Books from Egypt
63 popular egyptian books
Travel the world without leaving your chair.
The target of the Read Around The World Challenge is to read at least one book written by an author from each and every country in the world.
All books that are listed here as part of the "Read Around Africa Challenge" were written by authors from Egypt.
Find a great book for the next part of your reading journey around the world from this book list. The following popular books have been recommended so far.
41.
Sugar Street by Naguib Mahfouz, Najīb Maḥfūẓ EN
Description:
Sugar Street, the climactic conclusion to Mafhouz's masterpiece trilogy, is the captivating portrait of a family struggling to change with the rise of modern Egypt. As Cairo shrugs off the final vestiges of colonialism, Ahmad Al Jawad has lost his power and surveys the world from a latticed balcony. Unable to control his family's destiny, he watches helplessly as his dynasty and the traditions he holds dear disintegrate before his eyes. But through Ahamd's three grandsons we see how modern Egypt takes shape. One grandson is a communist activist, another a Muslim fundamentalist, both working fo... continue
42.
The Automobile Club of Egypt by Alaa Al Aswany EN
Description:
In British-occupied Egypt, on the eve of the 1952 revolution, respected landowner Abd el-Aziz Gaafar has fallen on hard times. Bankrupt, he moves his family to Cairo and takes a menial job at the Automobile Club, a luxurious lodge for its European members, where Egyptians appear only as fearful servants. When Abd el-Aziz’s pride gets the better of him and he stands up for himself, he is subjected to a corporal punishment that ultimately kills him—leaving two of his sons obliged to work in the Club. As the nation teeters on the brink of change, both servants and masters are subsumed by social u... continue
43.
The Cairo Trilogy : Palace Walk, Palace of Desire, Sugar Street by Najīb Maḥfūẓ EN
Description:
A series of historical fiction based on the life of a family living in Cairo during the British Colonial period and afterward.
44.
The Coffeehouse by Naguib Mahfouz EN
Description:
Mahfouz's last novel, an evocative depiction of life in Egypt in the twentieth century as told through the lives of a group of friends, is now available in paperback for the first time On a school playground in the stylish Cairo suburb of Abbasiya, five young boys become friends for life, making a nearby café, Qushtumur, their favorite gathering spot forever. One is the narrator, who, looking back in his old age on their seven decades together, makes the other four the heroes of his tale, a Proustian, and classically Mahfouzian, quest in search of lost time and the memory of a much-changed pla... continue
45.
The Committee by Sonallah Ibrahim EN
Description:
This wry take on Kafka’s novel The Trial revolves around its narrator’s attempts to petition successfully the elusive ruling body of his country, known simply as “the Committee.” Consequences for his actions range from the absurd to the hideous. Ibrahim offers an unbroken first-person narrative rendered in brief, crisp prose framed by a conspicuous absence of vivid imagery. Furthermore, the petitioner is a man without identity. The ideal antihero, he remains, as does his country, unnamed throughout the intricate plot with a locale suggestive of 1970s Cairo. The Committee pierces the inflammato... continue
46.
The Dawning of the Day : A Jerusalem Tale by Haim Sabato EN
Description:
Ezra Siman Tov is a simple storyteller who captivates his friends in the Nachlaot neighborhood of Jerusalem. His professor brother-in-law gives him grudging respect, Torah scholars listen to him surreptitiously, and a famous author bases his work on his tales. But Ezra has a secret that overshadows his family life and refuses to leave him. In this colorful novel, Sabato creates a world in which faith provides a framework and a deep source of comfort in life.
47.
The Day the Leader Was Killed by Naguib Mahfouz EN
Description:
From the Nobel Prize laureate and author of the acclaimed Cairo Trilogy, a beguiling and artfully compact novel set in Sadat's Egypt. The time is 1981, Anwar al-Sadat is president, and Egypt is lurching into the modern world. Set against this backdrop, The Day the Leader Was Killed relates the tale of a middle-class Cairene family. Rich with irony and infused with political undertones, the story is narrated alternately by the pious and mischievous family patriarch Muhtashimi Zayed, his hapless grandson Elwan, and Elwan's headstrong and beautiful fiancee Randa. The novel reaches its climax with... continue
48.
The Essential Nawal El Saadawi : A Reader by Nawal El Saadawi EN
Description:
The writings of Nawal El Saadawi are essential to anyone wishing to understand the contemporary Arab world. Her dissident voice has stayed as consistent in its critique of neo.imperialist international politics as it has in its denunciation of women's oppression, both in her native Egypt and in the wider world. Saadawi is a figure of international significance, and her work has a central place in Arabic history and culture of the last half century. Featuring work never before translated into English, The Essential Nawal El Saadawi gathers together a wide range of Saadawi's writing. From novell... continue
49.
The Greater Freedom : Life As a Middle Eastern Woman Outside the Stereotypes by Alya Mooro EN
Description:
The greater freedom is to be who you actually are; to be able to live your life in the way you deem best, free from any sort of restriction to do that, or fear of repercussions for doing so.
Egyptian-born and London-raised, Alya Mooro grew up between two cultures and felt a pull from both. Where could she turn for advice and inspiration when it seemed there was nobody else like her? Today, Mooro is determined to explore and explode the myth that she must identify either as ‘Western’ or as one of almost 400 million other ‘Arabs’ across the Middle East.
Through coun... continue
50.
The Hidden Face of Eve : Women in the Arab World by Nawal El Saadawi EN
Description:
This powerful account of the oppression of women in the Muslim world remains as shocking today as when it was first published, more than a quarter of a century ago. Nawal El Saadawi writes out of a powerful sense of the violence and injustice which permeated her society. Her experiences working as a doctor in villages around Egypt, witnessing prostitution, honour killings and sexual abuse, including female circumcision, drove her to give voice to this suffering. She goes on explore the causes of the situation through a discussion of the historical role of Arab women in religion and literature.... continue