April is Arab American Heritage Month, and it is important for us to honor the contributions of Arab Americans whose work has contributed to the diversity and richness of our nation.  Because we are book people, we’ve decided to put together a book list as a starting point to help us celebrate.  From thought-provoking and eye-opening novels, nonfiction books, and even a cookbook, there are books written by Arab American authors that provide cultural insight and powerful commentary on what it means to be an Arab American today. So here are some thought-provoking and inspiring books honoring National Arab American Heritage Month!

Arab American Heritage Month Books to Read

Against the Loveless World by Susan Abulhawa

A sweeping and lyrical novel that follows a young Palestinian refugee as she slowly becomes radicalized while searching for a better life for her family throughout the Middle East.

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An Unlasting Home  by Mai Al-Nakib

The debut novel from an award-winning short story writer: a multigenerational saga spanning Lebanon, Iraq, India, the United States, and Kuwait that brings to life the triumphs and failures of three generations of Arab women.

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A Woman Is No Man by Etaf Rum

Tells the story of three generations of Palestinian-American women struggling to express their individual desires within the confines of their Arab culture in the wake of shocking intimate violence in their community.

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Arabiyya : Recipes from the Life of an Arab in Diaspora by Reem Assil

A collection of 100 bright, bold recipes influenced by the vibrant flavors and convivial culture of the Arab world, filled with moving personal essays on food, family, and identity mixed with a pinch of California cool, from chef and activist Reem Assil.

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You Exist Too Much by Zaina Arafat

A novel of desire and doubleness that follows the life of a young Palestinian American woman caught between cultural, religious, and sexual identities as she endeavors to lead an authentic life.

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The Beauty of Your Face by Sahar Mustafah

Afaf Rahman, the daughter of Palestinian immigrants, is the principal of a Muslim school in the Chicago suburbs. One morning, a shooter―radicalized by the online alt-right―attacks the school. As Afaf listens to his terrifying progress, we are swept back through her memories and into a profound exploration of one woman’s life in a nation at odds with its ideals.

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The Tale of Princess Fatima, Warrior Woman : The Arabic Epic of Dhat al-Himma Edited by Melanie Magidow

Published in English for the first time, and the only Arabic epic named for a woman, The Tale of Princess Fatima recounts the thrilling adventures of a legendary medieval warrior universally known throughout the Middle East and long overdue to join world literature’s pantheon of female heroes.

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Love Is an Ex-Country by Randa Jarrar

Queer. Muslim. Arab American. A proudly Fat woman. Randa Jarrar is all of these things. In this provocative memoir of a cross-country road trip, she explores how to claim joy in an unraveling and hostile America.

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The Frightened Ones by Dima Wannous, Translated by Elisabeth Jaquette

**Finalist for the 2018 International Prize for Arabic Fiction** A timely and haunting novel that is a boundary-blurring, radical examination of the effects of oppression on one’s sense of identity, the effects of collective trauma, and a moving window into life inside Assad’s Syria.

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Conditional Citizens : On Belonging in America by Laila Lalami

The acclaimed, award-winning novelist—author of The Moor’s Account and The Other Americans—now gives us a bracingly personal work of nonfiction that is concerned with the experiences of “conditional citizens.”

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The Thirty Names of Night by Zeyn Joukhadar

A moving and lyrical novel following three generations of Syrian Americans who are linked by a mysterious species of bird and the truths they carry close to their hearts.

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The Skin and Its Girl by Sarah Cypher

A young, queer Palestinian American woman pieces together her great aunt’s secrets in this sweeping debut, a family saga confronting questions of sexual identity, exile, and lineage.

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What do you think about this list of books for Arab American Heritage Month?

Have you read any of these books?  Are any of them on your TBR?  What books on the Arab or Arab American experience would you add to this list?  Please leave your thoughts in the comments.

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