About Abu Dhabi: Books, Festivals & Courses ...

by Rana Asfour

After The Lunch!

It's been really busy in BookFabulous land.

I'm still on a high from last week's Dubai Emirates Airline Festival of Literature (EAFOL) lunch spent mingling with authors and writers such as Annabel Kantaria and Rachel Hamilton. I am happy to report that Annabel Kantaria has agreed to a Q&A with BookFabulous. So, if you have any questions for the 'Coming Home' author, do email them ([email protected]). I will be forwarding them her way on Sunday morning (Don't be horrified - it's beginning of the work week here in the UAE).

At that same lunch I walked away with a signed copy of Rachel Hamilton's 'The Case of the Exploding Loo' for the one and only Mr. Fabulous's Son (note to self: I must find a better nickname for my teenager) and he has reported back to have completed the entire thing in two days. His verdict? Enjoyable, entertaining and funny although he did feel he was slightly too old for it (he's 13 1/2). So there! A major reading success!

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Book Recommendation

Today's book recommendation comes from my friend, avid and passionate reader Joyce, a member of The Tuesday Morning Bookclub based in Abu Dhabi. Her choice is Antonio Muñoz Molina's luminous panorama of the Spanish Civil War entitled 'In the Night of Time'.

​Published in 2014, this is quite a hefty read with the hardcover copy weighing in at 656 pages. Winner of the 2012 Prix Méditerranée Étranger and hailed as a masterpiece and compared in scope to 'War and Peace', 'In the Night of Time' is a sweeping, grand novel and an indelible portrait of a shattered society, written by one of Spain’s most important contemporary novelists.

​It's set in 1936. Spanish architect Ignacio Abel arrives at Penn Station, the final stop on his journey from war-torn Madrid, where he has left behind his wife and children, abandoning them to uncertainty. Crossing the fragile borders of Europe, he reflects on months of fratricidal conflict in his embattled country, his own transformation from a bricklayer's son to a respected bourgeois husband and professional, and the all-consuming love affair with an American woman that forever alters his life.

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Festival Time In Abu Dhabi!

Qasr Al Hosn Gate taken by BookFabulous 2015

I just love festivals, don't you? And Qasr Al Hosn Festival, back for its fourth year and organised by Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority is pretty much up there with the greats.

Taking place at the Qasr Al Hosn Fort situated in the heart of downtown Abu Dhabi, the festival is offering up a wide range of historic and cultural themed exhibitions, workshops, performances and activities, as well as guided tours of the Qasr Al Hosn fort (this last one is quite a treat because access to the Fort renovations is only possible during festival days).

This festival was designed to celebrate centuries of Emirati culture and tells the story of Abu Dhabi’s ancestors and invites visitors to explore and understand the traditions of the past to better understand the UAE of today.

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Personality Issues?

Myers-Briggs Color-Coded Personality Identification Cards

BookFabulous attended a lovely coffee morning with a bunch of ladies from Facebook group 'Abu Dhabi Arab Moms' which is run by its very active moderator Lana Kaati. The morning was hosted by Emirati Haifa Al Mubarak, Founder, CEO of Know How For Management Consulting. Haifa, a certified psychologist and NLP practitioner gave a very illuminating presentation about the different personality types.

The session, held at Café de la Paix, at Nation Tower in Abu Dhabi, was merely a taster session for the company's upcoming courses this month revolving around the 16 types of personality types as identified by the Myers-Briggs Assessment test (MBTI).

​According to myersbriggs.org, the purpose of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI®) personality inventory is to make the theory of psychological types described by C. G. Jung understandable and useful in people's lives. The essence of the theory is that much seemingly random variation in the behavior is actually quite orderly and consistent, being due to basic differences in the ways individuals prefer to use their perception and judgment.

For anyone interested in the courses, they will be held in Abu Dhabi in English and Arabic. You need to contact Know How For Management Consulting for bookings.

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