Book picks similar to
Invitation to a Secret Feast: Selected Poems by Joumana Haddad


poetry
arabic-lit-in-english
middle_eastern
country_challenge

Ghostboat


George E. Simpson - 1976
    As a young Navy lieutenant, he watched as his submarine, the U.S.S. Candlefish mysteriously vanished in the Pacific amidst an attack by an unseen enemy.Now, the Candlefish has emerged out of its own shadows, fully intact and in perfect working order, miles from Pearl Harbor. Only a return to the scene of the original incident can answer the question of what strange forces stole the lives of his crew. As Hardy leads a new team toward Latitude 30 North--a place known as the Devil's Triangle--he realizes he must solve a riddle from the past or finally meet his fate.As they near their destination, the ghostboat begins to reveal its secrets…and all may be headed toward a watery grave.

The Pharaoh Contract


Ray Aldridge - 1991
    Science Fiction

I Am Ready to Die a Violent Death


Heiko Julien - 2012
    Prose that actually feels like the 21st century. Rare. Exhilarating. I love this work.”–Mark Leyner, author of the The Sugar Frosted Nutsack“Heiko Julien’s prose pieces, poems and fragments are where the Buddha meets the internet—the trope of the shark, the void and the triangle in a state of simultaneous orgasm with the holes we feel we need to fill, the terrifying reality, the wanting to be a man of the people (but slightly better than the people) and the fear. Julien is a writer who never says ‘or’ only ‘and.’ This book is non-duality at its most neon.”–Melissa Broder, author of Meat Heart and Scarecrone“What’s constant in Heiko Julien’s work is that he’s engaging directly and nakedly with his experience of being a human being. He’s a poet in the old sense: he’s trying hard to find wisdom and truth, like Socrates or something. That’s an important aspect of literature to keep alive as we move forward into the forms of the Internet. Heiko Julien is a model of someone who refuses to live an unexamined life.”–Steve Roggenbuck, internet bard“I feel excited about Heiko’s writing and I don’t feel excited about many other things I think.”–Ben Brooks, author of Grow Up and Lolito

Tampa Bait


Edgar Winner - 2012
    Because if you do, you may find out what happens when a former cop with a gun and nothing to lose decides to push back

Champagne: The Farewell: A Vengeance in the Vineyard Mystery


Janet Hubbard - 2012
    She meets the older and more urbane Olivier Chaumont, a juge d’instruction, or examining magistrate, and experiences a fairy tale evening. But when Chloe’s widowed aunt is found murdered after the wedding dinner, Max and Olivier are shocked back into their respective professional roles.  But to Max’s chagrin, Olivier is put in charge of the investigation and she is banned from an official investigative role.   The value of vineyards and champagne companies is at an all-time high, and Olivier learns that there are several people attempting to gain control of Lea’s business at the time of her death. Max, quietly using the sleuthing skills inherited from her famous detective dad, she insinuates herself into the victim’s family until their long-held secrets begin to spill out like marbles from an overturned dish. After another family member is found dead on the day of Lea’s funeral, however, Max puts her career, and her tentative relationship with Olivier, in jeopardy as her determination to find the murderer—and prove herself in the process—takes over.

Dynamite Fishermen


Preston Fleming - 2011
    Even the more languid moments move with a searing undertone. Uncertainty among the characters, coupled with relentless gunfire and explosions, make for an extraordinary novel, each page as eruptive as the city providing the setting.” KIRKUS REVIEWS “Dynamite Fishermen is an absolute stunner of a novel. It’s clear Fleming has done his research and it shows in the seamless dialogue and the ease at which he tackles the task of conveying the wartime ambiance. This is a must-read for history buffs - although I feel strongly everyone will enjoy the rapid pace and captivating suspense. Fleming is a writer deserving of many accolades.” SAN FRANCISCO BOOK REVIEW “In Dynamite Fishermen, Preston Fleming depicts heedless violence as a way of life from the perspective of an American intelligence officer. The story falls during a lull in the long running Lebanese civil war, a period plagued by daily car bombings, civilian shootings, artillery attacks and other mayhem. As many details of this conflict continue to reverberate today, this intelligently written novel provides a compelling page-turner and a memorable story.” PACIFIC BOOK REVIEW “More than memorable…Captures Beirut's harsh terrain in a vibrant, fast-paced story.” BOOKPLEASURES.COM PRODUCT DESCRIPTION Beirut, 1982. Conrad Prosser is a skilled Arabist, expert agent handler, prolific intelligence reporter, and a connoisseur of Beirut's underground nightlife. But, as his two-year tour at the U.S. Embassy nears its end, Prosser's intelligence career is in jeopardy because he has not recruited an agent while in Lebanon, a sine qua non requirement for promotion. Surveying his many contacts, Prosser selects an attractive Lebanese doctoral student and her idealistic brother as candidates for development. At the same time, he holds clandestine meetings by day and night with his string of Lebanese and Palestinian agents, pressing them to discover who is behind the latest wave of car bombings that has terrorized Muslim West Beirut. But when one of his agents supplies information used to capture a Syrian-backed bombing team, Prosser sets off a cycle of retaliation that threatens more than his career and cherished way of life. At first denying, then later concealing, apparent attempts on his life, Prosser sets out to save both his job and his skin, exploiting his agents, his best friend, a former lover, his new girlfriend and her enigmatic brother. In doing so, he puts their lives at risk and discovers too late the effect of his heedless actions. DYNAMITE FISHERMEN offers complex characters, fast-paced action, a vivid portrayal of human intelligence operations and the flavor of Beirut during its dark days of ci

this boy is a rainbow


Sam Payne - 2018
    Found the sun. And became the rainbow…Sam Payne’s debut poetry collection, this boy is a rainbow, tells a touching story of gay love and heartache, healing and empowerment. It is the story of a boy who lost love and thought he would never be whole again. Divided into three chapters, it follows his journey as he endured the storm, found the sun, and became the rainbow.Featuring over two-hundred original poems and illustrations, the collection encourages readers not only to survive the storm, but to thrive in it. And when the storm is over, be ready to let love in again. For love is everywhere, if only you open your heart.thank you
for throwing me
into the bared teethof a treacherous stormif you hadn’t
i wouldn’t be
the rainbow
i am today

