.
My turn to slap Sash Posted by Sashyra8 (Member # 14488) on :
quote:Originally posted by young at heart:
quote:Originally posted by Sashyra8:
quote:Originally posted by Qmar: Just finished Burned alive by "souad". Bio about girl from the West Bank who was burned for shaming her family. Looks deep into the idea of Honour killings. Very sad but couldn't put it down. Have here from library Married to a Bedouin, read a few pages and can't really get into it, have to try again before time to return!
Thats another oldie but very good one book,Burned Alive.Read it some years ago.
Have that Married to a Bedouin sitting on my latest book pile.
My turn to slap Sash
No reason because it's on my recently arrived and newest pile. Posted by young at heart (Member # 10365) on :
What about your oldest pile Posted by Exiiled (Member # 17278) on :
Freshwater Fishing Tips and Techniques by Gene Kugach (ordered it). I'm not great at fishing and this book is supposedly excellent for "city-folk"
I chose this one becuase it has illustrations. Posted by young at heart (Member # 10365) on :
Sash I ordered books from Amazon today..... but they were for someone else. Impressed.. You should be Posted by Sashyra8 (Member # 14488) on :
quote:Originally posted by young at heart: Sash I ordered books from Amazon today..... but they were for someone else. Impressed.. You should be
Posted by Ayisha (Member # 4713) on :
Just started reading The Alchemist
Posted by young at heart (Member # 10365) on :
It's a lovely book Ayisha, Enjoy!
Posted by young at heart (Member # 10365) on :
Sphinx by T S Learner added to my wishlist Posted by hakima (Member # 11371) on :
Between American holidays and Kiahk, I've been pretty occupied but I did start "Growing Up Bin Laden: Osama's wife and son take us inside their secret world" by Najwa Bin Laden, Omar Bin Laden and Jean Sasson. The book has been very interesting while at times disturbing to the point where I have to put it down and pick up something more positive. Both Najwa and Omar seem like very good people. I'm sure there are a lot of Jean Sasson fans here!
Posted by hakima (Member # 11371) on :
Oh yeah- also started "Mother of the Believers" by Kamran Pasha. I'm not usually a big fiction person but sometimes to chill out...
Posted by Penny (Member # 1925) on :
Three Cups of Tea ..Greg Mortenson & David Oliver Relin
This is just such a wonderful and inspiring book.
Greg Mortenson was helped by a village in Pakistan to recover after a failed attempt at climbing K2. He was so moved by their kindness that he returns to build a school and ends up dedicating his life to building schools in the Northern region of Pakistan and also Afghanistan after the war starts there. He very much champions the cause of education for girls.
The book looks at the way a normal balanced education can help to combat the wave of extremist Islam being taught in the madrassas springing up all over the region , and how this can be a far more effective approach to the problem of terrorism than ever the bomb can be.
Posted by SherryBlueBerry (Member # 13867) on :
I just finished a very controversial booked titled The Shack. It delves into the Christian believe of the Holy Trinity...God the Father, God the Son & God the Holy Ghost.
Many pastors here are preaching very heavily against the book. One Egyptian Christian pastor Michael Youseff has a 12 week series of sermons on it!!
I felt if was a great book...I like to think God can take human form and come to earth..whether it be an African American woman, an Arab man, an Asian woman..etc
Then again...I am very much into controversial stuff! That's why I love ES!!
Posted by HiMyNameIs (Member # 17124) on :
Im currently reading ¨Cairo:City of Sand¨,by Maria Golia. Highly recommend it. Some excerpts from it:
¨....if Cairenes appear the most agreeable of yea-sayers it´s because ¨no¨implies confrontation,or worse,dissapointing the interlocutor.This is a culture where the art of determining what others want or need to hear is inculcated,perhaps compassionately,from birth.Egyptians are past masters at bending truths to create soothing speeches.¨
Wonderful, amazing, crazy, funny, and extremely creative. I am reading the German original and have no clue how it was possible to translate it into English since the author invents all those really hilarious names and things.
Posted by naya (Member # 13958) on :
Selim Nassib: I loved you for your voice.
Beautifully written, a love story describing the life of Om Kalthoum. Fiction, but with many references to historic events and people.
