Recommendations based on أرض البرتقال الحزينby Ghassan Kanafani

* statistically, based on millions of data-points provided by fellow humans

  1. The Forty Rules of Love

    by Elif Shafak
    A story of romance and spiritual enlightenment, exploring the teachings of a Sufi master.

    Ella Rubenstein is forty years old and unhappily married when she takes a job as a reader for a literary agent. Her first assignment is to read and report on Sweet Blasphemy , a novel written by a ... (Goodreads)

  2. Blindness

    by José Saramago
    A society is plunged into chaos when everyone suddenly loses their sight.

    Blindness is the story of an unexplained mass epidemic of blindness afflicting nearly everyone in an unnamed city, and the social breakdown that swiftly follows. The novel follows the misfortune of a ... (Wikipedia)

  3. Mornings in Jenin

    by Susan Abulhawa
    A Palestinian family's generations-long journey, struggling for identity and freedom.

    A heart-wrenching, powerfully written novel that could do for Palestine what, The Kite Runner, did for Afghanistan. Forcibly removed from the ancient village of Ein Hod by the newly formed state of ... (Goodreads)

  4. The Broken Wings

    by Kahlil Gibran
    A philosophical tale of love and loss, exploring the journey of life and death.

    This is the exquisitely tender story of love that beats desperately against the taboos of Oriental tradition. With great sensitivity, Gibran describes his passion as a youth for Selma Karamy, the ... (Goodreads)

  5. Daddy-Long-Legs

    by Jean Webster
    A young girl's coming-of-age story, learning to navigate the world of adulthood.

    Jerusha Abbott was brought up at the John Grier Home, an old-fashioned orphanage . The children were completely dependent on charity and had to wear other people's cast-off clothes. Jerusha's unusual ... (Wikipedia)

  6. The Prophet

    by Kahlil Gibran
    Collection of poetic musings about life, spirituality, and love.

    Kahlil Gibran’s masterpiece, The Prophet, is one of the most beloved classics of our time. Published in 1923, it has been translated into more than twenty languages, and the American editions alone ... (Goodreads)

  7. Perfume: The Story of a Murderer

    by Patrick Süskind
    A murder mystery set in 18th century France, exploring the depths of human obsession.

    An acclaimed bestseller and international sensation, Patrick Suskind's classic novel provokes a terrifying examination of what happens when one man's indulgence in his greatest passion—his sense of ... (Goodreads)

  8. The Overcoat

    by Nikolai Gogol
    A tale of a lowly bureaucrat's journey to reclaim his sense of self-worth.

    The story narrates the life and death of titular councillor Akaky Akakievich Bashmachkin (Russian: Акакий Акакиевич Башмачкин), an impoverished government clerk and copyist in the Russian capital of ... (Wikipedia)

  9. Eleven Minutes

    by Paulo Coelho
    A young woman's journey of self-discovery and sexual liberation.

    Eleven Minutes is the story of Maria, a young girl from a Brazilian village, whose first innocent brushes with love leave her heartbroken. At a tender age, she becomes convinced that she will never ... (Goodreads)

  10. Samarkand

    by Amin Maalouf
    Epic tale of a man's journey to discover his identity and the truths of his ancestry.

    The first half of the story is set in Persia (present day Iran ) and Central Asia in the 11th century, and revolves around the scientist, philosopher, and poet Omar Khayyám . It recounts the creation ... (Wikipedia)

  11. The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly

    by Sun-mi Hwang
    A hen's quest to break free of her mundane life and fulfill her dream of flying.

    A Korean, Charlotte's Web,More than 2 million copies sold, This is the story of a hen named Sprout. No longer content to lay eggs on command, only to have them carted off to the market, she glimpses ... (Goodreads)

  12. Season of Migration to the North

    by Tayeb Salih
    A stranger arrives in a small Sudanese village, stirring up dark secrets from the past.

    After years of study in Europe, the young narrator of Season of Migration to the North returns to his village along the Nile in the Sudan. It is the 1960s, and he is eager to make a contribution to ... (Goodreads)

  13. The Feast of the Goat

    by Mario Vargas Llosa
    A political thriller exploring a dictatorship in the Dominican Republic.

    The novel's narrative is divided into three distinct strands. One is centred on Urania Cabral, a fictional Dominican character; another deals with the conspirators involved in Trujillo's ... (Wikipedia)

  14. The Bastard of Istanbul

    by Elif Shafak
    Exploring the shared history between Turkey and the US while uncovering secrets of a family’s past.

    From one of Turkey’s most acclaimed and outspoken writers, a novel about the tangled histories of two families. In her second novel written in English, Elif Shafak confronts her country’s violent ... (Goodreads)

  15. The Unbearable Lightness of Being

    by Milan Kundera
    A story of love and loss in a politically turbulent Czechoslovakia.

    In The Unbearable Lightness of Being , Milan Kundera tells the story of a young woman in love with a man torn between his love for her and his incorrigible womanizing and one of his mistresses and ... (Goodreads)

  16. Mother

    by Maxim Gorky
    A journey of self-discovery for a young man, as he learns the truth of his past.

