Category: Non-Fiction
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Relax Your Mind:180 Seconds of Restless Thoughts
“Inhale, lift your arms up. Exhale, drop your hands to the floor. Inhale, right leg back. Drop the knee. Hold.” When I hear her say the movements, they sound easy enough. But there’s a constant humming in my ear, the echo of a voice in my head. “Hold? You can’t hold any longer. Your legs…
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Book Review: Mornings in Jenin
There are no words that can do this book justice, especially not at a time when the people of Gaza are being brutally bombed, starved and deprived of their most basic of rights; not when there’s a colonial entity conducting raids and random acts of violence in the West Bank, nor when there’s increased settler…
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Book Review: Bitter Orange Tree
I haven’t read a book as captivating as Bitter Orange Tree by Jokha Alharthi in a really long time. Through prose that is delicate, the writer crafts a narrative that feels less like a traditional novel, and more like a beautifully curated collection of poignant moments. The expression is so beautiful that I was in…
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Book Review: Cockroach
When I first started reading Rawi Hage’s Cockroach, I was not immediately hooked. Unfamiliar with his writing style, I had picked up the book because I recognized the name. A follow-up to his acclaimed De Niro’s Game, Cockroach explores mental illness, immigration and an immigrant’s struggle for survival. The pacing of the book was not…
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Ten Insights On Happiness
1. Live close to your truth, even when it’s inconvenient.Pretending will keep you accepted, but never happy. 2. Protect your peace like sacred fire.Not everyone deserves access to your silence, your time, or your nervous system. 3. Feel everything fully.Happiness doesn’t come from avoiding pain, but from being real enough to let it move through…
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Life in Lebanon: An Account on What I’ve Endured During the Past Five Years
Lebanon, a beautiful Mediterranean country, is cursed by an untold legend, one that manifests in confessionalism and corruption, but has haunted the country for centuries. Since its independence in 1943, Lebanon has known no rest: wars, crises, and ongoing local and regional conflicts. And to this day, nothing has changed. The surrealism we live in…
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Book Review: The Book of Disappearance
What would happen if all the Palestinians vanished, all at once, from everywhere? In today’s political context, a lot can be inferred. But in Ibtisam Azem’s ‘The Book of Disappearance,’ this premise becomes a reality. Right from the start, Azem’s compelling writing and distinctive narrative hook the reader – a liberal Zionist journalist can no…
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Wild and Unapologetically Me
In my bewilderment, I unleash my nomadic self Where I can roam free, wander endlessly, Wnd get lost in the boundless wildlands of my inner world, Where I can run free in the wilderness of my being. I scamper toward the sun, Gazing into the horizon of my soul, Seeking new territories, fresh rivers, And untouched…
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Book Review: Evil Eye
Have you ever wondered what your life would look like if you didn’t have to live up to society – and more often, to your family’s – expectations? Maybe you would’ve chosen a different career path, maybe you would’ve ended up with a different partner. Maybe, just maybe, you would’ve done what really makes you…
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Book Review: Enter Ghost
A Gripping and Powerful Look into The Protagonist’s Struggle with Her Palestinianism Sonia Naser has spent all her life in London. Growing up, she, her sister, mother, and father would visit their extended family in Palestine, something Sonia reflects a lot about. But for the past several years, Sonia has not been back to Palestine,…