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24 Jun 2025
Vacation is the best time to remember that you actually enjoy reading. Not skimming, not doomscrolling, not consuming videos of someone’s morning smoothie ritual — actual reading.
Honestly, I often forget. Between the unrelenting flow of news, inbox anxiety, and the dopamine trap that is Reels (yes, I know I could just delete the app, but let’s not get dramatic), I end up spending my free time feeding the attention span of a hyperactive goldfish.
But books — remember those? Books are better. They are slower, kinder, cheaper than therapy, and scientifically proven to lower your stress and improve sleep. And if you commit to reading for just 10 minutes a day, and gently bump that number up over time, you may discover your “undiagnosed ADHD” miraculously disappearing. (You probably don't have ADHD. Unless a doctor said you do. In which case — carry on.)
So start small. Don't pick up Ulysses. Reach for something alive, contemporary, and compelling. Here are five novels by women you should absolutely spend your summer with. You will laugh, you might cry, and most importantly — you won't scroll.
What Will People Think? by Sara Hamdan
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Media fact checker by day, stand-up comedian by night — Mia is living a double life. Not in a CIA-agent kind of way, but the kind that involves sneaking out for comedy gigs and hoping your conservative grandparents never find your Instagram.
Mia’s secret career unravels when she discovers her grandmother’s own hidden past, captured in a series of journal entries that transport her back to 1947 Palestine. As past and present begin to converge, both women are forced to come clean — not only to each other, but to themselves.
This is a debut that wears its heart and humour on its sleeve. It is funny, moving, sharp, and has already topped Amazon’s Humorous Fiction charts. The New York Times loved it, Mo Amer called it “superb”, and honestly, who are we to disagree?
Dubai recently rolled out the red carpet for the book’s launch. In June, the Emirates Literature Foundation and Fiker Institute hosted a very literary evening at Alserkal Avenue. Author Sara Hamdan was joined by Emirates LitFest director Ahlam Bolooki for a fireside chat, followed by a book signing and the kind of crowd that says “I read The New Yorker and I bring my own tote.”
Representatives from Dubai Culture, Art Jameel, the Ministry of Culture, and even the Space Centre were in attendance (because of course). The event marked not just the launch of a brilliant book, but a proud milestone for Dubai’s literary scene.
Hamdan, a former New York Times journalist, developed the book during her time as a fellow of the ELF Seddiqi First Chapter Writers’ Fellowship — a programme that proves what six hours of mentorship and forty hours of workshops can do when you match them with talent and caffeine.
The book is out now. You can find it at Magrudy’s or do the modern thing and click “Add to Cart” on Amazon. Don't wait for the movie adaptation.
The Girls Who Grew Big by Leila Mottley
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You may remember Leila Mottley as the teenage prodigy who wrote Nightcrawling, became a Booker nominee, and made everyone else’s high school years look deeply unproductive. Now she is back with her sophomore novel, and it is another knockout.
Set in small-town Florida, the story follows four teen mothers — each navigating stigma, survival, and their own versions of resilience. It is moving, raw, and full of the kind of empathy that makes you want to call your mum. Or your therapist.
Coming in June 2025, this one is for when you want to feel things but also avoid anything that feels like required reading. You will want to discuss it with your book club (or feel like starting one).
Good Girl by Aria Aber
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Nila is 19, a budding artist in Berlin, and the daughter of Afghan refugees. Her world is loud, messy, and split down the middle. By day, she lives in an immigrant apartment block swarming with insects and childhood memories she would rather forget. By night, she loses herself in Berlin’s hedonistic underworld — raves, toxic flings, and the ever-present fear that her uncle might be the one driving the taxi home.
She isn't at home in the Afghan community. Nor is she accepted by Germans. But through photography, she begins to tell her story — one frame at a time. As Nila documents the tension, the beauty, and the contradictions of her life, she slowly edges closer to something that looks like truth.
Released in January 2025, Good Girl is sharp, searching, and full of big-city heartbreak. The prose is luminous, the tone is fearless, and the depiction of being caught between cultures — between who you are and who you are pretending to be — is painfully spot-on. This one is for the night owls, the in-betweeners, and anyone who has ever felt like the background character in their own life.
The Persians by Sanam Mahloudji
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Let us be honest: this one had us at “the Kardashians of Aspen.” But beyond the glossy exterior of drama, jail time, and an annual family holiday gone wildly off the rails, The Persians is a razor-sharp, riotously funny look at identity, immigration, and family dysfunction on an international scale.
The Valiats were once a powerful Iranian family. Now scattered between Tehran and America, they are mostly trying to stay out of trouble — unsuccessfully. There is Elizabeth, the matriarch who stayed behind post-revolution and now finds herself babysitting her law-breaking granddaughter. There is Shirin, a glamorous firecracker with a passion for designer shoes and scandal. Seema, the housewife. Bita, a law student on a spiritual cleanse. It is chaos. Beautiful, hilarious chaos.
Shortlisted for the Women’s Prize and praised for its wit and warmth, this one is equal parts family saga and cultural commentary, with just enough dysfunction to make you feel better about skipping your own family reunion this year.
Fundamentally by Nussaibah Younis
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If someone told you a debut novel about ISIS wives stuck in Syrian refugee camps would be — wait for it — funny, you might not believe them. But you would be wrong.
In Fundamentally, we meet Nadia, an Iraqi-British academic and peacebuilding expert, who agrees to run a de-radicalisation programme for women who left Europe and the U.S. to join the Islamic State. Now, these women are disillusioned, stranded, and deeply traumatised — not exactly the ideal candidates for self-reflection, but Nadia tries anyway.
What follows is biting, brilliant, and full of unexpected tenderness. These women aren't caricatures. They are confused, complicated, and (more often than not) deeply human. Younis uses humour like a scalpel — precise, revealing, and deeply effective. Longlisted for the 2025 Women’s Prize for Fiction, this is the novel that proves political writing can be smart, satirical, and still profoundly moving.
Don't read this one on a plane. You may burst into laughter at the most inappropriate moment.
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