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Sophia Al-Maria writes here about being born to an American mother and Bedouin father and moving back and forth between the US and #Qatar, never quite finding her place. I found this to be an interesting depiction of culture and place, for which I give it a pick, but I wanted more from it. I wanted her to dig a bit deeper and instead this read a bit like YA.

#ReadingAsia2021

Sophia/Safya, the child of an American mother and a Bedouin father, is torn between two cultures, and this book are her memories of growing up and accepting her own identity. I found interesting descriptions of the nature and Bedouin life/habits, but I didn‘t like her narrative voice. 👍content, 👎 everything else

Oops- my first official read of 2021 is actually a carryover from my December 2020 #ReadAroundTheWorld challenge for #Qatar- but I did find this memoir quite fascinating. I wish that there had been a little more detail as far as food goes - and the author‘s relationship with her sister in particular seemed oddly absent. But it does a good job showing the independent nature required to straddle such different cultures!

#readaroundtheworld #Qatar A memoir from a woman uniquely half American and half Bedouin at a time when those two worlds had absolutely no knowledge of each other. Her coming of age story is told in a simple and straightforward fashion; while giving the reader insights into the vast changes the Bedouin culture faced as they transitioned from nomadic herding and trading to working on oil rigs and watching American TV shows.

Sophia's mother is sending her away from Washington State to Qatar, to stay with her father's Bedouin family, when Sophia was a teenager. This is a coming-of-age story, as well as a story about living between two very different families, struggling between two cultures, literally and figuratively miles apart. What I did not like about this book is that so many of my questions were not answered. #Qatar #readingtheworld

I love learning about new places and foreign cultures. Books really help discovering different cultures and how other people live. Therefore I found this book very interesting and was touched by Al-Marias struggle to find a place to call home. It sure wasn't easy for her to find out who she is.

I found this interesting and was able to catch glimpses into Sophia Al-Maria's life and struggle to find her identity as she straddled such different worlds growing up with an American mother and Bedouin father and living from Washington state to Qatar to Cairo.

I don't mean to invalidate the author's experience in any way here. I was really interested in her story but the execution just didn't do it for me. I was expecting more of an analysis of the cultural differences between America and Qatar, as the memoir focuses on the author's coming of age in both countries. The writing was also a bit overwrought for the subject matter for my taste, and I think that's why it took me a bit to finish this one.

Living my best life 😋

I grabbed this book for my #litsypassport July read, which featured Qatar. I had hoped for more cultural elements, but the book was too inside the author‘s head to get a solid feel for life there.

Jumping in! Thanks @Cinfhen 😘

I had never read many memoirs and this year I've discovered that it my be a new favorite genre of mine!

#readingwomenmonth #memoir #TBR "When Sophia Al-Maria's mother sends her away from rainy Washington State to stay with her husband's desert-dwelling Bedouin family in Qatar, she intends it to be a sort of teenage cultural boot camp. In Qatar, Sophia is faced with a new world she'd only imagined as a child. She sets out to find her freedom, even in the most unlikely of places..."

@Cinfhen @Weaponxgirl @Andrew65

Finished my first book for #PassportLitsy #Qatar I'm a fan of memoirs, especially when the subject matter is something I know very little about. Sophia Al -Maria was born to a Bedouin father and an American mother. Unconventional childhood doesn't begin to describe Sophia's experiences, which she shares in an honest, vivid, witty tone. It's part family drama, coming of age story set in the deserts of the Arabian Gulf and farmlands of Seattle.

#ReadingResolutions 😉 I‘m participating in #Booked2018 and #PassportLitsy which are both #LitsyChallenges as well as #pop18 and #ModernMsDarcy Here is my travel itinerary and the books I hope to read....First up, the tagged memoir which will also fulfill #POCauthor for #Booked2018 #AttackTheStack

I broke my book buying ban BUT I did complete two bingos on my #TBRbingo board and all 4 titles are for #PassportLitsy 🌍although one book is 518 pages😱I somehow missed that important bit of info #BigBookMonitor So now I'm patiently #waiting to see if I chose well....I ❤️Litsy and all of the creative reading challenges that make me broaden my reading world! #uncannyOctober