What We Are Reading Today: The Secret Body by Daniel M. Davis

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Updated 28 August 2021
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What We Are Reading Today: The Secret Body by Daniel M. Davis

Imagine knowing years in advance whether you are likely to get cancer or having a personalized understanding of your individual genes, organs, and cells. Imagine being able to monitor your body’s well-being, or have a diet tailored to your microbiome. The Secret Body reveals how these and other stunning breakthroughs and technologies are transforming our understanding of how the human body works, what it is capable of, how to protect it from disease, and how we might manipulate it in the future.
Taking readers to the cutting edge of research, Daniel Davis shows how radical new possibilities are becoming realities thanks to the visionary efforts of scientists who are revealing the invisible and secret universe within each of us. Focusing on six important frontiers, Davis describes what we are learning about cells, the development of the fetus, the body’s immune system, the brain, the microbiome, and the genome—areas of human biology that are usually understood in isolation. Bringing them together here for the first time, Davis offers a new vision
of the human body as a biological wonder of dizzying complexity and possibility.
Written by an award-winning scientist at the forefront of this adventure, The Secret Body is a gripping drama of discovery and a landmark account of the dawning revolution in human health.


What We Are Reading Today: ‘Laminar Flow Theory’

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Updated 3 min 5 sec ago
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What We Are Reading Today: ‘Laminar Flow Theory’

  • The Navier-Stokes equations, first derived in the 18th century, serve as an accurate mathematical model with which to describe the flow of a broad class of real fluids

Author: P. A. LAGERSTORM 

Fluid mechanics is one of the greatest accomplishments of classical physics.

The Navier-Stokes equations, first derived in the 18th century, serve as an accurate mathematical model with which to describe the flow of a broad class of real fluids.

Not only is the subject of interest to mathematicians and physicists, but it is also indispensable to mechanical, aeronautical, and chemical engineers, who have to apply the equations to real-world examples, such as the flow of air around an aircraft wing or the motion of liquid droplets in a suspension. 

 


Saudi author brings stories closer to home

Updated 06 July 2025
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Saudi author brings stories closer to home

  • Kendah Jambi has turned to local folklore and southern Saudi Arabia for her next novel

RIYADH: When Saudi writer Kendah Jambi released “The Epic of Frost” in 2024, she wrapped up a fantasy trilogy that had been nearly a decade in the making.

Spanning three titles published by Adab Book — “The Voyagers” (2021), “The Historian” (2023), and “The Epic of Frost” (2024) — the trilogy reflects a growing interest in Arabic speculative fiction and highlights her steady rise within the Kingdom’s evolving literary scene.

With the series complete, the 25-year-old has turned the page with a new project: “Khalil,” a standalone novel rooted in Saudi heritage and slated for release this year.

Author Kendah Jambi sees the current moment in Saudi Arabia as particularly significant for writers, with growing cultural initiatives under Vision 2030. (Supplied/AN photo)

Reflecting on her journey, she told Arab News: “In comparison to when I first started, it has definitely become a lot easier to write and complete a novel in shorter amount of time.”

Her works have resonated with readers across Saudi Arabia who seek her out at the region’s various book fairs. Jambi said that she is touched by the kindness they express and their connection to her works. “I have young authors flooding my socials daily talking about how my work inspired them to write and stay persistent.”

HIGHLIGHTS

• Kendah Jambi’s ‘The Voyager’ fantasy trilogy gained momentum through its Manga Arabia adaptation.

• The writer’s next project ‘Khalil’ is a stand-alone novel rooted in Saudi heritage and slated for release this year.

• Her works have resonated with readers across Saudi Arabia who seek her out at the region’s various book fairs.

She added that her goal has always been “to make the world fall in love with the Arabic language.”

Jambi’s trilogy was published in Manga Arabia magazine’s print and digital versions. (AN Photo Basheer Saleh)

Her trilogy also gained momentum through its Manga Arabia adaptation, which Jambi said brought new attention to the original novels.

This, she said, brings the story full circle as “The Voyagers” was written originally to be a manga series and ended up becoming a novel.

Her advice to aspiring writers is grounded in experience: “Always chase what you believe in, no matter how long it takes. It took me seven years to write my first book, and I never regret taking my time,” she said.