I loved it from the first to the last page...
Posted by Sashyra8 (Member # 14488) on :
quote:Originally posted by naya: Selim Nassib: I loved you for your voice.
Beautifully written, a love story describing the life of Om Kalthoum. Fiction, but with many references to historic events and people.
I loved it from the first to the last page...
Ohhh,Oum Kalthoum,the legendary voice of Egypt. Posted by Dubai Girl (Member # 15488) on :
Ohhh,Oum Kalthoum,the legendary voice of Egypt. [/QB][/QUOTE]
My husband loves her music and often plays it when we are in the car, it took me a few listens before I went from finding it strange to liking it. He said the same thing happened when he was a kid his parents used to play it and he hated it until he got older.
I am currently reading a whole series of "Babylon" books by Imogen Edwards Jones, author of Hotel Babylon....she gets anonymous people from various industries from tourism to travel to the music industry telling what really goes on and there is lots of interesting gossip..so far I have read about 5 of them, air babylon being my favourite.
Posted by young at heart (Member # 10365) on :
My friend's brother worked high up in a very posh hotel in London and he had the luck to put a very drunk Mr Depp to bed 'Nine Parts of Desire' is finished. Very enjoyable. Just deciding what to read next Posted by Sashyra8 (Member # 14488) on :
quote:Originally posted by young at heart: My friend's brother worked high up in a very posh hotel in London and he had the luck to put a very drunk Mr Depp to bed 'Nine Parts of Desire' is finished. Very enjoyable. Just deciding what to read next
One book less from your pile. I read that one almost 9 years ago Posted by Dubai Girl (Member # 15488) on :
My new hobby at the moment is audiobooks...there are numerous sites on the web where you can download them for free and I've joined audible.com which is owned by Amazon, not free but good prices. They have lots of audio books I like.
Now that I am a jobless layabout with nothing to do all day, much of my time was spent reading because I don't really watch TV, all of my friends have jobs so there is nothing much to do on weekdays. At least with these audiobooks I can walk the dog and do other stuff at the same time as listening.
Posted by Sashyra8 (Member # 14488) on :
Added to WL Sash Posted by Sashyra8 (Member # 14488) on :
quote:Originally posted by young at heart: Added to WL Sash
It isnt yet available on Amazon,so will have to wait.
Posted by young at heart (Member # 10365) on :
Yes Sash, Patience is a virtue! Gives me more time to get through the pile Posted by metinoot (Member # 17031) on :
For the first time I am reading "The Handmaid's Tale". Margaret Atwood died a little while ago and her book details are starting to emerge in my nations headlines.
Posted by young at heart (Member # 10365) on :
quote:Originally posted by young at heart: Currently reading 'Nile' by Laurie Devine. Looking to buy 'Married to a Bedouin' by Marguerite van Geldermalsen. I'm waiting 3 books on order from Amazon which are biographies on women's lifes in Egypt and Saudi.
On the same line of the subjects you like to read,did you read this one?If not,get it,you will enjoy it.
I read this a while ago, it's great and recommended
Posted by Merry Christmas (Member # 17993) on :
I do love The Alchemist book. I do also love On Distant Shores of Love.
Posted by young at heart (Member # 10365) on :
Just started 'A Week in December' by Sebastian Faulks. It's set in London and follows the lives of various people over 7 days. Enjoying it so far.
Posted by Miss Sharm (Member # 12405) on :
It was one of those books once you start you can't put it down Basically it's about a english woman who gives up everything in the UK to go and live with her holiday romance only to find it isn't quite as she expected. You follow them through their journey of culture difference, class difference.....a great, easy read that I would recommend Posted by young at heart (Member # 10365) on :
Will add it to my wishlist. Thankyou! (Not a word Sash!) Posted by Sashyra8 (Member # 14488) on :
quote:Originally posted by young at heart: Will add it to my wishlist. Thankyou! (Not a word Sash!)
Because you have´nt seen my last book load just fresh from Spain! Posted by young at heart (Member # 10365) on :
Major excess baggage then Posted by Sashyra8 (Member # 14488) on :
quote:Originally posted by young at heart: Major excess baggage then
Yup...i had to seriously scratch my pocket to pay for it Posted by marydot (Member # 15932) on :
The life of Muhammad by Tahia Al-Ismail.
