a list of the books that have shaped who I am and will be, forever

persian

• The Enlightenment of The Greengage Tree by Shokoofeh Azar

  

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  Mystical, surreal storytelling. the first novel I've read that has taken this approach, and I doubt I'll ever read anything similar.
• Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar

  

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  Sort of predictable plot, nonetheless painful. Also very haunting writing, the breaks were fantastic. Satisfying ending.
• The Shahnameh by Ferdowsi

  
• The Cypress Tree by Kamin Mohammadi

  
• Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

  
• The Blind Owl by Sadegh Hedayat

  
• Her Eyes by Bozorg Alavi

  

contemporary fiction

• Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry

  
• Messenger by Lois Lowry

  
• Son by Lois Lowry

  
• Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee

  
• A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

  

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  "One last time, Mariam did as she was told."
  
  The first book I cried reading and had to put down for a bit. If you're ever feeling ungrateful for the life you have, read this book. I found the plot of this book harsher and way more painful than The Kite Runner.
  
• The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

  
• And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini

  
• The Giver by Lois Lowry

  

classics

• To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

  
• Animal Farm by George Orwell

  
• Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

  
• 1984 by George Orwell

  
• Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

  

thriller

• Asylum by Madeleine Roux

  
• Sanctum by Madeleine Roux

  
• Catacomb by Madeleine Roux

  

math

• Surreal Numbers by Donald Knuth

  

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  Great for what it intends to do, see blog post. Could be clearer in some places, but I suppose you do have to remember that this was written by Knuth.
• A Mathematician's Lament by G. H. Hardy

  

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  This book is what got me to try teaching Mathematics for the first time. I've kept it close to heart since.

memoir

• Wave by Sonali Deraniyagala

  

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  Raw, gripping, brutally honest. I had to remind myself several times that this was a memoir--- it felt that surreal and painful. Visceral yet so formative.

novella

• Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

  

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  wish this was longer. for all other purposes, 5 stars.
• The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

  

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  "For the moment, though, I'd better get up, since my train goes at five."
  

non-fiction

• The Persians by Gene R. Garthwaite

  

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  Terse. Did what it was supposed to, but terse.
• All The Shah's Men by Stephen Kinzer

  

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  ouch.