Why? Because I'm a nerd, and because I love books, and because I like to talk about books with other people, which means they need to know about them and read/listen to them, too. This is a fraction of my library and what I have read, and I'll add to it as I continue to get through my to read pile.
All the pix are of my bookshelves.
First published March 23, 2024.
Last updated April 25, 2024.
I encourage you to use your public library whenever possible. Most US libraries also have a service called Link+ . If they don't have a title in their collections, they can get it for you from another library. It is a wonderful service and I use it often.
Clearly I do have a large personal library as well. Thank goodness for used bookstores and independent bookshops!
And yeah, my to read pile is vast and varied...so many books, so little time.
Al-Rawi, R. (2012). Grandmother’s Secrets: The Ancient Rituals and Healing Power of Belly Dancing. Interlink Publishing.
AlZayer, P. (2004). Middle Eastern Dance. Chelsea House.
Aradoon, Z. (1978). The Belly Dance Costume Book: All of the Lore, Lure, and Merriment of Making a Costume.
Carlton, D. (1994). Looking for little egypt. International Dance Discovery.
Carucci, E. (2005). Diary of a dancer. Steidl.
Forner, M. (1993). The transmission of oriental dance in the United States : from raqs sharqi to "belly dance". Dissertation, University of California, Los Angeles.
Franken, M. (2001). Daughter of Egypt: Farida Fahmy and the Reda Troupe.
Fraser, K. W. (2014). Before they were belly dancers: European Accounts of Female Entertainers in Egypt, 1760-1870. McFarland.
Harris, L. (2012). The Belly Dance Reader.
Jarrar, R. (201). Why I can’t stand white belly dancers. Salon.
Karayanni, S. S. (2009). Dancing fear and desire: Race, Sexuality, and Imperial Politics in Middle Eastern Dance. Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press.
Kent, S. (ed.) (1999). 1st International Conference on Middle Eastern Dance: Forum Proceedings May 16—18, 1997.
McDonald, C. E., & Sellers-Young, B. (2013). Belly dance around the world: New Communities, Performance and Identity. McFarland.
Roushdy, N. (2013). أنوثة والرقص في مصر: تجسيد ومعنى الرقص البلدي. Cairo Papers in Social Science.
Serpent, G. (2014). The Belly Dance Reader 2.
Shay, A., & Sellers-Young, B. (2005). Belly dance: Orientalism, Transnationalism, and Harem Fantasy.
Thabit, A. (2017). Midnight at the crossroads: Has Belly Dance Sold Its Soul? Dance Art Press.
Van Nieuwkerk, K. (2010). A Trade like Any Other: Female Singers and Dancers in Egypt. University of Texas Press.
Varga Dinicu, C. (2011).You Asked Aunt Rocky: Answers & Advice About Raqs Sharqi & Raqs Shaabi. RDI Publications.
Ward, H. D. (2018). Egyptian Belly Dance in transition: The Raqs Sharqi Revolution, 1890-1930. McFarland.
Zuhur, S. (2001). Colors of enchantment: Theater, Dance, Music, and the Visual Arts of the Middle East. American Univ in Cairo Press.
Zuhur, S. (1998). Images of enchantment: Visual and Performing Arts of the Middle East. American Univ in Cairo Press.
*SWANA = Southwest Asian and North African. I use it here to aim for a geographic nomenclature rather than one that doesn't take into account multilingual or multi-religious realities ('Arabic speaking' —there are many different Arabics, and many non -Arabic speakers in the region —'the Muslim world' — again, people are diverse, vast, and varied), or one that is a phrase applied from outside via colonization ('belly dance' , 'the middle east')
Abu-Lughod, L. (1999). Veiled sentiments: Honor and Poetry in a Bedouin Society. Univ of California Press.
Alareer, R. (2013). Gaza writes back. Just World Publishing.
Alloula, M. (1986). The Colonial Harem. U of Minnesota Press.
Al-Zayyat, L. (2000). The open door. American University in Cairo Press.
