compulsively
READABLE
THE NAME IS REAL. EVERYTHING ELSE IS MADE UP.
Life is Short
Wear Minis to Match!
Escape into a juicy novel by Jessica Jiji.
How to Judge a Book by its Lover
A LAUGH-OUT-LOUD ROMANTIC COMEDY
Laurel Linden wants nothing more than a publishing contract for her 600-page historical novel about Napoleon Bonaparte’s hairdresser. Despite mounting evidence that it’s hilariously bad, she clings to faith that it’s a future bestseller. While expecting to become fabulously famous, Laurel’s earning cash as a New York City dog walker and living in a rundown apartment. Her friends and family want her to move back to the suburbs, get a real job and settle down – until Laurel shocks them all by nabbing a huge book deal and a hot Belgian boyfriend.
Only problem is… the perfect life she always dreamed of feels all wrong. Changing course would mean giving up everything she worked so hard for and – way more difficult – accepting who she really is. For all the thousands of words of fiction she’s ever typed, it’s finally time for Laurel to write a real happily ever after.
Let's Tell Stories
My mother always told me we could travel far with books. Long before there were virtual tours and Google Earth, she introduced me to books that transported me across seas and centuries.
Like parents everywhere, my father used to tell me bedtime stories. Being Iraqi, he made up tales about a brave girl named Cassima. Instead of starting with “Once Upon a Time…” he would open with the line, “I was a cook for the Queen of Iraq…” The cook was never much good at fighting off bandits or protecting the palace but Cassima would swoop in and save the day. I was mesmerized.
Somewhere between being raised on the power of reading and those imaginative tales, I started writing. Sometimes, I cross continents and decades to write about the Arabic culture I was raised to revere. Other times, I stick with here and now. Either way, it’s a journey we’re on together.
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Books
Sweet Dates in
Basra
About the Book
Sweet Dates in Basra
Beautiful Kathmiya is sent from Iraq's idyllic countryside to work as a maid in Basra, where she meets Shafiq, a Jewish boy whose brotherhood with his Muslim neighbor Omar proves friendship transcends religion. Set during the Second World War, Sweet Dates in Basra portrays the unyielding power of human solidarity.
Diamonds Take
Forever
About the Book
Diamonds Take Forever
If her family had never left Morocco, Michelle would be in big trouble, being almost
thirty and still single. When her hot boyfriend breaks up, she gives up on getting a sparkly ring. But then Michelle discovers a diamond is just coal until it's forged by fire and time.
How to judge a Book by its Lover
About the Book
How to judge a Book by its Lover
Laurel Linden wants to publish her novel and nab a sophisticated boyfriend, but when she gets the life she always dreamed of, it feels all wrong. For all the thousands of words of fiction she’s ever typed, it’s finally time for Laurel to write a real happily ever after.
