Cannonball Read 13

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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“It’s because I’m tired of being branded a terrorist; tired that a human life lost in my country is no loss at all.”

Our Women on the Ground: : Essays by Arab Women Reporting from the Arab World by Zahra Hankir

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Looking back, I can’t quite remember how this book ended up on my TBR back in February 2020. It did though and I’m glad to have read it, even if it took me longer than I hoped to actually complete it. There is something incredibly valuable about learning a story from the person experiencing it; of seeking out authentic voices and sources. In bringing Our Women on the Ground, Zahra Hankir puts the voice of women journalists from the Arab world front and center, where […]

A challenge to American foreign policy on every page

Babylon Burning: A Graphic History of the Making of the Modern Middle East by Toufic El Rassi

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Babylon Burning: A Graphic History of the Making of the Modern Middle East is a graphic novel that is not for the casual reader. It is not for anyone probably under 14 (in fact I would probably not recommend for anyone under 16-17 in some cases). It is not a book that you will find a happy, fluffy, Rah-Rah-America-is-Great mentality. Toufic El Rassi even comes out and says he never said he was not going to be biased. Arab in America (from 2008) started his […]

Sex, drugs and a little rock-n-roll in Iran

Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return by Marjane Satrapi

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Interestingly, in several ways I liked Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return better than the first book. And yet, I enjoyed the first book more. I put this towards Marjane Satrapi’s continuation of the first book by picking up where she left off but this time showing more growth. Literally (she has a growth spurt and puberty hits hard) and figuratively (learning about “new” authors, ideas, respect different cultures seem to have, values, drugs and more.). Though about the same amount of years go […]

Picture it: Iran 1979 and the world will never be the same

Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by  Marjane Satrapi

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#cbr11bingo #banned Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood (Persepolis, #1) by Marjane Satrapi (translated by Matia Ripa), was not what I expected. On one hand, I really had no idea what to expect; on the other hand, I had preconceived notions. But what it boils down to is, I am not sure I really liked this book. Or liked Satrapi. Many books I have come away with a feeling of, “I could be friends with that author.” Or at least, we could have a conversation as we […]

When a book finds you

Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga

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While I immensely enjoyed Other Words for Home ’s book did not “hit me in the face, turned me around and kick me in the butt.” I think what I was looking for was more of the current events mentioned (such as which bombing Jude was mentioning) and maybe more interacting with Jude and her cousin. Since Warga mentions in the afterward she had a personality more like the cousins than Jude growing up, Warga would be the perfect vessel to show both sides of […]



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