Home Feed
Home
Search
Search
Add Review, Blurb, Quote
Add
Activity
Activity
Profile
Profile
The Lemon Tree
The Lemon Tree: An Arab, a Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East | Sandy Tolan
12 posts | 24 read | 37 to read
With a new afterword by the author, and a sneak preview of Sandy Tolan's new book, Children of the Stone In 1967, Bashir Al-Khayri, a Palestinian twenty-five-year-old, journeyed to Israel, with the goal of seeing the beloved old stone house, with the lemon tree behind it, that he and his family had fled nineteen years earlier. To his surprise, when he found the house he was greeted by Dalia Ashkenazi Landau, a nineteen-year-old Israeli college student, whose family fled Europe for Israel following the Holocaust. On the stoop of their shared home, Dalia and Bashir began a rare friendship, forged in the aftermath of war and tested over the next thirty-five years in ways that neither could imagine on that summer day in 1967. Based on extensive research, and springing from his enormously resonant documentary that aired on NPR's Fresh Air in 1998, Sandy Tolan brings the Israeli-Palestinian conflict down to its most human level, suggesting that even amid the bleakest political realities there exist stories of hope and reconciliation.
Amazon Indiebound Barnes and Noble WorldCat Goodreads LibraryThing
review
AvidReader25
post image
Panpan

A nonfiction account of the Israeli and Palestinian conflict in the Middle East. A Palestinian refugee returns to his home, now occupied by an Israeli woman. They find common ground despite their differences. The material was dry in spite of what should be a heart-wrenching situation. I wanted more heart and fewer hard facts.

"Each side has an ingenuity for justifying its own position." 
 
*Fun fall pic because the book was boring.?

LeahBergen What a great photo! 🎃 1y
JamieArc Is this an older book? I seem to remember a film of the same name from some years ago and I think I remember enjoying the film. 1y
AvidReader25 @JamieArc looks like 2006 publication, but no idea if it was a film. 1y
27 likes3 comments
review
christhelesbian
Pickpick

read this awhile ago but free palestine 🇵🇸❤️

review
thevagabondlawyer
post image
Pickpick

Utterly heartbreaking and impossibly beautiful work of narrative non-fiction, TheLemonTree by SandyTolan is an extraordinary, harrowing account as seen through the eyes of a Jew and an Arab in perhaps the most unstable and fragile place in the world today. To read this book is to understand, if not total but at least quiet enough, Palestine and Israel as they exist today. It stunned me how myriad of events that unfolded from 1948 up to 👇

thevagabondlawyer the present tragedies created deep divide for these people. I had no idea what the root cause of these struggles after struggles until after reading this book. Yet for all the horrors, despair and vengeance, The Lemon Tree always offers the glimmering thread of hope and what truly lies beneath the rubble: an openhearted, generous, gregarious people who aspire for peace and prosperity. If you read only one book this semester, make it this one. 3y
violabrain I read this book several years ago and it‘s always stuck with me. It really helped me understand the history and the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians. 3y
thevagabondlawyer @violabrain I could not agree more. There are so many layers to it. I am still processing it. It's not easy. 3y
See All 7 Comments
Texreader Thanks for bringing this to our attention. 3y
thevagabondlawyer @Texreader You're welcome! Happy Reading 👏 3y
SamAnne I read this one a few years ago and it really stayed with me. 3y
thevagabondlawyer @SamAnne so true, one of those books that sticks with you 👏 3y
48 likes4 stack adds7 comments
review
Bookwormjillk
post image
Pickpick

A history of Israel and Palestine from the 1940‘s on with vignettes of the lives of Bashir and Dalia throughout. This book gave me a lot to think about. #FoodAndLit #ReadingAsia

SamAnne I enjoyed this one and learned a lot. 3y
54 likes3 stack adds1 comment
review
heyitsMacall
post image
Pickpick

This book was a good introduction to the conflict in the Middle East. I‘m feeling a bit burnt out over sociopolitical topics but the story made the topic more digestible.

15 likes1 stack add
blurb
JulAnna
post image

Not book related, but the lemon tree that my kids got me for Mother‘s Day has buds and flowers! 😊

ReadZenRites Pretty!!😊💕 6y
38 likes2 comments
review
lauralovesbooks1
post image
Pickpick

Tolan explores the Palestinian-Israeli conflict from the early 1930's to today. It's an extremely complicated issue, and he did a good job of presenting the facts and injustices from both perspectives. He tied the narrative together by looking at an Israeli family and Palestinian family, linked together because the Israeli family lived in the house the Palestinians were forced from. Very informative -- dense at times, It's a complicated story.

lauralovesbooks1 If you are looking to better understand the conflict, this is s good start. 6y
LectricSheep This sounds excellent! 6y
19 likes2 stack adds2 comments
review
Well-ReadNeck
post image
Pickpick

Wow! This was recommended to me a long time ago and I can't believe it's taken me so long to get to it. This was originally a radio documentary on NPR in 1998. So, if you are an audiobook fan, that's a shorter, but less detailed version.

violabrain I absolutely loved this book! It also helped me understand the Israeli/Palestinian conflict much better. 7y
Spiderfelt That's the second book about Palestine I've seen in my feed during the last ten minutes of browsing. I've always been fascinated by this area. My best friend in elementary school described herself as Palestinian, though she was born in Canada, just like me. Her family had lived all over the Middle East, forced out by war. I love the sound of Arabic more than any other language. 7y
128 likes8 stack adds2 comments
blurb
Well-ReadNeck
post image

My #currentread is set in the Middle East. I'm still early in the book, but it is absolutely fabulous so far!!!! #MayBookFlowers #setinthemiddleeast

Tamra I'm anxious to read this too. 7y
Cinfhen Me too @Tamra 💛 7y
MyNamesParadise Sounds fascinating!! 7y
113 likes5 stack adds3 comments
blurb
Well-ReadNeck
post image

Good Morning, Littens! Flipping through a couple library books to find my next read with breakfast! 🌞

Reviewsbylola Perfect morning plans! 7y
aeeklund What did you end up settling on? 7y
Well-ReadNeck @aeeklund The Lemon Tree! 7y
117 likes1 stack add3 comments
blurb
Well-ReadNeck
post image

#LibraryHaul

Grabbed these goodies at the library! Catching up on a few I missed the first time around that have been recommended to me. Especially looking forward to The Lemon Tree.

Melissa_J I enjoyed Maybe In Another Life. 7y
MallenNC I really liked Maybe in Another Life also! 7y
133 likes3 stack adds2 comments
blurb
KimM
post image

About halfway through this one and finding it fascinating. It's my pick for "Read a book set in the Middle East" in Book Riot's #readharder2016 challenge.

18 likes2 stack adds