From the back:

"Asa Ibrahimi is a bright young Palestinian Arab whose future as a scholar in Jerusalem should be secure. But after enduring an undeserved arrest and interrogation, the demolition of his parents' home, and the deaths of several family members, Asa is overtaken by a sense of powerlessness. Despondent and enraged, he sees only one way out of the slow death that defines life under occupation.

Israeli military officer Neyri Ben-Ner has become disillusioned and anguished over the Arab Intifada (the Uprising), which has left hundreds dead and many more wounded in body and spirit. When he meets Jacky Cohen, a Harvard psychology professor on sabbatical in Israel, he thinks a stable future in American can be theirs. But at the dawn of a new life together, the lovers discover there's no escape from the global forces of violence.

Barbara Goldscheider's fine first novel gets you inside the minds of both Jewish and Palestinian individuals whose lives are inescapably caught up in the Middle East conflict. This is a story of tender and passionate love, of hope, and of deep tragedy. At the same time, the author, through her characters, views the current conflict from both sides and presents thoughtful dialogues on its origin, why it has continued for so long, and what must be done if it is to be resolved."

I haven't had a chance to read this yet, but since there was some interest in it on the Finnish forum, I'm going to offer it as a ring now and read it myself when it gets back to me.

NB! This bookring has been stalled (see below).

ETA 22 July 2012
Hippolein has kindly offered to send a replacement copy to the next participant so that we can continue with the ring. Thanks hippolein!

***
International bookring. The usual rules apply; ie. journal the book when you receive it, journal it again when you are ready to pass it on and try to read the book in about a month's time. (If unable to meet the deadline, please let me know.) Surface mail is fine though! Thank you and enjoy!

Participants (the list/order may change so please check here before sending the book on):

Tarna (Finland)
Ruzena (Finland)
GronnLivstil (Norway)
Brookler (Canada)
SeamonkeyofTVCH (US)
JeanSol (Australia)
RebeccaToh (Malaysia)
CindyPereira (Malaysia) - STALLED, did not journal the book and hasn't replied to repeated PM's
lils74 (Nepal) - asked to be skipped
E-sr (Spain) - inactive so will ne skipped for now at least
okyrhoe (Greece)
boekentrol (The Netherlands)
ETMadrid (UK)
back to Annimanni (Finland)

On its way to Tarna. Happy reading!

Thank you, Annimanni! This well-packed book arrived today and looks really interesting. Although I must admit that most of the time I’ve been admiring your beautiful book label. It’s just perfect.
So was your timing, I’m just about to finish another ring book. I might, however, read something else before this one. Canada Day challenge is just around the corner...

It’s a weird sort of puzzle. When deciding which kind of writing style to use, Barbara A. Goldscheider took pieces from two or more different puzzles (genres). Looking at the new picture she created, you can instinctively tell where each piece comes from. In her preface, the author says, “The style/methodology of .Al-Naqba combines fictional and non-fictional approaches. “ I don’t object to that, it’s just that she could have done it better.
She adapted the style of romance / women’s fiction / action novels and wrote detailed love/sex scenes plus thorough descriptions on protagonists’ looks and clothing. In non-fictional parts she keeps dropping dates and names so hastily it gets utterly boring. She really is lecturing.
I kind of lost the big picture somewhere in between.
Her text is undeniably fluent and easy read although she might have a bit larger vocabulary. I mean, characters are often .admitting something and quite a few (three at least) of them have .salt-and-pepper hair. A better author might have found and put some synonyms in good use, I think. Especially, since we’re living in computerized age. It’s so easy to push search/replace buttons.
The theme of the book is extremely important. I do appreciate the effort Goldscheider made trying to explain the Palestinian–Israeli conflict from both Palestinian and Israeli Jewish point of view. She may be slightly biased, being Jewish herself, but I allow it. Who could be completely neutral and objective, anyway?
I’m really glad I had a chance to read this book. .Thanks for sharing, Annimanni!

***
My computer broke down a week ago and I just realised I lost, among other necessary info, all BC addresses with it. I’ll send the book on as soon as I get ruzena’s addy.

The book is packed and I'll mail it as soon as I get out of the library. Enjoy, ruzena!

Arrived today.

"Nostalgically, he turned down David Marcus, a beautiful tree-lined street named after the American Commander who, as part of the pre-1948 Jewish military organization, the Haganah, helped excavate the Burma Road to besieged Jerusalem during the 1948 war between the Jews and the Arabs. He recalled from history books that Marcus, known by his nickname 'Mickey Marcus', had been accidentally shot by one of his own sentries."

Well well well. When one walks along a street, he does not think like that if he is not on his way to give a lecture.

The affected cocktail of facts plus fiction plus women's fiction got on my nerves, but I couldn't decide if I still read the book or not, because I have been looking for books on this subject. I'll go on looking... Sorry about the delay. The book now travels to the next reader as soon as I got the address.

-ruzena

Sent today.

Wow. I recieved that book fast from the last reader. I'll read it as soon as I can, as I've got 50 pages left of another bookring.

I'll probably need a couple extra weeks reading this one, as I've been rather busy with school, but I promise I'll finish it as soon as I can.

Finished it today, a bit earlier than expected. Interesting book worth the read.

Waiting for Brookler's address, so I can send it on.

Sent in the mail today.

A parcel was waiting for me when I got home today! Thanks, I'll get to it as soon as I can.

What a depressing book! The characters all face tragedy after tragedy, and seem to all be locked into the worst possible timing throughout the entire book. To their horrific individual fates is added the overall idea that there is no possible solution to the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict.

I also found the book poorly edited, with grammatical errors that at times left me groping for the meaning.

Mailed today to SeamonkeyofTVCH in California by surface mail.

Thanks/Merci Brookler! The package arrived in today's mail. I'm in the middle of a book on my Kindle but hopefully I can get to this on the weekend.

I also admire the book label.. quite different from my selection here.

Well it was interesting but so far fetched that all this happened to this small group of people and of course just by the dates used, the end was NO surprise at all. I know there are popular authors with repeated far fetched plots, like Danielle Steel.. oh but then I stopped reading anything by DS long long ago.

Anyway, I appreciate being able to read this book and participate in the ring.

I will now PM JeanSol in Australia to get address info so that I can ship the book on..

ETA: Whew! Had trouble finding next person, but finally had to search for the announcement of this ring and then luckily Jean-Sol had posted there.. that little hyphen made all the difference. So I've PM'd Jean-Sol and await an address.

Book is on the way to Australia.. USPS says nothing but airmail available so perhaps it would have been cheaper to buy the book.. but I love all the places this book has been and where it will be going.

So, wishing safe travels for our book as it makes that long flight.

Arrived in Melbourne today in the first hot day of the season. Thanks SeamonkeyofTVCH for sending it so quickly. I have a book to finish, then another bookring, then this one and I'll try to cram them all in before I go on my long overseas holiday. Otherwise I'll have to mail them from around the world.

It was a quick read and I learned a few interesting facts about this terrible conflict. The author obviously knows her subject but does not deliver it very fluently. I couldn't help thinking that some of the protagonists were really quite unlucky! I've PM-ed the next BCer on the list and hopefully she replies before I disappear on holidays.

Back on the road - this time on its way to RebeccaToh in Malaysia!

Just received this through the mail two days back.

Thanks. :)

I love reading it. It's the first time I read a story which evolves around these two most controversial nations.

No matter their differences, underneath their stoic exteriors, they're only humans...needing the most basic thing in life... love and happiness. Yet they live in constant fear. Fear of endless loss, dissapointment, heartache.

This book is now on its way to the next reader.

Hope you enjoy it as well as I have.