Why am I passionate about this?

I’m an American writer, Army wife, and occasional expat who has spent nearly a decade of my life living abroad (including Japan, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates), not to mention seven Army moves stateside. I love to read (and write!) books that explore discordance and dislocation, what it is like to be an American living overseas in a time of war, and how these things impact relationships with friends, families, and strangers, and our concept of “home.” My writing is often an exploration of the mundane mixed with the catastrophic. Oh, and I have a weakness for stray cats. Lots of stray cats.


I wrote

The Confusion of Languages

By Siobhan Fallon,

Book cover of The Confusion of Languages

What is my book about?

The Confusion of Languages takes place in a U.S expat community in the Middle East during the rise of the…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of A Book of Common Prayer

Siobhan Fallon Why did I love this book?

As a military spouse who has lived abroad and is always a bit wary about my surroundings, so much about this uncomfortable novel resonated with me. Two American women become unlikely friends while waiting for an inevitable military coup in an unnamed Central American country. The older woman narrator, Grace, who has married into the ruling family, takes naïve Charlotte under her wing. Both women seem to connect over their background, dislocation, and fractured family life, but nothing is as it seems. The unreliable narrator, the political ugliness, and the encroaching war all make this a thrilling read. The reader never knows what poses the biggest threat to the female protagonists: ex-husbands, runaway children, or firing squads. 

By Joan Didion,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked A Book of Common Prayer as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A shimmering novel of innocence and evil: the gripping story of two American women in a failing Central American nation, from the bestselling, award-winning author of The Year of Magical Thinking and Let Me Tell You What I Mean

"[Didion's] most ambitious project in fiction, and her most successful ... glows with a golden aura of well-wrought classical tragedy.”  —Los Angeles Times Book Review

Grace Strasser-Mendana controls much of Boca Grande's wealth and knows virtually all of its secrets; Charlotte Douglas knows far too little. "Immaculate of history, innocent of politics," Charlotte has come to Boca Grande vaguely and vainly…


Book cover of The Explosive Expert's Wife

Siobhan Fallon Why did I love this book?

Shara Lessley and I met in Amman, Jordan, during the Arab Spring—both of us American writers whose husbands worked at the embassy. Poetry is not a staple of my reading diet, but Lessley’s poems are small, crystalline stories that perfectly encapsulate what it is like to be an American woman living in the Middle East during a time of potential instability. This volume is slim, but the Jordan that emerges is vast and unforgettable.

By Shara Lessley,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Explosive Expert's Wife as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In sparse, powerful lines, Shara Lessley recalls an expat's displacement, examines her experience as a mother, and offers intimate witness to the unfolding of the Arab Spring. Veering from the strip malls and situation rooms of Washington to the markets and mines of Amman, Lessley confronts the pressures and pleasures of other cultures, exploring our common humanity with all its aggressions, loves, biases, and contradictions.


Book cover of Redeployment

Siobhan Fallon Why did I love this book?

There is a refreshing versatility to the stories in this collection, which touch upon everything from soldiers on the front lines in Iraq, readjustment to the American home front, and a civilian foreign service officer getting stymied at every attempt at humanitarian aid. There is humor, irony, and gutting realism on every page, and the many perspectives offer the insights you hope for in a National Book Award-winning piece of fiction. 

By Phil Klay,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Redeployment as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Winner of the National Book Award for Fiction

"Redeployment is hilarious, biting, whipsawing and sad. It's the best thing written so far on what the war did to people's souls." -Dexter Filkins, The New York Times Book Review

Selected as one of the best books of the year by The New York Times Book Review, Time, Newsweek, The Washington Post Book World, Amazon, and more

Phil Klay's Redeployment takes readers to the frontlines of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, asking us to understand what happened there, and what happened to the soldiers who returned. Interwoven with themes of brutality…


Book cover of Boots and Saddles, or Life in Dakota with General Custer

Siobhan Fallon Why did I love this book?

I know I’m going old school here with this memoir by the widow of General George Armstrong Custer. The Little Bighorn tragedy looms large throughout, but it happens completely off the page. Elizabeth “Libbie” Custer makes a conscious effort to show her husband in life rather than death, and in this way she illuminates the equally dramatic life experiences of so many military families on the American frontier.

