Watching the Art of Persia the other night has prompted me to reread this entire shelf.

Except Netters. That can shove itself where the Sun don’t shine.

So books I recommend if you want to educate yourself about the Middle East here:

1. Have you ever read the Qur’an? We have an English translation with commentary and meaning. My husband speaks Arabic (I don’t) so can pick out inconsistencies for me. But I first read it as an...

1. Adult and found it so interesting, helped put a lot in context for me about many of my friends and family. It also meant I had new and interesting conversations with them and asked them about their interpretation of it.

To be honest I should have read it before.

2. Samarkand - Amin Maalouf

My god what a book. WHAT a book. This has to be one of my favourite of all time. So beautifully written, a semi-fiction story of the poet Omar Khayyam

I’ve gifted this book SO many times and everyone who has read it has loved it

3. The Shahnameh (translation) - ferdowsi

I’ve not read the entire thing yet but this was the ‘book of Persia’ referred to in the Art of Persia with all the mythical tales.

It really brings the flare and poetry of persian culture to life.

Shadows of a Pomegranate tree - Tariq Ali

My husband gifted me this before we went to Granada. Have you ever been? Isn’t it magical?

This is a story about the fall of Granada and Muslim families being besieged by Christendom when it did. Fascinating book

Xenophon - the persian expedition (translated by Rex Warner)

The story of Xenophon, a young Athenian marching into Persia and back. It’s not an easy read, but fascinating to read of that time

I’ll stop there for now but will add more sooooon

I should say that my husband is my cheat sheet. He knows a lot more about the Middle East than I do (he’s not Middle Eastern - his PHD/job) so I have him to credit for many of my reads and learnings. I’m obviously Middle Eastern & the culture is mine. We have interesting convos