Reviews

Shelf Life: Chronicles of a Cairo Bookseller by Nadia Wassef

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mercurial's review

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informative reflective fast-paced

3.75

henrismum's review against another edition

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informative inspiring medium-paced

3.0

Take away: I've never read a book that used the "F" word more. The writer made some very good points in her narrative and then she had some odd comments. For example, the writer equated paying bribes to officials as a form of civil disobedience. The writer and her colleagues did wonder things with their bookstore in Cairo.
Narration: Vaneh Assadourian - pretty good
Normal Speed - Accelerated Speed
New - Second - Third - Committed
Series - Non Series - Non-Fiction ~~- Author~~
Listening to this book was a chore.
I'm glad I listened to this book.
I didn't want this book to end.
I could not wait to be done with this book.
Average, but better than anything I've written.

selinaparmar's review

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4.0

I agree with a lot of the reviews. The story was fantastic but the swearing seemed out of place and pulled you out of the narrative. Regardless, it’s a great memoir.

claralopez's review against another edition

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informative inspiring medium-paced

4.0

dottienic123's review against another edition

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hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

2.5

I was totally torn on this book. There are snippets of really interesting narrative and interesting tales and information.

I absolutely hated the author. (Sorry!) I admire her putting her POV out there but the book could’ve been so much more. It felt so much “no-one is as good as me” and a lot of the way of writing felt so disrespectful to employees, her peers and even customers. The author was also incredibly self-congratulatory and I believe a little humility goes a long way… lots of views are important

I’m a big feminist, and it’s an important topic, but it felt over the top in this book and all encompassing.

All in all, this wasn’t for me.