Books from Lebanon
62 popular lebanese books
Travel the world without leaving your chair.
The target of the Read Around The World Challenge is to read at least one book written by an author from each and every country in the world.
All books that are listed here as part of the "Read Around Asia Challenge" were written by authors from Lebanon.
Find a great book for the next part of your reading journey around the world from this book list. The following popular books have been recommended so far.
1.
A Game for Swallows : To Die, to Leave, to Return by Zeina Abirached EN
Description:
Living in the midst of civil war in Beirut, Lebanon, Zeina and her brother face an evening of apprehension when their parents do not return from a visit to the other side of the city.
2.
A History of the Big House : A Novel by Charif Majdalani EN
Description:
This vibrant family saga chronicles the rise and fall of the Nassar clan, as they navigate the great events of the 20th century in Lebanon, from the Ottoman Empire to the French Mandate. At the end of the 19th century, a man is forced to flee his village after a quarrel. Starting over with nothing, the banished, audacious Wakim Nassar will create orange plantations on the outskirts of Beirut and become the head of a large clan, feared and respected. The great house he builds at their center will become a powerful symbol of the Nassars’ glory, admired from afar. But this decadence is short-live... continue
3.
An Unsafe Haven by Nada A. Jarrar EN
Description:
'Captivating ...There's a breadth of humanity in An Unsafe Haven which is very moving. I loved the sense of Lebanon and of what is unique and precious about the Arab world' Helen Dunmore Hannah has deep roots in her hometown of Beirut, where she lives with her American husband, Peter. Just when they thought they had gotten used to the upheavals in Lebanon, the war in neighbouring Syria enters its fifth year, and the region's increasingly fragile state throws their daily lives into chaos. A chance meeting with a Syrian woman and her son in a busy street forces Hannah to face the worsening refug... continue
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5.
Balthasar's Odyssey by Amin Maalouf EN
Description:
There are ninety-nine names for God in the Koran, is it possible that there is a secret one-hundredth name? In this tale of magic and mystery, of love and danger, Balthasar's ultimate quest is to find the secret that could save the world. Before the dawn of the apocalyptic 'Year of the Beast' in 1666, Balthasar Embriaco, a Genoese Levantine merchant, sets out on an adventure that will take him across the breadth of the civilised world, from Constantinople, through the Mediterranean, to London shortly before the Great Fire. Balthasar's urgent quest is to track down a copy of one of the rarest a... continue
6.
Beirut by Samir Kassir EN
Description:
Beirut is a tour de force that takes the reader from the ancient to the modern world, offering a dazzling panorama of the city's Seleucid, Roman, Arab, Ottoman, and French incarnations. Kassir vividly describes Beirut's spectacular growth in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, concentrating on its emergence after the Second World War as a cosmopolitan capital until its near destruction during the devastating Lebanese civil war of 1975-1990. --from publisher description.
8.
Brieven in de nacht by Hoda Barakat NL
Description:
Sombere brieven, zonder adres of afzender, geschreven door mensen die gevlucht of verbannen zijn aan een geliefd iemand.
9.
Bullet, Paper, Rock : A Memoir of Words and Wars by Abbas El-Zein EN
Description:
"Upon which, one of the militiamen, standing right in front of me, points his gun at my groin and shoots, but only after tilting it down at the last instant, aiming at a point between my feet. This is a new line of argument which, needless to say, I find persuasive."In Abbas El-Zein's new memoir, conflicts abound - either tragic or amusing, sometimes both - between teachers and students, left- and right-wing factions, civilians and militiamen and, not least, French and Arabic, two languages vying for primacy in the post-colonial worlds of Beirut and the Levant, with English coming fast from be... continue
10.
Description:
A powerful novel about trauma and forgiveness Winner of the International Prize for Arabic Fiction Finalist for the PEN Translation Prize Finalist for the USA Translation Award