7. Read a Book Set in the Middle East

[Jennie]

An Unnecessary Woman, The Bastard of Istanbul, and Reading Lolita in Tehran are offered as possiblities.

[Stacy]

I read I am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced. It's very eye opening and puts life in perspective. The book is also a short read at under 200 pages.

[Teresa]

Blood of Flowers. Some of it was slow, much of it was heartbreaking. I rooted for the protagonist throughout the entire book and the ending was rewarding.

[Hannah]

I read If You Could Be Mine by Sara Farizan. It's a YA novel about a lesbian teenage girl in Tehran who is in love with her best friend and is struggling to find a place for herself in Iranian society. I really appreciated seeing something of gay and trans culture in Iran and it's also a really sweet YA story.

[Constanza]

I read Reading Lolita in Tehran, it was a beautiful book, very compelling to the point where i had to hide it, so i wouldn´t finish it to early.

[Martha]

I read The Architect's Apprentice earlier this year and loved it. My mother and sister concur with my opinion and that almost never happens.

[Natalie]

I read I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced. I knew that child marriage happened in the Middle East, but reading about a child's first hand account of it made my blood boil.

[Julie]

I read The Complete Persepolis for this. I'd intended to read it for my graphic novel and ended up with 2 other graphic novels instead.

[Riah]

For this one I read Woman at Point Zero, which I didn't love, but it was certainly interesting to read something a little bit older in this category.