Ford’s book “Dress Codes”: How what we wear helps determine destiny
In which we discover fashion isn’t frivolous.
Middle-East
“America and Iran” by John Ghazvinian: Why the United States and Iran Struggle to Get Along
Street shopping in Iran. Yes, those are “no parking” signs right next to all the parked cars plus the guy in the street hanging out on his motor bike. Pretty standard for that part of the world. Mehr News Agency, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons As soon as I saw John Ghazvinian’s new book, …
Forsyth’s “A Short History of Drunkenness”: The Importance of Handling the Buzz
Americans in Paris celebrate the repeal of the 18th Amendment. Unknown /w New York Times, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons, 1933. Who would think to write a history of drunkenness, and what is there to say? That’s what I thought when I ran across this bizarre little book, but as it turns out, people have …
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Going to Jerusalem with Guy Delisle
Life in The Holy Land & Why I read Jerusalem I wish I had gotten the chance to hang out with Guy Delisle, but even if the 40 or so miles between Amman, Jordan, where I lived, and Jerusalem didn’t take hours to cross, he left several years before I arrived. When I look at …
Keeping Your Teen Busy at Home: Part 3, A Pre-College Reading List
To write the third installment of this series designed to help parents know what to do with their 14-18 year olds while stuck at home, I dove into the world of college reading lists. I nearly choked had to come up for air. Just kidding. But the world of college reading lists has changed a …
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Loved “The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek”? Try these.
Librarians are the Superheroes. Sustained Read Buy on Amazon I’m warning you right off the top: I’m not a big fan of historical fiction. I used to read it for the exact same reason that many of you do: so I could learn about other places and cultures. After a while, however, I started to …
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Naomi Shihab Nye’s Voice of Reason about Palestine and Israel
Arab Festival T-shirt SEATTLE 2007. I wasn’t even there, But wear this shirt proudly all the time. Since when Arab Tragedy only? No! Forgetting spread tables, smoky eggplant, tiny spinach pies, punctuating pomegranate seeds, neat salmon in the center of each rectangle of harissa, since when we put down embroideries, joy, birth certificates of stitching …
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Craig Thompson’s “Habibi”: Can an American depict the Middle East fairly?
The Middle East is a complicated place, full of contradictions. So is Craig Thompson’s Habibi. Buy on Amazon Ever since I moved back from the Middle East a few months ago, I have been excited about rereading Habibi. I first read it the summer after my first year there. Because the book is so big …
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3 Different Books That Make Me Feel the Holy Land in my Bones
Buy on Amazon Buy on Amazon Buy on Amazon Buy on Amazon Note: The “Holy Land” is made up of the countries that are currently known as the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the State of Israel, and Palestine. Outcasts United, by Warren St. John (creative nonfiction, new journalism) I cannot remember how I …
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