Our top book pick this week: a dark comedy from Margaret Atwood and more



The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood

Stan and Charmaine are struggling to survive and living in a car when they agree to take part in an experiment. The couple will get jobs and a home – but every second month they must swap their house for a prison cell. Dark comedy. (Bloomsbury, September 24)

Grief is the thing with feathers by Max Porter

Two young boys lose their mother. Their father, a scholar of the poet Ted Hughes, imagines a future of emptiness but soon the trio are visited by a crow, who helps them cope. A literary portrait of grief and loss. (Faber and Faber, September 17)

Stories From Other Places by Nicholas Shakespeare

From a First World War encounter in Australia to the faded charm of 1960s Mumbai to a story of civic folly in Bolivia these short stories traverse the globe. Many of the characters are ordinary people swept up in major events. (Harvill Secker, September 3)

Pacific: The Ocean of the Future by Simon Winchester

It is the place of Ferdinand Magellan, tsunamis and atomic bomb testing. The world’s largest body of water is also the site of renewed geopolitical jousting and here, Winchester argues that in economic, political and military terms, it has a hugely important future. (Collins, September 24)

Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning by Timothy Snyder

The Holocaust is viewed as a brutal, once-off event. But Snyder argues that some of our beliefs are worryingly close to those expressed by Hitler, particularly on “ecological panic”. And our societies are more vulnerable than we think to a repeat. (Bodley Head, September 17)

The Master Algorithm by Pedro Domingos

Algorithms play more of a role in our life than ever: they find jobs, discover new films and manage our investments. Here, one of the field’s leading lights looks at the search for the “master algorithm” – one capable of distilling any knowledge from data, and thereby remaking the world. (Allen Lane, September 22)

Petrarch: Everywhere a Wanderer
Christopher Celenza,
Reaktion Books

RESULTS

6.30pm Handicap (TB) US$65,000 (Dirt) 1,400m

Winner Golden Goal, Pat Dobbs (jockey), Doug Watson (trainer)

7.05pm Dubai Racing Club Classic Listed Handicap (TB) $88,000 (Turf) 2,410m

Winner: Walton Street, William Buick, Charlie Appleby.

7.40pm Dubai Stakes Group 3 (TB) $130,000 (D) 1,200m

Winner Switzerland, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar

8.15pm Singspiel Stakes Group 3 (TB) $163,000 (T) 1,800m

Winner Lord Giltters, Adrie de Vries, David O’Meara

8.50pm Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 (TB) $228,000 (D) 1,600m

Winner Military Law, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi.

9.25pm Al Fahidi Fort Group 2 (TB) $163,000 (T) 1,400m

Winner Land Of Legends, Frankie Dettori, Saeed bin Suroor

10pm Dubai Dash Listed Handicap (TB) $88,000 (T) 1,000m

Winner Equilateral, Frankie Dettori, Charles Hills.

Real estate tokenisation project

Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.

The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.

Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.

Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The National's picks

4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young

The Specs:

The Specs:

Engine: 2.9-litre, V6 twin-turbo

Transmission: 8-speed automatic

Power: 444bhp

Torque: 600Nm

Price: AED 356,580 incl VAT

On sale: now.

Company Profile:

Name: The Protein Bakeshop

Date of start: 2013

Founders: Rashi Chowdhary and Saad Umerani

Based: Dubai

Size, number of employees: 12

Funding/investors:  $400,000 (2018) 

NO OTHER LAND

Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal

Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham

Rating: 3.5/5

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The biog

Name: Sarah Al Senaani

Age: 35

Martial status: Married with three children - aged 8, 6 and 2

Education: Masters of arts in cultural communication and tourism

Favourite movie: Captain Corelli’s Mandolin

Favourite hobbies: Art and horseback ridding

Occupation: Communication specialist at a government agency and the owner of Atelier

Favourite cuisine: Definitely Emirati - harees is my favourite dish