#StorySettings Day 10: Here are some award-winning stories from the #Desert - photo taken when we went to the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair before we left for Norway a week ago. Posting in advance as we will be traveling back home yet again.
so-soJoe Bennett is a newspaper columnist and travel writer. Here he visits Dubai to discover what draws people to seek their fortune, how Dubai and the UAE have developed and their potential future. It‘s strong on the country‘s history and unflinching about its government and the racism of some western ex pats but despite his efforts, he doesn‘t get close to the underclass of workers who sustain it and is quite patronising in his assumptions.
pickThis was a decent thriller. There was a little of the American writing about an “exotic” locale feeling, but certainly not as bad as others I‘ve read this year. Predictable, but still entertaining. I‘ll probably read more of Fesperman‘s work, but I‘ll probably skip the audiobook narration which was mediocre. #readingasia2021 #unitedarabemirates
I just went on an audible shopping spree to fill in some gaps for #readingasia2021 and #letterA for #litsyatoz
My Life in Ruins (#UnitedArabEmirates)
The Astonishing Color of After (#Taiwan)
How We Disappeared (#Singapore)
Lost in Shangri-La (#NewGuinea)
panI tried every story. But there were so many I didn‘t like. Too absurd. The main theme however, is very poignant. The stories are all about the many migrants coming to the #UnitedArabEmirates from countries like India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and the Philippines. They look for ways to make money to take care of their families back home. They are the people without rights. Temporary people.
#ReadingAsia2021 🇦🇪
(Pic: Iraklia, Greece)
pickNoora, a girl from the wild desert is sent to be the third wife of a rich merchant, and to provide him with a child.
I really liked this, but it‘s very light fare. Don‘t read it if you want an insight into Emirati life in the 1950s; it‘s essentially a romance novel and could almost be set anywhere, although the author is an Emirati herself.
#readingasia2021 #unitedarabemirates
so-soI realized within the first fifty pages, I had already read this book. But, I couldn't remember anything. It was more of a feeling. I'm afraid the second read didn't evoke any lasting emotional ties either. It wasn't boring; I just didn't learn anything new, except for learning about the sand fish.
#ReadingAsia #UnitedArabEmirates @BarbaraBB @Librarybelle
