The Book Collectors: A Band of Syrian Rebels and the Books That Carried Them Through a War

French-Iranian journalist Minoui (I’m Writing You From Tehran) paints a haunting portrait of the 2012–2016 siege of Daraya, a suburb of Damascus, during the Syrian civil war. After a government bombing campaign in response to pro-democracy protests set off an exodus from Daraya, remaining resistance members collected thousands of books and built a library in the basement of an abandoned building. Through video interviews and online chats with the library’s founder, Ahmad Muaddamani, and frequent patrons, including a photographer, a Free Syrian Army fighter, and a veteran of previous protest movements, Minoui chronicles how these men—denounced as jihadists by president Bashar al-Assad—created a sanctuary for free thought. Her subjects describe how books as varied as the poetry of Mahmoud Darwish, Stephen R. Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People, and Mustafa Khalifa’s novel The Shell offer the library’s patrons education, encouragement, and the “freedom they’ve been deprived of.” Minoui also recounts her own responses to terrorist attacks in France to affirm how, amid the fight for survival, books can offer enlightenment and escape. Fluidly translated and emotionally powerful, this devastating account pays tribute to the “dream of a better world that never fully came true.” (Oct.)