Feed Your SoulA fine article by Lubna Qassim in The National about the value of reading has stimulated me to post some book tasters from one of my other web sites, Reviewing Books and Movies.
Fortunately, according to this report, bookshops and reading are thriving in the UAE.
Books by Barack
The UAE Daily News reported that books by Barack Obama were running off the shelves.
Here is a review of his first book, Dreams From My Father. I have on my reading pile his next one, Audacity of Hope.
Children’s Books
Read what publisher Isobel Abul Houl has to say about children’s books in Arabic.
Mennah Bakkar, I am a Little Moslem.
Frances LaBonte, The Arabian Date Palm.
Frances LaBonte, Sheikh Zayed.
Things Arabic
Looking for a good English to Arabic Dictionary? Read up about this one.
John Kirkbright, Spoken Arabic Step-by-Step.
Living Away from Home?
Jhumpa Lahiri is a Bangladeshi author living in the USA and she has written a fine collection of stories about people who live away from their homeland. How do they get on in Unaccustomed Earth?
Business Books
Jim Collins is a great observer of issues to do with business. Good to Great reveals the secrets of how good companies progressed to being really great.
Joseph A DiVanna, Understanding Islamic Banking.
Tom Kelley, The Art of Innovation.
Essam Al Tamimi, Setting up in Dubai.
Jeremy Williams, Don’t They Know it’s Friday?
The Hardest Book to Read
The hardest book (because of the pain) I have read for years is Desert Children by the former fashion model Waris Dirie. This one is about her journey through Europe talking to women who have experienced Female Genital Mutilation. I am glad that I read this book.
Books on Middle Eastern Themes
Dubai Chamber of Commerce, 1000 Numbers and Reasons Why Dubai.
Rajaa Alsanea, The Girls of Riyadh.
David Cottridge et al, Birds of the Middle East.
Fadir Fakir, My Name is Salma.
Christopher Hurndall and Blanka Rössler, The Colours of Fujairah.
Naguib Mahfouz, Palace Walk.
Marguerite van Geldermalsen, Married to a Bedouin.
Latifa, My Forbidden Face.
Gareth Leggett, On-Road in the UAE.
Eric Moore, Gardening in the Middle East.
Ben Smalley, Middle East and North Africa Media Guide 2008.
Trevor Waugh, The Emirates Through the Eyes of an Artist.
Important to Read
Benazir Bhutto, Daughter of the East.
Jimmy Carter, Palestine Peace Not Apartheid.
Wilfred Thesiger, Arabian Sands.
See Jeremy Williams (above).
This Book Will Change Your Life!
Greg Mortensen and David Oliver Relin, Three Cups of Tea.
Epilogue
These are just a few of the hundreds of books in fine UAE bookshops like Magrudy’s.
Put Lubna Qassim’s thoughts to the test and discover that books feed the mind, nourish the soul and sometimes provide life-changing new insights and perspectives.
Dr Geoff Pound
Disclosure: I review books for Magrudy's Bookshops. I love visiting Magrudy's but I would like it even better if they established a branch in Fujairah!
Image: A great book for UAE National Day.
