Squire

 Squire

By Sara Alfageeh

Pages: 336

"Aiza has always dreamt of becoming a Knight. It's the highest military honor in the once-great Bayt-Sajji Empire, and as a member of the subjugated Ornu people, Knighthood is her only path to full citizenship. Ravaged by famine and mounting tensions, Bayt-Sajji finds itself on the brink of war once again, so Aiza can finally enlist in the competitive Squire training program. It's not how she imagined it, though. Aiza must navigate new friendships, rivalries, and rigorous training under the unyielding General Hende, all while hiding her Ornu background. As the pressure mounts, Aiza realizes that the "greater good" that Bayt-Sajji's military promises might not include her, and that the recruits might be in greater danger than she ever imagined."

I don't often read graphic novels, but my friend convinced me to buy this one and read it. It is such a cool story and reminds me of Tamora pierce woman knights, only in a middle-eastern inspired setting. The artwork was rich and full of movement and I loved the training montages. I was sad when the story ended as it left a very open ending that makes me hope for more installments in the future.

The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty

The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is an adult fantasy novel that starts in the Middle East in the 18th century then runs sideways into an Arabic fantasy world complete with an enclosed city made of brass and 6 djinn tribes with a history of cultural clashes, social and political warfare, and servitude. Throw in a wily con artist with some unexpected abilities who is on the run in the human world, and a parallel POV of the highly moral second son of the djinn king in the parallel world, and things get interesting.

The story is delicious, with the perfect amount of world building, good pacing, a solid and interesting magical system, a unique setting, and strong character development.

This book came highly recommended by a room full of adult services librarians, so I knew immediately that I would pick it up. My only regret is that I didn't wait until November 2018 to start this, as now I'm desperate for book 2, which is not yet published.

Book 135 read in 2018

Pages: 533

Freefall by Tracie Abramson

(Posted for Diann Stark)

This romantic suspense novel brings together Lieutenant Brent Miller and Amy Whitmore, an LDS Senator's daughter. Brent successfully frees six of seven hostages in the Middle East. Amy, the final hostage, and Brent must cross miles of desert to safety. In order to survive Brent will need her as much as she needs him. Saint Squad series, book 1.

Audio Book: Reading time: 9 hours and 53 minutes. 242 pages

The Ruins of Us by Keija Parssinen

Rosalie March lived in an oil compound in Saudi Arabia during her childhood. After her family returned to the States, and she started college, she met Abdullah, who was a wealthy Saudi. They fell in love, married, and returned to Saudi Arabia. Rosalie saw it as going home; she felt it was where she belonged. His family wasn't too accepting of her at first, but eventually they saw her as one of them. She bore two children.

On her daughter's 14th birthday, she went into a jewelry store to buy her a bracelet. The shopkeeper asks her how she liked the onyx necklace her husband got her for their anniversary in December. Her anniversary is in May. She questions the shopkeeper, asking for more information, and then confronts her husband. He finally admits he took a second wife two years before this. This is unusual in their community; none of his family has taken a second wife.

In the meantime, their teenage son has gotten involved with a radical sheik, who is preaching jihad. In the midst of their personal turmoil, they have missed the fact that he is becoming radicalized. He becomes involved with a plot that can destroy them all.

352 pages

Garment of Shadows by Laurie R. King

Sherlock Holmes fans will enjoy this new variation in the Holmes saga.  In Laurie King's version, Sherlock Holmes has a female sidekick, Mary Russell (start with her  Beekeeper's Apprentice to read up on how they met), In their latest outing, Mary wakes up in the dark, not knowing who or where she is.  She uses her skills as a Baker Street Irregular to escape from her captivity, find a disguise, and eventually meet up with Holmes.  It's a great adventure story with a little bit of Moroccan history thrown in to make it interesting.  266 pages.

The Lemon Tree : An Arab, a Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East by Sandy Tolan

Sandy Tolan, a journalist who covered the Middle East for many years, wanted to put a human face on the conflict. He found it in the story of one small stone house in Ramla, Israel that had a lemon tree in the garden. After the war of 1967, Bashir, a young Palestinian man, knocks on the door of the house, which his father had built, and where his family lived until they were expelled by the Israelis in 1948. His father planted the lemon tree shortly before.  Dahlia, a young Israeli woman, answers the door. Her family was given  the house when they immigrated to Israel from Bulgaria in 1948.

Bashir and Dahlia become friends, and maintain that friendship until the present, despite their profound disagreement over how to solve the Middle East conflict. Dahlia becomes an activist, advocating for a peaceful solution. Bashir spends most of his life in prison, several times being accused of being a terrorist.

Tolan gives a mesmerizing history of the region and the geo-political roots of the conflict. He believes that peace can only come through the efforts of individual people coming together to understand and empathize with one another.

It is a compelling story. It is non-fiction, yet reads like a novel. I learned a lot from this book.


384 pages

The Butterfly Mosque by Willow Wilson

The Butterfly Mosque by Willow Wilson

In this memoir, Willow Wilson, who was raised by atheist parents, describes her search for religion after a serious illness. She was a college student when she fell ill, and as she began to investigate religions, she decided that she was a monotheist.  Islam seemed to her to be the choice she would be most comfortable with. She began to take college courses in Islamic Studies and other Middle Eastern courses.  After she graduated, she talked a girlfriend into moving to Cairo, Egypt with her to teach in an   English-language high school.

She converts to Islam once there, and begins to immerse herself in the culture and religion. It is a lot more difficult than she anticipated. She meets Omar, a young man who resents Western influences in his country. They forge a fast friendship, and begin to spend most of their time together.  In that culture, men and women do not date, so their relationship is challenging as they try to navigate the two cultures. Eventually they marry. Wilson records her struggle to forge a “third culture” that will accommodate her values without compromising them or alienating her friends and family at home, or those she comes to value in Egypt.

She offers insights into Islamic culture, distinguishing carefully between the radical fundamentalists who hate the West and the majority of peaceful Muslims. An interesting look at an often misunderstood and polarizing faith.

320 pages

The book of Jonas by Stephen Dau, read by Simon Vance

I picked this audiobook because the story sounded interesting-a young Muslim orphan who comes to America but has trouble adjusting to his new life.  Jonas' tale is interweaved with the story of the young American soldier who rescued him. Dau tries to describe the damage that war inflicts on soldiers and civilians but he doesn't give the reader any new insights on an age-old problem. I don't know if the fractured timeline doesn't work well in an audiobook format or if I just couldn't get interested in the plot.  In any case, the book didn't live up to my expectations. Unabridged, 5 hours 47 minutes.  272 pages.

Lionheart, by Sharon Kay Penman

A grand historical fiction about Richard the Lionheart's failed 3rd crusade to liberate Jerusalem in 1191. Penman excels at period detail, but she also provides fleshed out characters and plenty of action. There's lots of court intrigue, interspersed with battles, romance, banquets, and sex. The story follows multiple characters, including Richard, his sister, his new bride, and several of the major knights in his entourage. Richard was unique in that he approached the Saracens and their leaders with respect, and was willing to listen and learn from them. I learned quite a lot about the crusades and the political intrigue and jockeying for power that continued throughout the expeditions. Penman provides several pages of historical notes at the end, describing how she used chronicles from the period to provide authenticity to the work, also noting where she has embellished. The story ends with Richard's departure from the Holy Land. Penman is at work on the sequel, to cover the rest of his life's adventures. 589 pages.