Shubbak Festival 2013!

I can't wait for this festival to kick off in London this weekend. I have already booked most of the events that fit my schedule. It sounds like so much fun! See you there! 

To book tickets and download the festival's guide, click HERE.

A BookFabulous Favourite for Summer!

I just finished reading this over the weekend and think it is genius. The writing is sublime and it is my recommended read for anyone going on holiday this summer. I will post a full review by the end of this week or early next week. 

Book Description (from amazon.co.uk)

Mark Wilkinson has three names. He left his own behind in the rainy north of England. U.S. immigration know him as Joe Novak. And at the Valhalla, the mysterious complex in Vegas where he sells lofty ambition and dark desires, he goes by Mr Jones. Since the age of eighteen, Mark has been running away, and hard. Away from everything that is flat and dull and ordinary: his market town. Away from disappointment: his vanished mother, his broken father. And away from heartbreak. Bethany Wilder, beautiful goth, carnival queen, partner in dreams, tragic ghost, never made it with him to America. He’s thirty now and again it’s time to flee – in the opposite direction, towards home. With shades of JG Ballard, Murakami, and Joseph O’Neill, this is an inventive and emotional novel about the power of dreams to destroy, of memory to distort, and of courage, ultimately, to heal.

About the Author

A former bookseller and editor, Stuart Evers is the acclaimed author of Ten Stories About Smoking, which won the 2011 London Book Award. He lives in London.

'The Great Book Robbery': The Fate of Palestinian Books Left Behind After the 1948 Nakba!

Watched this documentary 'The Great Book Robbery' on the 'Witness' program on ALJAZEERA English this afternoon. Incidentally, it will also be screened at Mosaic Rooms in London on May 15. 'The Great Book Robbery' was produced and directed by Benny Brunner, 2911 Foundation, and Xela Films in association with Aljazeera English. There is currently a copy of this film on YouTube or on Aljazeera. View it by clicking HERE. You can also purchase it HERE.

Very interesting stuff!

What to Read Today Now that the Sun is Out in London!

It's a beautiful day here in London today. Set to be the warmest day of the year so far at 15 Celsius, what better way to make use of the sunshine than by having your lunch break outside. And what better way to spend this glorious day than in the company of a lovely book. Not sure what to choose? Maybe these suggestions will help:

In the mood for a brilliant thriller/mystery? 

'Gone Girl' by Gillian Flynn: Who are you? What have you done to each other? These are the questions Nick Dunne finds himself asking on the morning of his fifth wedding anniversary, when his wife Amy suddenly disappears. So what did happen to Nick's beautiful wife?

For our review of this book, click HERE.

Long to visit an ever-vibrant intriguing city?

'Jasmine and Fire: A Bittersweet Year in Beirut', by Salma Abdelnour: A poignant and humorous journey of trying to resettle in Beirut and fumbling through the new realities of life in one of the world's most complex, legendary, ever-vibrant, ever-troubled cities. What's more, in a year of roiling changes around the Middle East and the rise of the Arab Spring, Salma found herself in the midst of the turmoil, experiencing it up close.

Looking for laugh out loud moments?

'How to be a Woman', by Caitlin Moran: It's a good time to be a woman: we have the vote and the Pill and we haven't been burnt as witches since 1727. However, a few nagging questions do remain: Why are we supposed to get Brazilians? Should we use Botox? Part memoir, part rant, Caitlin answers the questions that every modern woman is asking.

A touch of the classics and my favourite book ever?

'The Brothers Karamazov' by Fyodor Dostoyevsky: When brutal landowner Fyodor Karamazov is murdered, the lives of his sons is changed irrevocably. Mitya, the sensualist, whose bitter rivalry with his father immediately places him under suspicion for parricide. Ivan, the intellectual, whose mental tortures drive him to a breakdown, and the spiritual Alyosha, who tries to heal the family's rifts and the shadowy figure of their half-brother Smerdyakov. As the ensuing investigation and trial reveal the true identity of the murderer, Dostoyevsky's dark masterpiece evokes a world where the lines between innocence and corruption, good and evil, blur and everyone's faith in humanity is tested.