No matter what your plans are for the next few months, you might be looking for a book to help you while away the summer.
Several promising titles are scheduled to come out this July, including a biography from one of Hollywood’s most menacing baddies, an analysis of how comedy evolved over the past 50 years and the letters of legendary US horror writer Shirley Jackson.
Here are six books we think are worth checking out.
‘Trejo: My Life of Crime, Redemption and Hollywood’, Danny Trejo
Machete star Danny Trejo has a reputation for being the most killed actor in Hollywood. He has played knife-hurling assassins, bodyguards, gang members and generals, most of whom have met a deadly fate.
Off-screen today, Trejo leads a very different life, but in his earlier years, he struggled with heroin addiction and endured a five-year sentence in one of the US's most notorious prisons.
Trejo's biography details how he went from a life of crime to Hollywood in a journey described by The New York Times as "enough to make you believe in the possibility of a Hollywood ending".
Release date: Tuesday, July 6
'The Paper Palace', Miranda Cowley Heller
This novel begins with infidelity. Elle, 50, a happily married woman, sneaks out of her family's summer house to be with her childhood love, Jonas.
The future forks in front of Elle who, in 24 hours, must decide whether she wants to go on living with her husband, Peter, who she genuinely loves, or go for the life she always imagined she would have with Jonas, until a tragic event pulled them apart.
The Paper Palace unravels legacies of abuse and crimes within families with lilting taut prose. The novel is the first by Heller, who worked for almost a decade as senior vice president and head of drama series at HBO, developing and overseeing shows such as The Sopranos, Six Feet Under and The Wire.
Release date: Tuesday, July 6
'The Letters of Shirley Jackson', Shirley Jackson
Author of literary classics such as The Lottery and The Haunting of Hill House, Shirley Jackson has been one of the most influential horror writers of the 20th century. Never mind the epistolary nature of the book, the compilation of her personal correspondence has all the qualities you would expect from the horror master, written with the humour and eye for the uncanny in the domestic.
Release date: Tuesday, July 13
'Inside Comedy: The Soul, Wit and Bite of Comedy and Comedians of the Last Five Decades', David Steinberg
An insight into the past 50 years of the US comedy business from a man who was at its cutting edge. David Steinberg, renowned for his work as a director on shows such as Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm as well as his stand-up performances, offers readers personal stories, testimonies, conversations, interviews, opinions, random thoughts and titbits that encompass a first-person account of how the comedy world developed in half a century.
Release date: Tuesday, July 13
‘The Final Girl Support Group’, Grady Hendrix
From the bestselling author of The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires comes a scary, funny, high-octane thriller, with a title that is a nod to the final girl horror film trope. Predominately seen in slasher films, the final girl refers to the last girl or woman left alive after facing the killer and the one telling the story. The trope was used in several classics between the 1970s and 1990s including The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Scream and Halloween.
However, Grady Hendrix's novel subverts the slasher trope as much as it pays tribute to it. The protagonist of Hendrix's thriller is Lynette Tarkington, a real-life final girl who survived a massacre. She's been meeting with a therapist and five other final girls with shared experiences for more than a decade. Just as Tarkington feels like she's piecing her life together, one woman misses a meeting. The group soon realises a force is determined to rip their lives apart again.
Release date: Tuesday, July 13
‘Appleseed’, Matt Bell
The breakout novel from US author Matt Bell, Appleseed is a time-bending environmental allegory that starts off in 18th-century Ohio.
“Two brothers travel into the wooded frontier, planting apple orchards from which they plan to profit in the years to come,” the book's blurb reads.
“As they remake the wilderness in their own image, planning for a future of settlement and civilisation, the long-held bonds and secrets between the two will be tested, fractured and broken – and possibly healed.”
The plot of the book then advances to the second half of the 21st century. Climate change has devastated the Earth. One company owns all the world’s resources, but a growing resistance aims to topple that monopoly. But it doesn’t stop there.
A thousand years into the future, North America is covered by a massive sheet of ice. One lonely sentient being inhabits a tech station on top of the glacier and goes on a daring journey to "follow a homing beacon across the continent in the hopes of discovering the last remnant of civilisation".
A sci-fi epic that has the makings of a contemporary fairy tale, Bell’s debut novel manages to stay fresh while imparting an important message.
