I have a dream. It’s me sitting on a beach, one of those with white sands, with the sea crystal clear at my feet. I have a book in my hand as I read and it’s peaceful. In reality, I haven’t been on holiday for many years and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. The white sand would probably stick to me in the heat and it would itch. The sea would probably be cold or have sea weed floating around and as for the peacefulness? Yeah me and all the other holiday makers hoping for the same.
But when you have a book it doesn’t matter where you are as long as you have a seat and a hand free to hold the book. The book and your imagination are what magic you away to far distant shores you’ve never set foot on. Books are made for page turning. Their corners to be slightly dog eared as they have been thumbed through so many times. I am a lover of the Kindle but for holiday reading it has to be a proper book.
So what books would I read to escape it all?
A favourite is The Camomile Lawn by Mary Wesley. I fell in love with it after they made it into a tv series and is probably the first program I watched that was filmed in Cornwall. Being from Cornwall I was, of course, sold and it showed me places I have never seen. The story is about five cousins in the Second World War. It’s all very British with parties and bed hopping done in a most tasteful way. Oh, and for the record there really was a house with a lawn grown from chamomile.
Next up is another book that has been put on the TV, My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell. An eccentric family moves to Corfu. Idyllic and full of animals as the young boy wanders all over the Greek island. Its set in the 1930’s and if I thought it was still the same I would move there in a heartbeat. I havent read this yet and hope the book mum is the same as the TV mum. As a fellow single parent, I am behind her all the way.
My last choice would be Bridget Jone’s Diary by Helen Fielding. I have loved all the films and haven’t yet read the book. Lots of friends have recommended it I would love to read it and see how different it is or isn’t as apparently the book Bridget is funnier and more character than her screen character.
What books do you want to read on your next holiday?
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