    In his novel, Gorky portrays the life of a woman who works in a Russian factory doing hard manual labour and combating poverty and hunger, among other hardships. Pelageya Nilovna Vlasova is the real ... (Wikipedia)

  17. The Dream of a Ridiculous Man

    by Fyodor Dostoevsky
    A man's quest for happiness and meaning, resulting in a journey of self-realization.

    The story opens with the narrator wandering the streets of St. Petersburg . He is contemplating the ridiculousness of his own life, and his recent realization that nothing matters to him any more. It ... (Wikipedia)

  18. Delicacy

    by David Foenkinos
    A young widow navigates the complexities of love and loss, finding solace in unexpected places.

    Nathalie, a young attractive woman is in love with a young attractive man, François. He proposes and they marry (portrayed in something resembling a ‘dream’ sequence), honeymoon, and are immediately ... (Wikipedia)

  19. Death with Interruptions

    by José Saramago
    A mysterious phenomenon that stops all deaths leading to a dilemma of moral, ethical and social implications.

    The book, set in an unnamed, landlocked country at a point in the unspecified past, opens with the end of death. Mysteriously, at the stroke of midnight on January 1, no one in the country ... (Wikipedia)

  20. Notes from Underground, White Nights, The Dream of a Ridiculous Man, and Selections from The House of the Dead

    by Fyodor Dostoevsky
    A collection of four works exploring the human psyche, morality, and existentialism through the lens of Russian society.

    The story opens with the narrator wandering the streets of St. Petersburg . He is contemplating the ridiculousness of his own life, and his recent realization that nothing matters to him any more. It ... (Wikipedia)

  21. Sea Prayer

    by Khaled Hosseini
    A father reflects on his life and the war-torn world around him as he prepares to take his son on a dangerous journey across the sea.

    A short, powerful, illustrated book written by Khaled Hosseini in response to the current refugee crisis, Sea Prayer is composed in the form of a letter, from a father to his son, on the eve of their ... (Goodreads)

  22. My Brilliant Friend

    by Elena Ferrante
    A story of two friends' lives, exploring the intricacies of female friendship and life in a Neapolitan neighbourhood.

    A modern masterpiece from one of Italy's most acclaimed authors, My Brilliant Friend is a rich, intense and generous hearted story about two friends, Elena and Lila. Ferrante's inimitable style lends ... (Goodreads)

  23. In the Penal Colony

    by Franz Kafka
    A traveler visits a penal colony where a brutal execution machine is used. The officer in charge is obsessed with the machine's perfection.

    " In the Penal Colony " (" In der Strafkolonie ") (also translated as "In the Penal Settlement") is a short story by Franz Kafka written in German in October 1914, revised in November 1918, and first ... (Wikipedia)

  24. Please Look After Mom

    by Shin Kyung-sook
    A family's journey of grief and healing following the disappearance of their mother.

    When sixty-nine-year-old So-Nyo is separated from her husband among the crowds of the Seoul subway station , her family begins a desperate search to find her. Yet as long-held secrets and private ... (Wikipedia)

  25. Norwegian Wood

    by Haruki Murakami
    A young man's journey of love and loss set against the backdrop of the 1960s.

    Toru, a quiet and preternaturally serious young college student in Tokyo, is devoted to Naoko, a beautiful and introspective young woman, but their mutual passion is marked by the tragic death of ... (Goodreads)

  26. Sophie's World

    by Jostein Gaarder
    A journey of philosophical discovery told through a young girl's exploration of the world.

    Sophie Amundsen is a 14-year-old girl who lives in Lillesand , Norway. The book begins with Sophie receiving two messages in her mailbox and a postcard addressed to Hilde Møller Knag. Afterwards, she ... (Wikipedia)

  27. The Diaries of Adam and Eve

    by Mark Twain
    A humorous exploration of the differences between men and women, as seen through the eyes of Adam and Eve.

    "Good deal of fog this morning. I do not go out in the fog myself," notes Adam in his diary, adding, "The new creature does. It goes out in all weathers. And talks. It used to be so pleasant and ... (Goodreads)

  28. Palace Walk

    by Naguib Mahfouz
    An exploration of family life in Cairo during the 1920s, uncovering secrets and tensions in the everyday.

    al-Sayyid Ahmad Abd al-Jawad is the tyrannical head of his household, demanding total, unquestioning obedience from his wife, Amina, his sons, Yasin, Fahmy and Kamal, and his daughters, Khadija and ... (Wikipedia)

  29. Murder on the Orient Express

    by Agatha Christie
    Detective Hercule Poirot solves a murder mystery on the luxurious Orient Express.

    After taking the Taurus Express from Aleppo to Istanbul , private detective Hercule Poirot arrives at the Tokatlian Hotel , where he receives a telegram prompting him to return to London . He ... (Wikipedia)

  30. The Solitaire Mystery

    by Jostein Gaarder
    A young boy's journey to uncover the mystery of his past and the truth of his identity.

    The book follows two seemingly separate stories: A 12-year-old boy, Hans-Thomas, and his father are driving through Europe on a journey to locate and bring home the boy's estranged mother. Whilst on ... (Wikipedia)