Release date: Tuesday, July 13
UAE tour of the Netherlands
UAE squad: Rohan Mustafa (captain), Shaiman Anwar, Ghulam Shabber, Mohammed Qasim, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Usman, Adnan Mufti, Chirag Suri, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Mohammed Naveed, Amjad Javed, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed
Fixtures and results:
Monday, UAE won by three wickets
Wednesday, 2nd 50-over match
Thursday, 3rd 50-over match
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
Virtual banks explained
What is a virtual bank?
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority defines it as a bank that delivers services through the internet or other electronic channels instead of physical branches. That means not only facilitating payments but accepting deposits and making loans, just like traditional ones. Other terms used interchangeably include digital or digital-only banks or neobanks. By contrast, so-called digital wallets or e-wallets such as Apple Pay, PayPal or Google Pay usually serve as intermediaries between a consumer’s traditional account or credit card and a merchant, usually via a smartphone or computer.
What’s the draw in Asia?
Hundreds of millions of people under-served by traditional institutions, for one thing. In China, India and elsewhere, digital wallets such as Alipay, WeChat Pay and Paytm have already become ubiquitous, offering millions of people an easy way to store and spend their money via mobile phone. Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines are also among the world’s biggest under-banked countries; together they have almost half a billion people.
Is Hong Kong short of banks?
No, but the city is among the most cash-reliant major economies, leaving room for newcomers to disrupt the entrenched industry. Ant Financial, an Alibaba Group Holding affiliate that runs Alipay and MYBank, and Tencent Holdings, the company behind WeBank and WeChat Pay, are among the owners of the eight ventures licensed to create virtual banks in Hong Kong, with operations expected to start as early as the end of the year.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
The view from The National
Marathon results
Men:
1. Titus Ekiru(KEN) 2:06:13
2. Alphonce Simbu(TAN) 2:07:50
3. Reuben Kipyego(KEN) 2:08:25
4. Abel Kirui(KEN) 2:08:46
5. Felix Kemutai(KEN) 2:10:48
Women:
1. Judith Korir(KEN) 2:22:30
2. Eunice Chumba(BHR) 2:26:01
3. Immaculate Chemutai(UGA) 2:28:30
4. Abebech Bekele(ETH) 2:29:43
5. Aleksandra Morozova(RUS) 2:33:01
Recent winners
2002 Giselle Khoury (Colombia)
2004 Nathalie Nasralla (France)
2005 Catherine Abboud (Oceania)
2007 Grace Bijjani (Mexico)
2008 Carina El-Keddissi (Brazil)
2009 Sara Mansour (Brazil)
2010 Daniella Rahme (Australia)
2011 Maria Farah (Canada)
2012 Cynthia Moukarzel (Kuwait)
2013 Layla Yarak (Australia)
2014 Lia Saad (UAE)
2015 Cynthia Farah (Australia)
2016 Yosmely Massaad (Venezuela)
2017 Dima Safi (Ivory Coast)
2018 Rachel Younan (Australia)
Recipe: Spirulina Coconut Brothie
Ingredients
1 tbsp Spirulina powder
1 banana
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk (full fat preferable)
1 tbsp fresh turmeric or turmeric powder
½ cup fresh spinach leaves
½ cup vegan broth
2 crushed ice cubes (optional)
Method
Blend all the ingredients together on high in a high-speed blender until smooth and creamy.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
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MATCH INFO
Uefa Nations League
League A, Group 4
Spain v England, 10.45pm (UAE)
Afghanistan fixtures
- v Australia, today
- v Sri Lanka, Tuesday
- v New Zealand, Saturday,
- v South Africa, June 15
- v England, June 18
- v India, June 22
- v Bangladesh, June 24
- v Pakistan, June 29
- v West Indies, July 4
Name: Peter Dicce
Title: Assistant dean of students and director of athletics
Favourite sport: soccer
Favourite team: Bayern Munich
Favourite player: Franz Beckenbauer
Favourite activity in Abu Dhabi: scuba diving in the Northern Emirates
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl, 48V hybrid
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 325bhp
Torque: 450Nm
Price: Dh289,000
Premier Futsal 2017 Finals
Al Wasl Football Club; six teams, five-a-side
Delhi Dragons: Ronaldinho
Bengaluru Royals: Paul Scholes
Mumbai Warriors: Ryan Giggs
Chennai Ginghams: Hernan Crespo
Telugu Tigers: Deco
Kerala Cobras: Michel Salgado
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
McLaren GT specs
Engine: 4-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: seven-speed
Power: 620bhp
Torque: 630Nm
Price: Dh875,000
On sale: now