Posted by *Dalia* (Member # 13012) on :
Currently reading "The Name of the Rose". I've been reading some of Umberto Eco's non-fictionial stuff for work-related reasons lately, and that reminded me that I have never read that book before and never watched the movie. Thoroughly enjoying it, btw.
Posted by Mo Ning Min E (Member # 681) on :
My favourite book is 'Faulcaut's pendulum' by Umberto Eco. One of those books, I suspect, plagiarised for the Da Vinci Code. Sadly don't have a copy here now. One of those books you simply have to read twice, or your brain starts to ache. Currently reading My Name Is Red, by Orhan Pamuk, think he won a Nobel. But phew! Good but heavy going so far.
Posted by *Dalia* (Member # 13012) on :
Foucault's Pendulum is definitely on my list to read next.
Orhan Pamuk is supposed to be good, let us know what you think of it when you've finished!
Posted by young at heart (Member # 10365) on :
I have My Name is Red on my bookcase (still to read, what's new!)
My friend has given me 'Life' by Keith Richards, looking forward to it.
Posted by young at heart (Member # 10365) on :
I have decided to re read Inside Egypt, The Land of the Pharoahs on the brink of a revolution as it so pertinent to what is happening at the moment.
Posted by Mimmi (Member # 3606) on :
i just Finished "Reunited in the desert" by Helle Amin.It's about how Helle succeded to get back her sons from Saudi Arabia.
An other similair book about an Australian case where the mother lost her son and daughter to their father in Malaysia"Once I was a princess" by Jacqueline Pascarl
Both easy to raed and quite interesting.
Posted by Sashyra8 (Member # 14488) on :
quote:Originally posted by young at heart: I have decided to re read Inside Egypt, The Land of the Pharoahs on the brink of a revolution as it so pertinent to what is happening at the moment.
God,exactly was i was thinking yesterday,YAH!That book gives a lot of insight of what is happening now in Egypt.Reading it again now would bring it up into perspective.
By then ,i didnt know much about the tortures part.
Great minds think alike Sash! I've finished re reading it and it certainly made things clear and so topical.
Posted by Momma_Dukez (Member # 16037) on :
I bought Jackie Collins' new novel, "Poor Little Bich Girl" on saturday and finished it today...was real good.
next one is "godess of vengeance" releasing in April.
Posted by murray-mint77 (Member # 13080) on :
Kitcheners last volenteer.........Fancy reading about the British history of WW1 and life here in the late 1800's- early 1900's exerpt from book ''the year 1896 saw the first person in Britian fined for speeding.Walter Arnold was driving through Paddock Wood in Kent at 8mph- 4x the 2mph limit imposed on built up areas by the locomotive act 1865- when he was spotted by a local constable who was having his lunch in a nearby cottage. The constable donned a police helmet and chased the car on his bicycle. He eventually apprehended Mr Arnold, who was later fined 1 shilling. There were just 20 cars in Britain at the time. Amazing imagine that LOL and it was real life a long time ago I would love to read cairo-city tapogragh will do a little search on amazon to see if its available in UK as it sounds a good read x
OMG now i remember why i wanted to read this book so much its based very close to where i actually live and work...(when not on maternity leave) WALTHAMSTOW Shanta have u read this book ? we both know the area well Posted by ExptinCAI (Member # 1439) on :
quote:Originally posted by Mo Ning Min E: Currently reading My Name Is Red, by Orhan Pamuk, think he won a Nobel. But phew! Good but heavy going so far.
Loved loved loved that book. Snow? Not so much.
Posted by Shanta Qadeama (Member # 9889) on :
The Way of All Flesh - Samuel Butler. I find him a witty writer, and considering it was written in 1903 some of the things he says are so pertinent to today (I don't mean in the context of the Egyptian situation). Only problem is, it's taken me 3 weeks to read 100 pages - just can't concentrate.
@Murray Mint - no I haven't. I do have back in Blighty a big dense heavy but fascinating book on that area of town. Especially around WWii and how it suffered during the Blitz.
