Tyranny as seen through the eyes of a child. Having lived in the middle east for 25 years, I know all too well the secrets that Islamic families keep, particularly the women. And there are few people this days who are ignorant of the repressing in Islamic countries. Aren't we, as the enlightened West, obliged to lead these people out of darkness? Even if we have to drag them kicking and screaming?

Posting along to DeeKay57 as a surprise choice from the books I am releasing in Australia. Enjoy!

Thanx MizFiloos! Read the first chapter whilst waiting for my coffee this morning, what a noice surprise, thanx heaps!

Thoroughly enjoyed this book. Interesting point was I was in the middle of the book when the upheaval in Libya started!

leaving at my hairdressers who look forward to me depositing books for their other clients to read during their appointment.

saved this book from my wild release to send it off to lils74 in Nepal.

This arrived in the post today, with several other packages too. Hurrah! It never rains but it pours! Wonderful! Thank you, DeeKay57, for being so generous to send it so far. I look forward to reading this.

This is a book I started (just barely) in 2011, I thought it would be slow, but it was actually very easy to read. The writer has a beautiful writing style that is deceptively simple, but amazingly good. I want to learn from it. It’s very simple. It is, in fact, one of the few books written in the first person viewpoint of a child that feels like a child. He tells it like he would have seen it really being nine. I doubt I could re-read it, though; I found parts of it so sad. But that was another strength of the book, imo—its total honesty by and about its protagonist, and his parents. While I was often disappointed in his behaviour, he was a child, and his actions rang true. The conclusions, though small and quiet, were also fulfilling. It felt true, not like fiction. It’s a good book to start the year with. But so sad. Finished it late at night on January 10th.

Posted this out today for my "books by authors from unusual countries" RABCK--happy, safe travels, little book!

Arrived today, with a BEAUTIFUL postcard from Nepal. The package was open by customs,of course :( But the book is safe and sound.
Thank you so much for sharing!

With me now! :)
Thanks for letting me borrow this one.
I'll try not to take too long with it, ok?

Even if I'm journaling this one just now, I've read it a while ago, during summer vacations, in August. Before coming back home I read a number of other books, and I forgot to make the journal entry; sorry for that.

I liked this book a lot and it was a great, swift read, but I must say I couldn't quite empathize or even believe the main character, Suleiman, a 9-year-old boy who indulges in inexplicable cruel behaviour. As I didn't the other characters, his mother Najwa or his father Faraj. And this is why, I guess, I can't think of it as a great book.
Nevertheless, I loved the way the two stories told (the subjugation of Najwa to the rule of men and the forefathers, and the subjugation of Faraj to the rule of the regime) intertwine and complete each other as a critique of contemporary Arab society, where women must still adhere to strict moral codes while the ruling regime loudly proclaims a total break with the past.

Thanks a lot Arvores, for borrowing this one to me. It'll go back home as soon as I finish the other one you sent me, ok?

Its back "home" now, waiting till I find some time to read it. And then pass it on :-)


Reserved to sakirmo

Such a claustrophobic novel.
I felt depressed and oppressed by the heat, the surveillance, the regime, the narrowness. At first I liked the boy, Suleiman, and really empathized with him. But then I started to dislike him, all his betrayal games and malice.
I liked his mother even with all her fragilities, even when she decided to be submissive to her neighbours.
This book tells a lot about the condition of women in certain countries and regimes. I guess that what I really liked about this novel was the fact that all the characters were very well shaped, every one of them had a good side and a bad side, they were all so human, strong and fragile. Nothing was completely black or white, except the regime, the "Guide" and his followers, of course.

The book is now on its way to sakirmo (shipped yesterday), after the wishlist tag game.

Happy readings!

The book has arrived, thank you so much!!

This book covers an interesting topic and is of course well-written, but also bit long-winded at times, I often found my thoughts wandering to other stuff while reading it. Those images of interrogations & their consequences were vivid and chilling though...

Going to Tarya next, via wishlist tag game.

I got the book at today's BC meet-up at Forum's Espresso House. Thank you sakirmo and the courier(s)! So far I've read only one book by Matar, Anatomy of a Disappearance, or actually its Finnish translation Erään katoamisen anatomia (http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/13442401/), so I'm looking forward to reading this.

Greetings to sakirmo and Arvores!