What are your favorite books about the Middle East?

Naguib Mahfouz – Midaq Alley, the Cairo trilogy

Abdelrahman Munif – the Cities of Salt trilogy

my favorite would have to be john allegro’s “The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross” you must give allegro his due he has the creds, no clown off the street here– there is a lot of evidence to suggest that ingesting psycho active substances
was a big part of Shamanism and the practice presisted in ancient Zionism. read the 16th chapter of Exodus as it explains the substance called Manna—-it is that of a mushroom.
As time goes on more and more Bibles are changing the wording in this chapter and its meaning.
Wonder why?

“broken verses” by Kamila Shamsie. A young woman whose mother was an activist in Pakistan searches for understanding about her mother’s death. Set in modern-day Pakistan the novel tells the story of a woman’s search to understand the forces that pushed her mother to oppose the government and the consequences of her mother’s actions.

The Soul of Iran by Afshin Molavi and In the Rosegarden of Martyrs by Christopher De Bellaigue are two must reads about Iran.
I am Iranian ad have been living in the US for 6 years now. I can’t believe what a false image of Iran is out there in the media and minds. these two books gave me hope that there are still some journalists out there who care about depicting the real image of others countries.