I couldn’t believe how many similarities there are between being a military spouse in the 1870s and being one today. There is the unique drama of living in a sort of satellite USA, either on a military base or in the American Embassy community abroad. Army spouses form fast friendships and are forced to rely on each other when there are so few cultural touchstones or friends and family nearby. These relationships become even more vital when their spouses are unreachable for long periods of time and facing unknown dangers. I can attest to the fact that military spouses end up on adventures of their own they never would have found at home.

By Elizabeth B. Custer,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Boots and Saddles, or Life in Dakota with General Custer as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.

This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and…


Book cover of The End of the Affair

Siobhan Fallon Why did I love this book?

This is one of my favorite books of all time. The End of the Affair has every I want in a novel: suspense, romance, an examination of life, death, and faith, and brilliant writing throughout. There are bombs dropping on London and yet this somehow remains in the background while the biggest battles are fought by the human spirit. Even in the midst of war, fear, anxiety, and uncertainty, humans take care of their families, feed themselves, work, and make love. When looking back on a life, sometimes it's those small moments that emerge as our most cherished and miraculous.

By Graham Greene,

Why should I read it?

9 authors picked The End of the Affair as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY MONICA ALI

The love affair between Maurice Bendrix and Sarah, flourishing in the turbulent times of the London Blitz, ends when she suddenly and without explanation breaks it off. After a chance meeting rekindles his love and jealousy two years later, Bendrix hires a private detective to follow Sarah, and slowly his love for her turns into an obsession.


Explore my book 😀

The Confusion of Languages

By Siobhan Fallon,

Book cover of The Confusion of Languages

What is my book about?

The Confusion of Languages takes place in a U.S expat community in the Middle East during the rise of the Arab Spring. It’s a novel about friendship and jealousy, marriage and secrets. The Confusion of Languages explores what it’s like to be a stranger very far from home, trying to make sense of a place where cultural misunderstandings can spin dangerously out of control.  

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My Year of Casual Acquaintances

By Ruth F. Stevens,

Book cover of My Year of Casual Acquaintances

Ruth F. Stevens Author Of My Year of Casual Acquaintances

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

From the time I was a girl, I’ve loved stories that put a lump in my throat even as I’m laughing. As a fiction writer, that funny-sad tone is the one I go for in my own work. I gravitate toward female protagonists of all ages who break the mold—women who are intelligent and strong but who also have unconventional, quirky personalities. Women who can be hilarious, infuriating, and heartbreaking—sometimes all at once. Because they are complex and unique, these women tend to struggle with life’s challenges more than their contemporaries. That’s what makes their stories so interesting, and why I have chosen the books on this list. 

Ruth's book list on smart, quirky women facing personal struggles

What is my book about?

When Mar’s husband divorces her, she reacts by abandoning everything in her past: her home, her friends, even her name. Though it's not easy starting over, she’s ready for new adventures—as long as she can keep things casual. Each month, Mar goes from one acquaintance to the next: a fellow gym member down on her luck, a flirty hip-hop instructor, a bossy but comical consultant. . . and a handsome novelist who wants more than she can give. Mar learns from each encounter. But can she open herself up to true connection?

Surrounded by quirky, endearing characters, Mar navigates her…

My Year of Casual Acquaintances

By Ruth F. Stevens,

What is this book about?

"A fun, entertaining novel! I can't imagine anyone who wouldn't enjoy this book as much as I did." -Leslie A. Rasmussen, award-winning author

When Mar Meyer's husband divorces her for another woman, she reacts by abandoning everything in her past: her home, her friends, even her name. Though it's not easy to start over, Mar is young-looking, fit, and ready for new adventures-as long as she can keep things casual.

With each passing month, Mar goes from one acquaintance to the next. Among them: a fellow gym member down on her luck, a flirty hip-hop instructor, a bossy but comical…


5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in love triangle, Afghanistan War, and Central America?

Love Triangle 75 books
Afghanistan War 21 books
Central America 33 books