February Book Club: Ramallah Chapter

FEBRUARY BOOK: "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan" By Lisa See 

We have been hosting chapters for our Book Club for the last year and are pleased to continue sharing English books. We hope to begin offering Arabic books so check back. Reading can be a wonderful experience but being able to share with others your excitement or disappointment can make it that much better! Some books even afford the chance to talk to the author at the end of the discussion.

Next month's book is listed below. We meet at Cafe La Vie in Ramallah where you can sip a cappuccino and enjoy a cozy space to talk.

If you would like to join a book club chapter, email us in advance and pick up a reading kit. There is no cost (except for a deposit that is returned to you) and we encourage you to use our copies of books (although you can buy your own).

Lisa See's "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan"

Date: Saturday, February 25, 2012

Time: 3:30 - 4:30 pm 

About the Author:  Lisa See grew up in the Chinatown section of Los Angeles. Although she is only 1/8 Chinese, her upbringing provided her with a powerful connection to that fraction of herself. See's Chinese background was not the only aspect of her family that affected the course her life has taken. She also comes from a long line of writers and novelists. For See's critically acclaimed international bestseller, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (2005), she traveled to a remote area of China—where she was told she was only the second foreigner ever to visit—to research the secret writing invented, used, and kept a secret by women for over a thousand years.

Overview of the Book: This unforgettable story takes place in 19th century China when girls had their feet bound, and then spent the rest of their lives in seclusion with only a single window from which to see. Illiterate and isolated, they were not expected to think, be creative, or have emotions. But in one remote county, women developed their own secret code, nu shu – "women's writing" – the only gender-based written language to have been found in the world. They painted letters on fans, embroidered messages on handkerchiefs, and composed stories, thereby reaching out of their windows to share their hopes, dreams, and accomplishments.

MARCH BOOK: "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" By Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows' "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society"

Date: Saturday, March 31, 2012

Time: 3:30 - 4:30 

About the Authors: Mary Ann Shaffer became interested in Guernsey while visiting London in 1976. On a whim, she decided to fly to Guernsey but became stranded there when a thick fog descended and all boats and planes were forbidden to leave the island. As she waited for the fog to lift, she read all the books in the Guernsey airport bookstore, including Jersey under the Jack-Boot. Thus began her fascination with the German Occupation of the Channel Islands.

Shaffer was born in Martinsburg, West Virginia, in 1934. Her life-long dream was to "write a book that someone would like enough to publish." Though she did not live to see it, this dream has been realized in The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.

While writing the book, Shaffer's health began to decline shortly thereafter, and she asked her niece, Annie Barrows, to help her finish the book. Annie Barrows is the author of the Ivy and Beanseries for children, as well as The Magic Half.

Overview of the Book: In 1946, London is emerging from the shadow of the Second World War, and writer Juliet Ashton is looking for her next book subject. Who could imagine that she would find it in a letter from a man she's never met, Dawsey Adams, a native of the island of Guernsey, who has come across her name in a book?

As Juliet and her new correspondent exchange letters, Juliet is drawn into the world of Dawsey and his friends. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society—a book club born as a spur-of-the- moment alibi when its members were discovered breaking curfew by the Germans occupying their island—boasts an outstanding cast of characters, from pig farmers to phrenologists, literature lovers all. Juliet knows she has found the subject of her book, and possibly much more, and sets sail for Guernsey, changing the course of her life forever.

APRIL BOOK: "Lyrics Alley" By Leila Aboulela 

Leila Aoulela's "Lyrics Alley" 

Date: Saturday, April 28, 2012

Time: 3:30 - 4:30 pm 

About the Author: Leila Aboulela won the first Caine Prize for African Writing. Her new novel Lyrics Alley is set in 1950s Sudan and is inspired by the life of her uncle the poet Hassan Awad Aboulela who wrote the lyrics for many popular Sudanese songs. Leila's other notable works are The Translator, Minaret, and a collection of short stories Coloured Lights. Leila's work has been translated into twelve languages and included in publications such as Granta, The Washington Post and theVirginia Quarterly Review. Leila grew up in Khartoum, lived much of her adult live in Scotland and now lives in Doha.

Overview of the Book: Lyrics Alley is the story of an affluent, influential Sudanese family shaken by the shifting powers in their country and the near tragedy that threatens the legacy they've built for decades. In the 1950s, Sudan is diverging ethnic and religious populations collide and British rule nears its end, the country is torn between modernizing influences and the call of traditions past—a divide reflected in the growing tensions between Mahmoud's two wives: the younger, Nabilah, longs to return to Egypt and escape the dust of "backward-looking" Sudan; while Waheeba is confined to her open-air kitchen and resents Nabilah's influence on her family. It is not until Nur begins to assert himself outside the strict cultural limits of his parents that both his own spirit and the frayed bonds of his family can begin to mend.

The Ramallah Book Club Chapter meets at La Vie Cafe (296 4115). For more information about this book club call 0597 651 408 or e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it