Jambi’s trilogy gained momentum through its Manga Arabia adaptation, which Jambi said brought new attention to the original novels. (Supplied/AN photo)

While her earlier work leaned heavily into fantasy, her upcoming novel “Khalil” represents a shift in setting and tone.

“‘Khalil’ takes place in our modern-day Saudi Arabia across different regions. It reflects our heritage and traditions while being completely inspired by Arabian mythology,” she explained.

One such reimagining involves the folklore figure “Um Al-Saaf wa Al-Leef,” whom she described as “a witch who sits atop palm trees and eats children.”

Jambi participated in numerous book fairs in the MENA region, including the Riyadh International Book Fair. (AN Photo Abdulrahman Shalhoub)

In Jambi’s version, the character is still a deranged witch, but she does not eat children — instead, she has children named Al-Saaf and Al-Leef.

Jambi emphasized the importance of cultural accuracy in portraying southern Saudi characters, noting that her work “stays true to the people … I definitely made sure of that with help from friends native to that region.

“The characters are people whom Saudi readers can relate to as they hold similar values and have a familiar upbringing,” she added.

Explaining the shift from fantasy to a narrative more grounded in reality, Jambi said: “My pen is free and can go wherever it wants.”

She sees the current moment in Saudi Arabia as particularly significant for writers, with growing cultural initiatives under Vision 2030.

Maram Al-Samman, who read Jambi’s trilogy, told Arab News: “I see in Kendah Jambi a new and promising voice in Arabic fantasy literature … There are some moments that might lack narrative coherence, but her boldness in introducing new ideas and her creation of complex characters distinguish her work.”

Reflecting on her overall impression, Al-Samman added: “Personally, I believe her writing is worth reading, especially for those who enjoy novels that expand the imagination and open the door to deep thought.”

With the trilogy and her upcoming standalone novel sharing the same narrative universe, Jambi has created an expansive literary ecosystem where the fantastical and the familiar coexist.

 


What We Are Reading Today: Agents of Change 

Updated 06 July 2025
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What We Are Reading Today: Agents of Change 

Author: Christina Hillsberg

Christina Hillsberg’s “Agents of Change” deftly tackles not just the fight for gender equality at the Cia, but the current dilemma the agency faces when dealing with the culmination of a decades-long culture of sexual harassment and assault.

In the book, Hillsberg pays a long overdue tribute to the survivors and thrivers, the indispensable groundbreakers, and defiant rabble-rousers who made the choice to change their lives and in turn, changed history.


What We Are Reading Today: Midnight in Chernobyl by Adam Higginbotham

Updated 05 July 2025
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What We Are Reading Today: Midnight in Chernobyl by Adam Higginbotham

“Midnight In Chernobyl” offers a harrowing and compelling narrative of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster through the eyes of the men and women who witnessed it firsthand. 

Chernobyl has become lodged in the collective nightmares of the world. The book is an indelible portrait of history’s worst nuclear disaster, of human resilience and ingenuity and the lessons learned when mankind seeks to bend the natural world to his will remain not just vital but necessary.

This book makes for a masterful non-fiction thriller, according to a review on goodreads.com.


What We Are Reading Today: ‘State of Ridicule’

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Updated 04 July 2025
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What We Are Reading Today: ‘State of Ridicule’

  • Sperrin begins by describing the Roman foundations and substructures of British satire, paying particularly close attention to the core Roman canon: Horace, Persius, and Juvenal

Author: Dan Sperrin

Satire is a funny, aggressive, and largely oppositional literature which is typically created by people who refuse to participate in a given regime’s perception of itself.

Although satire has always been a primary literature of state affairs, and although it has always been used to intervene in ongoing discussions about political theory and practice, there has been no attempt to examine this fascinating and unusual literature across the full chronological horizon.

In “State of Ridicule,” Dan Sperrin provides the first ever longue durée history of political satire in British literature. He traces satire’s many extended and discontinuous trajectories through time while also chronicling some of the most inflamed and challenging political contexts within which it has been written.

Sperrin begins by describing the Roman foundations and substructures of British satire, paying particularly close attention to the core Roman canon: Horace, Persius, and Juvenal.