Arab American Literature Reading List
A reading list celebrating books by Arab American authors and the many stories, histories, cultures, and imagined worlds they bring to the page. This list was created as a way to expand my own reading beyond the perspectives and experiences most familiar to me.
I am not Arab American, and I do not intend this list to speak for the Arab American community or define the full range of Arab American literature. I welcome recommendations, corrections, and notes from Arab American readers and authors, especially if there are books that should be added or removed.
created by Riel.Belle
last updated July, 2026
Comments
I have updated the title and description of this list, as it was Originally made for my book club, but I have come to notice its the only Arab American List on pagebound. I think it could potentially become a good quest, and wanted to make sure it was no longer connected to my book club.
As I am not Arab American, and made this list to help myself explore more voices, I am very open to if I move to nominate this list to become a quest, to have someone else take on the running on the quest as I know I am not the most well read in this selection.
I really like this list but some of the authors listed are not Arab Americans, as in they’re not Arab.
😭can you tell me which ones? Where did google fail me?
Sorry I just saw this. I think you already edited the list but when I get home from work I can take a look again 💜 Dont worry Google isnt perfect! Im just really happy this list even exists and that you saw my comment ^_^
Sorry for taking so long I had to find my note to myself. I think you already made some changes but I've kept my list the same just for ease.
Shannon Chakraborty is white american, S. K. Ali is indian canadian, P Djèlí Clark is afro-caribbean american, Nazifa Azad is indo-fijian canadian, and Uzma Jalaluddin is south asian canadian.
Melissa Bashardoust I'm not sure, I couldn't find anything online. Everyone else I could find something online stating they were arab canadian/american with them as the source. I did go by what I could find online for everyone, at least to the best of my ability, finding interviews or their own websites, but of course I could make mistakes 😅
Wonderful! Looks like some of those I had already caught and it looks like Bashadoust is Persian/Iranian, not Arab.
Oooo what a cool theme!
Our bookclub president does a great job of creating a seasonal book bingo with box topics to get out of our comfort zones and into trying new things!
