We at Algonquin process, well, everything by reading books. We look to them for comfort and understanding in difficult times so we’re sharing three reading lists in the hope that these books might help you, too. Sending peace, hope, and strength to readers everywhere. The books listed here offer insight about war from people who’veContinue reading

Layla AlAmmar is the author of Silence Is a Sense, a complex and fluid novel about memory, revolution, loss, and safety. … In early 2011, I—like countless others across not just the region but the world—watched as sparks of protest ignited into the flame of the Arab Spring. When I use the words sparks, ignited, andContinue reading

Silence Is a Sense by Layla AlAmmar (available 3/16/21) is a transfixing and beautifully rendered novel about a Syrian refugee’s escape from civil war—and the healing power of community. In this excerpt, the unnamed narrator describes part of her journey through Europe on the way to England and contemplates the meanings hidden in the wordContinue reading