marcynewman's reviews
3102 reviews

A Woman is a School by Céline Semaan

emotional informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

4.0

Céline Semaan is a truly inspiring person. Her organization, Slow Factory, has pioneered so many wonderful resources for leftists. The book provides insight into her intellectual and creative journey. I was especially interested to learn about her father's work for Sukleen and her mother's work in fashion to highlight how Semaan brought together the ideas around her slow fashion work. Even more powerful are the ways in which she weaves together the elements of climate change and declonization, especially related to Palestine and Lebanon, into her work. She's a very inspiring teacher for anyone associated with these movements.

One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad

dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced

5.0

Omar El Akkad is one of the most eloquent, moving, thoughtful writers today. I love the fratmented nature of his writing - the way he weaves his journey as a journalist through his reflections on immigration and the current genocide in Gaza. The way he challenges American political systems and rhetoric is nothing short of brilliant. This is essential reading, especially for liberal Americans as it will challenge their backward thinking.

A Jewdas Haggadah by Jewdas

funny informative lighthearted fast-paced

3.5

A satirical hagaddah is what this is. It's structured like one and the language is enough like one it could probably be used as one at a proper seder (although perhaps not too proper a seder). It's a nice mixture of information and a playful punning of the traditional haggadah text. The politics of it are also really powerful - including a psalm written by Rabbi Brant Rosen. 

If I Must Die: Poetry and Prose by Refaat Alareer

dark emotional informative reflective slow-paced

3.5

This is a really powerful collection, perhaps mostly because it's a posthumously published one. Some of Alareer's poetry and prose is beautiful and deeply insightful. Some is informative, especially those that are comprised of interviews from Electronic Intifada. But perhaps because the anthology is an attempt to collect a body of work from a life cut far too short, it's a bit uneven. Most meaningful in the volume are the pieces that were authored during the Israeli genocide of Gaza, during which he was assassinated. Those are petrifying and penetrating and leave a lasting impact on the reader.

No One Knows Their Blood Type by Maya Abu Al-Hayat

emotional reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

A brilliant translation of a poetic novel. The cast of characters are powerful and moving as are the themes. I love that none of it is resolved and one leaves the story and the characters really contemplating their plights and relationships. An unusual novel about Palestine.

Perfect Victims: And the Politics of Appeal by Mohammed El-Kurd

informative reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

Mohammed El-Kurd isn't just a poet or an intellectual. With this book he has proven that in his short lives he is on par with giant thinkers like Frantz Fanon or Ghassan Kanafani. This book is truly essential reading for anyone who considers themself part of the Palestine solidarity movement, including anti-Zionist Jews. He pushes readers to expand their thinking and the way they use language in ways that may make readers uncomfortable in the best possible way. It's a poetically, powerfully written book that is critical for the moment we are in.

Islands in Flux: The Andaman and Nicobar Story by Pankaj Sekhsaria

informative fast-paced

3.0

The first half of this book is really interesting as it delves into the tribal communities of the Andaman Islands as well as the ecological diversity. But as a whole the book isn't very cohesive. It's merely a set of collected articles from The Hindu and Frontline and other publications so it can be repetitive in places and also doesn't really help someone who just wants insight into the islands and the issues they're facing. One thing this book definitely does well: shows you how horrible the tourism industry is for the Andamans and if you read it, you likely wouldn't want to travel there.

My Brother, My Land: A Story from Palestine by Sami Hermez

emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

This is an extraordinary book in so many ways - from the way it's narrated, beautifully weaving Sireen's story and Sami's context to its politics. Sireen's story is the very definition of sumud, steadfastness and ins deeply inspiring and moving as a result. The story is also quite harrowing to endure, albeit vicariously, what they all must go through as a result of settler colonialism in Palestine. 

I love that Sireen's brother, who much of the story revolves around, is not an easy hero to read about for most people in the West. And yet there Iyad is in all his glory as a dedicated resistance fighter. I love how the book makes you feel like you are re-living the second intifada as you follow Iyad's journey and Sireen's attempt to retrace his steps. I love the way Iyad's experience in prison is depicted and how resonant it is with the ongoing captivity of Palestinians in Israeli jails. Indeed, I love how Sami and Sireen's choice of language - using words like captivity - to accurate depict what it is for Palestinians who are kidnapped from their homes and loved ones and tortured in Israeli jails. I love how whenever Sami narrates the story of going to parts of 1948 Palestine - whether to follow Iyad as he goes from Israeli prison to Israeli prison or to follow the different resistance fighters as they pull off their operations - we get a history of that land: what it's origianl name is, what happened to the Palestinians who were forced off that land. It's a beautiful model for storytelling. 

Sami and Sireen's use of language and their contextualizing of the land - including the insistence of Arabic place names written in the Arabic script - brings all of historic Palestine to life in profound ways. 

Reading this book now - in 2025 - in the midst of massive campaigns to kidnap and imprison hundreds of Palestinians across the West Bank, especially in towns like Jenin and Turlkarem where so many of the people whose stories you will find in these pages, makes the book all the more timely, powerful, and resonant. 

No Enchanted Palace: The End of Empire and the Ideological Origins of the United Nations by Mark Mazower

informative medium-paced

5.0

I found this book by accident, but I'm glad I discovered it. While much of what is in the book is based on ideas I suspected in one way or another, it is fascinating to read the detailed historical elements behind those suspicions. Essentially Mazower explores the theory that the United Nations was created to preserve empire rather than to destroy it (this is why the veto power and the Security Council are set up in a way that favors particular states). The most fascinating element of this story is that of Jan Smuts, one of the architects of apartheid in South Africa who is also one of the architects of the United Nations. He framed documents to structure both systems--the state and the UN--in ways that would serve the British empire in particular. What he did not account for was the way that leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru--anticipating the Non-Aligned Movement post independence--would use the General Assembly to his own ends in ways that ultimately would lead to the downfall of apartheid in South Africa as well. Anyone interested in the birth of the United Nations should read this book as it is clear and well written and deeply interesting.

Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning by Peter Beinart

hopeful informative reflective fast-paced

4.0

Peter Beinart's book is a gift every antiZionist Jew should give to every Zionist relative, friend, neighbor. That is the audience here. Still, I found some parts of the book - especially the opening chapter - to be extremely profound because of the way he links Torah and Talmud to antiZionism. I expect that it may be a game changer for a lot of American Zionists. 

What I didn't appreciate so much was how he talked about Palestine in some places. His choice of not using the word genocide to talk about the last 15 months in Gaza I think is atrocious. Using that word isn't inviting comparison, as he suggests; it's about a legal term that legal scholars have decidedly demonstrated applies to Gaza. I also take issue with the fact that when discussing campus protests and how college students in the US have been impacted, he spends pages upon pages on Jewish students but never mentions the fact that the only people who were murdered or maimed in the US in the last 15 months were Palestinians. 

Still, I think this book presents an important opening and way of understanding how Israel has become a false idol for Jews and I think it's critical that this book is widely distributed in Jewish communities.