One of the many highlights of BookExpo America was the opportunity to meet and chat with so many amazing people – bloggers, authors, publicists, random strangers on the subway … (no, I’m kidding about that last one. Mostly).

I visited with several authors at the Unbridled Books booth; and was [...]]]>

Dawn, Masha Hamilton, and Joyce Hinnefeld

One of the many highlights of BookExpo America was the opportunity to meet and chat with so many amazing people – bloggers, authors, publicists, random strangers on the subway … (no, I’m kidding about that last one. Mostly).

I visited with several authors at the Unbridled Books booth; and was finally able to meet and chat face-to-face with Caitlin, whom you may know as @csummie on twitter.

One of the authors I spoke with was Masha Hamilton; I loved her most recent novel, 31 Hours, and am getting ready to dive into her backlist, which includes The Camel Bookmobile, Staircase of a Thousand Steps, and The Distance Between Us.

Masha told me more about her work with the Afghan Women’s Writing Project, which she founded in June 2009.  The AWWP is a non-profit group which mentors Afghan women in writing their short stories, poetry, and personal essays.  These women’s voices are published in the AWWP online magazine in a blog-like format which invites commentary from readers.   As an intro banner on the site explains:

Please take the time to leave a comment for the writers.  They work in such isolation and in such difficult conditions that any feedback or commentary helps them know they are being heard and is greatly appreciated.

These stories are brave, daring, courageous … none of these synonyms seems enough … valiant, bold, spirited …  Many of these women are writing in secrecy, shielded only by the promise of anonymity.

I’m going to highlight a few here, and encourage you to visit the site, read the full pieces, and leave a comment.  Peruse the site, find an essay that speaks to you, and let the writer know she has your attention.  It can make a world of difference to a woman struggling to be heard.  This is a great opportunity for any of you who are participating in the Women Unbound reading challenge, too!

• Remembering Fifteen, by Roya
• Under Burqa, by Seeta
• A Letter to Poppy, by Freshta  
• My First Namaz, by Meena Y
• Kill Silence, by Shogofa

Flashlight Worthy Book Recommendations asked us to chose our pick for the Best Book Club Selection of 2009.  What makes a “best” discussion group book?  In my opinion, it has to be well-written, highly discussable (which may include controversy), and one that is fairly new on the bookstore [...]]]> … as chosen by a dozen book bloggers.

Flashlight Worthy Book Recommendations asked us to chose our pick for the Best Book Club Selection of 2009.  What makes a “best” discussion group book?  In my opinion, it has to be well-written, highly discussable (which may include controversy), and one that is fairly new on the bookstore shelves (so that it’s a first read for most of the group).

My pick was Masha Hamilton’s 31 Hours (my review).  Click here to see why I selected it, and to read the rest of the list.

There are over 330 book lists at Flashlight Worthy Book Recommendations – from preschool favorites to retirement fantasies – pop over and browse a bit.

How many of the dozen Best Book Club Selections of 2009 have you read?

How does your book group choose its books?

Back-of-the-book blurb: Carol, a woman in New York, awakens knowing, as deeply as a mother’s blood can know, that her grown son is in danger.  She has not heard from Jonas in weeks.  His girlfriend, Vic, doesn’t know what she has done wrong, [...]]]>

• 31 Hours by Masha Hamilton
• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Unbridled Books (September 8, 2009)
• ISBN-13: 978-1932961836

Back-of-the-book blurb: Carol, a woman in New York, awakens knowing, as deeply as a mother’s blood can know, that her grown son is in danger.  She has not heard from Jonas in weeks.  His girlfriend, Vic, doesn’t know what she has done wrong, but Jonas won’t answer his cell phone.

We soon learn that Jonas is isolated in a safe-house apartment in New York City, pondering his conversion to Islam and his experiences training in Pakistan, preparing for the violent action he has been instructed to take in 31 hours.

She is Too Fond of Books’ review: 31 Hours grabbed my attention with the first few sentences, and didn’t let me go until long after I’d turned the last page.  This short (just over 200 pages) novel is told in quick bursts, with chapters rarely longer than 8-10 pages offering intimate points of view from several characters.

The first chapter introduces us to Carol; her only child, Jonas, hasn’t returned her calls for weeks, and Carol is sleepless with worry as her instincts tell her that something is seriously amiss.  In the midst of an early-November windstorm, Hamilton effectively conveys Carol’s anxiety, as the frenzy of the storm outside the apartment mirrors the internal frenzy Carol attempts to calm.  The mother in me immediately bonded with Carol, her “mother’s intuition,” and her concern for her son.

We meet Jonas in the second chapter; he is purifying himself before engaging in act of suicide terrorism.  Concerned that he might be perceived as a “two-dimensional zealot,” Jonas wants to be understood, for people to know that he acted with “foresight as well as … determination.”

The story is compacted into such a tight time-frame that it’s hard to put it down.  Think about what 31 hours might look like in your life – a night’s sleep, a full day, and another night of sleep.  It’s not much time.  Early on, Jonas

… glanced at his wristwatch.  Seven minutes to 2.  In seven more minutes, it would be – he used his fingers – thirty-one hours until.

Thirty-one.

The maximum number of days in a month, the length between menstrual cycles.  Al-Khabir, the All-Aware, the thirty-first name of Allah.  Thirty-one verses in Genesis, Chapter 1.  The thirty-first verse:  God saw tall hat he had made, and behold, it was very good.  It was evening and it was morning, the sixth day.  Thirty-one hours which, given the elasticity of time, could shrink to thirty-one seconds or expand to thirty-one years.  Who knew what the next thirty-one hours would feel like to him?

This sense of urgency is carried by the main conflict in the novel, the short chapters, and multiple view points.  We walk a short portion of those 31 hours with about a half- dozen characters: Sonny Hirt, a homeless man in his mid-50s; Vic, Jonas’ girlfriend; Mara, Vic’s 8-year-old sister; Jake, Jonas’ father; even Masoud, the mastermind of the terrorist plan.  Each shares their innermost thoughts as they work toward their goals, be they as seemingly straightforward as Carol, Jake and Vic reuniting with Jonas,  as innocent as Mara’s wish for her parents to get back together, as basic as Sonny’s daily traversing of the subway tunnels he calls home, or as twisted as Masoud’s goal of death and destruction in the name of Allah.

Each chapter heading gives the current time in New York and in Mecca.  Instead of benignly being reminded of the author’s name and title of the novel at the top of each page, we’re reminded that time is passing; it’s moving steadily forward to a literal time of detonation.

Hamilton invites us to explore the obvious theme of terrorism and what drives a person to commit such an act – is it lack of religion or other guiding force? Is there an accurate profile of a terrorist?  Can we intercede to change these beliefs; are they deep and powerful, or tenuous attachments of the easily-influenced?  She also looks at the roles of friends and family – how miscommunication and misunderstandings cause us to take one path or another in our day-to-day lives.  We are all connected; something as small as a smile to stranger can be impfactful.  Carol refers to the “unexpected intersections of lives” as she travels the subway, it’s “the world’s finest people-watching gallery and a classroom in tolerance.”  If only we all were diligent students.

You can peek into the world of Carol and Jonas by reading the first two chapters of 31 Hours. For a short video tease, complete with ticking clock, this short (about 1 1/2 minutes) book trailer will give you chills without giving away the plot:

31 HOURS Book Trailer from Unbridled Books on Vimeo.