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Would anyone else in this group be interested in a reading challenge for 2017?
If so, what types of books would you like to read?
Are there any particular themes that interest you?

My idea is if enough people are interested, in , we could create a challenge using everyone's ideas. For example in the other thread I expressed the desire to read more from women authors, and just in general newer authors. There also seems to be interest in authors in exil.
So depending on how many books people here want to read, the challenge could include for example, a book by a female author, a book by a new author, a book with exile as a theme , or a book by an author in exile, and so on. Basically anything that books can be found for!

It would also good to know how many books people want to read. In another group I am in we always make it 12 books, making it a book a month and therefore realistic for people to do.

I am looking forward to reading about what other kinds of books people here would like to read for a challenge!

Okay, so I take it there is no interest here to do a challenge.
Before I scrap the idea entirely, are there any questions or suggestions?

I'm interested in taking part but don't feel I know enough about Middle Eastern lit to make any suggestions...

Peter wrote: "I'm interested in taking part but don't feel I know enough about Middle Eastern lit to make any suggestions..."

Not knowing about Middle Eastern literature should not deter you Peter! By doing a challenge you will learn more about it. If you have not read anything yet you could make a suggestion like " read a book from a Middle Eastern author that everyone should know about" or read a "classic in Arab literature"
How many books would you be interested in reading in a year?

I think it would be a nice idea if each month we picked an author from a different MENA country :)

I'm really interested in reading for the following authors:
From Iraq: Zainab Salbi, Between Two Worlds

From Jordan: Rabih Alameddine, "I, The Divine: A Novel in First Chapters"

From Palestine: Edward Said: Orientalism

Sara wrote: "I think it would be a nice idea if each month we picked an author from a different MENA country :)

I'm really interested in reading for the following authors:
From Iraq: Zainab Salbi, Between Two..."

It will be very interesting to revive Orientalism discussion , I started reading then stopped . Please join the discussion whenever you feel that you want to :)

/topic/show/...

Lila wrote: "Okay, so I take it there is no interest here to do a challenge.
Before I scrap the idea entirely, are there any questions or suggestions?"

I'm very interested, Lila. I kept thinking about how I wanted to respond and gave the inaccurate appearance of disinterest. In truth, I'll probably read 8-10 of whatever we pick, but probably not more since I'm not sufficiently disciplined to complete challenges. The books identified recently on another thread here are the ones I'm most excited about; however if we did something like one book from each MENA country or another combination, I'm flexible and down for whatever the group decides.

Sara wrote: "I think it would be a nice idea if each month we picked an author from a different MENA country :)
I'm really interested in reading for the following authors:
From Iraq: Zainab Salbi, Between Two..."

Sara, Following your suggestions we could add for example:
Read one book from Iraq, Jordan, Palestine,


Carol, I too don't have time to read more that 10-12 books.
How about if I make the challenge for 12 books and people can choose how many they read, if they want to read less?

Because this is not a huge group with lots of active members, I wanted to make this as easy as possible, with a lot of flexibility for members to choose whatever they want to read.
My idea was for us to create the challenge here in this thread now, have the moderators set up the challenge, then set up one thread where everyone can post what they are reading for each category.

So up to now the Challenge might look like this:
Read
1. One book by a female author
2. One book from a new author
3. One book from an author in exile
4. One book considered a classic that everyone should know.
5. One book from Iraq
6. One book from Jordan
7. One book from Palestine
8. One a non fiction book
9. One book set in the nineteenth century



More suggestions please!

I'd like to take part in the challenge and like the suggestions listed above. How about including a non fiction book or a book set in the nineteenth century?

Anne wrote: "I'd like to take part in the challenge and like the suggestions listed above. How about including a non fiction book or a book set in the nineteenth century?"

Great recommendations Anne! I've added them.

I have an idea. In order not to make the challenge too long, but to include as many countries as possible how about having each category as regions rather than individual countries? I mean Mashriq (Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, Syria and Iraq), the Arabian Gulf, Ma·ghreb (Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia) etc...

Also, when we have group reads everyone can nominate books that
match books we want to read in various categories.



