I’ve updated and added illustrations to my e-book, Ramadan for All Faiths, for the year 2010. (formerly Feeding the Spirit). To download it for free, just fill in your email on the right sidebar at Vagobond.com.

As a Muslim, a free thinker, an admirer of Buddhist Philosophy, a fan of Christ, Krishna, and many more of the enlightened prophets we’ve been blessed with on this planet, I think Ramadan is the perfect event to celebrate God, Existence, and this Reality we have before us.

I’ve compiled this book from my own studies and the many religious and philosphical ideas that I’ve been exposed to in this lifetime. Certainly, not everyone will agree with me. Muslims, Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, and just about everyone else can probably find something they don’t like in this book.

Have a look. I think it’s a wonderful way to share our humanity and joy. It’s free…and so are you!

To get the Ramadan for All Faiths just fill in your email in the left sidebar of Vagobond.com and I will send you a free copy. It’s as easy as that. Ramadan starts on the 11th of August this year. Since I will be in Morocco (and Turkey) during this holy month, you can be sure that I will be taking part. Won’t you join me?

Please help me spread the word about this e-book since the ideas inside will be valuable for everyone in our world. Thank you! Ramadan Mubharak!

~Vago

This is a great blog by a great writer. If you haven’t read any of Laila Lalami’s books, you should. Start by getting the feel for this Moroccan ex-pat at her blog.then move on to Secret Son and Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits. You won’t be disappointed.

Laila Lalami was born and raised in Morocco. She studied Linguistics at Université Mohammed-V in Rabat, University College London, and the University of Southern California. Her work has appeared in The Boston Globe, The Los Angeles Times, The Nation, The New York Times, The Washington Post and elsewhere. She is the recipient of a British Council Fellowship and a Fulbright Fellowship. She was short-listed for the Caine Prize for African Writing (the “African Booker”) in 2006 and for the National Book Critics’ Circle Nona Balakian Award in 2009. Her debut collection of short stories, Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits, was published in the fall of 2005 and has since been translated into into six languages. Her first novel, Secret Son, was published in the spring of 2009. She is currently Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at the University of California Riverside.

Here’s one example of why Ms. Lalami’s blog is worth reading:

It almost never fails. When a Western reporter goes to Morocco to write about the process of democratization, the resulting article will inevitably mention sartorial choices and give them positive or negative values. Jeans = good. Jellabas = bad. At Slate, Anne Applebaum visits Morocco and finds that many women “would not look out of place in New York or Paris.”

So what? What does Moroccan women’s fashions have anything to do with human rights and democracy? Under King Hassan, Moroccan women used to dress much less conservatively, but that didn’t mean that the country was a haven of human rights. Just look at what happened to women activists during the Years of Lead.

Her contention that protesters outside Parliament were “politely” waving signs is bizarre. If she had spent any kind of time, day after day, watching what happened to them, she wouldn’t be praising their politeness or the police’s restraint. The elections themselves are really nothing to write home about: turn-out was low and the results were, as usual, entirely unsurprising. If this is what she qualifies as “transformation from authoritarianism to democracy” then Lord help us all.

If you’d like to share your reading list of Morocco Books with us, we’d love to share them with our readers (and we’ll gladly link back to your blog too!) Send your book lists to reviews@moroccoblogs.com

Our first list forms an excellent starting point for exploring the world of Morocco Books! The original list appeared as the final post at 760 Days in Morocco and was written by the author of Essouaria Walking.

Check it out at the
Morocco Books Page