During summer what I wish for the most, is to relax by the sea or in nature and read a book long stacked because of work obligations.
Read the following list listening to this
These are the 5+1 favorites summer books we suggest you read this year. If not all of them, then at least one…!
1. 50 Great Escapes
by Jonathan Lee
This unique travel book takes readers on a whistle-stop tour of the world, as seen through the eyes of writers, photographers, film-makers, composers, painters, sculptors and philosophers. The author has tracked down life-changing locations – from cities and remote deserts to gardens and cafes – and recounts their transformative power over some of the world’s greatest artists. The result is a global and artistic odyssey that takes readers from the tropical paradise of Gauguin’s Tahiti to the Beatles’ hippy enclave in Rishikesh and from the hashish dens of Paul Bowles’ Morocco to the Wild West of Sergio Leone. Each entry features colour photographs, practical travel advice and information on exhibitions, festivals and museums. The book also includes a global directory of twenty-first-century hot-spots, allowing budding artists to experience a creative epiphany of their own. Travelers planning a trip around an intriguing location, aspiring artists looking for a retreat and fans keen to explore the stories behind their favourite works will find this guide an entertaining and valuable resource.
Totally in our mood, right?
2. 1Q84
by Haruki Murakami
Yes, I know what you’ll think: surprise! Not only it’s not a surprise to find his last book on this list but also is an ode to to George Orwell’s 1984. I mean, wow.
The year is 1984. Aomame is riding in a taxi on the expressway, in a hurry to carry out an assignment. Her work is not the kind that can be discussed in public. When they get tied up in traffic, the taxi driver suggests a bizarre ‘proposal’ to her. Having no other choice she agrees, but as a result of her actions she starts to feel as though she is gradually becoming detached from the real world. She has been on a top secret mission, and her next job leads her to encounter the superhuman founder of a religious cult. Meanwhile, Tengo is leading a nondescript life but wishes to become a writer. He inadvertently becomes involved in a strange disturbance that develops over a literary prize. While Aomame and Tengo impact on each other in various ways, at times by accident and at times intentionally, they come closer and closer to meeting. Eventually the two of them notice that they are indispensable to each other. Is it possible for them to ever meet in the real world?
3. Little prince at the office
by Borje Vilaseca
Employees unmotivated and worn. A tyrannical management. A company in crisis. The future looks very bleak. Until the day when Prince Paul, New Providence HRD, arrived in the company and managed the feat to bring smiles to everyone. Based on the values of the masterpiece by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, Borje Vilaseca recounts a tale that glorifies imaginative strength and optimism. This little book is a gift that puts into perspective the loss of values in our society and which offers each reader to raise individually and collectively to overcome the current crisis for months. What we’d probably call the most optimistic book of the year!
4. The leopard
by Jo Nesbo
We just love Scandinavian noir. And we’re willing to devote time to convince you they rock! In another post. Now, just read the plot of The leopard as follows: In this electrifying new addition to Jo Nesbø’s internationally acclaimed series, Harry Hole must confront the darkest demons in his city—and in himself. Inspector Harry Hole has retreated to Hong Kong, escaping the trauma of his last case in squalid opium dens, when two young women are found dead in Oslo, both drowned in their own blood. Media coverage quickly reaches a fever pitch. There are no clues, the police investigation is stalled, and Harry—the one man who might be able to help—can’t be found. After he returns to Oslo, the killer strikes again, Harry’s instincts take over, and nothing can keep him from the investigation, though there is little to go on. Worse, he will soon come to understand that he is dealing with a psychopath who will put him to the test, both professionally and personally, as never before.
5. In Arabian Nights
by Tahir Shah
In arabian nights looks at how stories are used to pass on ideas, information and values in Morocco and across the Arab world… in a way that we have almost lost in the West. We forget that stories have been used for millennia to teach — like a peach, the delicious flesh on the outside is there to amuse, to allow the inner value, the stone, to be passed on so that it can thrive. We relegate stories as an entertainment for children, while in actual fact they can be decoded and used to instruct.
The book shines light on the knowledge to decrypt stories that we have all known our entire lives, and illustrates how it’s there for us to grasp. At the same time it is a book about the hidden cultural bedrock upon which Morocco is constructed. Morocco is an Arab land steeped in history, a kingdom of rich textures, aromatic spices, and magical belief, set on a canvas of vibrant cultural color. Nudged up in the north-west corner of Africa, it is the bridge between Orient and Occident, separated from Europe by only eight miles of water. Arriving in Morocco can be like stepping into the world of A Thousand and One Nights. It’s a land ruled by ancient codes of honor, duty, chivalry and respect. These values are passed down now from mother to daughter, from father to son, as they have been for centuries. They are an ancestral birthright inherited through a system once well-known in the West, but long since calcified.
5+1. The art of travel
by Alain De Botton
This extra is a must – read for every traveler on earth. Few things are as exciting as the idea of travelling somewhere else. But the reality of travel seldom matches our daydreams. The tragi-comic disappointments are well-known: the disorientation, the mid-afternoon despair, the lethargy before ancient ruins. And yet the reasons behind such disappointments are rarely explored.
We are inundated with advice on where to travel to; we hear little of why we should go and how we could be more fulfilled doing so. And although we put our efforts together at Urban Hypsteria to explain why, The Art of Travel provides you with a philosophical look at the ubiquitous but peculiar activity of travelling ‘for pleasure’, with thoughts on airports, landscapes, museums, holiday romances, photographs, exotic carpets and the contents of hotel mini-bars. The book mixes personal thought with insights drawn from some of the great figures of the past. Unlike existing guidebooks on travel, it dares to ask what the point of travel might be – and modestly suggests how we could learn to be less silently and guiltily miserable on our journeys.
Lie down,
feel the sun,
breathe salty air
and enjoy
blowing your mind
away!
Tags: 1q84 alain arabian art book botton calendar Culture enjoy escapes great haruki jo lee leopard little murakami nesbo nights novel office prince reading sea shah summer travel
