Holiday Book Guide

For this holiday season, our Board of Directors put together this guide to the books that will make wonderful gifts for your loved ones. From recent releases to reader favorites there is a book for everyone on your list!

44 DAYS: Diary from an Invisible War by Lika Zakaryan

When on September 27, 2020, a brutal war besieged the Republic of Artsakh (Karabakh), writer and photographer Lika Zarkaryan headed to her bunker. From there she wrote and published a diary, read and loved by millions of people around the world. 44 DAYS: Diary from an Invisible War is a multi-layered collection of Zakaryan’s war-time diary entries written in Stepanakert; the photographs she took during that 2020 Artsakh war; a variety of images, social media entries, and articles woven together recreate the history and feeling of those 44 days. The book has been published by Creative Armenia and is available in three languages: English, Armenia, and Russian.

Available at: 44 DAYS Online Bookshop   Zangak Bookstore

 

History of Forgetfulness by Shahé Mankerian

Shahé Mankerian releases his critically-acclaimed debut collection, taking readers back to 1975 Beirut, where an un-civil war is brewing. Mankerian asks, “Who said war didn’t love / the children?” setting the tone for a darkly humorous collection in which memories of love, religion and childhood are entangled amongst street snipers and the confusion of misguided bombings. 

Available at: Fly on the Wall Press   Abril Books  Amazon

 

The Resistance Network: The Armenian Genocide and Humanitarianism in Ottoman Syria, 1915-1918 by Khatchig Mouradian

The Resistance Network is the history of an underground network of humanitarians, missionaries, and diplomats in Ottoman Syria who helped save the lives of thousands during the Armenian Genocide. Dr. Khatchig Mouradian challenges depictions of Armenians as passive victims of violence and subjects of humanitarianism, demonstrating the key role they played in organizing a humanitarian resistance against the destruction of their people. The book was awarded the Syrian Studies Association “Honourable Mention 2021.”

Available at: Amazon

 

A Marrow of Longing by Celeste Nazeli Snowber

The Marrow of Longing, a Celeste Nazeli Snowber’s deeply personal and interpersonal third book of poetry, traces the inherited trauma of the Armenian genocide, lessons learned in kitchen conversations, fragmented memories of grandparents, parents’ love letters, prayers in the night, and bodily yearnings. “Fragments can hold a world,” she says. A descendent of genocide survivors, she explores relationships between longing, belonging, and identity, uncovering universal themes that guide readers to what has shaped their own lives. The Marrow of Longing also contains 7 full-colour beautiful images by artist Marsha Nouritza Obadashian. Partial proceeds from the sale of the book will benefit the Atken Armenian Foundation.

Available at: Harp Publishing  Amazon

 

The Sun Isn’t Out Long Enough edited by Tatevik Sargsyan

Through poetry and prose, 20 writers explore themes of belonging and loss in relation to migration, language and inhabiting the spaces in between identities, queer historical figures, liminal love and diasporic desires.

With with a foreword by Mary Jean Chan and an afterword by Kazim Ali, contributors include: Taylor Johnson, Jay G Ying, Xandria Phillips, Noor Hindi, Andriniki Mattis, Jody Chan, Diana Khoi Nguyen, Peter Scalpello, Ximena Keogh Serrano, Courtney Conrad, Leah Cowan, Joshua Escobar, Shayna Gee, Sarah Giragosian, Golnoosh Nour, John McCullough, Alton Melvar M Dapanas, J.P. Der Boghossian, Jee Leong Koh, Sanjana Bijlani.

Available at: Anamot Press  Lighthouse Bookshop  Pages of Hackney

 

Aftershocks by Nadia Owusu 

Nadia Owusu’s Whiting-Award winning, moving, intimate and unsettling memoir, published earlier this year, was selected as a best book of the year by Vulture, Amazon, and Time, and included on British Vogue’s “Absolute Best Summer Reads for 2021” list. Her lyrical storytelling and painful honesty immerse the reader in her life: endless travels with her UN-diplomat Ghanaian father, abandonment by her American-Armenian mother, boarding school memories from Britain, a web of complicated relationships and struggle with depression, heartache and love.

