Nadia Hashimi

Nadia Hashimi is an Afghan American pediatrician living in suburban Washington, D.C. She is the author of the international bestseller The Pearl That Broke Its Shell.

Hashimi's new novel is When the Moon Is Low.

Recently I asked the author about what she was reading. Her reply:

I've got a couple of books on my "nightstand" right now. In the last two or three years, I've forced myself to be more open to e-books and audio books which has allowed me to enjoy more stories than I would if I relied only on books I can flip through. I'm listening to State of Wonder by Ann Patchett. I thought I would identify with Marina Singh, the protagonist, since she's also a physician but the novel has her traveling through the Amazon in a quest to find out why the Lakashi women remain fertile well into their golden years. That's a far cry from my work as a pediatrician in a Washington DC hospital but that makes it all the more intriguing. Patchett's majestic prose makes me pause and replay sections of this book for the gracefulness with which she describes the lush landscape ("thick walls of breathing vegetation") and Marina's headstrong medical school professor who has spent her professional life deep in the jungle entrenched in research.

On my e-reader, I'm enjoying Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Half of a Yellow Sun. This is an evocative tale that, through a handful of vibrant and memorable characters, shows the reader how war and politics can change the course of an individual’s life. Set against the struggle for Biafran independence from Nigeria, the narrative demonstrates the gaps in how we learn and remember history and shows how we may incorrectly record political narratives as one dimensional stories. The rich backdrop is just as powerful and engaging as the individual characters as they grapple with the universalities of love, hope and identity.

And because I have a five and four year old who love books, my evening reading also includes Cat in the Hat and other works by the inimitable Dr Seuss. Confession: I love the tongue twisting rhymes just as much as they do.

Visit Nadia Hashimi's website.

The Page 69 Test: When the Moon Is Low.

--Marshal Zeringue