Welcome to our book review site go-pdf.online!
You may have to Search all our reviewed books and magazines, click the sign up button below to create a free account.
Two Blankets, Three Sheets
Amsterdam Airport, 1998. Samir Karim steps off a plane from Vietnam, flushes his fake passport down the toilet, and requests asylum. Now, safely in the heart of Europe, he is sent to an asylum center and assigned a bed in a shared dorm where he will spend the next nine years. As he navigates his way around the absurdities of Dutch bureaucracy, Samir tries his best to get along with his 500 new housemates. Told with compassion and a unique sense of humor, this is an inspiring tale of survival, a close-up view of the hidden world of refugees and human smugglers, and a sobering reflection of our times.
Thirsty River
A family's destiny is intimately tied to the rise and fall of Saddam Hussein is this novel, the first about the U.S. war to be written by an Iraqi. The story follows four generations of the Bird family, who live on the banks of the Thirsty River in southern Iraq. The birth of each of the Bird children coincides with regime change in Baghdad, but the family is safely removed from the seat of power until the day Saddam Hussein's officials seize a plot of land where their sheep graze. Protest causes all the adult men in the family to disappear, and the matriarch of the family, Simahen, spends her days outside the Party office in the hope of finding her husband and sons. The grandchildren are also eventually drawn into peril by events both humorous and horrifying: Joesr is employed to paint murals of Saddam, a job in which one errant brush stroke could lead to death—and his artistic talents turn to bomb-making after the fall of Saddam; meanwhile, young Djazil is unaccounted for until he is recognized by his family in one of the infamous photos from Abu Ghraib.
The Three Princes of Serendip: New Tellings of Old Tales for Everyone
This feast of Middle Eastern folklore from an award-winning Iraqi storyteller is paired with vibrant cut-paper art. The twenty fables and folktales in this illustrated storybook have taken a long journey. Many have roots that stretch across Europe, Asia, and Africa, but when award-winning writer and gatherer of tales Rodaan Al Galidi learned them in his homeland of Iraq, it was as Arabic folktales and as part of the Arabic storytelling tradition. When he migrated to the Netherlands, he shaped twenty of those tales into his debut book for children, which was translated to English by Laura Watkinson. Filled with wisdom about love and acceptance, and warnings against folly, these elegantly translated stories—many unknown in the United States—of donkeys and roosters, kings, sheikhs, and paupers are exquisitely illustrated by cut-paper artist Geertje Aalders. Beautifully packaged, The Three Princes of Serendip is a rich and varied introduction to the world of Middle Eastern folklore.
Arabic Folktales
This feast of Middle Eastern folklore from an Iraqi storyteller is paired with vibrant cut-paper art. The twenty fables and folktales in this illustrated storybook have taken a long journey. Many have roots that stretch across Europe, Asia, and Africa, but when writer and gatherer of tales Rodaan Al Galidi learned them in his homeland of Iraq, it was as Arabic folktales and as part of the Arabic storytelling tradition. When he migrated to the Netherlands, he shaped twenty of those tales into his debut book for children, which was translated to English by Laura Watkinson. Filled with wisdom about love and acceptance, and warnings against folly, these elegantly translated stories of donkeys and roosters, kings, sheikhs, and paupers are exquisitely illustrated by cut-paper artist Geertje Aalders. Beautifully packaged, Arabic Folktales is a rich and varied introduction to the world of Middle Eastern folklore.
This World Does Not Belong to Us
'A deliciously menacing read which I just couldn't put down. Every word punches hard. This World Does Not Belong to Us treads the fine line between beauty and horror effortlessly.' Jan Carson, author of The Raptures Secrets and revenge converge in this chilling tale from a breakout new Latin American voice Many years have passed since Lucas was expelled from his childhood home by Felisberto and Eloy, the two strangers who arrived uninvited and slowly, insidiously, made it their own. Now Lucas is back, fully grown and intent on claiming his rightful inheritance. But he is not interested in the house as it once was, nor in his mother's lovingly planted flowerbeds - now conquered by weeds - nor in the lavish portraits covering every wall. Lucas belongs to a darker world, one crawling with the only creatures he really trusts: insects. As the house crumbles before his eyes, Lucas turns to the allies of his underground kingdom to help him take revenge. Weaving together past and present like a spider's web, This World Does Not Belong to Us is a spine-tingling story of human greed, from a masterful new literary voice.
The High-rise Diver
Riva is a 'high-rise diver,' a top athlete with millions of fans, and a perfectly functioning human on all levels. Suddenly she rebels, breaking her contract and refusing to train. Cameras are everywhere in her world, but she doesn't know her every move is being watched by Hitomi, the psychologist tasked with reining Riva back in. Unquestionably loyal to the system, Hitomi's own life is at stake: should she fail to deliver, she will be banned to the 'peripheries,' the filthy outskirts of society.
The Tally Stick
After being in New Zealand for only five days, the English Chamberlain family vanished into thin air. Thirty year later, the remains of the eldest Chamberlain child are discovered in a remote part of the West Coast, showing he lived in the wilderness for four years. Where is the rest of the family? Up on the highway, the only evidence that the Chamberlains had ever been there was two smeared tire tracks in the mud leading into an almost undamaged screen of bushes and trees. No other cars passed that way until after dawn. By that time the tracks had been washed away by the heavy rain. After being in New Zealand for only five days, the English Chamberlain family had vanished into thin air. The date was 4 April 1978. In 2010 the remains of the eldest Chamberlain child are discovered in a remote part of the West Coast, showing he lived for four years after the family disappeared. Found alongside him are his father's watch and what turns out to be a tally stick, a piece of scored wood marking items of debt. How had he survived and then died? Where is the rest of the family? And what is the meaning of the tally stick?
The Last Days of Ellis Island
New York, November 3, 1954: The last immigration officer of Ellis Island looks back at 45 years as gatekeeper to America.
Restless
It is 1939. Eva Delectorskaya is a beautiful 28-year-old Russian émigrée living in Paris. As war breaks out she is recruited for the British Secret Service by Lucas Romer, a mysterious Englishman, and under his tutelage she learns to become the perfect spy, to mask her emotions and trust no one, including those she loves most. Since the war, Eva has carefully rebuilt her life as a typically English wife and mother. But once a spy, always a spy. Now she must complete one final assignment, and this time Eva can't do it alone: she needs her daughter's help.
World's Best Mother
World's Best Mother is the journey of a writer through infertility, pregnancy, the mothering of small children, marriage, and an affair, told through a mix of personal anecdotes, imagination, and social commentary.