Atiya, N. (1982). Khul-Khaal: Five Egyptian Women Tell Their Stories. Syracuse University Press.
Bey, H., Naji, L., Naji, L., & Massoudy, H. (1994). Overcoming tourism.
Boddy, J. (1989). Wombs and alien spirits: Women, Men, and the Zar Cult in Northern Sudan. Univ of Wisconsin Press.
Croutier, A. L. . Harem: The World Behind the Veil . (1989). Abbeville Press.
Darwish, M. (1998). Dream Makers on the Nile: A Portrait of Egyptian Cinema. Columbia University Press.
Darwish, M. (2008).سنوات الذهبية في السينما المصرية: سينما كايرو، ١٩٣٦-١٩٦٧ . American University in Cairo Press.
Early, E. A. (1993). Baladi Women of Cairo: Playing with an Egg and a Stone. Lynne Rienner Publishers.
Hadidi, H. E. (2016). Zar: Spirit Possession, Music, and Healing Rituals in Egypt. American University in Cairo Press.
Khalidi, R. I. (2020). The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonial Conquest and Resistance. Profile Books.
Mabro, J. (1991). Veiled half-truths: Western Travellers’ Perceptions of Middle Eastern Women. I. B. Tauris.
Mahfouz, N. (1999). Mirrors. American Univ in Cairo Press.
Mahfouz, N. (1990). The Cairo Trilogy: Palace Walk, Palace of Desire, Sugar Street. Anchor.
Malim, F. (2001). Oasis Siwa: From the Inside.
Mernissi, F. (1995). Dreams of Trespass: Tales Of A Harem Girlhood. Basic Books.
Mernissi, F. (2001). Scheherazade goes west: Different Cultures, Different Harems. Simon and Schuster.
Nelson, C. (1996). Doria Shafik Egyptian Feminist : A Woman apart. American Univ in Cairo Press.
Saadawi, N. (1999). A daughter of Isis: The Autobiography of Nawal El Saadawi. Zed Books.
Saadawi, N. (1986). Memoirs from the Women’s Prison. The Women's Press Ltd.
Saadawi, N. (1989). Memoirs of a Woman Doctor. City Lights Publishers.
Saadawī, N. (1992). My travels around the world. Minerva.
Saadawi, N. (1980). The hidden face of Eve.
Saadawi, N. (1983). Woman at point zero. Zed Books.
Said, E. W. (1978). Orientalism. Vintage.
Shannon, J. H. (2006). Among the jasmine trees: Music and Modernity in Contemporary Syria. Wesleyan University Press.
Shaʻrāwī, H. (1987). Harem Years: The Memoirs of an Egyptian Feminist (1879-1924). Feminist Press at CUNY.
Soueif, A. (2000). In the Eye of the Sun. Anchor.
Tàpies, F. A. (2004). Tamáss: Contemporary Arab Representations : [Cairo]. Witte de with Center for Contemporary Art.
Tobocman, S. (2003). Portraits of Israelis and Palestinians: For My Parents. Soft Skull.
Watson, H. (1992). Women in the city of the dead.
Angiuli, Emanuela. (2015). A Sud: Il racconto del lungo silenzio. Squilibri.
Belloni, A. (2015). Rhythm is The Cure. Mel Bay Publications.
Chiriatti, L. (2011). Morso d’amore: viaggio nel tarantismo salentino.
Conte, T. (2020). Diacronia minima del tarantismo.
Conte, T. (2019). L’ altra Taranta: Annabella Rossi e il Tarantismo Nel Cilento.
Crescimanno, B. (2021). Il sacro al femminile. Figure e forme rituali in area mediterranea fra memoria e contemporaneità.
Daboo, J. (2010). Ritual, rapture and remorse: A Study of Tarantism and Pizzica in Salento. Peter Lang.
De Martino, E. (2005). The land of remorse: A Study of Southern Italian Tarantism. Free Association Books.
Inserra, I. (2017). Global Tarantella: Reinventing Southern Italian Folk Music and Dances. University of Illinois Press.