Posted by Cheekyferret (Member # 15263) on :
I am reading the Diary of Anne Frank
Posted by metinoot (Member # 17031) on :
quote:Originally posted by Sashyra8: Im currently reading ¨Cairo:City of Sand¨,by Maria Golia. Highly recommend it. Some excerpts from it:
¨....if Cairenes appear the most agreeable of yea-sayers it´s because ¨no¨implies confrontation,or worse,dissapointing the interlocutor.This is a culture where the art of determining what others want or need to hear is inculcated,perhaps compassionately,from birth.Egyptians are past masters at bending truths to create soothing speeches.¨
Completely kick @ss book. I used golia as a username because of the excellence of her book.
I ordered "Modern Cairo" by Naguib Mahfouz 1-31-11 but it has yet to arrive. Its making me crazy to wait.
In the meantime I am reading Teddy Kollecks's memoir "For Jerusalem". I've read alot of non-fiction biographies/autobiographies in regards to Palestinian experience and I needed to understand the POV of the leaders who created the situation for Palestinians.
I tried to plow through Abba Eban's book but it was obviously written in Hebrew first and translated; very dry, dense and humorless. I can't imagine he was different as a person. Amazing how early Israeli leaders have such a widely different polarizing view of the same events while Palestinians have a unified view.
Posted by tigerlily_misr (Member # 3567) on :
quote:Originally posted by Cheekyferret: I am reading the Diary of Anne Frank
My daughter read this book three years ago at the age of 9. She was really touched and saddened by it.
Unfortunately we never made it to Amsterdam to visit her museum.
Posted by cbrbddd (Member # 3891) on :
quote:Originally posted by Mo Ning Min E: Currently reading My Name Is Red, by Orhan Pamuk, think he won a Nobel. But phew! Good but heavy going so far.
I attempted to read Pamuk's "Museum of Innocence" . . . Near the end now and decided to give up. and I found his other books a bit of a slog . . . I keep hoping I will like one as I am very interested in turkey . . .and he comes recommended. I guess I am just not in to his style.
For "Museum of Innocence", it started out interesting enough but I couldn't buy in to his obsession/affair with a young cousin when he was engaged to another woman . . . AND at a time when a woman's virginity was everything (still is in some ways/some countries) . . . I thought it was an extremely selfish idea to present that this guy could be having sex with 2 women at the same time and therefore "damage" both. And, though we live in more "modern" times (book takes place in 70's I believe) where virginity isn't valued so much . . . I still think it is more a man's dream to be carrying on with 2 women at the same time and a total betrayal of his fiancee to cheat on her.
Of course, that has nothing to do with his writing style and ability to transmit the story . . . just my thoughts on some of the ideas conveyed . . . I finally had to give up after he lost his fiancee (she fled in disgust with a broken heart), his young cousin married another man, and he spent 8 years going to her parents house to eat dinner with all of them!
Posted by Mo Ning Min E (Member # 681) on :
Currently reading a boigraphy of Samuel Pepys.it weighs a ton! Strangely. a lot of it covers the period when Oliver Cromwell was planning to hand over power to his son; and of course nobody wanted that, riots, demo's etc.The military was stuck in the middle, not wanting to turn their arms on the people etc .... sounds familiar? See that's the Brits for ya. Been there, done that.
Posted by Shanta Gdeeda (Member # 9889) on :
I was looking at info about Oliver Cromwell last week actually, seeing what similarities and differences there were!
Posted by maya811 (Member # 18602) on :
Does anybody in Cairo wants to give away books, she dont read anymore? Or maybe you can suggest place where to buy used books in english?
Posted by LovedOne (Member # 10222) on :
quote:Originally posted by maya811: Does anybody in Cairo wants to give away books, she dont read anymore? Or maybe you can suggest place where to buy used books in english?
This bookstore has new and also used books in English. I haven't been there yet but hoping to get there at some point. I've heard it's quite nice though.
Yes, The Bookspot is nice. There is another, smaller store for used books a bit further down road 9 too. (And Alef and Diwan for new books are on the same street).
If you're interested in borrowing instead of buying – the CSA in Maadi has a library.
