Current Unassigned Reading

I currently have a lot of reading that is required for me classes, so personal reading is a little slow.  I have however, not been able to resist, and have several new books lined up.

http://mikyunglim.wordpress.com/2011/11/07/desert/

I have started rereading Shabanu, Daughter of the Wind by Suzanne Fischer Staples, which I plan to follow with rereading the sequel, Haveli, so that I can then continue with the third book in the series.  I originally read the first book as part of a young women and mother's book club when I was in middle school.  I like it so much I read the sequel, but had no idea until recently that it was a trilogy.  Since it has been quite a few years, I decided it would be best to refresh the story.  I then have two additional books of hers that I plan to read.

Simultaneously I have started reading No True Glory upon the recommendation of a friend.  It's obviously a much heavier book, as it is a non-fiction book chronicling fighting in Fallujah.  So far it has been very interesting.  I feel like these kinds of works are ones that we really need to be reading.  People need to look war in the face, and see how ugly it is.  Yes, it's uncomfortable, but it's truth, and only by facing it can we start to begin to understand it and be able to do anything about it.

It seems like I'm really focusing on the mid-east for my recent reading, from Iran (I read several books my Marjane Satrapi over the summer break), to Pakistan (where Staples sets her books), to Iraq.  It has been, and continues to be an amazing journey learning about this amazingly diverse part of the world, it's people, culture, and historical struggles, as well as the ways that we (Americans) have been interacting with them.