Wrapping Up the Holidays with BOOKS

I am starting to get that child-like magical feeling now that we're in the holiday season. Sure, its about getting together with family & friends, eating delicious food, and feeling blessed by celebrating the true meaning of Christmas. And for me, it's also about the shopping and finding the perfect gifts for people on my list. You see, I come from a long line of SHOPPERS. From a young age, I was raised to appreciate fashion and hone the skills of shopping. I was taught important "life-skills" of navigating the legendary Filene's Basement in Boston, spotting a quality piece on the rack, sniffing out bargains, and dressing as our best selves. But it was in the special moments of gathering around the closets of the Armenian matriarchs in my family that I have come to understand the rites of passage to womanhood and cherish the special bonds that run deep and carry through generations.

I also come from a long line of READERS. Once the matriarchs in my family were done

showing off their new clothes, I watched and heard the excitement of my mom and aunts swapping books and talking about what they were reading. They challenged themselves and each other as life-long learners. This pleased my grandmother and great aunts to see how their daughters valued the education that was stripped from them during the Armenian Genocide.

BOOKS ON MY SHELF

Combining this passion for shopping and reading, I take my gift-giving of books very seriously! Everyone in my family can expect to receive a book under the tree that was specifically selected for them. It is my hope that the book suggestions from my shelf may be helpful in preserving Armenian culture and history and wrapping up the holidays for the special people on your lists (including you!).

HISTORICAL FICTION

• "As the Poppies Bloomed" by Maral Boyadjian

• "Orhan's Inheritance" by Aline Ohanesian

• "Rise the Euphrates" by Carol Edgarian

• "The Bastard of Istanbul" by Elif Shafak

• "The Gendarme" by Mark T. Mustian

• "The Sandcastle Girls" by Chris Bohjalian

• "Zabelle" by Nancy Kricorian

YOUNG ADULT (YA)

• "Forgotten Fire" by Adam Bagdasarian

• "Like Water on Stone" by Dana Walrath

• "The Road from Home" by David Kherdian

NONFICTION

• "Killing Orders" by Taner Akham

• "The Armenian Highland" by Matthew Karanian

• "The Forty Days of Musa Dagh" by Franz Werfel

• "The Murder of a Nation" by Henry Morgenthau

• "The Resistance Network" by Khatchig Mouradian

• "Worcester Is America" by Dr. Hagop Deranian

MEMOIR

• "Aftershocks" by Nadia Owusu

• "Black Dog of Fate" by Peter Balakian

• "Goodbye, Antoura" by Karnig Panian

• "In the Ruins" by Zabel Yessyan, edited/authored by Judy Saryan

• "Mayrig" by Henri Verneuil

• "My Grandmother" by Fethiye Cetin

• "The Hundred Year Walk" by Dawn Anahid MacKeon

• "The Knock at the Door" by Margaret Ajemian Ahnert

What books would you recommend that are on your shelves?

What books are on your wish lists?

Where are your favorite places to shop Armenian, local, and/or small business or non-profit? Most recently, I purchased books while supporting the Armenian Museum of America.

Happy shopping and reading,

Victoria