5 books against the heat

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Cool off with a book this summer…

From short stories set in new worlds to books on the beach, there’s no shortage of options for avid readers looking to spend their summer catching up on their reading. But sometimes the warm weather can prove to be something to distract and get in the way of making a dent in her To be read Heap. Luckily our friends in the Emirates Literary Foundation have put together some reading suggestions for cool and distant places that might help you cool off a bit.

Lost and found by Oliver Jeffers

lost and found

If you’ve bought picture books in the last 10 years, chances are you’ve seen at least one of Jeffers’ many best-sellers hitting bookstore shelves – and with good reason. He is a skilled writer and illustrator who has a masterful ability to tell a simple story while conveying often powerful and profound meaning through simple, painterly artwork. Lost and found is a perfect example of this. Over 32 pages, readers follow how a stray penguin shows up at a little boy’s door, prompting him to travel to the South Pole to help him get home despite the elements. It’s a heartwarming tale of friendship, effectively conveying that there are different ways to get lost, but that the right people can often help find one another.

northern lights by Philip Pullman

northern lights

Also known as The Golden Compassthe first novel in Pullman’s Beloved Its dark materials The trilogy introduces readers to the now iconic character of Lyra Belacqua, a spirited young girl who lives in a universe other than ours, where everyone has a “dæmon”; a piece of their soul that exists outside of their body in the form of the animal or bird that best represents them. When Lyra’s friend Roger and some of the other children she sometimes plays with start disappearing, she heads to the Arctic Circle to bring them home.

Pullman’s writing style instantly sucks the reader into a full-fledged world of adventure and danger at every turn, effectively introducing a memorable cast of characters including the enigmatic Mrs. Coulter, the charming Texan aeronaut Lee Scoresby, and the commanding armored bear Iorek Byrnison. In recent years, Pullman has returned to the world of the popular series when she’s older with a sequel trilogy that follows Lyra’s adventures. So while fans around the world eagerly await the third and final book – and possibly the final chapter in Lyra’s story – it’s the perfect time to sit down and catch up with the book that started it all nearly 27 years ago.

deception point by Dan Brown

deception point

While Dan Brown is better known for his best-selling books by Robert Langdon (including The da Vinci Code and angels and demons), he’s also released a few standalone thrillers over the years. Released 2002, deception point Introduces a new protagonist: Intelligence analyst Rachel Sexton, who must accompany a team of experts to the Arctic to help examine a rare object buried deep in the ice. However, she soon uncovers evidence of scientific tricks amid a web of deception and lies that could threaten the entire world. Her only option is to uncover the truth as she braves the frigid elements. While Brown’s prose is pretty standard for the genre, he really shines in his ability to weave a plot that keeps readers engaged and guessing every twist he sends them – perfect for long plane trips or days spent lounging by the pool idles!

Where did you go, Bernadette by Maria Muster

Where have you gone, Bernadette?

What happens when your mother, a once-brilliant architect who is now severely claustrophobic, suddenly disappears from her Seattle home instead of taking the family to Antarctica? Well, for 15-year-old Bee Fox, she must sift through her mother Bernadette’s emails, documents and correspondence with her virtual assistant to track down her best friend and greatest champion. Semple’s writing proves compulsively readable and endlessly funny as she deftly explores the relationship between creativity, boredom and genius as seen through the bond between a parent and child – all while satirizing Seattle life. It’s a warm read with a touching poignancy that really shows Semple’s skill as a writer.

Antarctic by Kim Stanley Robinson

Antarctic

Best known for the award-winning Mars trilogy, Robinson turns his gaze to a place much closer to home: Antarctica. This eco-novel takes you to Antarctica itself as it details its (fictional) uncertain future, as big corporations plunder the remote, frigid beauty of Earth’s coldest continent for resources while politicians continue to bicker over it, and more and more more wannabe- Adventurers come in search of quests, only to further endanger the ecosystem with their constant intrusion. Robinson proves himself once again to be an incredible sci-fi writer, as he makes the setting feel incredibly real while effortlessly imparting the knowledge relevant to the plot without getting bogged down in technical minutiae. A gripping read that will keep you pondering for months Antarctic is the perfect balm for a hot summer day.

If you enjoyed today’s selection of books by Nivea Serrao, Web Content Manager at Emirates Literature Foundation, be sure to check out her other suggestions to blog. For more recommendations, check out her podcast, the Boundless Book Club and keep following them social media and youtube to enjoy full sessions, author interviews, funny roles – all in the name of books!

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