Today I have a very exciting post for you! Sheila O’Flanagan, the author of If You Were Me, has written a list of her top 5 holiday reads. For me, reading on holiday is the best reading you can do- there’s no internet, no distractions, it’s just relaxing entertainment and I’ve written two posts; here and here about my choices for holiday books so I thought it would be interesting to see Sheila’s. So here we go!
I like a mixture of genres when I go on holiday. I always pack at least one light book, and something humorous because it’s nice to chuckle on the sunbed. I also enjoy a thriller, as well as a historical read, either fiction or non-fiction. Hopefully you’ll find this a nice summer mixture of light and a little more challenging:
I love Ciara Geraghty’s writing and the fact that all her books are quite different from each other. This one is a love story but it’s more about finding yourself again. Part of it is written from a male point of view and it’s brilliantly done. Saying something is funny and poignant is a bit of a cliché but it’s definitely true about this lovely book and it’s my top choice for summer reading this year!
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I really enjoyed both of these novels when they were first published. They shed a different light on the Tudor court of Henry VIII and some of the most memorable characters in English history. Even though the TV series was really good (if a bit dark indoors!) nothing compares to the books.
The Jack Reacher series is my go-to series for a thriller with an iconic hero who’s always a match for the bad guys. Sometimes a series with the same character can get a little stale but one of the ways Child manages to keep Reacher interesting is by not being chronological with all of the novels and occasionally going back to a previous time in Reacher’s life. This one takes us back to his time in the US army and his investigation into the sudden death of a General.
Sophie is one of the funniest writers around. I prefer her stand alone novels to the Shopaholic series and I think my favourite of her books was I’ve Got Your Number which was laugh-out-loud hilarious. Finding Audrey is a YA novel about a girl with Social Anxiety Disorder and it sounds just as good as Sophie’s adult novels so has to be worth a read.
Confessions by Jaume Cabré
This is a 750 page novel translated from Catalan and you need a nice stretch of free time to read it. It’s about a man who begins to examine his family’s past after the death of his father. In fact it’s the story of Europe from the Inquisition to Auschwitz but it was the opening line that made me buy it: ‘It wasn’t until last night, walking along the wet streets of Vallarca, that I finally comprehended that being born into my family had been an unforgivable mistake.’ Who hasn’t thought that at some point!!!
This is a 750 page novel translated from Catalan and you need a nice stretch of free time to read it. It’s about a man who begins to examine his family’s past after the death of his father. In fact it’s the story of Europe from the Inquisition to Auschwitz but it was the opening line that made me buy it: ‘It wasn’t until last night, walking along the wet streets of Vallarca, that I finally comprehended that being born into my family had been an unforgivable mistake.’ Who hasn’t thought that at some point!!!
Thank you to Sheila for sharing her top 5 holiday reads. My book wishlist has definitely grown!
What are your holiday reads?
Imogen's Typewriter. 