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Summary: GIK's review
Review: A book that should be in everybody's library. An invitation to reed more about the quest of the Palestinians and Arab nations to live peacefully in their home lands. A wonderful story of a very difficult life of this wonderful American woman. I'm really proud of her and her courage. What a wonderful calling card she is for our Country.
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Summary: Terrific Book!
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed Queen Noor's book. In the United States, our news organizations have such a bias towards Isreal that we often do not know much about the rest of the Middle East region. This book gave me a new perspective about the Camp David Accords. I have always been and will continue to be a Jimmy Carter fan, but this book brought a different view of the difficulties that must have prsented themselves in dealing with this volatile region. The section dealing with Saddam Hussein during the first Gulf War was interesting. I have often wondered about our (United States) zeal to jump into a region that has been refered to as an island floating on a sea of oil. Sure, Queen Noor has a bias, don't we all? However, I feel that her book is very balanced in it's narrative of her life as queen.
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Summary: Very Nice Book shows how friendly the Arabs/Muslims are!
Review: Her book deserves FULL support; it shows how warm the Arabic/Muslim culture is. It describes how there are differences in the cultures between the West and East. But I think the book should also discuss the reasons why Arab women are treated a certain way among arab communities especially in the Gulf countries. I think this describes cultural differences better.Her Majesty is a symbol of globalization and human rights for women. She made it also clear at C-Span how Al-shorah in Islam is a wonderful modernalization tool. I think with the help of this tool women could be freed in the arabic world. But no Arabic country seems to have used this wonderful tool to its full potential to help free arabic women. So please read her book, to help liberate women, and let us stay one.
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Summary: FASCINATING ACCOUNT OF A ROYAL BALANCING ACT
Review: Not only did Ms. Halaby get a new name (Queen Noor) when she married the king of Jordan she also got a new religious faith, an overnight fan following for her alluring grace and beauty, a slew of stepchildren, close scrutiny and a pretty moot role in a region that is/was growing more politically knotty by the hour. This book explores her role as the ceremonial mother of a country and culture that she has clearly lovingly embraced. Some of the best moments of the book emerge from her accounts of a "political wife" representing her husband and country while remaining civil and smiling even in sullen times like Iraq's 1991 invasion of Kuwait. By turns putatively formal and deliciously candid, LOF is overall a fascinating account of the eternal royal balancing act between what must certainly be a bafflingly public life versus carving out a personal one. Her journey from a Princeton graduate to a Middle Eastern urban planner to a Queen is probably what makes her profile so interesting to international folk. On the political side, this is a biography from the eyes of one person, which is a reason not to read this as a political factbook but as a perspective. On the personal side, her vivid reminiscing of the first days as Queen are the stuff Audrey Hepburn movies are made of...awakening to the sound of jackhammers during palace renovations, disagreements with a valet over who was supposed to dress the king, and adjustments to her instant family. In sum, a truly enjoyable keeper for your collection.
Rating: 
Summary: onesided and incorrect
Review: I ordered Lisa Halabys memoires from Amazon, with the expectation to read a book written by an educated interesting woman, who has spent many years in the Middle East as wife of the late king Hussein.
As I am an Israeli living in Jordans neighbouring country Israel, I quite often saw Lisa Halaby on Jordanian T.V.
I always hoped and thought of her as an enlightened person wishing to do the best for her adopted country and the Peace in the Middle East she is mentioning on every other page in her book..
The more so am I disappointed after having read her memoires.
Her book is in my opinion a mixture of ,in a childish way told, personnal stories and politically and historically often from hearsay incorrectly described , happenings.
The insight and positive attitude I would have expected, were nowhere to be found.
Comparing this lifestory to Yehan Sadats , which was written many years ago and is an exellent biography, I can only say that she had her chance to make a great statement , but as they say :She missed the boat!
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Summary: Great Book!
Review: As a Jordanian, this book is a great gift from our beloved Queen. Reading it, I relived beautiful and sad moments. It is definitely the book of the year!
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Summary: Lacks the details enquiring minds want to know!
Review: If you are looking for a historical, insiders perspective on the Mideast you will enjoy this book. If you are interested in an insiders view of Queen Noor's life you will be disappointed. From the photographs in the book, you can see the love between the Queen and her husband. But when you read the pages, very little detail is shared.
They meet. She expresses surprise that the King is interested in her. They date. They get married. Very little of their interpersonal relationship and courtship is described. She expresses her love for the King, but does not really describe their relationship. As the book is titled "Memoirs of an Unexpected Life" , I really expected to read about the Queen herself. I would like to know how she felt about people she met, her wardrobe, how she stays fit, what she likes, etc. But none of this is in the book or if its mentioned its glossed over. Instead we have fleeting impressions of her country. In one so tiny paragraph she describes how she recognized that her minimal wardrobe would not be sufficient when she married the King. I want to read more about her wardrobe, her daily routine, her thoughts on how she fits in the country. Yes I want some history but some fluff too. After all this is supposed to be a book about her. Sadly none of this is revealed and what is written could have been written by anyone with a slight knowledge of the Queen.
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Summary: Not a serious piece of history.
Review: If this book were written solely as an account of the love story between Queen Noor and King Hussein, I could it probably have stomached it better. There are some charming anecdotes here about Queen Noor's private family life with the King and their children. Pity she didn't stop there.However, the former Lisa Halaby seems to think of herself as an expert on the Middle East by virtue of her heritage and the fact that she married a Middle Eastern monarch. Her views of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict are so simplistic and one-sided as to be laughable. When she calls the dounding of the state of Israel a "catastrophe" for the Arab people, you have no doubt whose side she is one. She glosses over a lot of the unsavory details about her husband's reign and those of his political allies and makes incredibly naive comments about many of the significant issues facing the region today. It's not hard to understand why since the Queen still lives in Jordan part-time and aspires for her son to be on the throne one day. Can't do anything which would upset the folks back home.This memoir is very self-serving,inaccurate and dishonest.
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Summary: Leap of Faith
Review: Where was the editor when this book passed through the publisher? While the author is obviously intelligent, her writing style is stilted, self-congratulatory, and non-introspective. She tries to be everything to every reader from a free spirit during her 1970's college days to the dutiful wife of an Arab monarch. She revealed very little about herself or her husband of any interest and expounded what could only be considered the Arab/Muslim party line. Yuck! I usually like to keep my books, treasured in my many bookcases but this one is going directly to the yard sale pile.
Rating:
Summary: garbage
Review: This book is garbage.The queen did not write the book,her flunkies did.
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