Lüdtke, K. (2009). Dances with Spiders: Crisis, Celebrity and Celebration in Southern Italy. Berghahn Books.
Marzo, A. (2019). TARANTISMO: Odyssey of an Italian Ritual.
Mingozzi, G. (2009). La tarantata: Il primo documanto filmato sul tarantismo (con DVD). Kurumuny,
Salvi, M., & Caramia, G. (2008). La pizzica nascosta: l’organetto nella musica e nei canti tradizionali di Villa Castelli.
DViJKA. (2023). Queer Ukraine: An Anthology of LGBTQI+ Ukrainian Voices During Wartime. Renard Press Ltd.
Federici, S. (2004). Caliban and the Witch: Women, the body and primitive accumulation. Autonomedia.
Federici, S. (2020). Beyond the periphery of the skin: rethinking, remaking, and reclaiming the body in contemporary capitalism. PM Press.
Kimmerer, R. (2017). The Covenant of Reciprocity. Ch. 26 in The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Religion and Ecology. John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Raffo, S. (2022). Liberated to the bone: Histories. Bodies. Futures. AK Press.
Steinman, L. (1986). The knowing body: Elements of Contemporary Performance & Dance. Shambhala Publications.
Stewart, I. J. (2000). Sacred Woman, Sacred Dance: Awakening Spirituality Through Movement and Ritual. Simon and Schuster.
Di Virgilio, D. (2010). Musiche tradizionali in Abruzzo: le registrazioni di Diego Carpitella in provincia di Chieti (1970).
Farraj, J., & Shumays, S. A. (2019). Inside Arabic music: Arabic Maqam Performance and Theory in the 20th Century Middle East. Oxford University Press, USA.
Racy, A. J., & Racy, A. J. (2004). Making music in the Arab world: The Culture and Artistry of Tarab. Cambridge University Press.
Marcus, S. L. (2007). Music in Egypt: Includes CD. Oxford University Press, USA.
Plastino, G. (2013). Mediterranean Mosaic: Popular Music and Global Sounds. Routledge.
Redmond, L. (1997). When the drummers were women: A Spiritual History of Rhythm.
Sawa, G. (2010). Egyptian Music Appreciation & Practice for Bellydancers.
Shannon, J. H. (2006). Among the jasmine trees: Music and Modernity in Contemporary Syria. Wesleyan University Press.
Woods, J. (2007). The Dancing Cymbalist: How to Play Music with Finger Cymbals & Dance at the Same Time. Onya Music in Motion Arts.
Bonaffini, L., & Perricone, J. (2014). Poets of the Italian diaspora: A Bilingual Anthology. (Note from mb: This, of course, goes beyond the Italian-Americas)
Briante, S. (2020). Defacing the monument.
Cannistraro, P. V., & Meyer, G. (2003). The lost world of Italian American radicalism: Politics, Labor, and Culture. Greenwood Publishing Group.
Di Donato, P. (1937). Christ in concrete.
Di Prima, D. (2001). Recollections of my life as a woman: The New York Years : a Memoir. Penguin.
DiStasi, L. (2001). Una storia segreta: The Secret History of Italian American Evacuation and Internment During World War II. Heyday.
Giunta, E., & Sciorra, J. (2014). Embroidered stories: Interpreting Women’s Domestic Needlework from the Italian Diaspora. Univ. Press of Mississippi.
Giunta, E., & Trasciatti, M. A. (2022). Talking to the girls: Intimate and Political Essays on the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire. New Village Press.
Guglielmo, J., & Salerno, S. (2012). Are Italians white?: How Race is Made in America. Routledge.
Guglielmo, J. (2010). Living the revolution: Italian Women’s Resistance and Radicalism in New York City, 1880-1945. Univ of North Carolina Press.
Italian-American Political Solidarity Club (2008). Avanti popolo: Italian-American Writers Sail Beyond Columbus.
Laurino, M. (2001). Were you always an Italian?: Ancestors and other icons of Italian America. W. W. Norton & Company.
