Embarking on a journey with a book

When I think of summer, I think of many things. Lazing around as the sunshine beats down, salty sea air whipping your hair around, and the dusky sounds of cicadas singing. But the one image that comes to the forefront of my mind is reading. To me, my summer passes by like the pages of a book, with no holiday complete without reading on a sun lounger. Often when I reflect on a holiday, I reflect via the book I chose to read on that holiday, taking a physical and mental journey with the story. One of the best souvenirs, in my opinion, is a book from where you have visited. It doesn’t have to be a local book or author, but simply something to remind you of that time in your life.

When I am picking a book for a holiday or journey, I like to pick a book correlating to the season I am travelling in. I feel I can relate to the characters more and understand what they are feeling, if I am experiencing a similar climate to them. For example, when I visited Brussels last winter, I took Murder on the Orient Express, by the great Agatha Christie. The infamous detective Hercule Poirot investigates the death of a stabbed-to-death American tycoon in his locked department, before the train is stranded in a snowdrift. The cozy, wintery aesthetic of the Yugoslavian countryside is the perfect mystery for a chilling winter’s night, which I read in Grand-Place de Bruxelles – the main town square.

For a sunshine-filled holiday, I like to do the same thing; read a book set in the sun! I truly believe the closest I’ve ever felt to capturing the aesthetics of a book was when reading Call Me By Your Name by Andre Aciman, in Italy. Set in Northern Italy, the languid and sprawling days are spent under the sun, on bicycle rides, and swimming in the river. The slow burn of an Italian summer creates a bittersweet sense of nostalgia when reading this book; you almost know that in the future you will look back on this time with longing and desire. I still remember the summer breeze twirling through the streets of Sorrento, as I lay on the rocks surrounding Bagni Regina Giovanna, staring out to sea as my fingers dipped into the warm waters of the Mediterranean.

Thinking of taking a book on holiday with you? Do it, I say. You might just embark on more than just one journey.