This handy slideshow of books on Qatar includes travel guides to Qatar, books on doing business and finding a job in Qatar, customs and local food.
Want to read more about these books? Check out our book reviews.
Like this post? Sign up for the Qatar Visitor Newsletter.
Qatar Visitor Friends
Qatar Jobs
Doha Hotels
Tags
Qatar Books naruto wallpaper 12:54 AM New Google SEO Bandung, Indonesia
Want to read more about these books? Check out our book reviews.
Like this post? Sign up for the Qatar Visitor Newsletter.
Qatar Visitor Friends
Qatar Jobs
Doha Hotels
Tags
Qatar Books naruto wallpaper 12:54 AM New Google SEO Bandung, Indonesia
Our latest competition is a really easy one to enter. All you have to do is visit our book competition page, and choose the book you would most like to read. If you get picked in our prize draw you'll win the book!
Check out our Qatar Book Competition for details.
A comment I noticed on recently on the books section of our website asked us which was the most comprehensive guide book, Marhaba or Qatar Explorer.There's just no doubt about it - Marhaba, though poorly marketed outside Qatar, is head and shoulders above any other print guide to Qatar.
It's not perfect. My main complaint about is that everything it writes about does have to be perfect. A couple of years back (or is it three or four?) I read a description of Al Wakra and they made it sound like Las Vegas. (Allow for a little exaggeration on my part, of course.) I went to visit the town and, well, it was quite nice (the beach and the mangrove swamps were lovely before they were dug up), but a little bit boring.
Still, the book is absolutely crammed full of information about Qatar, and is very comprehensive. It is carefully and lovingly updated three times a year, and each publication has more information than the last.
The writing is often of an extremely high quality (anyone who can make Al Wakra sound exciting has got to be talented) and there are often some excellent features included.
There's also the price - a ridiculously low QAR20 (it's worth at least five times that.) Obviously, the book is paid for by advertising, but it's the type of advertising (schools, nurseries e.t.c.) that is pretty useful for expats, at least when they are new in town. We, at least, buy a new copy every time it's out, and we recommend new expats do the same.
Tags
Marhaba books
Marhaba books
The sequel to Qatar Narratives, a book detailing the lives of women based in Qatar in their own voices, is due to be launched this week.The book, entitled Then and Now, will focus on both men and women's perspectives on the incredible pace of change taking place in Qatar.
As with Qatar Narratives, Then and Now is edited by Mohana Rajukumar and Carol Henderson and has been spsonsored by the Waqif Art Center, and follows on from a series of writing workshops.
While waiting for the book to come out, you may be interested in reading our original review of Qatar Narratives, which you can find in our book review section.
There is a huge and very impressive book fair underway at the Qatar Exhibition Center.
While most of the books from the 741 stalls in the center were in Arabic, there were enough books in English to keep book fans happy. This included one section where all books for sale cost ten riyals.
The Qatar Authorities had promised not to censor any titles, and with books with names such as "The Courtesan", not to mention other titles with raunchy sections, it was clear that they had kept their word.
Booksellers may, of course, have exercised self-censorship, which is really the preferred way of doing things round here!
Reading
As we mentioned before in Whatever Happened to the National Library of Qatar, the number of books pulished in Arabic is a tiny fraction of that published in other countries.
Book fairs like these at least give a very positive push towards cultivating a love of reading among Qataris and Qatari residents - and it was especially nice to see bus loads of school children leaving with bags full of books.
With a booksellers coming from 21 different counctries, it is also an opportunity to see a greater range of books than is normally possible.
Closing soon!!
The book fair will remain open until the third of January. So if you want to stock up on reading material it would best to head down there shortly - or you might find yourself waiting till next year for a similar opportunity.
Also see: Qatar Books Reviews
Tags
books naruto wallpaper 9:00 PM New Google SEO Bandung, Indonesia
While most of the books from the 741 stalls in the center were in Arabic, there were enough books in English to keep book fans happy. This included one section where all books for sale cost ten riyals.
The Qatar Authorities had promised not to censor any titles, and with books with names such as "The Courtesan", not to mention other titles with raunchy sections, it was clear that they had kept their word.
Booksellers may, of course, have exercised self-censorship, which is really the preferred way of doing things round here!
Reading
As we mentioned before in Whatever Happened to the National Library of Qatar, the number of books pulished in Arabic is a tiny fraction of that published in other countries.
Book fairs like these at least give a very positive push towards cultivating a love of reading among Qataris and Qatari residents - and it was especially nice to see bus loads of school children leaving with bags full of books.
With a booksellers coming from 21 different counctries, it is also an opportunity to see a greater range of books than is normally possible.
Closing soon!!
The book fair will remain open until the third of January. So if you want to stock up on reading material it would best to head down there shortly - or you might find yourself waiting till next year for a similar opportunity.
Also see: Qatar Books Reviews
Tags
books naruto wallpaper 9:00 PM New Google SEO Bandung, Indonesia
or What ever happened to the National Library of Qatar?