Available at: Bookshop.org

 

Vera by Carol Edgarian

“Set in San Francisco during the great quake and fire of 1906, this wonderfully compelling novel takes us deeply into the heart and mind of an unforgettable fifteen year old girl, one who must find her way alone through a mother’s neglect, through bordellos and corrupt politicians, through the debris and ashes of what was once “The Paris of the West.” Vera is that rare novel that you’ll want to buy for loved ones just as soon as you reach its shimmeringly beautiful ending. And its street-wise, resilient protagonist will stay with you for a very long time indeed.”— Andre Dubus III

Available at: Bookshop.org

 

Journey to Tatev by Lillian Avedian

Following the end of her journey to discovering her sexuality, a young woman embarks on another journey with her mother travelling across their native homeland of Armenia. In her debut poetry collection, Avedian tells the story of a woman learning to articulate her queer Armenian diasporic experience without fear. “Journey to Tatev is a love poem to the self and the other, written along the trajectory of a single journey. These airy, deeply rhythmic poems encompass the multilingual voice of a migrant, coming-of-age, coming out, coming to terms with the past and future simultaneously. Words and notes dance across the page, engaging all of the senses in this vibrant and deeply moving collection,” Magdalena Ball writes in Compulsive Reader.

Available at: Abril Books

 

The Unauthorized Biography of Tango Woman by Alec Ekmekji

“Alec Ekmekji’s The Unauthorized Biography of Tango Woman: A Tone Poem in Fifteen Movements is an eloquent reminder of the redeeming power of beauty. The recently published volume of haikus and illustrations, (August 2021), confirms French writer Alain Robbe-Grillet’s words, quoted in the book, that “The true writer has nothing to say. What counts is the way he says it.” Indeed, Ekmekji’s book testifies to the power of words, and of images, to help transcend the trauma of a past, no matter how destructive or how painful that past has been.” — Arpi Sarafian, The Armenian Mirror-Spectator

Available at: Amazon (Also available through several Amazon Europe websites)

 

ZABELLE a novel by Nancy Kricorian 

Zabelle begins in a suburb of Boston, with the quiet death of Zabelle Chahasbanian, an elderly widow and grandmother. The story then quickly shifts back in time to Zabelle’s childhood in the waning days of Ottoman Turkey, where she survives the 1915 Armenian Genocide and near starvation in the Syrian desert. Zabelle’s journey encompasses years in an Istanbul orphanage, a fortuitous adoption by a rich Armenian family, and an arranged marriage to an Armenian grocer, who brings her to America. Through each of the often comic interactions and battles she wages in her new country—with a domineering mother-in-law, Americanized children, and the man she secretly loves—images and shadows from a long-lost world accompany her.

Available at: Bookshop.org  Indie Bound  Amazon

 

Me as her again: True Stories of an Armenian Daughter by Nancy Agabian

In this memoir, Nancy Agabian tells stories of growing pains, family tensions, and buried pasts. In a narrative that braids together different times and places and shifts between comic and dramatic registers, Agabian tells us how, as a child, she learns to juggle roles in response to competing pressures to fit in as an American while maintaining her Armenian heritage. At home, she struggles with her grandmother’s old ideologies, arguments between her parents, and heated discussions about race and sexuality. In her twenties, Agabian moves to Hollywood and becomes a performance artist and begins to discover herself sexually, dating both men and women. After hiding her autobiographical shows from her relatives, she finally decides to confront her family history and takes a trip to Turkey with her artist aunt, during which she finds she must reckon with painful family histories involving displacement and genocide.

