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The holiday season is here and there is nothing like a good book to lose yourself in while getting that perfect tan on a faraway, sun-kissed beach. Here are top-ten reads for this summer’s long lazy days.
*Sunnyside by Glen David Gold
Beginning in America (1916) and following Americas global rise through wars, Hollywood and the resulting celebrity status – LOL at the comical, yet brilliant, narrative
*Uneasy Rider: Travels Through a Mid-Life Crisis by Mike Carter
A positive life changing, motorbike journey around Europe (at 40 something). Mike Carter’s passage of self-discovery is an inspiration.
*Brazzaville Beach by William Boyd
A unique read – an event in England leads to an event in Africa and for Hope Clearwater they bring her to Brazzaville Beach.
*The Island by Victoria Hislop
A visit to Crete for Alexis Fielding unveils her mother’s tragic past. Travelling from London to Crete with a letter from her mother for an old friend of the family still living in Plaka the family’s past unravels.
*Jungle Soldier by Brian Moynahan
Trapped behind Japenese enemy lines in Malaya (1942) Freddy Spencer Chapman and a few colleagues began a heroic commando operation to destroy Japanese convoys. His story spans 3 years deep inside the jungle with an entire Japanese regiment on his trail. A captivating story of survival, heroism and jungle guerrilla warfare.
*The House at Riverton by Kate Morton
A suicide in 1924 becomes the story for a film in 1999 – but when a young director speaks to Grace Bradley the housemaid of Riverton Manor about the suicide, a long silenced mystery, awakens in the 98 years old maid’s memory.
*The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver
Set between Mexico and America – Harrison Shepherd leaves his socialite mother to live with a Mexican artist. Influenced by art and revolution he eventually goes to America. Harrison experiences America just as the country enters into the Second World War and the ensuing political atmosphere forces him to travel between north and south, between truth and accusation and an innocent person’s destruction.
*Brixton Beach by Roma Tearne
Following the horrors after the 2005 London bombs, Simon Swann is searching for someone but whom? The story takes readers to Sri Lanka (30 years earlier) when the country was teetering towards Civil War and Alice Fonseka’s life changes forever when she and her mother leave for England. Alice lives her life, becoming an artist and eventually finding love – but London changed that frightful day and Simon becomes caught in the ‘war on terror’.
*Martha’s Journey by Maureen Lee
A tale from Liverpool opening in 1915, Martha Rossi’s son Joe later joins the army at age 14 and is sent to France. His great courage leads Martha on a journey to highlight to the government the plight of young boys joining the war effort and with support, Martha realises her own actions are the most important she has ever made in her life.
* Cross Country by James Patterson
Detective Alex Cross gets caught up investigating a massacre murder scene, Washington DC’s underworld and embarks on a dangerous journey to the Niger Delta. Cross Country has a pulse-raising plot about gangs, conspiracy, slave trading, heroin deals and a man’s fight for survival. High octane!
Now all you need to do is relax on a sun bed with your book in hand and a cool drink at your side – that sounds perfect. Enjoy the recommended holiday books – there is something for everyone.
