Credits

Welcoming Week 2021

Selected Book List

Against The Loveless World:  A Novel by Susan Abulhawa:   2020 Palestine Book Awards Winner 2021 Aspen Words Literary Prize Finalist

Susan Abulhawa tells the story of Nahr, a Palestinian young woman who grows up in Kuwait, is forced to leave for political reasons, and endures many trials in her quest for a good life.  The difficult geopolitical situation of the Palestinian is beautifully told in this compelling novel.  

Americanah by Chimanandah Ngozie Adichie:  The story of Ifemelu and Obinze, who are each other’s childhood sweethearts in Nigeria, and their lives after leaving for America and London respectively.  This book explores questions of authenticity, love, race and identity.  This is a coming of Age Novel by an Orange Prize Winning author.

Afterlife by Julia Alvarez: The first adult novel in almost fifteen years by the internationally bestselling author of “In the Time of the Butterflies” and “How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents”.  This novel explores issues of sisterhood, aging, immigrant identity and mental illness.  

Create Dangerously:  The Immigrant Artist At Work by Edwidge Danticat: Edwidge Danticat’s Create Dangerously is an eloquent and moving expression of Danticat’s belief that immigrant artists are obliged to bear witness when their countries of origin are suffering from violence, oppression, poverty, and tragedy.

The Kitchen Without Borders:  Recipes And Stories From Refugee And Immigrant Chefs by Eat Offbeat Chefs: Eat Offbeat is a catering company in New York founded by a brother and sister who came to New York from the Middle East.  The company is staffed by immigrants and refugees who came to this country to have a good life.  This book is filled with stories and recipes from the chefs who come from different countries around the world.   

In The Country We Love:  My Family Divided by Diane Guerrero: The star of Orange Is The New Black has written a beautiful story of the life of her immigrant family in America.

Sparks Like Stars by Nadia Hashimi: An Afghan American woman returns home to Kabul, the place where her family was slaughtered, to come to terms with her past.  

At The End Of The Century:  The Stories Of Ruth Prawer Jhabvala by Ruth Prawer: JhabvalaNew York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice   

Man Booker Prize winning author Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, writes beautifully about English and Indian culture, immigration, life, the blending of cultures. Each short story is self contained like a novel.

The Stationery Shop by Marian Kamali:   Political upheaval in Tehran separates a couple who were planning to marry.  Sixty years later, Roya, who has started a new life for herself in California, will meet Bahman, and hopefully find some answers to what happened on that fateful day.

The Matchmaker’s List by Sonya LalliRaina: Anand’s grandmother wants to play matchmaker but Raina is not liking this one bit.  Can she stop this parade of awful blind dates without hurting her grandmother’s feelings?

The Beekeeper Of Aleppo by Christy Leftero: Winner of The Aspen Worlds Literary Prize. 

A beekeeper and his wife are forced to leave their peaceful life in Aleppo in wartime.

Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli: Winner of the Andrew Carnegie Medal For Excellence.  Longlisted for the Booker Prize.

A troubled family on a cross country journey from New York to Arizona; Apacheria, which the Apaches once called home.  They come across migrant children coming from Mexico.  This book contains a melding of inner and outer landscapes.

The Bad Muslim Discount by Syed M. Masood: Anwar Faris is fifteen years old in Pakistan in 1995.  Due to the rise of Fundamentalism, his parents decide to move to California.  Anwa will later meet Safwa, who is leaving war torn Baghdad.  The novel focuses on the tension between being devout and not, coming to America, and the relationship between Anwa and Safwa.

Behold The Dreamers:  A Novel by Imbolo Mbue: This is a novel about a young Cameroonian couple making a life in New York just as the Great Recession hits.

This Land Is Our Land:  An Immigrant’s Manifesto by Suketo Mehta: Mehta explains to us why the west is not being destroyed by immigrants but by the fear of immigrants.  He explains why immigrants are on the move these days; civil strife and climate change are the main reasons.

The Ungrateful Refugee:  What Immigrants Never Tell You by Dina Nayeri: A book that mixes the author’s experience leaving Iran with her family and eventually coming to America with that of other immigrants to the United States.  

A Woman Is No Man:  A Novel by Etaf Rum:  This novel takes us through three generations of Palestinian women; two born in Palestine, one born in the United States.  The author explores the changing values of the generations, and the hopes and dreams of the strong women portrayed in this novel.

The Cooking Gene:  A Journey Through African American Cooking In The Old South  byMichael Twitty: This book is written by a culinary historian who discusses genealogy, slavery , recipes, the meaning of food and so much more.  The melding of race, culture, tradition, and DNA are all part of this journey through the old south of today and yesterday.

On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong: Longlisted for the 2019 National Book Award for fiction. This book is a letter from a son to his mother who can not read.  The book explores the history of a family rooted in Vietnam and the journey to America.  Questions of identity, history and immigration are explored in this award winning book.

A Door In The Earth by Amy Waldman: This novel explores complicated truths within the United States’ war in Afghanistan.

Migrants by Issa Watanabe: This beautifully illustrated wordless book is good for all ages. The migrants within its pages are represented by animals who must cross the sea. All who read this book will feel for the plight of the migrants as they make their way to safety.

The Dispossessed:  A Story Of Asylum And The U.S. Border And Beyond by John Washington: One man’s saga of seeking asylum, his separation from his daughter.  This book explores the whys of migration and the fact that this is really a stateless world as we are all suffering from the effects of climate change and global injustice.

Crying In H Mart:  A Memoir by Michelle Zauner: Please have a handkerchief ready in case you laugh so much that you cry or cry so much that you laugh when you read this memoir.  A beautiful story of the daughter of a Korean immigrant and an American, her struggle to find an identity, the importance of her mother and of food in her life.  The Korean recipes will make you hungry so be sure to have some snacks on hand.  Recommended for anyone who has ever had a mother and a father and anyone who feels that food is an important part of our life.

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