Magliocco, S. (2005). Italian American Stregheria and Wicca: Ethnic ambivalence in American Neopaganism
Malpezzi, F. M., & Clements, W. M. (1992). Italian-American folklore. August House.
Morello, Stefano. Italian American Studies Open Syllabus | Manifold @CUNY. (2024, April 2). https://cuny.manifoldapp.org/projects/italian-american-studies-open-syllabus
Nystrom, J. A. (2018). Creole Italian: Sicilian Immigrants and the Shaping of New Orleans Food Culture. University of Georgia Press.
Ruberto, L. F. (2010). Ma la vita è fatta così. Crossings.
Russo, J. P. (2010). Italian Passages: Making and Thinking History. Bordighera Press.
Tamburri, A. J. (2022). A Politics of (Self-)Omission. The Italian/american Challenge in a Post-George Floyd Age.
Tamburri, A. J., Giordano, P., Gardaphe, F. L., & Gardaphé, F. L. (1991). From the margin: Writings in Italian Americana. Purdue University Press.
Alio, J. (2015). Women of Sicily: Saints, Queens and Rebels. Trinacria Editions LLC.
Balestrini, N. (2022). We want everything: A Novel. Verso Books.
De Grazia, V. (1992). How fascism ruled women: Italy, 1922-1945. Univ of California Press.
De Martino, E. (2015). Magic: A Theory from the South. Hau.
Gramsci, A. (2011). Prison notebooks. Columbia University Press.
Gramsci, A. (2005). The Southern question. Guernica Editions.
Levi, C. (2006). Christ stopped at Eboli: The Story of a Year. Farrar, Straus and Giroux,.
Magliocco, S. (1993). The Two Madonnas: the politics of festival in a Sardinian community.
Magliocco, S. (2018). Witchcraft, healing and vernacular magic in Italy. In Manchester University Press eBooks.
Maggio, T. (2003). The Stone Boudoir: Travels Through the Hidden Villages of Sicily. Catapult.
Mendola, L., & Alio, J. (2014). The peoples of Sicily: A Multicultural Legacy. Trinacria Editions Llc.
Moorehead, C. (2019). A house in the mountains: The Women Who Liberated Italy from Fascism. Random House.
Simeti, M. T. (1986). On Persephone’s island: A Sicilian Journal. Alfred A. Knopf.
Tacchi, F. (2022). Let the Mountains Be My Grave.
Vittorini, E. (2000). Conversations in Sicily. New Directions Publishing.
Belloni, A. (2019). Healing Journeys with the Black Madonna: Chants, Music, and Sacred Practices of the Great Goddess. Simon and Schuster.
Birnbaum, L. C. (2000). Black Madonnas: Feminism, Religion, and Politics in Italy. iUniverse.
Cleveland, C. (2022). God is a Black woman. HarperCollins.
Galland, C. (1991). Longing for darkness: Tara and the Black Madonna : a Ten-year Journey. Penguin (Non-Classics).
Lloyd, S. C. (1992). No pictures in my grave: A Spiritual Journey in Sicily.
Bond, M., & Miller, S. (2007). The new rules of posture: how to sit, stand, and move in the modern world. Healing Arts Press.
Brown, A. M. (2017). Emergent strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds. AK Press.
Eco, U. (2020). How to spot a fascist. Random House.
Franklin, E. N. (2019). Conditioning for dance. Human Kinetics.
Franklin, E. (1996). Dance Imagery for Technique and Performance. Human Kinetics.
Freire, P. (1993). Pedagogy of the oppressed. Burns & Oates.
Kendi, I. X. (2019). How to be an antiracist. One World.
Nagrin, D. (1997). The six questions: Acting Technique for Dance Performance. University of Pittsburgh Press.
Simpson, L.B. View of Land as pedagogy: Nishnaabeg intelligence and rebellious transformation. (2014).
Táíwò, O. O. (2022). Elite Capture: How the Powerful Took Over Identity Politics (and Everything Else). Haymarket Books.
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