Book Groups and Books in the UAE

I've decided that I will post little reports often rather than thinking in my mind of all the things I should research before writing a post (such as my Dates posting which will happen in the future after I receive the Dates book I requested). So this is the first of my small reports.

I am attending my first book group event in the UAE with the meetup group, Abu Dhabi Book Club, on Sept 3rd. We're reading The Great Gatsby which I have little interest in re-reading forty years later. I want to be reading and learning about Arab literature, there's no time to re-read the old stuff. But I want to give the group a good chance so I'll at least skim it beforehand. The meeting will take place at Cafe Arabia which is described as a place where both expats and Emiratis meet. I will be interested in both the meeting and the cafe, if not the book. I wonder if they'd be interested in the Oly Reads style book group, where no one reads the same book unless it's by accident.

I joined the Goodreads UAE Good Readers group (and mentioned Oly Reads in my introduction) and found 2 suggested links to Arab literature there:
Kutub: Reading into Contemporary Arab Literature
and the blog, Arab Literature (in English)

I've checked out the two main bookstores in Abu Dhabi, McGrudy's and Jashanman. I bought five books at McGrudy's last weekend:

A Middle Eastern Feast / by Claudia Roden
The Middle Eastern Kitchen / by Ghillie Basan
Real Flavors of Arabia: a nomadic gourmet's journey from Marrakesh to Muscat / by Mike Harrison

Gardening in Oman and the UAE / by Anne Love

The Native plants of Oman: an introduction, with notes for gardeners / by Clive Winbow

The newspapers here have book reviews and author interviews at least once a week. After reading an interview with Alaa al Aswany, I found a copy of his The Yacoubian Building in the library. I recommend it. I've read that it was made into a movie of the same name in 2006. My library doesn't have a copy of the DVD but I think I'll suggest that we buy it.

I'm currently reading From Rags to Riches: a Story of Abu Dhabi / by Mohammed A.J. Al Fahim. It's a personal account of life and how it has changed in the UAE during his lifetime. He was born in the late 1940s and experienced the extreme changes that the people of this place have lived through. It's rather mindblowing and it seems like a good book to get a perspective on the country.

I have a lot to explore in the literature and culture of the area, and plenty of time for it. I'll try to be better about reporting more often.