Being a book lover (when I had time to read books before starting this blog and website!), I went looking for the National Library of Qatar as soon as I arrived in the country - now several years ago.
It shouldn't have been hard - the library was marked clearly on the map. Yet, no matter how many times I trundled up and down the Corniche, I could not locate the building.
It turned out that the makers of the map, rather optimistically, had marked it on the map before it was built. And it never got built, which is a shame because, as the picture below shows, it would have been splendid.
Tags
library naruto wallpaper 8:00 PM New Google SEO Bandung, Indonesia
Being a book lover (when I had time to read books before starting this blog and website!), I went looking for the National Library of Qatar as soon as I arrived in the country - now several years ago.
It shouldn't have been hard - the library was marked clearly on the map. Yet, no matter how many times I trundled up and down the Corniche, I could not locate the building.
It turned out that the makers of the map, rather optimistically, had marked it on the map before it was built. And it never got built, which is a shame because, as the picture below shows, it would have been splendid.
My assumption is that with the rush to get ready for the Asian Games, as well as the building of other major projects such as the Islamic Museum, the building just got left behind.
It's also worth pointing out that not many Arabs in Qatar read a great deal, apart from newspapers, magazines and the Quran.
When I trundled down to the original and still standing National Library, itself housed in a pleasant old building, there have been few browsers other than myself.
And the lack of readers in the Qatar National Museum even made a news story: 300,ooo Books Go Begging for Readers.
One reason for (or result of?) this lack of readership could be the lack of (non-religious) reading material in the Arab world.
Kalima Translation, an organisation dedicated to encouraging the translation of Arabic books, points out that:
It is worth remembering that this was not always the case. Once the Arab World, which now spends 0.2% of Gross National Product of research and design, lead the modern world in the field of knowledge.
It was Arabs who brought the basics of the modern numeral system to Europe, came made great advances in the fields of medicine. They even treated the mentally ill with music therapy.
According to Rediscovering Arab Science:
Yet enter a 'bookshop' and chances are all you will see is stationery.
Reading, it seems, is still a rarity.
Who knows if a new National Library could have revived readership in Qatar? And who knows if it ever will?
Also see: Qatar Books | Books, Bookstores and Libraries in Qatar
It's also worth pointing out that not many Arabs in Qatar read a great deal, apart from newspapers, magazines and the Quran.
When I trundled down to the original and still standing National Library, itself housed in a pleasant old building, there have been few browsers other than myself.
And the lack of readers in the Qatar National Museum even made a news story: 300,ooo Books Go Begging for Readers.
One reason for (or result of?) this lack of readership could be the lack of (non-religious) reading material in the Arab world.
Kalima Translation, an organisation dedicated to encouraging the translation of Arabic books, points out that:
- more books are translated in Spain than have been in the Arab world for the last thousand years
- only one book per million Arabs is translated into Arabic every year
"The Number of Books Published in the Arab World does not exceed 1.1% of production."
It is worth remembering that this was not always the case. Once the Arab World, which now spends 0.2% of Gross National Product of research and design, lead the modern world in the field of knowledge.It was Arabs who brought the basics of the modern numeral system to Europe, came made great advances in the fields of medicine. They even treated the mentally ill with music therapy.
According to Rediscovering Arab Science:
In mathematics, astronomy, medicine, optics, cartography, evolutionary theory, physics and chemistry, medieval Arab and Muslim scientists, scholars, doctors and mapmakers were centuries ahead of Europe.Qatar, more than most, realises the value of knowlege and education - they have, after all, built Education City, and invited prestigious American Universitities to set up campuses there, as well as setting up the Qatar Science and Technology Park.
Yet enter a 'bookshop' and chances are all you will see is stationery.
Reading, it seems, is still a rarity.
Who knows if a new National Library could have revived readership in Qatar? And who knows if it ever will?
Also see: Qatar Books | Books, Bookstores and Libraries in Qatar
Tags
library naruto wallpaper 8:00 PM New Google SEO Bandung, Indonesia
In our latest book review on the website we look at the Emergence of Qatar: the Turbulent Years. The book covers the history of Qatar from the bombardment of Qatar by the Portuguese at the start of the seventeenth century till the signing of a treaty of protection between the Al Thani family and the British in 1916. The history of this period is covered in detail, and this is probably the only detailed general history book published about Qatar's history for many years.
Read the full review.
Browse all our book reviews.
Qatar Visitor Friends
Qatar Jobs
Find the best deal, compare prices and read what other travellers have to say about Qatar
Tags
book naruto wallpaper 10:18 AM New Google SEO Bandung, Indonesia
Read the full review.
Browse all our book reviews.
Qatar Visitor Friends
Qatar Jobs
Find the best deal, compare prices and read what other travellers have to say about Qatar
Tags
book naruto wallpaper 10:18 AM New Google SEO Bandung, Indonesia
