Look

The first poetry collection I've read this year, or maybe even longer than that. Wonderfully haunting and evocative, this collection of poems by Solmaz Sharif sticks to your soul like bubblegum on a sneaker. The words wound and pierce; mimicking the war in the Middle East which she writes so passionately about. Sharif proves that sometimes the pen can be mightier than the sword in this brutal, emotional, must read poetry collection. A must read for everyone, not just poetry buffs.

13 Hours

I'll admit, I saw this movie first. Guilty, I know. But now that I've read the book, I can safely say that the movie follows the book impressively well! Before seeing the movie or reading this, I'll admit that I was 100% sure what had happened in Benghazi. Political pundits seemed to be yelling about it all the time and there was a lot of finger pointing, I know that some Americans had died, but really the news skewed it so much that I wasn't able to make heads or tails of a lot of it. This book really broke down the whole situation by telling it from the perspective of those that had boots on the ground. Mitchell Zuckoff interviewed the Annex security team to piece together the events that took place and tell it in a way that wasn't overly technical but was very narrative and flowed well. It's a harrowing and devastating account that will have readers flying through the book.

The Almond Tree

I wasn't initially excited to read this book; the cover art was boring, it would probably be depressing, blah, blah, blah. Stupid excuses, all of them! This was a fantastic read. I'm so glad I got the opportunity to read it.

This book did more for my understanding of Israeli/ Palestinian problems than any thing else I've read. I'm not a political connoisseur by any means so this really opened my eyes.

The story is a bout young Palestinian boy who despite all odds keeps his chin up and eventually escapes from extreme poverty. His toddler sister is blown up by a land mine when he was a child, another one was gassed to death, his father is wrongly imprisoned for fourteen years, their house gets blown up, they live in a tent for years, it's tragic. Horribly tragic. However, for young Ichmad there is an out, his brain. Ichmad is amazingly talented at math and science and those will eventually become the keys to his success. He succeeds in leaving he country but his brother never forgive him for, "siding with the enemy."

A truly great novel that explores the problems in the Middle East, illustrates the need for peace, and the need for universal education. Education is key to uplifting people out of poverty and despair.

I received this book for free from Goodreads in return for my honest, unbiased opinion.

Par None, the Best Fiction Book on the Conflict in the Middle East

The Watch had me from the very first paragraph, hell, I was in near tears at the end of the first chapter. A simply phenomenal book. Impossible to put down, and even harder to stop thinking about. The Watch  opens with a young Middle Eastern woman traveling far across the mountains to an American military base in order to collect her brother's body after a failed attack on the fort (retaliation for the bombing of her village) and bury it according to Muslim custom. Arriving at the base she is met with hostility because they believe her to be a terrorist or a "black widow" and they refuse to give her her brother's body because they think he is an important figure in the Taliban. However, after a few days the men at the base start to empathize with her plight and it throws them into a deep dark depression. What were they here fighting for really? Weren't they supposed to be helping this country? Why were they having to deny this young injured native woman her brother's body? Each chapter has a different narrator, from the young girl to the lieutenant, doctor, first lieutenant, translator, to captain. The story gains more significance as it is viewed through each character's eyes.

Overall, absolutely stunning. You feel as though you are with them in the blazing hot desert and you feel all their pain and helplessness. It's a truly gripping tale that exemplifies all the important questions about the war in Iraq and Afghanistan and the lasting consequences it will have on the country's citizens and on the American soldiers when they get back home. Seriously, what an amazing read. 5 out of 5 stars.