With every year coming by, we make our annual to-be-read list with the most exciting and coveted books by Arab authors. While you’re still working on reaching your goal of novels to complete this year (say hello to our Goodreads profile), these are the six upcoming as well as latest releases that deserve a spot on your bookshelf in 2022.
Best books by Arab Authors in 2022:
No Land to Light On by Yara Zgheib
The author of The Girls at 17 Swann Street is back with a new novel about a Syrian couple, Hadi and Sama, and the struggles they face with a travel ban that’s brought on the eve of their son’s birth.
Release date: January 4
Seasons of Purgatory by Shahriar Mandanipour
Written by Iran’s renowned fictional writer Shahriar Mandanipour, Seasons of Purgatory is his first English-language collection and highlights the trials and tribulations of war as well as the conflicts between urban culture and rural traditions.
Release date: January 25
Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head by Warsan Shire
Somali-British writer Warsan Shire, popularly known for Beyoncé’s Lemonade and Black Is King, brings us another poetry masterpiece revolving around migration, womanhood, trauma, and resilience.
Release date: March 1
Country of Origin by Dalia Azim
This new coming-of-age novel is based during Cairo’s 1950 revolution and how 17-year-old Halah Ibrahim starts to question her privileged life and her father’s role in the new military-backed government.
Release date: April 12
These Impossible Things by Salma El-Wardany
Ever wish that time would stay still and a moment could never slip away? These Impossible Things by Salma El-Wardany is about three British Muslim best friends- Jenna, Kees, and Malak- and the realization of them all soon drifting after and having had to navigate heartbreaks, marriages, new career paths, and much more on their own.
Release date: June 7
The Final Strife by Saara El-Arifi
A fantasy trilogy is on its way to you in June so get yourself prepped now. We’ve got three characters – Sylah, Anoor, and Hessa – who live in an empire that is on its hunt for new leaders to take charge during combat. Will they win against evil? We’ll have to find that out.
Release date: June 21