This is the revised list:
1. A book by a female author
2. A book from a new author (an author of a debut published less than 5 years ago)
3. A book from an author in exile or just living abroad and or with the theme exil and or living abroad.
4. A book considered a classic that everyone should know.
5. A book by an author from Al Mashriq (Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, Syria and Iraq)
6. A book by an author from the Arabian Gulf ( Saudi Arabia,Yemen,Oman,U.A.E.,Qatar,Bahrain,Kuwait)
7. A book by an author from Al Ma·ghreb (Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia)
8. A book by an author from Egypt
9. One a non fiction book
10. One book set in the nineteenth century or historical book.
11. One book from an author from a non-Arabic country in the greater MENAT region. See /photo/group...
12. A book where the characters are living in a war zone or during a period of civil war

Is it possible to include an author from the 'stan countries or Central Asian region?

Susan wrote: "Is it possible to include an author from the 'stan countries or Central Asian region?"

I just added a book by an author from a non-arabic country in the greater MENAT region.

I just don't want to make the challenge too long.

Lila wrote: "I have an idea. In order not to make the challenge too long, but to include as many countries as possible how about having each category as regions rather than individual countries? I mean Mashriq ..."

This looks great.

A book where the characters are living in a war zone or during a period of civil war?

Two suggestions and a question: (1) name the countries in the "Arabian gulf" or link to an external resource. In my experience, the more we define the challenge, and don't make folks insecure that they've picked a work that doesn't " qualify" , the more participation we get, and it reduces questions for the mod/s. (2) make task 10 open to 19th century and earlier.

The question regards task 2. Did you mean an author New to the reader, or an author of a debut or whose debut was published less than x years ago? I wasn't sure.

Btw, may I ask a dumb question? Which countries in the MENAT region aren't Arabic? I may be confusing Arab with majority-Islamic, but I'm still writing nothing for my final jeopardy question. :)

Carol, Iran?

Bookriot just published a great list of women authors.

Kate wrote: "Carol, Iran?"

Is Iran the only one?

Carol wrote: "Btw, may I ask a dumb question? Which countries in the MENAT region aren't Arabic? I may be confusing Arab with majority-Islamic, but I'm still writing nothing for my final jeopardy question. :)"

Please check :
The term MENA
/photo/group...

Greater Middle East
/photo/group...

Niledaughter wrote: "Carol wrote: "Btw, may I ask a dumb question? Which countries in the MENAT region aren't Arabic? I may be confusing Arab with majority-Islamic, but I'm still writing nothing for my final jeopardy q..."

I will.

Carol wrote: "Lila wrote: "I have an idea. In order not to make the challenge too long, but to include as many countries as possible how about having each category as regions rather than individual countries? I ..."

Niledaughter wrote: "Carol wrote: "Btw, may I ask a dumb question? Which countries in the MENAT region aren't Arabic? I may be confusing Arab with majority-Islamic, but I'm still writing nothing for my final jeopardy q..."

Carol, I've added all your great suggestions!
Nile Daughter, thanks for clarifying!

I think 12 books is enough right?

i would also like to read a couple of books but would need suggestions as I am not familiar with authors in these regions. I find this a great way to learn.. thanks for organizing it!
Jeannine

Lila wrote: "Nile Daughter, thanks for clarifying! ..."

:)

Carol wrote: "I will..."
I hope it will make it more easier , I know it can be confusing :)
I was in a hurry this morning , here are the nations that speak Arabic (Arab League) = MENA without Turkey and Iran .

/photo/group...

N.B
Ethiopia is not a part of any of the above cases ( Arab League , MENA or greater Middle east ) , but we could not reach a more accurate map for MENA .

Lila wrote: "Carol wrote: "Lila wrote: "I have an idea. In order not to make the challenge too long, but to include as many countries as possible how about having each category as regions rather than individual..."

Niledaughter wrote: "Lila wrote: "Nile Daughter, thanks for clarifying! ..."

:)

Carol wrote: "I will..."
I hope it will make it more easier , I know it can be confusing :)
I was in a hurry this morning , here are th..."

This looks great and the links are really helpful and a great resource for future book selections. Thanks for all the work you have done to pull this together. We appreciate it.

I'm set to explore more Arab writers this year and your group challenge looks great!

