Exploring Egypt in February

 Exploring Egypt:

#InvisibleCitiesProject (February)

This month for the Invisible Cities Project I have elected to read books from Egypt and China. I have between four and six books from Egypt that I aim to read, and one from China. I am not sure I will get through all of them, however half of the fun is in trying. The following are the books I aim to read in February: 

1. The Days By: Taha Hussein, Translated By: EH Paxton, Hilary Wayment, Kenneth Cragg
   
1. This is a bind up of a memoir trilogy chronicling Hussein's life growing up in rural Egypt as a blind man and eventually his time working in Egyptian government. I am interested in this text for two primary reasons, firstly I am interested in seeing rural Egyptian life, and seeing how one man overcomes challenges to achieve his goals. 
   
2. The Magnificent Conman of Cairo By: Adel Kamel, Translated By: Waleed
   Almusharaf
1. I am looking forward to meeting this rag tag band of characters and following them through the streets of Cairo. The setting of Cairo will juxtapose the rural setting of The Days, giving me a more well rounded view of Egyptian life. 
3. Beer in the Snooker Club By: Waguih Ghali
1. Unfortunately, this book is not a work in translation. However it is such a well known book by an Egyptian author that I am going to count it in my monthly to be read pile for #InvisibleCitiesProject. I selected this after hearing so many people recommend it, especially Kamil at WhatKamilReads on YouTube. 
4. 
   The Cairo Trilogy By: Naguib Mahfouz, Translated By: William Maynard Hutchins, Olive E
   Kenny, Lorne M Kenny, and Angele Botros Samaan 
1. For this series I became interested in it because of its wide readership, critical acclaim, and writing style. I have sampled this book from the library twice and put it down twice previously because the loan came to an end, however I purchased my copy for #InvisibleCitiesProject so I now have no excuse for not finishing this time. I am looking forward to going into this completely blind. 
5. The Three Body Problem By: Cixin Liu, Translated By: Ken Liu 
1. 
   This is the only Chinese book that I have on my pile for this month. I am looking forward to slowly getting back in the groove of reading
   Sci-Fi. This genre is something I was heavily focussing on in the early days of my reading life, but have since moved away from. 
   

I hope to see you all taking part in #InvisibleCitiesProject this month! Let me know what your favorite reads are written by an Egyptian or Chinese author. 

Happy Reading!