Books from Syria
42 popular syrian 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 Syria.
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.
21.
Les portes du néant by Samar Yazbek FR
Description:
Figure de l'opposition au régime de Bachar al-Assad, Samar Yazbek a dû quitter son pays tant aimé en juin 2011. Depuis son exil, elle ressent l'urgence de témoigner. Au mépris du danger, elle est retournée trois fois dans son pays, clandestinement, où elle a connu de l'intérieur l'horreur de la guerre civile, aux côtés des activistes. Des premières manifestations pacifiques pour la démocratie jusqu'à l'émergence de l'Etat islamique, elle décrit le quotidien des combattants, des enfants, des hommes et des femmes ordinaire qui luttent pour survivre à l'une des plus grandes tragédies du XXIe sièc... continue
22.
Mother of Strangers : A Novel by Suad Amiry EN
Description:
A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR from NPR • Set in Jaffa in between 1947 and 1951, this “fable-like historical novel of young love ... darkly humorous and touching” (Oprah Daily) is based on a true story during the beginning of the destruction of Palestine and displacement of its people. Based on the true story of two Jaffa teenagers, Mother of Strangers follows the daily lives of Subhi, a fifteen-year-old mechanic, and Shams, the thirteen-year-old student he hopes to marry one day. In this prosperous and cosmopolitan port city, with its bustling markets, cinemas, and cafés on the hills overlooking the... continue
23.
My Country : A Syrian Memoir by Kassem Eid EN
Description:
'Powerful ... A humbling and important first-hand account of a brutal civil war in which as many as 500,000 people have died' Guardian'A memoir of resistance and survival unique in the annals of modern war ... If the shedding of blood can be beautiful in words, he makes it so' Wall Street JournalBorn to Palestinian refugees, Kassem Eid grew up in the small town of Moadamiya on the outskirts of the ancient city of Damascus, playing in streets perfumed with jasmine. But it didn't take long for Kassem to realise that he was treated differently at school because of his family's resistance to the b... continue
24.
My Road from Damascus by Jamal Saeed EN
Description:
Humorous, witty, horrific, and poetic, Jamal Saeed's story is Syria's story: surviving 12 years in brutal military prisons, an enchanted childhood, his loves, Syria's deadly upheavals, and his family's escape.
25.
No knives in the kitchens of this city by Khaled khalifa EN
Description:
WINNER OF THE NAQUIB MAHFOUZ MEDAL FOR LITERATURE In the once beautiful city of Aleppo, one family descends into ruin in this novel from "one of the rising stars of Arab fiction" (New York Times) Irrepressible Sawsan flirts with militias, the ruling party, and finally religion, seeking but never finding salvation. She and her siblings and mother are slowly choked in violence and decay, as their lives are plundered by a brutal regime. Set between the 1960s and 2000s, No Knives in the Kitchens of this City unravels the systems of fear and control under Assad. With eloquence and startling honesty... continue
26.
No One Prayed Over Their Graves by Khaled Khalifa EN
Description:
From the National Book Award finalist Khaled Khalifa, the story of two friends whose lives are altered by a 1907 flood that devastates their Syrian village. On a terrible December morning in 1907, two close friends, Hanna and Zakariya, return to their village near Aleppo after a night of drunken carousing in the city, only to discover that there has been a massive flood. Their neighbors, families, children—nearly all of them are dead. Their homes, shops, and places of worship are leveled. Their lives will never be the same. Hanna was once a wealthy libertine landowner who had built a famed cit... continue
27.
Oswald: Return of the King by Edoardo Albert EN
Description:
The second book in the series The Northumbrian Thrones. After the death of Edwin, who slew his father, the young prince Oswald seeks to regain the throne.
28.
Planet of Clay by Samar Yazbek EN
Description:
"Brave, rebellious and passionate ... Yazbek is no ordinary Syrian dissident." --Financial Times "The Syrian writer Samar Yazbek evokes the horror of civil war with gripping lucidity." --Le Monde Rima, a young girl from Damascus, longs to walk, to be free to follow the will of her feet, but instead is perpetually constrained. Rima finds refuge in a fantasy world full of colored crayons, secret planets, and The Little Prince, reciting passages of the Qur'an like a mantra as everything and everyone around her is blown to bits. Since Rima hardly ever speaks, people think she's crazy, but she is n... continue
29.
Sabriya : Damascus Bitter Sweet by Ulfat Idilbi EN
Description:
Sabriya portrays life in Damascus in the 1920's. Central to the story is Sabriya's journey to self-knowledge, intertwined with the rise and eclipse of national and feminist awareness during her painful life. The national revolt is crushed by superior foreign power and Sabriya's personal emancipation is stifled by the traditional values of a patriarchal society. Written from the point of view of a young girl passionately committed to the nationalist cause but unable, because of her sex, to take an active part, it seethes with the frustrated energy of the reluctant bystander and vividly expresse... continue
30.
Selamlik by Khaled Alesmael EN
Description:
An emotional and unflinching story about Arab masculinity and homoeroticism Furat, a Syrian in his early 20s, visits Sibki Park in Damascus, which serves as a gathering place for gay men from all over the city. He learns about the Hammams, secret meeting places for gays located throughout the old city. Inside these public baths, the air is thick with the scent of bay laurel soap, and naked men hide in the steam. Despite society, religion and regime disapproval, Furat finds the love he seeks just before being forced to flee as his world changes. Later on, Furat wakes up in a cold sweat at an as... continue