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4 Popular books I recommend for your 2021 travel reads.
It could be about love or lust; it could be lost friends and broken families. No matter what style of reading you gravitate to, everybody needs a good vacation read. Over the years I have stumbled across many of my go-to favorites but moving forward for TRAVEL 2021, these are most certainly the four books that I would most recommend that you take on your next vacation.
I am still that person that goes to the library and takes out books, appreciating the feel and smell of a good library book or a brand new one from Indigo/ Chapters. A Kobo reader is in my drawer, but I find that sometimes taking a break from staring at screens is necessary too. The Kobo or e-reader comes in handy for sure when you are on an extended vacation and do not want to fill a suitcase or backpack full of heavy books.
These four books listed below are good beach reads while you are lounging poolside or swaying in your hammock.
THE ROSIE PROJECT- GRAEME SIMSION
One of the best books I have ever read about the relationship between two unlikely souls. Don Tillman is a socially awkward introvert and brilliant professor who has decided he needs a wife. As he is methodical in everything he does in life, he crafts a document, a 16-page document to be exact based on the science of filtering out possible matches that do not fit his requirements.
Enter Rosie, she is a waitress and quite a spontaneous individual in search of her biological father. Together they become this unconventional pair that create a project to find her father and, in the midst, they find each other.
A match that even science and research could not create, but connection and friendship could.
If you have lost your stride, feeling submerged in the darkness trying to find your voice, this is your book.
Becoming a free woman, seeking redemption over addiction, and resurrecting her marriage, this is a book of self-discovery. Who were you before the world told you who you should be? Are you doing what you think is right for you OR what is right for you everyone around you?
What do you want for yourself? Are we tamed to believe that being a mother means being a martyr? How do we show our children to live a full life if we are not doing it ourselves? Do not settle for a relationship you would not want for your children.
Are you successful and joyful, and why does this challenge our cultural expectations? If a woman is bold and spoken, how is she received? Is she trusted? Is she supported?
This book is an eye-opening read for anyone struggling to find their place and reclaim who they are.
EVERYTHING IS F*CKED – MARK MANSON
Last year I was having a conversation with my father and he made a statement “enjoy it right now because now is as good as it gets. It will never better than right now”. What a narrow view…. Except that was December 2019. Who knew what the next year would bring?
This book is the second read by Mark Manson and it brings to light the idea that yeah, everything is truly messed up. We are living the most abundant life possible, with benefit and accessibility, yet the world is falling apart around us. Economy, politics, and the earth, all of it in shambles. We are living a life our ancestors could only dream of and it’s not enough for most. We have an addiction to money, relationships, and all the things that internally destroy us.
A humorous tale, the author pushes the reader to look within and see how you connect to all these issues and what part you own. A fantastic read.
DEFENDING JACOB – WILLIAM LANDAY
Oh, as a parent of a teenage son, reading this I was on the edge of my seat… I could not put it down.
Jacob is a teenage boy who is accused of the murder of a classmate, his father happens to be the assistant district attorney in this small town. He is respected and revered by many but is now in the middle of a criminal case, with his son as the main suspect. The challenge of parents' love in wanting to believe your child is innocent but the evidence supports an alternative sometimes.
The father's long history with his family comes to the forefront and his own personal family situation is challenged.
You run between did he and didn’t he for most of the book, even feeling a strong glimmer of hope with the introduction of a new character. No matter how you feel about Jacob, the ending is something you are unprepared for.
An edge of your seat ride I highly recommend.