Goodreads Monday is a weekly meme started by @Lauren’s Page Turners but is currently hosted by Emily @ Budget Tales Book Blog. This meme is quite easy to follow – just randomly pick a book from your to-be-read list and explain why you want to read it. It is that simple.

This week’s book:

Behind You is the Sea by Susan Muaddi Darraj

Blurb from Goodreads

An exciting debut novel that gives voice to the diverse residents of a Palestinian American community in Baltimore—from young activists in conflict with their traditional parents to the poor who clean for the rich—lives which intersect across divides of class, generation, and religion.

Funny and touching, Behind You Is the Sea brings us into the homes and lives of three main families—the Baladis, the Salamehs, and the Ammars—Palestinian immigrants who’ve all found a different welcome in America.

Their various fates and struggles cause their community dynamic to sizzle and sometimes explode: The wealthy Ammar family employs young Maysoon Baladi, whose family struggles financially, to clean up after their spoiled teenagers. Meanwhile, Marcus Salameh, whose aunt married into the wealthy Ammar family, confronts his father in an effort to protect his younger sister for “dishonoring” the family. Only a trip to Palestine, where Marcus experiences an unexpected and dramatic transformation, can bridge this seemingly unbridgeable divide between the two generations.

Behind You Is the Sea faces stereotypes about Palestinian culture head-on and, shifting perspectives to weave a complex social fabric replete with weddings, funerals, broken hearts, and devastating secrets.

Why I Want To Read It

Happy Monday everyone! Well, technically it is already Tuesday so, happy, Tuesday everyone. I hope everyone started the work week on a high note even though I surmise that it is not something most of us are looking forward to; I, for one, dread Mondays. Nevertheless, I am looking forward to what the week has in store. Mondays, after all, also present new opportunities to learn, start a new adventure, or even explore new worlds. Despite a sluggish start to the week – I hope not – I hope everyone will be able to gradually build momentum as the week moves forward. I hope everyone makes it through the week. I hope that the week will flow smoothly. More importantly, I hope everyone is doing well, in mind, body, and spirit.

Woah, time does fly fast. Today is the last Tuesday (and yesterday was the last Monday) of the tenth month of the year. We are inching closer to the end of the year and to the start of a new one. I hope that 2024 has been a good one and that the remaining months of the year will be filled with kindness. I hope it will shower everyone with blessings, good tidings, good news, and answered prayers. I hope that everyone gets repaid for their hard work. I hope that everyone achieves all their goals this year. Reading-wise, October is a mixed bag. I have been alternating works that were recently published with books that are part of my ongoing reading challenges. I still have some catching up to do with some of these challenges. Currently, however, I am focusing on Booker Prize-shortlisted books; I am reading Rachel Kushner’s Creation Lake, my fifth book from the said list.

Back to this weekly book meme. Unfortunately, I have run into a wall. I have run out of ideas on what books I should be looking forward to. My to-be-read list is quite long. I have several unread books piling on my bookshelves. As such, I tried to search for books that literary pundits considered among the best reads of the year (so far). It was through these lists that I came across Behind You is the Sea by Susan Muaddi Darraj. Before yesterday, I had never come across a Palestinian American writer. I just learned that Behind You is the Sea is her debut novel although she has published a story of collections and a children’s book series. What piqued my interest in the book is its premise. It is about the Palestinian experience in America. Further, the book is said to pierce the “stereotypes” surrounding Palestinian culture. There are many reasons to look forward to the book.

How was your Monday? What books have you added to your reading list? Do drop it in the comment box. For now, happy Monday and, as always, happy reading!