In honour of there being so much to celebrate in the UAE in December, be it National Day, the Festive Season, or simply the cooler weather, we thought we’d sum up our feelings with a song. What can we say, we’re having the time of our lives *wink wink*

Celebration and comfort food go hand in hand. Food and travel blogger Sally Prosser of My Custard Pie fame shares what comfort food means to her as she reviews Scandinavian Comfort Food by Trine Hahnemann and The Little Library Cookbook by Kate Young, both authors who are attending the 2019 Emirates Airline Festival of Literature. Settle down with a cup of hot chocolate for this episode of The Bookshelf all about Hygge, recipes inspired by books, and memory.

In honour of the upcoming National Day, Aditi Belame Kumar,the author of Humr Al Na’am, Treasure of the Desert, was in to the studio to talk about the importance of the camel in the region, from folklore, to racing, to beauty pageants and beyond. The book is a memoir of sorts in honour of her father who was veterinarian to hundreds of racing camels after moving to the UAE in the late eighties, and is the result of years of interviews and research.

Did you know the world is running out of sand? We askedjournalist Vince Beiser who will be attending the upcoming Emirates Airline Festival of Literature all about it, and his book The World in a Grain: The Story of Sand and How It Transformed Civilization. And that’s just the tip of the sand dune!

It’s all about celebration on the show, so we thought we’d ask Daisy Line to recommend some celebrated crime fiction for us: The Way of All Flesh by Ambrose Parry and In a House of Lies by Ian Rankin, authors who are all attending the Festival. Fun fact: Ambrose Parry is actually a husband and wife writing team– do you think you could work with your partner on a book, or would it all end in tears?

Roving reporter Meredith Chipperton asked the Year 3-6 students from Horizon School about their favourite books, authors and why they love them so much.

24/11/18: Poets Zeina Hashem Beck and Frank Dullaghan join us to perform some pieces of work inspired by the 2019 theme United by Words. They’ll be performing at the Desert Stanzas event at the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature on 5 March 2019 under the stars.

24/11/18: The Emirates Airline Festival of Literature 2019 lineup was announced on Monday and the team are so excited to delve in to the programme and what they’re most looking forward to. Isobel Abulhoul and Marketing Co-ordinator Ariel Robinson talk through their highlights.

24/11/18: Head of Education, Training and Publishing, Flora Rees, unpacks the Children’s programme with her recommendations and highlights for the Festival. Nicola Morgan, Kathy Hoopmann, Fabi Santiago, Chitra Soundar, Benji Davies, Isadora Moon and Jeff Kinney and more are on her list!

24/11/18: Brandy Scott, co-presenter on Dubai Eye’s beloved Business Breakfast show, joins us on Talking of Books in her capacity as debut novelist who will be participating in the 2019 Emirates Airline Festival of Literature. Brandy wrote Not Bad People after winning a mentorship with a major international publisher. The story follows three Australian women whose impulsive decision to let off illegal Chinese lanterns sets in motion a series of life-changing events.