samahcanread__'s reviews
935 reviews

Palestine Speaks: Narratives of Life Under Occupation by Cate Malek, Mateo Hoke

challenging dark informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

 enhancing palestinian voices is so important these days more than ever. keep talking about palestine. keep calling for the end of the apartheid regime holding palestinians prisoners in their own lands. end the occupation. free palestine 🇵🇸 

Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote

adventurous emotional funny inspiring lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

 the book is truly a product of its time... 

Minor Detail by Adania Shibli

dark mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.5

 the book came to my attention after the annoucement that Frankfurt book fair has canceled the prize ceremony following the attacks on gaza, simply because the author was palestinian. I was furious; imagine your whole identity and existence is debated worthy or not of dignity and life.

The publisher had the book free to download on amazon, kobo and apple books, and it's part of the #readingisresistance redathon that is starting on Oct 22nd and ending on Nov 4th.

The story is devided into two parts. First part takes place in 1949, one year after the Nakba, an event that saw the displacement of more than 300,000 palestinians from their land, israeli soldiers are setting up camp and securing land for the first colonisers. A young woman is taken by the soldiers, raped and then buried in a ditch. Second part follows our protagonist, a young palestinian woman from Ramallah, who found this story and can't seem to shake this "minor detail" from her head.

It is a devastating look into one of the darkest times in the history of middle east, that is still happening today (5000+ palestinians in gaza are killed since the Oct 7th, 26 hospitals are destroyed, 2 churches, and more than 1.1 millions are forced to leave their homes from Northen Gaza to the south borders with Egypt).

However, for the impact of the story and the nuance to settle in the reader's mind, it needs more historical context to undestand why the protagonist had to take many length to travel from one point to another. To the average reader who just come to the realisation that israel is a colonising state built on stolen land, or to the reader that doesn't have historical context of the Nakba and the constant oppression of palestinians, it wouldn't make a greater impact compared, let's say, to someone like me, who grew up chanting "free palestine" 

Light in Gaza: Writings Born of Fire by Jennifer Bing, Mike Merryman-Lotze, Jehad Abusalim

dark emotional informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

4.25

 a collection of essays and stories from writers from Gaza talking about a place often forgotten unless for criticism.

The book is available for free on the publisher's website, alongside two others non-fic books to understanding the the occupation of Palestine. 

Ten Myths about Israel by Ilan Pappé

dark informative sad medium-paced

4.0

a short but dense book about the myths surrounding the creation of israel, the current situation of israel in the middle east, and the future of the region. The book has 10 chapters, each debunking a myth surrounding israel (how the palestinians aren't the native of the land, how zionism = judaism, how israel is the only democracy in the middle east, and the myths surrounding the oslo accords...)

this book is destined for the west and espeically for people who still believe that the "conflict" between palestine and israel is a complex matter that should resolved with a two state nation.

knowing that ilan pappé is born in haifa to two immigrant jews and a graduate from the hebrew university of jerusalem, and still wrote a book condemning israel of the displacement of palestinians during the event of the nakba, is quite fascinating. 

Orlando by Virginia Woolf

adventurous challenging informative inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

 this ken job is just clothes. 

Afterlives by Abdulrazak Gurnah

dark informative mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

 when speaking about Europe's presence in Africa, we often gloss over Germany. until recently, Germany was mentionned as one of the colonising countries in East Africa.

The book gave me a glimpse into a part of history that I never knew about; German colonisation of what is today Tanzania. Not going to lie, but it took me a long time to get used to the author's way of narration; the story is told in a continuation that once you start it, you can't stop, otherwise you'll lose track of the story.

I love stories that has in the center of them characters that are connected through a small action. I love stories about normal people, making their way in life, their hopes and dreams, their setbacks, and how despite everything, love find a way. 

Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson

dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

 it's very rare when I pull nighters to finish a book, but i'm super grateful that it happened twice this month. it was first for Cloud Cuckoo Land, next, it's this book.

Black Cake is basically mirrorball and this is my tryingby taylor swift combined. If you loved EEAAO, minus the sci-fi elements, you'll love this book. 

Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

 I don't understand how mediocre men with shitty personalities (william shakespeare) pull up the baddest b*tches in town (my girl Agnes) 

Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

adventurous emotional informative inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

 Did you ever hold a copy of The Illiad or The Odyssey and thought, "where are the people who first heard the story?", and wondered how could something like this survive time itself?

Anthony Doerr created an epic story connecting five people; Zeno, an octogenarian Korean war vet; Seymour, a teenage idealist who is trying to understand the world around him; Anna and Omeir, an orphaned seamstress and cursed boy, on different sides of the 1453 siege of Constantinople; Konstance, decades from now on a ship to find a new Earth, and bound them through one ancient text.

It blows my mind how interconnected our lives are, the small invisible strings holding us together and creating a chain reaction for future things to come. All these people's stories leads to one thing; understanding their life and navigating through hard time with the magic of literature, or more specifically, an ancient text dating as old as ancient Greece.

I will hold this book so close to my chest. It's one of my favourite books now.