Lake Bluff Library Adult Reading Lists

The brilliant founder of MuslimGirl.com shares her harrowing and candid account of what it’s like to be a young Muslim woman in the wake of 9/11, during the never-ending war on terror, and through the Trump era of casual racism. (Description from NoveList)

When the Taliban took control of the Swat Valley, one girl spoke out. Malala Yousafzai refused to be silenced and fought for her right to an education. On Tuesday October 9, 2012, she almost paid the ultimate price. (Description from catalog)

Former Force Recon Marine Chad Robichaux details the incredible rescue missions that evacuated not only his long-time comrade and interpreter, Aziz, but also more than 17,000 Afghans and allies who were left in the grip of the Taliban's violent regime as the United States military withdrew from Afghanistan.
(Description from catalog)

A brilliantly imagined historical fantasy in which a young con artist in eighteenth century Cairo discovers she's the last descendant of a powerful family of djinn healers. With the help of an outcast immortal warrior and a rebellious prince, she must claim her magical birthright in order to prevent a war that threatens to destroy the entire djinn kingdom.
(Description from catalog)

It’s the holy month of Ramadan, and twin sisters Amira and Lina are about to graduate high school in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. On the precipice of adulthood, they plan to embark on a summer of teenage revelry, trying on new identities and testing the limits of what they can get away with while still under their parents’ roof. But the twins' expectations of a summer of freedom collide with their older brother's return from prison, whose mysterious behavior threatens to undo the delicate family balance.
(Description from Amazon)

An epic tale of fathers and sons, of friendship and betrayal, that takes us from Afghanistan in the final days of the monarchy to the atrocities of the present day. The unforgettable, heartbreaking story of the unlikely friendship between a wealthy Afghan youth and the son of his father's servant, The Kite Runner is a beautifully crafted novel set in a country that is in the process of being destroyed. (Description from catalog)

Nada Syed is on the cusp of thirty, still living at home with her brothers and parents in the Golden Crescent neighborhood of Toronto, and resolutely ignoring her mother's unsubtle pleas to get married already. And while Nada has a good job as an engineer, it's a far cry from realizing her dreams for her tech baby, Ask Apa, the app that launched with a whimper instead of a bang because of the double-crossing of he-who-must-not-be-named. Something needs to change, but the past is holding on to Nada too tightly to let her move forward.
(Description from Amazon)

In this retelling of Pride and Prejudice set in modern-day Pakistan, Alys Binat has sworn never to marry--until an encounter with one Mr. Darsee at a wedding makes her reconsider. A scandal and vicious rumor in the Binat family have destroyed their fortune and prospects for desirable marriages, but Alys, has found happiness teaching English literature to schoolgirls. Knowing that many of her students won't make it to graduation before dropping out to marry and start having children, Alys teaches them about Jane Austen and her other literary heroes and hopes to inspire them to dream of more.
(Description from catalog)

The youngest of three brothers, K just wants to be an all-American boy-shooting hoops with his buddies and riding his Huffy around the San Fernando Valley. But K understands there's something different about himself, a longing that draws him closer to his friends while making him feel more and more alienated. At home, K must navigate another confusing identity: that of the faithful son of Iranian immigrants struggling to survive in the United States.
(Description from catalog)

In Blackwater Falls, Colorado, veteran police officer Harry Cooper is hot on the heels of some local vandals when the situation turns deadly: believing one of them has a gun, Harry opens fire and Duante Reed, a young Black man, is killed. The "gun" in his hands was a bottle of spray paint. Meanwhile, in nearby Denver, a drug raid goes south and a Latino teen, Mateo Ruiz, is also killed. Detective Inaya Rahman is all too familiar with the name of the young cop who has seemingly killed Mateo: Kelly Broda.Kelly is the son of the police officer John Broda, who led a violent attack on her when they were both in Denver. No one is more surprised than Inaya when John turns up on her doorstep, pleading for her help in proving the innocence of his son.
(Description from catalog)

A comic novel about Muslim immigrants in modern America follows two families from Pakistan and Iraq in the 1990s through to San Francisco in 2016.
(Description from catalog)

A story of family identity and belonging follows an Indian family through the marriage of their daughter, from the parents' arrival in the United States to the return of their estranged son.
(Description from catalog)

Afaf Rahman, the daughter of Palestinian immigrants, is the principal of Nurrideen School for Girls, 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: the bigotry she faced as a child, her mother's dreams of returning to Palestine, and the devastating disappearance of her older sister that tore her family apart.
(Description from catalog)