Fiesta: The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
Many say that this great American writer is too often characterised as simply a hunting and bull fighting boozer. Well this novel is full of bulls and booze. It's also a striking example of Hemingway's sparse writing style and the subtle way he tells this story of drunk and entangled British and American expatriates in Paris travelling to Pamplona for the running of the bulls. The heat, hangovers and heartache experienced by the damaged, tragic characters are palpable.
Tender Is The Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The fourth and final novel from the author of The Great Gatsby pits the glamour of young, rich Americans enjoying a party lifestyle on the French Riviera against the pains of mental deterioration. A man caught between tending for his ill wife and his young movie starlet lover. If you're after some gentlemanly introspection whilst lying on the beach, then this will get you thinking about your life and loves.
Down There On A Visit by Christopher Isherwood
Berlin, the Greek Islands, London and California. 1928, 1932, 1938 and 1940. Four portraits, four settings, four narrators, all known as 'Christopher Isherwood'. Often regarded as the best of his novels, Down There on a Visit tells the vivid stories of Isherwood's life that, together with The Berlin Novels, were to have comprised his great unfinished epic novel.
The Talented Mr Ripley – Patricia Highsmith
If you come across any young, well dressed young, rich Americans idly spinning their time chilling around the Mediterranean and think to yourself ‘I’d like to be in their position, If only I could take what they have,’ then this is the book for you.
On a remote Greek Island, Nicholas Urfe finds himself embroiled in the deceptions of a master trickster. As reality and illusion intertwine, Urfe is caught up in the darkest of psychological games. John Fowles expertly unfolds a tale that is lush with over-powering imagery in a spellbinding exploration of human complexities. By turns disturbing, thrilling and seductive, The Magus is a feast for the mind and the senses.
The Gringo Trail by Mark Mann
On The Road is the classic modern travel novel but where Kerouac's coast to coast trip was running on Benzedrine, Mann's story is coked up to the eyeballs whilst arguing with hand-grenade holding Colombians. This is no Fear and Loathing though, as the story is full of the culture and history of the places on this South American tour.
The sixth novel in Fleming's 007 series and, of course, the basis for the first film and many of the most memorable Bond moments. All the adventure you need whilst lying on a beach, sipping a Martini and waiting for Ursula Andress to emerge from the water.
The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi Di Lampedusa
Another Mediterranean set story because that's our summer vibe. It's a lush, ruminative account of a worldly Sicilian Prince coming to terms with rapid change. He also spends a good deal of time maintaining his whiskers; which is always a good literary subject matter in our book!
The Circle by Dave Eggers
While you cut yourself loose from your computer, the latest novel from McSweeney's main man Dave Eggers about a Google/Facebook like globo-tech giant will have you thinking twice about your online presence when you return home. If hiked-up data charges weren't enough to the reduce your Instagram sunset snaps then this entertaining Orwellian inspired satire of the internet age surely will.