Cairo

Cairo by G. Willow Wilson, 160 pages

Cairo is set in a fantastical version of the titular city where journalists and drug smugglers share the streets with djinn and magicians. Five strangers from Egypt, Israel and America have their fates intertwined by a hunt for a mystical artifact. Wilson merges politics, history, action, adventure and fantasy in Cairo and it makes for a fast-paced read. Though I finished reading Cairo recently, the details of the plot and characters are already starting to fade. I read Cairo almost immediately after reading Wilson’s non-graphic novel, Alif the Unseen, and unfortunately, it didn’t hold-up well in comparison Alif. I’d recommend Alif as a starting book for anyone interested in reading books by Wilson, the world she builds in it is similar to that in Cairo, but richer and more vibrant in my opinion. (I’m still really looking forward to Wilson’s Ms. Marvel reboot when it eventually comes out as a trade paperback!)

House of Stone

House of Stone by Anthony Shadid
315 Pages


Anthony Shadid goes back to Lebanon to find his roots while restoring the house his great-grandfather had built.  We get a glimpse of a forgotten and fading past in a country that has been overshadowed by decades of war and strife.

I read this book for the Schlafly book club and the general agreement was that the writing style made it difficult to get into the book.  This may have been because Shadid was first and foremost a journalist and the two styles clashed.  What the book did capture was how the culture of Lebanon has dwindled as the Lebanese have fled the troubles of war since the collapse of the Ottoman empire following the First World war.