Dave Eggers

Mokhtar Alkhanshali grew up in San Francisco, one of seven siblings in a tiny apartment. His parents are immigrants from Yemen. He is a Muslim and he is an American. In 2015 Mokhtar was travelling through Yemen when the country was engulfed in civil war. The US Embassy closed, Saudi bombs rained down on the country, and Mokhtar was trapped. Desperate to escape, he embarked on a nail-biting adventure to get back to America. A heart-pounding true story weaving a visceral portrait of ongoing war with the tale of one courageous young man determined to get home.

The Monk of Mokha

The true story of a young Yemeni-American man, raised in San Francisco, who dreams of resurrecting the ancient art of Yemeni coffee but finds himself trapped in Sana'a by civil war.

Cindy Lieberman

A brief history of coffee (discovered in Yemen!) and how that country lost and now regained prominence in this “third wave” of coffee (artisanal), thanks to an unlikely Yemeni-American from The Tenderloin area of SFO. Harrowing recountings of border crossings, security checkpoints and other gambits makes for interesting reading, even though I’m not a fan of the bitter brew. Now I want to try a cup from Yemen someday.

ben wolfson

One of my favorite books from 2019. Incredibly beautiful prose and storytelling of a Bay Area coffee success.

Pela Kolsto

farro

Robin

Tim Beyer 

Lindsy Rice

andi valdes

Shan

Ben Radford

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "A gripping, triumphant adventure" (Los Angeles Times) from bestselling author Dave Eggers, the incredible true story of a young Yemeni American man, raised in San Francisco, who dreams of resurrecting the ancient art of Yemeni coffee but finds himself trapped in Sana'a by civil war. Mokhtar Alkhanshali is twenty-four and working as a doorman when he discovers the astonishing history of coffee and Yemen's central place in it. He leaves San Francisco and travels deep into his ancestral homeland to tour terraced farms high in the country's rugged mountains and meet beleaguered but determined farmers. But when war engulfs the country and Saudi bombs rain down, Mokhtar has to find a way out of Yemen without sacrificing his dreams or abandoning his people.

The Monk of Mokha

Reviews