The Book Tower

It’s that time of year when I’m musing over my holiday reading. We’re away next week, and although seven days isn’t really that long I appear to have set aside a mini library for our trip. I’ve realised that it’s always wise to pack more books than you’d ever possibly read. Why? Well, I’m firmly starting to believe that a bad choice of book can seriously spoil a holiday. When I recently visited Chicago I took The Interpretation of Murder by Jed Rubenfield. Although this book received some good reviews I couldn’t stand it, and I unfortunately now associate Chicago with this tedious and badly written novel. Similarly,I associate The Sea by John Banville with Sicily, another novel I found overrated, but I also associate Sicily with The Bedtime Secrets of the Masterchefs by Irvine Welsh. Light, funny, unputdownable. A perfect holiday read.

Luckily, most of my holiday choices ove the years have worked out fine and I have happy book associations with far flung destinations. Birds Without Wings by Louis de Bernières with Turkey. Travels With my Aunt by Graham Greene and, strangely, Dracula by Bram Stoker with Corsica. Great Expectations with the Algarve. Our Mutual Friend with California. Dickens works abroad – don’t ask me why. I’ll Go To Bed at Noon by Gerard Woodward and The Long Firm Trilogy by Jake Arnott with France. An Amateur Marriage by Anne Tyler with Cyprus. The Testament of Gideon Mack by James Robertson with Florida. And, although it’s a very daft book, Bridget Jones’ Diary with Spain. Books can also make being stranded at an airport more or less bearable. Star of the Sea worked, Mary Reilly didn’t.

So I’m going well prepared this year. I’m packing authors that work on holiday for me, with a Graham Greene and the latest Irvine Welsh. I’m also taking some Cormac McCarthy, an author that appears to work for me generally, and Love in the Time of Cholera, a book I’ve been unable to settle into but may work well on the sunbed. I’m also backing up with a mystery read, usually a last minute airport buy. I discovered Welsh and de Bernières this way.

So picture me at my most comfortable. Usually the first by the pool to reserve my sunbed and reading space. Alternating between the book, the bar and the pool as the day goes on. Usually the last to leave the pool, reading as the sun sets. Happy holidays!