Posted by adelly (Member # 14574) on :
I use bookspot all time. My daughter and i have been going there since 08. Also members of csa library, lol was there thurs. Just finished "woman at poimt zero" by nawal el saadawi.
Posted by Momma_Dukez (Member # 16037) on :
just finished lauren conrads la candy and just bought part 2, sweet little lies.
Posted by metinoot (Member # 17031) on :
Finally gotten into "Cairo Modern" by Naguib Mahfouz. The book took three weeks to get here from California!
Nice short chapters, great characters who really do represent the time, and the era is similar to now in Cairo.
Its an English translation and my ex has actually read this Mahfouz novel and the translation is really watered down.
Mahfouz cant write scathing accounts and dialogue in Arabic and I think out of respect for the culture divide the translator cleaned it up a bit.
Still its dicey enough!
Posted by Penny (Member # 1925) on :
The last Mahfouz I read was 'The Mirage'. Almost needed antidepressants after reading it!
Just about to start 'Jerusalem The Biography' by Simon Sebag Montefiore. Should keep me quiet for a while.
Posted by nevermind (Member # 6674) on :
Waiting to read this one here, wonder if has been postponed now or what
quote:Originally posted by adelly: Just finished "woman at poimt zero" by nawal el saadawi.
Did you take it back yet? Posted by adelly (Member # 14574) on :
No i bought it lol
Posted by metinoot (Member # 17031) on :
quote:Originally posted by Penny: The last Mahfouz I read was 'The Mirage'. Almost needed antidepressants after reading it!
Just about to start 'Jerusalem The Biography' by Simon Sebag Montefiore. Should keep me quiet for a while.
Thanks for the heads up on "The Mirage", I nearly went for "Wedding Song".
Actually halfway through "Cairo Modern" I highly regard this book. Its got to be one of his best, and I was floored by "Respected Sir" and "The Journey of Ibn Fattouma"
Simon Sebag Montefiore writes on topics I thoroughly enjoy reading. Though he sounds flamboyant and I am a little weirded out about a Dispora Jew writing on the Middle East, they can be one-sided and leave out entire chunks of history to push their agenda. Though he'd probably write in a flair I'd enjoy.
Next is to finish Teddy Kollek's "For Jerusalem" his autobiography. Actually he's written probably the most very down to earth and enjoyable Tome of any Israeli founding leader. And I have read a bunch.
Posted by young at heart (Member # 10365) on :
I can see the advantage of an e reader on holiday as normally my case is weighed down with books to read at the pool! but nothing beats a 'proper' book in your hand.
Posted by adelly (Member # 14574) on :
Just finished "rose madder" by stephen king and "dear john" by nicholas sparks.
Posted by tigerlily_misr (Member # 3567) on :
I just received "Come to the Edge" a memoir by Christina Haag. Christina Haag was the longtime girlfriend of John F. Kennedy jr.
I am an absolute fan of the late John F. Kennedy jr. I still think he was the hottest guy ever alive!!!!!!!!!
Posted by tigerlily_misr (Member # 3567) on :
Also next week I should hold a copy of "Stories I Only Tell My Friends: An Autobiography" by actor Rob Lowe in my hands.
Yes, that's correct, ROB LOWE became now also an author!!! If you like 80's teen flicks and are a fan of the so-called 'Brat Pack' don't miss out on this book.
So and now off to my backyard to read (and do some other things) lol!!!!! Posted by Clear and QSY (Member # 15597) on :
quote:Originally posted by adelly: I use bookspot all time. My daughter and i have been going there since 08. Also members of csa library, lol was there thurs. Just finished "woman at poimt zero" by nawal el saadawi.
Woman at point zero looks good. I just added it to my wishlist on Amazon
Posted by Sashyra8 (Member # 14488) on :
Lets see who's the first of us ES readers to catch on this one:
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
)![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
![[Frown]](frown.gif)
. Yes Sash I think we have similar tastes. I have read Jeanne Eck. Found it very interesting. I plan to reread it as the first time I read it I had not been to Cairo so I think I will get more out of it the second time round. Anymore recommendations gratefully received ![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
![[Cool]](cool.gif)
It will be my 3rd time reading this one ![[Confused]](confused.gif)
![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
![[Embarrassed]](redface.gif)