The Murders of Christopher Watts


Cheryln Cadle - 2020
    Cheryln Cadle contacted him and started visiting him in prison. Christopher started writing her letters from his prison cell in Wisconsin. These letters had his confessions of things he had never told anyone else. Now she shares the letters and the truth about what happened that fateful night in Frederick Colorado to Shanann, Nico, Bella and Celeste Watts at the hands of their father. Was he just a monster or was it truly his girlfriend that he wanted to start a life with the reason he was willing to kill his family?

The Scarlet Ibis: Poems


Susan Hahn - 2007
    The resonance of this image grows through each section of the book as Hahn skillfully employs theme and variation, counterpoint and mirroring techniques. The ibis first appears as part of an illusion, the disappearing object in a magician’s trick, which then evokes the greatest disappearing act of all—death—where there are no tricks to bring about a reappearance. The rich complexity multiplies as the second section focuses on a disappearing lady and a dramatic final section brings together the bird and the lady in their common plight—both caged by their mortality, their assigned time and role.  All of the illusions fall away during this brilliant denouement as the two voices share a dialogue on the power of metaphor as the very essence of poetry. bird trick iv It’s all about disappearance. About a bird in a cagewith a mirror, a simple twiston the handle at the sidethat makes it come and go at the magician’s insistence. It’s all about innocence.It’s all about acceptance.It’s all about compliance.It’s all about deference.It’s all about silence. It’s all about disappearance.

Pandemonium


Armando Iannucci - 2021
    It tells the story of how Orbis Rex, Young Matt and his Circle of Friends, Queen Dido and the blind Dom'nic did battle with 'a wet and withered bat' from Wuhan.

Becoming Light: Poems New and Selected


Erica Jong - 1991
    An essential collection of poetry--the best of her creative body of work by the internationally celebrated and bestselling author of Fear of Flying and Any Woman's Blues.

The Moors


Jen Silverman - 2017
    The arrival of a hapless governess and a moor-hen set all three on a strange and dangerous path. The Moors is a dark comedy about love, desperation, and visibility.1 M, 5 F.

The Service of Clouds


Susan Hill - 1998
    The muslin curtains billow out towards her like clouds. There is a touch of brilliant red, the ribbon on her hat. The rest is white, cream, palest grey. It is a painting which leads Flora on, beckoning her away from her childhood, her complaining, clinging mother, pert younger sister, and the confines of a small community, to a proud and self-reliant future. But later, this image is to prove the catalyst for the most signicant event in her life. Isolation, separation, solitude, betrayal. The shocks of life. The consolations and the beauty of death. A few piercing moments of absolute joy and perfect understanding. THE SERVICE OF CLOUDS is about these things, and also about love, loyalty, friendship, growing up and growing old.

Taken


Jacqui Rose - 2012
    Since she had to give away her baby at 15, she’s been lost in booze and bad company. But now she wants to find her child and put things right… Perfect for fans of Jessie Keane and Martina Cole‘All she wanted to do was get out of there. Get on a train and head for London, the place she’d been avoiding for so many years. But it was finally time.’Casey Edwards has demons to put to rest. Since she had to give away her baby at 15, she’s been lost in booze and bad company. But now she wants to find her child and put things right. Heading to Soho, Casey meets former gangster Vince Sadler, an old-school hard man who can still handle himself – and anyone else. There’s a spark between Vince and Casey but she can’t let herself get hurt, not again.To find the truth, Casey must enter the dark world of London’s gangland: hard drugs, vice, even people trafficking. Soon she discovers that mob boss Alfie Jennings and sadistic psycho Oscar Hardings are plotting something dangerous, something brutal. Something that puts Casey – and her child – in serious trouble . . .Full of strong women, devious gangsters and compelling twists, Taken is compulsive read perfect for fans of Jessie Keane and Roberta Kray.

Mistress Of Death (Death Hunter #4)


Ron Ripley - 2020
    Working with old friends and new allies, he continues his investigation of the robberies and deaths involving haunted items, hellbent on discovering who’s responsible for these sinister crimes.But his investigation turns up more than he bargained for when he discovers a sinister presence lurking near a crime scene. Miriam Shaw, the ghost of a woman murdered by her lover, has been unleashed. Once a beautiful, free-spirited woman, Miriam still exerts a seductive power over weak-willed men…As this vengeful wraith and her followers spill innocent blood in Nashua, Shane finds himself locked in a deadly game of cat and mouse with a shadowy enemy. The man behind the robberies is determined to put an end to Shane’s meddling, by any means necessary.Forced to battle an army of killers, Shane must draw upon every shred of courage and skill he possesses. But even if he can survive this all-out assault, will he be strong enough to resist the lure of Miriam, and her siren-song?