Get reading over the summer holidays
No phones, emails, deadlines or demands, and a tranquil comfy spot to escape with a book: what more could one want while on holiday?
Here’s a guide to some of the books you should have in your backpack, beach bag or on the bedside table.
For the romantics, there’s a trilogy (so far) of delightful stories that one reader said made her feel like she was being wrapped in a warm hug. Writer Laurie Gilmore has swept the bestseller lists with her quirky stories set in the quaint town of Dream Harbour. The first in the series is The Pumpkin Spice Cafe, followed by book 2 The Cinnamon Bun Book Store and the timeous third, The Christmas Tree Farm.
They are witty (with “spice”, as Gilmore puts it). Having perused some of the chapters, they are definitely on the holiday escape pile. Gilmore’s style is enticing and makes for easy, fun reading.
A favourite “pick up anywhere, anytime” book is the fabulous Yawns Freeze Your Brain by Mick O’Hare, who offers up “more mind-blowing facts from science, history, life and the universe”.
It’s a brilliant assortment of FAQs, busting commonly held myths and with fast-fire off-beat facts in each section. There’s something for everyone here and will absorb you for ages.
One of his “whys” explains why people get earworms, which leads to “the only Abba book the world will ever need” aptly entitled The Book of ABBA by Jan Gradvall.
In the late Seventies and into the Eighties, their music was inescapable. Their songs rolled up all the charts and “everyone” loved them. If you didn’t, too bad sucked to be you. To this day, they are adored by loyal fans who dance to the beat of the film or theatre version of Mamma Mia! or tributes to the four. Gradvall, a journalist who grew close to the band, has written all you’ll ever want to know about this supergroup, including exclusive interviews with them. Warning: watch out for the earworms. The band is also on one of O’Hare’s fast facts as one of the songs with the most misheard lyrics. The line - “Feel the beat from the tambourine” from Dancing Queen - is apparently frequently sung as “Feel the beat from the tangerine”.
There are some rich pickings among the thriller/crime/spy genre too.
The popular Susan Lewis has Nothing to See Here about a triple family murder in which the only suspect is the husband/son/father. The one survivor, another of the man’s daughters, has vanished. A true-crime documentary crew is certain he got away with murder because charges were dropped under suspicious circumstances. They want to prove it was him and find out what happened to the missing girl. Their investigation uncovers some really bad history, but is it enough to get him back in the dock and finally solve the gruesome murders?
Having a revival 30 years after it first earned bestseller status for author James Patterson is the Alex Cross detective series, thanks to the recently streamed Prime Video adaptation starring Aldis Hodge. Cross is one of those fictional characters who attracted an enormous following, with several films depicting various titles with different stars. Season 1 of the TV show introduces a whole new generation to the PhD psychologist-detective, and has been so successful, Season 2 has already been confirmed.
Also having something of a revival is John Le Carré’s British intelligence agent George Smiley. Nick Harkaway has received high praise for Karla’s Choice, which fills the 10-year gap between The Spy Who Came in From The Cold and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
It starts with Smiley “retired” from the Circus, possibly even happy and secure with his wayward wife, but he is called in for a final job: to sniff out a lead in the case of a missing man targeted for assassination by a Soviet killer. Smiley finds a much-changed spy arena and deadlier enemies.
From the other side of The Pond, former CIA agent David McCloskey has a third novel out, this one involving a top-ranked mole in the agency on The Seventh Floor where all the big boys (and girls) hang out.
Sacked operational chief Artemis Procter gets wind of this, but having had a highly placed team in her former position, she doesn’t know who she can trust to help her root the CIA spy out. What if it is one of “her own”? And how do you steal secrets from people whose lives depend on keeping their secrets?
Other holiday prospects are:
My Favourite Mistake by Marian Keyes: Anna Walsh had a dream life, according to everybody else. She lived in New York, had a long-term boyfriend and had The Best Job In The World as a highly successful beauty PR. So why did she take a flamethrower to the lot? Now she's 48, back Dublin, living with her parents, with no partner, no job and no direction. She needs a new challenge to help her fall back in love with life again. When an opportunity arises to solve a PR crisis in a tiny town, Anna leaps at the chance. But will the appearance of an old love interest derail her plans?
Jackie Phamotse’s The Tea Merchant: Part 1 of a new two-book series, it’s set in 2005 in the Cederberg mountains. Cameron Coal is desperately fighting to save his family’s rooibos farm while suffering overwhelming grief after his wife’s death and trying to build a relationship with his blind daughter. His father, John, might be the family’s last hope to save their farm, but Cameron’s brother, Sole, harbours a secret that could shatter their world. When a chaotic veld fire sweeps the area Cameron meets enigmatic nurse, Luna Parks, new to their town and with a mysterious past. He’s still trying to find out who wanted his wife dead. Now he must make decisions, but will they cost another life, or ensure the rise of The Tea Merchant?
Paula Hawkins, an instant success with The Girl On The Train, has another hottie on the bookshelves: The Blue Hour. Eris is an island with only one house, one inhabitant, one way out. Unreachable from the Scottish mainland for 12 hours each day. It was once home to Vanessa, a famous artist whose notoriously unfaithful husband disappeared 20 years ago. It’s now home to Grace, a solitary creature content in her own isolation. But when a shocking discovery is made in a London art gallery, a visitor comes calling and the secrets of Eris threaten to emerge.
When two bestselling authors collaborate on a thriller, readers can expect some fireworks: literally. Michael Crichton and James Patterson have written Eruption, a thriller about a once-in-a-century volcanic eruption that is about to destroy the Big Island of Hawaii. However, a decades-old military secret could turn the volcano into something even more terrifying and it’s up to a handful of brave individuals to save the island and the world.
Books available online and at book stores.