I'm in for a challenge :) I would like to have more of an open challenge, like the one that Lila putted in a list.
Living in a small Country with a poor access to foreign books (other than Western ones), I usually fail at finding "10 books from an X Country".

I think this is an excellent challenge and I'm looking forward to taking part. Do we need to set up a bookshelf for it?

I was surprised that Somalia is part of MENA but my housemate, a Somali, said that yes, they do think of themselves as both Arab and African.

I would love to do this challenge. Maybe we could also consider books written by Arab-Americans about the going-ons in their country? The list given by Lila is comprehensive enough and I would be happy to follow it, however, consider this a suggestion.

Anam wrote: "I would love to do this challenge. Maybe we could also consider books written by Arab-Americans about the going-ons in their country? The list given by Lila is comprehensive enough and I would be h..."

Great idea! I've incorporated it into #3

This the final list read any time the moderations want to set it up
This is the revised list:
1. A book by a female author
2. A book from a new author (an author of a debut published less than 5 years ago)
3. A book from an author in exile or just living abroad and or with the theme exil and or living abroad.
4. A book considered a classic that everyone should know.
5. A book by an author from Al Mashriq (Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, Syria and Iraq)
6. A book by an author from the Arabian Gulf ( Saudi Arabia,Yemen,Oman,U.A.E.,Qatar,Bahrain,Kuwait)
7. A book by an author from Al Ma·ghreb (Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia)
8. A book by an author from Egypt
9. One a non fiction book
10. One book set in the nineteenth century or historical book.
11. One book from an author from a non-Arabic country in the greater MENAT region. See /photo/group...
12. A book where the characters are living in a war zone or during a period of civil war

Kate wrote: "I was surprised that Somalia is part of MENA but my housemate, a Somali, said that yes, they do think of themselves as both Arab and African."

Many people do not know about Djibouti as well :) . Also Eritrea is one of the non-Arab League states that adopt Arabic as an official language . African Titanics has been on my to-read list for a while now and it was originally written in Arabic .

Carol wrote: "This looks great and the links are really helpful and a great resource for future book selections. Thanks for all the work you have done to pull this together. We appreciate it...."

You are welcome :)

*

Here is the challenge:
/challenges/...

I'm really looking forward to this but I am not sure how I set up a shelf and are we reading whatever we find and then reporting back? Sorry, new for me, just not sure if I create a bookshelf on my page or on the group's page. REALLY excited!

Also, I saw this posted link for an anthology of Sudanese lit that looked interesting: Just in case anyone is looking for something new by Sudanese authors

Kate wrote: "we reading whatever we find and then reporting back? Sorry, new for me, just not sure if I create a bookshelf on my..."
Yes exactly, the challenge is set up to be as flexible as possible, so you select the books you want to read for each category and can post it here in the Challenge Progress thread.
To set up a shelf just go on the challenge,
/challenges/...
Then there are instructions, you write down what name you want it to be on your shelf and put down how many books you want to read.

I have finally caught up with this challenge and thank you all for your great ideas. I am setting myself a low goal for this year but hope I will exceed it. I like that the categories are open-ended enough to allow a lot of different authors and books.

I would also include a 'genre' book = SF, thriller, crime. These are often discarded in the region as not worthy of serious attention. Noura Al No'man (UAE), whose SF Book Ajwan, is now to become a TV series, says that books of this kind are extremely rare in the region.
It may be interesting to see how many we can 'find'. They do not necessarily have to fall under a separate category. Just a thought...

2017 Challenge Progress Thread is up where everyone can share what they read, discuss what they would like to read , ask questions etc

/topic/show/...

okay, I'll work on my list this weekend

Hello everyone. I've joined the group a couple of years ago but have not been very active.

I would love to join this challenge and exchange opinions with you.

Ewa wrote: "I would also include a 'genre' book = SF, thriller, crime. These are often discarded in the region as not worthy of serious attention. Noura Al No'man (UAE), whose SF Book Ajwan, is now to become a..."

I love this idea. I rarely find any translated genre books from this region. Off the top of my head, in terms of crime/mystery books, Finding Nouf by Zoë Ferraris, Matt Rees's Omar Yussef series (but Rees is British) and Batya Gur's Michael Ohayon come to mind. I'd love to hear about others.