book reviews

September 12, 2009

The Sacremento Book Review & The Night Counter

http://sacramentobookreview.com/modern_literature/the-night-counter/ The Night Counter Posted by Editor at 8 September, 2009, 9:25 am By Alia Yunis Shaye Areheart Books, $23.00, 365 pages When the immortal storyteller Scheherazade gives Fatima Abdullah 1,001 nights to tell the great stories of her life, Fatima begins to prepare for her death. Between getting her affairs in order, Fatima spends Continue reading

Arts and Culture, Author, Books, NIght Counter Reviews and Press, Publishing

Authors, book reviews
September 6, 2009

The Boston Globe Review

http://www.boston.com/ae/books/articles/2009/08/09/in_dunants_sacred_hearts_a_story_of_thwarted_love_and_church_intrigue/ “In Alia Yunis’s poignant, hilarious first novel, “The Night Counter,’’ purple-haired, 85-year-old Fatimah Abdulla tells her life story to Scheherazade, the legendary storyteller from “The Arabian Nights,’’ who appears every night in the elderly woman’s Los Angeles bedroom. Fatimah has plenty of stories. She came to Detroit from Lebanon as a teenage bride, had Continue reading

Arabs, Arts and Culture, Author, Books, Publishing

Author, book reviews, Books, Boston Globe, The Night Counter
August 15, 2009

The Washington Post Review

It’s pretty cool to get reviewed by one of the book critics you respect the most. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/13/AR2009081303267.html A SCHERHEZADE FOR OUR TIMES LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO 1,001 NIGHTS By Carolyn See Special to The Washington Post Friday, August 14, 2009 Shaye Areheart. 365 pp. $24 Some people write about death, dying and tragedy as if Continue reading

Arts and Culture, Books, NIght Counter Reviews and Press, Publishing

book reviews, The Night Counter, Washington Post
August 5, 2009

Updates: Book Soup and Christian Science Monitor And Entertainment Weekly

The Night Counter is still #2 Bestseller at Book Soup, thank you West Hollywood. I should be blogging about San Francisco and Seattle, which have been awesome, but I’m waiting for photos. Meanwhile, Entertainment Weekly gave it a B+, which reminded me of my students when they say to me, “A B+? Couldn’t you make Continue reading

Arts and Culture, Author, Books, Middle East, NIght Counter Reviews and Press, Publishing

Author, book reviews, The Night Counter
July 16, 2009

I Love My Daily Candy!

Chocolate milk balls, black licorice, gummy bears…but today it was extra sweet: http://www.dailycandy.com/los_angeles/article/70636/Magic+Carpet+Ride July 15, 2009 Magic Carpet Ride “The Night Counter,” by Alia Yunis Little pigs and lost siblings make for decent bedtime story fodder. But the life and times of Fatima Abdullah, the madcap matriarch of Alia Yunis’s charming debut, The Night Counter, Continue reading

Arts and Culture, Author, Books, Middle East, NIght Counter Reviews and Press, Publishing

Author, book reviews, The Night Counter
July 7, 2009

Review of the Night Counter From Genre Reviews

Saturday, June 27, 2009 The Night Counter-Alia Yunis The Night Counter Alia Yunis Shaye Areheart (Crown), Jul 14 2009, $24.00 ISBN: 9780307453624 Lebanese immigrant Fatima Abdullah is dying, but shows no interest in a reconciliation with her estranged husband Ibraham or for that matter with her children sprawled all over the country as she prefers Continue reading

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Author, book reviews, Books

About Alia

Alia Yunis is a writer, journalist and filmmaker. She is currently producing and directing “The Golden Harvest,” a feature length documentary about how olive oil has shaped the Mediterranean culture, cuisine and history for 6,000 years, through war and peace. Her debut novel, The Night Counter (Random House) has been critically acclaimed by the Washington Post, Entertainment Weekly, and several other publications. It was also chosen as a top summer read by the Chicago Tribune and Boston Phoenix. The Boston Globe has called it “wonderfully imaginative…poignant, hilarious.” Alia was born in Chicago and grew up in the U.S., Greece, and the Middle East. She has worked as a filmmaker and journalist in several cities, especially Los Angeles. Her fiction has appeared in several anthologies, including The Robert Olen Butler Best Short Stories collection, and her non-fiction work includes articles for The Los Angeles Times, Saveur, SportsTravel Magazine, and Aramco World. She currently teaches film at Zayed University in Abu Dhabi.