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Welcome to Reading Around the Globe, a series here on Reader Voracious Blog geared at fostering a culture of understanding in the bookish community about access to books in various countries around the world. Each post in the series highlights a full interview with one international reader. You can read more about this series here on the series master post.
An Interview with Hamad
- What is your name? Hamad
- Blog URL? http://thebookprescription.wordpress.com/
- Twitter handle? @Hamad9626
- Where do you live? Jerusalem, the capital of occupied Palestine
- Do you find that there is a culture of reading where you live? If not, tell us a bit how you came to be one! To be honest I don’t think so, I know a very limited number of readers IRL. My parents lived in many places after they got married, they lived in the USA for a few years so our library had a fair number of English books, My dad is a teacher and is also a reader so he encourages everyone to read. English is not my mother language so I enjoyed reading all the Dr.Seuss books to learn more and more.
- What kinds of books do you enjoy reading? I read mainly YA/ Fantasy/ romance/ Thriller and contemporaries. I almost read everything except erotica. Also I hardly if ever read non-fiction.
- Have you always been a reader? I was a vicious young reader when I read all the English and Arabic books for children in our library. But then I drifted away from reading and got back to it 3 years ago.
- Do you also read books published in your native language/published locally to you? If so, tell us a bit about what kinds of books are published in your country! I have tried a few books in Arabic in the past couple of years, I didn’t enjoy them very much as they are mostly non-fiction and the writing is not so great. It is actually very hard to write in Arabic. And the readers here tend to read Arabic books but I am against the flow in this case.
- Are there libraries where you live? If so, what kinds of books can you find there? Are you able to get the books that you want? Yes, there are a few libraries, most of them are small. Mostly Arabic books and Hebrew books over the Israeli side. There is one local library in my city where I get most of my books from but it is kind of expensive.
- How prevalent are English published books where you live in bookstores? (For example, books printed by HarperCollins.) Beside the local English library and the English books section in Israeli libraries, there are not many places to get those books.
- Do you use NetGalley or Edelweiss to request electronic galleys for review? If so, what kind of success rate would you estimate for you personally? Netgalley don’t approve me and I almost have to wish for everything which is sad and I don’t use it anymore. Edelweiss is better and easier to get approved for. Harper Collins approves all my requests and I do review all their books but I am still trying to get approved for other books. If you know any tricks, help me.
- Do you experience hurdles or barriers to access for the kinds of books that you read? Please explain if so. There aren’t many English books to get here, especially the new releases. I have to order them online and wait a couple of weeks before getting them.
- If you could make one change to the publishing landscape, what would you do? I would try to give INTL bloggers more rights, maybe try to make books available everywhere. And I would give more new authors chances.
- Help other international bloggers out… What resources do you use to obtain the books that you want to read? Edelweiss and Netgalley for ARCs Book depository for books with free INTL shipping.
- Do you have any other experiences as a reader around the world that you would like to share? I would just like to explain to other readers and authors that we put so much money, time and effort for reading their works. It is not as easy as other countries here. And I wish there was a way to support INTL bloggers more!
Please note that all experiences reflected in the interviews are personal and are not meant to generalize what reading access is like in each country. If you are interested in participating please DM me on Twitter.
Read More Reading Around the Globe Interviews
Argentina
Consu @ papereyedgirl
Australia
Ellyn @ allonsythornraxxbooks
Greyson @ Use Your Words
Bangladesh
Maria @ mariahossainblog
Belgium
Inge @ Of Wonderland
Wesley @ Outsiders and Misfits
Canada
Catherine @ This One is for the Books (Toronto)
Kristina @ Books and Dachsunds (New-Brunswick)
Shania @ Book Princess Reviews (Quebec)
Chile
Maria @ bookish4life
Denmark
Catherine @ Bees and Books
Silje @ inkedbybooks
England
Clo @ Cuppa Clo
Olly @ Criminolly
France
Emma @ Mengueis De Livres
Marie @ Drizzle and Hurricane Books
Germany
Silvia @ Silvia Reads Books
Hungary
Veronika @ Reading is Dreaming with Open Eyes
Indonesia
Carolina @ fictionologyst
Petrik @ Novel Notions
India
Himani @ Books&Sstuff
Nandini @ Unputdownable Books
Prags @ The Inked In Book Blog
Sumedha @ The Wordy Habitat
Suraj @ Books N Myself
Italy
Angela @ Books of a Shy Girl
Camilla @ Reader Attic
Kuwait
Devyn Jase @ devynjase.com
Mexico
Jossie @ thebookdragoncorner
Mozambique
A Restless Traveler
The Netherlands
Annemieke @ A Dance With Books
Esther @ Bite into Books
Luci @ Lunar Luci Books
Marco @ Barely a Blogger
Michelle @ Michelle Likes Things
Nigeria
Chinelo @ Booked_Unicorn
Norway
Julie @ StrixAlucoBooks
Palestine
Hamad @ thebookprescription
Pakistan
Nargis @ Literary Nerd’s Musings
Philippines
Aimee @ Aimee Always
Alexia @ Bookworm Daydreamer
Gel @ Whimsy Wanders
Justine @ bookishwisps
Kate @ Your Tita Kate
Rain @ Bookdragoninsm
Shealea @ Shut Up, Shealea
Portugal
Marta @ The Book Mermaid
Rita @ Bookish Rita
Romania
Dianthaa @ Dianthaa Dabbles
Puerto Rico
Yani @ Read & Create
Rwanda
Annie @ Sunflower Bookshelf
Singapore
Taasia @ libraepaintspages
Slovenia
Para @ Other Worlds Reviews
South Africa
DB @ DB’s Guide to the Galaxy
Switzerland
Elisa @ bookishexpat
United Arab Emirates
Nicka @ Wander with Nicka
Zimbabwe
Sakhile @ Sakhile Whispers
Please note that all experiences reflected in the interviews are personal and are not meant to generalize what reading access is like in each country. If you are interested in participating please DM me on Twitter or send me a message on Discord.
💖 If you like the work that I do here at Reader Voracious, consider fueling my pumpkin spice latte and black tie addiction by buying me a ko-fi! ☕
I never get approved on Edelweiss! It’s always NetGalley for me. What info do you put in your requests, if you don’t mind my asking? Because I can’t figure them out! And is that where you get HarperCollins books or do you email them?
I used to be rejected too but then you have to keep trying
I try to actually put the real reason why I would request a book: I have read the author others book and enjoyed them. it is a new author that I want to read something by. An Underrated author that I want to support.
if you have pre-reviewed the book then link your pre-review.
I always end it by promising to review on GR, wordpress and twitter and I really do.
I get Harper Collins books from Edelweiss, I haven’t emailed them before but I plan to do so soon
Thank you for the tips!! I’ll keep trying, then. There are so many more choices there.
You’re welcome
I might do a whole post soon 😀
YOU SHOULD!
I will when I have more free time. The hospital is taking most of my time 🙁
Thank you for sharing your tips, Hamad!
Welcome <3
Thanks Kaleena <3
Thanks for sharing your experiences!
Great!
Thanks for reading!
Do check out my blog!
I write short fiction:)
Happy Reading:)
Another blogger from the middle East!!!! That is a call for celebration. I am definitely gonna go and say hi right away. I am psyched and I love this series already!
Oh yay, definitely do connect with Hamad – he’s wonderful! Thanks for stopping by and I am so glad that you are enjoying the series!