It's the end of January. We don't know how it came around so soon, but it did, and the pressure is on for that fresh slate feeling - and books are here to help. On this episode of The Boundless Book Club Ahlam, Andrea and Annabelle are joined by the Emirates Literature Foundation's very own Maham Uzair to recommend four books to help you live your #bestlife, in a realistic, genuinely useful and practical way all with authors who are appearing at this year's Emirates Airline Festival of Literature. No quick fixes here, thankyouverymuch.
Books mentioned in this episode:
The Doctor's Kitchen by Dr Rupy Aujla
Another cookbook you'll buy and abandon on the shelf? Not so with Dr Rupy who knows a thing or two about busy schedules as an NHS GP. The path to a healthier life is through small consistent changes so even if you don't make a single recipe from his books, the guiding principles and ingredient lists are the arsenal you need when you're not sure what to add to that mystery curry you're making when you get home, or what to buy on your next grocery shop.
The Cracks that Let the Light In by Jessica Moxham
This recommendation is inspiration fodder for absolutely anyone, especially parents who need a guiding light in dark times. As Jess herself says - "This is a book about what happened when it felt like my life had fallen apart and how I put it back together. It’s about family, love and how to be happy despite your life turning out nothing like you planned." and in these uncertain times, Jess' story is all the more relevant.
Twelve and a Half by Gary Vaynerchuk
In his latest bestselling book, GaryVee shares how he has embraced twelve and a half key skills to become a better leader. Not only is Gary Vaynerchuk a serial entrepreneur and one of the world’s leading marketing experts, he is also the author of six bestselling business books, including most recently Twelve and a Half: Leveraging the Emotional Ingredients Necessary for Business Success. He is the chairman of VaynerX and CEO of the media agency VaynerMedia.
Languages of Loss by Sasha Bates
After the unexpected death of her husband Bill, Sasha draws on her years of psychotherapy work in this book to make sense of her own personal experience of grief. Wherever you’re at in your own relationship with grief and loss, this book is a practical exploration of grappling with difficult and overwhelming emotions, and is an excellent and necessary reminder that it's ok to feel what you're feeling.
About us:
Ahlam Bolooki is the Festival Director for the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature, the largest celebration of the written and spoken word in the Arab World. Ahlam finds it difficult to choose a favourite genre as it’s always changing and she’s still in the midst of discovering her literary self. She’s catching up on all the gems she missed as a child such as The Little Prince and The Giving Tree, but has also developed a new appetite for Crime Fiction so who knows what’s next?
Andrea Gissdal is the Head of Communications and Marketing for the Emirates Literature Foundation. From a voracious and indiscriminate reader as a child, to a part time bookseller as a student, as an adult she has become a literary omnivore but with a preference for fiction. She also dabbles in creative writing, and has a penchant for Scrabble.
Annabelle Corton is the English Programme Manager at the Emirates Literature Foundation. She runs the Festival Book Club and has a background in guesting and presenting on talk radio shows about various literary topics. She likes words like ‘equinox’ and ‘vespa’, and loves a good pun. She’ll read anything in reach, but has a fondness for witty tussles of good vs. evil on page and screen, especially vampire fiction where a great deal is at stake. Get it? Stake? ….She’s not sorry.
