During the month of March I usually try to read Irish-themed books to go along with my love for all things Irish and St. Patrick’s Day. This year, however, I felt I needed to change things up a little.
One of my favorite things about reading is that through books you can experience different cultures and perspectives. You can learn about other people and places. It’s eye-opening and world-expanding, all in one. It’s important that we allow ourselves to be open-minded and learn about other cultures.
This is why I chose to read books by Middle Eastern authors – primarily Iranian – this month. I felt it’s important that, while we sit safe in our comfortable homes here in the US, we remind ourselves that the Iranians are also human. Their leaders don’t represent all of them – just like our current leaders certainly do not represent all of us. They have a rich culture that is steeped in storytelling. And I wanted to experience some of that.
I thoroughly enjoyed all the Iranian/Middle Eastern books I read this month. There are a lot of common themes and threads through those stories. I learned a lot about recent Iranian history, thanks to THE LION WOMEN OF TEHRAN and THE STATIONERY SHOP. Then READING LOLITA IN TEHRAN reminded me of why I love to read, and how much I love discussing and analyzing literature. MY UNCLE NAPOLEON is one of the most well-known and popular Iranian novels within the country. It gives readers an idea what life in Iran may have been like in the early 1940s, with some over-dramatization of course. The coming-of-age novel is full of adventures and humor, and reminded me of a telenovela.
But if I had to choose one book from this stack to recommend, it would be EVERYTHING SAD IS UNTRUE. It was such a wonderful book. This autobiographical book is written from the perspective of the author as a young boy. The writing style felt like you were sitting next to the author’s younger self as he told you about his life so far. It was raw and honest, hilarious, and heartbreaking. There were so many big feelings in this book. It was also beautifully told, and weaved together not only the culture and storytelling of Iran, but also the refugee experience.
I enjoyed this month of reading so much that I’ve decided I want to spend more time reading books from diverse cultures. I signed up for the Storygraph Reads the World 2026 challenge, which involves reading books from 10 different countries: Afghanistan, Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, France, Iraq, Morocco, Senegal, Sweden, and Thailand. I’ve already earmarked potential reads for each country, but if any of you happen to have some recommendations feel free to share!
Not Another Dumb Blonde 