When we set off into the sun and switch our heads off, one of the things that I enjoy most is reading a good book. Holidays were invented for stoking the imagination, having fun, getting carried away while getting a killer tan, and reading stories as good as the ones you take part in while abroad. I hope you enjoy this selection of books about travel, sensations and marvellous places, suitable for avid and holiday readers.
THIS TOO SHALL PASS by MILENA BUSQUETS
This book is already a contemporary classic that never goes out of fashion. It places us in a small village on the Costa Brava, and Busquets makes the sea, wind and waves come alive. A summer that appears idyllic but is marked by the loss of a mother. Love, family, relationships and, above all, grief, mark this beautiful story that far from sinking in pessimism, starts to show the light at the end of the tunnel.
MY FAMILY AND OTHER ANIMALS by GERALD DURRELL
Possibly one of the funniest books I have ever read. It narrates the adventures of a large family that moves to the Greek island of Corfu, with all the inconveniences and complaints of his older brothers and sisters brought to life on the page. In the middle of the Ionian Sea, this hilarious family have to come to terms, through adventure and misadventure, with the local flora and fauna while overcoming culture shock and getting used to new customs.
I REMEMBER by JOE BRAINARD
An evocative book like few others that navigates through the memories of the writer Joe Brainard in short, sharp sentences that will remind you of your own. Summers lived and unlived, boat trips, dances at dusk and lots of unanswered questions that we’ve all asked ourselves at one time, or another.
MY YEAR OF REST AND RELAXATION by OTESSA MOSSFEGH
One of the best books you can take on holiday. Recommended ad nauseam, I ended up reading it in one go. Dark and funny, in equal measure, it immerses us in the dangers of pharmaceuticals and the ease with which we take drugs for problems we don’t even know we have. Are the problems really there, or are they a figment of our imagination?
HEY! JULIO IGLESIAS AND THE CONQUEST OF AMERICA by HANS LAGUNA
It’s always a good time to read about our beloved Julito, and if he also tells us about his journey through the Americas in great detail, all the better. Hans Laguna dissects the social and cultural moment in which Julio Iglesias went where no one has been since, at a time when conquering the world was a feat worthy of Ulysses. Miami and the sun, always the sun, accompany this wonderful story about our favourite singer.
GOOD LUCK by ROSA MONTERO
One of the best writers in Spain, whose stories normally take place in holiday destinations, changes course this time and makes us believe in luck again. This book teaches you that luck is something you have to create every day. Luck is waking up next to the one you love, having a coffee in the morning while watching the sunrise, taking life less seriously and enjoying the little big things that surround us.
BROWN by ROCÍO QUILLAHUAMAN
The young illustrator, and now writer Rocío Quillahuaman, is already considered “the voice of her generation” – what Lena Dunham longed to be in ‘Girls.’ She tells us, with lashings of cynicism and humour, about how her life changed when she moved from Peru to Barcelona, where she has been living for many years. A rabid, open-hearted memoir that speaks about the most significant moments of her childhood and adolescence.
OH WILLIAM! by ELIZABETH STROUT
The always brilliant Strout tells of a woman who ventures, along with her eccentric ex-husband, on a road trip to find a newly-discovered sister. At times tender and at others, hilarious, the ex-couple delves into the passage of time and life’s quirks. This is an easy book that you’ll finish almost without realising it with a playful smile on your lips.
MR. PIKES by TONY PIKE
You can’t come to Ibiza on holiday and not read the most roguish memoirs ever written in the Pitiusa Islands. The legendary founder of Pikes Hotel regales us with his adventures when he transformed a country house in San Antonio, Ibiza into one of the island’s most emblematic places. From its 80s heyday, you could meet Freddie Mercury, Kate Moss, George Michael, Grace Jones or Julio Iglesias by the pool. The island’s most famous moustache tells us, without mincing his words, about his life as the owner of Ibiza’s most iconic hotel. Don’t leave without visiting.
