As we mentioned last week, and as part of our continuous pursuit at Sail to encourage and endear reading to our social media followers, we’ve launched a campaign this month under the social media hashtag: #SailBookRecommendations. In this hashtag we are curating a daily book recommendation from our team members and from our followers, those book recommendations are short and brief to entice people’s curiosity, and we are tapping in all genres to appeal to all our followers and readers. The campaign is hosted on our Instagram: @SailPublishing and on our facebook: Sail eMagazine.
Below are some of our posted book recommendations during the past week:
Book title: Holes
Author: Louis Sachar
Genre: classic, mystery, comedy
Stanley is under a curse of bad luck that follows him and his family for generations. The cause of this is their, and I quote, “no good dirty rotten pig-stealing great great grandfather” whom I don’t think they like very much. The story starts with Stanley standing in the wrong place at the wrong time, found himself guilty for some reason and sent to a boys camp. This camp called Camp Green lake, in which they are to dig holes to build character. He finds out later the real reason behind the digging of holes in Camp Green Lake.Reviewed by
Reviewed by Shof Elmoisheer
Book Title: The Big Picture
Author: Sean Carroll
Genre: Nonfiction / physics
The field of physics has always seemed to exist within its own realm of understanding, exclusive to those who can dissect those strange quantum equations. Physics has been called many- difficult, boring and flat out complicated. Sean Carroll, a theoretical physicist at Caltech, begs to differ. Carroll’s writing, in this latest work, describes physics as beautiful. Carroll poetically narrates the story of our universe and the origins of our understanding of physical reality.
Chapter by chapter, a piece of scientific history is linked to the next, and before you know it, you’ve just witnessed the big bang and suddenly arrived at CERN in 2016 with a refined idea of human purpose in this vast universe. Additionally, this book successfully fits in every influential person in the history of physics and scientific thought. As you turn the pages, you will surely develop a new perspective of what physics is, why it’s important in your daily life, and how the future will be very different because of it.
Reviewed by Yara Younis
Book title: Pride and Prejudice
Author: Jane Austen
Genre: Fiction / Classical Literature
A classic of English literature this work of fiction by one of the greatest female writers never fails to make my heart flutter. I first read it when I was 11 and have since read it over a dozen times. Austen takes you on a journey of suspense as the novel’s heroine Eliza Bennet overcomes her preconceptions in finding true love despite roadblocks, a meddling mother, and troublesome sister. The cold nobleman Mr. Darcy starts off as an adversary to Eliza Bennet through the various social gatherings and balls but soon his feelings change, as he grows to respect her and tender feelings blossom.
Reviewed by Sarah AlMarashi
Book title: Remembrance
Author: Meg Cabot
Genre: fiction novel / fantasy
The latest book in Meg Cabot’s Mediator series offers fans of the work a wonderful trip down memory lane. Whether this is the first book you own or the seventh, the writing allows the reader to feel as though they are either being introduced to the family or welcomed back home. The story keeps the reader on the edge of their seat, begging for more, and with Meg Cabot as an author, one can be assured to never feel disappointed.
Reviewed by Amani AlJundi
Book title: The Map of Love
Author: Ahdaf Soueif
Genre: Historical fiction/ Egypt history
One of the best books I read as it fed my curiosity towards Egypt’s history and culture. The book has 2 main parallel plots that are connected (without further spoilers!), the first plot is in Egypt in the 1900s and the other plot is as well in Egypt in the 1990s. It explains the history of Egypt between the French and British forces, the first Egyptian revolution under Ahmad Urabi and explains the gap between it and the second one by Sa’ad Zaghloul. It also brings into context so much of the old Egyptian culture and values. It explained to me in a way why are the Egyptian people more politically aware, and I think to an extent it has to do with their known and documented history that goes back to the 1800s across its different colonization periods by the Ottomans, French, and British all the way till the Egyptians took the lead of their own country. It blew me away to know that they had their Opera house built since the late 1800s, this alone tells you how old is the Egyptian culture!
The fictional plot as it builds up might be slow at the beginning, but there is a certain twist that happens that just from there on doesn’t allow you to put the book down! Beautifully gripping and extremely enlightening and educative. Love it!
Reviewed by Iman Ben Chaibah
Book title: Guns, Germs, and Steel: A short history of everybody for the last 13,000 years
Author: Jared Diamond
Genre: Transdisciplinarity Nonfiction
The book tells the story of human beings since existence. From the understanding the power of evolutionary transitions to the cause of distribution of power. Furthermore, the book tells the many untold stories of the reasoning behind many glorified stories to which it comes down to Guns, Germs, and Steel.
Reviewed by Yaqoob Alshamsi
