The Emirates LitFest Releases Top Book Club Recommendations For The Start Of The New Year

The Emirates Literature Foundation has published its top list of books for book clubs; from the critics choices to readers’ favourites. All books on the list are guaranteed to spark conversations, stimulate debate and share new perspectives on the world around us.

AhlamBolooki, Director of Emirates Airline Festival of Literature, said: “Planning one of the world’s greatest literary festivals is like choosing books for a book club, hundreds of times. We are always looking for authors and conversations that will entertain, intrigue, and make us question the world around us. All the books on this list will do this and more, and best of all, once you have read the books you can come to meet the author at the Emirates LitFest in February.”

The creation of the list involved members of the Foundation team proposing and voting for the final books, which could be of any genre as long as they prompted new discussions and ideas.

First on the list came Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s Before the Coffee Gets Cold, with his utterly uniqueand moving time-travelling drama playing out in a small coffee shop in Tokyo. Along with carefully brewed coffee, it also offers the chance to travel back in time, but only within the confines of the café’.

David Grossman’s portrait of a comedian falling apart on stage in A Horse Walks into a Bar will leave readers reeling, before they turn to each other to discuss every poignant, upsetting moment and what it meant.

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett has kept readers enthralled since it was first released, and brings up weighty discussion points around identity, trauma, community and deceit.

Horror fans will rejoice to see Stephen Graham Jones’ My Heart is a Chainsaw on the list, but this is no ordinary slasher: prepare for existential questions to arise as the body count continues to grow.

Saints & Misfits has blazed a trail for modern Muslim YA fiction, as SK Ali’s novel explores faith, identity, and assault with a deceptively light touch.

Felicia Yap’s debut novel Yesterdayopens a can of worms with memory, social status and trust issues all up for debate.

My Best Friend’s Murder by former Dubai resident Polly Philips offers up a deep dive on toxic friendships and envy. Polly was the winner of the Emirates LitFest Prize in 2019, then known as the Montegrappa Prize.

The full list is available on the Foundation’s website, and all the listed authors will be speaking at the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature, 3-13 February 2022 at the Al Habtoor City hotels. Tickets are available from the website.

The Festival is held with Founding Partners Emirates Airline and the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture), the Emirate’s dedicated authority for heritage, arts, and culture.

The Emirates Airline Festival of Literature is held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai.

The Festival will comply with all current covid regulations, and visitors will be asked to wear masks and provide proof of vaccination, or a negative PCR taken within the previous 72 hours.

More information about the Emirates Literature Foundation can be found online and year-round news of #EmiratesLitFest on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. The Foundation also has two podcasts; the Best of the Emirates LitFest, and the Boundless Book Club.