Reading matters

Friends — I’m sharing a little piece that I just posted on medium. Like you, I’m very distraught about the war between Israel and Hamas, and the incredible amount of killing that this conflict has incurred. What can I do, as a writer/professor here in the US? What difference can I make? Well, there is something I can do, and you can do it too. Read on…

Do you love books like I do?

Are you a passionate reader who is worried about the surge of Antisemitism and Islamophobia in the US?

If so, there is something easy that you can do. And it doesn’t involve going to a demonstration (although that is a wonderful thing to do, if you have the resources and the energy).

It’s about using what you love to do to promote conversation and understanding.

How about reading Jewish and Muslim authors?

Here are four of my personal favorites:

Kathleen Alcalá is a Jewish author who is Latinx and who is also related to the Opata people. She writes memoir and magical realism fiction. My favorite novel of hers is Spirits of the Ordinary which explores all of these heritages in a breathtaking historical fiction that takes place in the Sonoran Desert.

Tod Goldberg is a Jewish author who writes crime fiction, but don’t let the moniker fool you. His Gangsterland series is deeply connected to Jewish spirituality and questions of Jewish identity. My favorite, Gangsters Don’t Die is his most recent book, which can be read as a stand alone.

Sayed Kashua is a Muslim writer who now lives in the US. He was born in Palestine, moved to Jerusalem, and worked for many years as a journalist, screenplay writer, and novelist in Israel, writing in Hebrew — a complex and controversial choice. He’s a funny, heart-breaking incredible author. I am currently reading and very much admiring his 2020 autobiographical novel Track Changes.

Laila Lalami is a Muslim fiction writer who was born in Morocco, and who now lives here in the US. She wrote two terrific books recently and a new one that I haven’t gotten to. My favorite of her books so far is The Other Americans, a novel set in small California town in the wake of a suspicious hit and run fatality. Her insight into family dynamics and how they play into politics is unerring and wonderful.

You can buy books by these authors or take them out of the library. That part is up to you.

But then, I’d love for you to do something more.

If you liked them, buy a copy and gift it to a friend or family member. Leave a review on goodreads. Have your bookclub read and discuss books by these writers.

Once you’ve read these authors, try some others. There are some incredible Jewish and Muslim writers out there.