Available at: Aunt Lute  SPD Books (Use code HOLIDAY20 for a 20% off holiday sale)

 

The Book of Lamenting by Lory Bedikian

Winner of the 2010 Philip Levine Prize for Poetry, Lory Bedikian’s The Book of Lamenting begins within a foundation of lyricism: On the back of every tongue in my family/ there is a dove that lives and dies. Bedikian recognizes the genuine world of the imagination, one we inhabit but often lose sight of a world with floating hieroglyphics of flame, where sometimes one must [e]mpty your pockets/ of the noise you carry and count olives/ in place of coins. Wisdom rises up through the losses in Bedikian s poetry. One poem begins: The year 1997 rose like a spiral staircase/ into a ceiling of darkness. The Book of Lamenting ascends into the darkness in a similar way bringing us gifts of light and memory, so that the small doves at the back of every tongue might sing. –Brian Turner, Judge, 2010 Philip Levine Prize for Poetry

Available at: Anhinga Press   Amazon

 

The Moon in the Cusp of my Hand by Lola Koundakjian

Winner of the 2021 Minas and Kohar Tölölyan Prize in Contemporary Literature. “Lola Koundakjian makes poetry of exquisite moments. Whether she encounters the quotidian or the extraordinary, what she conveys is profound. In her voice you’ll find experiences of the cosmopolitan, the bold, and the bereft, a life concocting meals, savoring music, commingling with the natural world, surveying lovers, testifying to war, searching for art, caring for ill parents, and traveling across NYC and the world as a poetry diplomat and empath. As you read her insights, you will feel discomfited, soothed, moved, and loved. Expertly fusing form and content, navigating between whimsy and gravitas, Lola offers a unique vision of hope.” — Nancy Agabian

Available at: Abril Books  NAASR  Amazon

For signed copies, please visit: lolakoundakjian.com

 

A Cerebral Offer by Ken Janjigian

Harry Gnostopolos is frantically trying to keep his beloved indie theater afloat while his frustrated girlfriend implores him to let it go along with his other neuroses. Harry’s fate suddenly changes with the arrival of an old bohemian friend and an exotic woman who tempt him with a chance to save the theater and his life. All he has to do is join a subversive cabal of thieves, who have planned a heist that will rewrite history. A bronze medal recipient in urban fiction by the Independent Publisher Book Awards (2021), A Cerebral Offer “is a buoyant pastiche, full of unexpected brawls, journeys, romances, and impassioned dialogues about life and art,” according to Kirkus Reviews.

Available at: Livingston Press  SPD Books  Amazon

 

In the Architecture of Bone by Alan Semerdjian

“Alan Semerdjian’s In the Architecture of Bone reads like a long poem cycle that pulls the reader into an open field in which Semerdjian weaves his explorations of language and art, Armenian history and family. These dynamic poems mingle the ghosts of the past with the pace of contemporary life. This talented, young poet is well worth your reading.” — Peter Balakian.

Available at: Gen Pop Books

 

Hour of the Witch by Chris Bohjalian

A young Puritan woman–faithful, resourceful, but afraid of the demons that dog her soul–plots her escape from a violent marriage in this riveting and propulsive historical thriller from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Flight Attendant.

Available at: Amazon  Barnes & Noble  Indiebound  Penguin Random House

 

 

English Translations Of Authors Writing in Armenian

Goodbye, Bird, a novel by Aram Pachyan

Available at: Glagoslav Publications  Amazon

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robinson, short stories by Aram Pachyan

Available at: Glagoslav Publications  Amazon

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Door was Open, short stories by Karine Khodikyan

Available at: Glagoslav Publications

 

 

 

 

 

Ravens before Noah, a novel by Susanna Harutyunyan 

Available at: Glagoslav Publications

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Fleeting City, a novel by Jean Chat (Hovhannes) Tekgyozyan

Available at: Mosaic Press  Amazon

 

 

 

 

 

Au revoir, Piaf,  a novel by Aram Pachyan (French translation)

Available at: Amazon

 

 

 

 

 

 

For more great reads, visit these sites to find more Armenian literature:

Abril Books (USA) 

• Seeroon Darer: Armenian Ornate Initials by Seeroon Yeretzian
• Endless Crossings: Reflections on Armenian Art and Culture in Los Angeles by Arpi Sarafian
• Captive Nights: From the Bosphorus to Gallipoli with Zabel Yessayan by Zabel Yessayan

Armenian Institute (UK) 

• Treasured Objects, Edited by Vazken Khatchig Davidian, Susan Paul Pattie & Gagik Stepan-Sarkissian
• I Ask You, Ladies and Gentlemen by Leon Surmelian (also available on Amazon)