Holiday Reads 2010

[lorilou]

Hi everyone.
Kefgirl and I have been chatting about favorite reads for a Kalkan holiday.

So am starting a thread to see what everyone is reading (between all the other great things on offer in Kalkan of course) ...

I suggested "Birds Without Wings" by Lois De Bernier (of "Captain Corelli's Mandolin" fame) whch is a great story (though with fictional characters) about the now deserted villiage of Kaya Koy in the Kaya Valley about an hours drive away from Kalkan, just inland from Fethye. Stunning book, sad yet hilarious too. Well worth a read if you are in any way interested n the culture that exsists there now.

Kefgirl suggested "The Island" by Victoria Hislop - Kefgirl may well be along later to give you her synopsis! But I think its a fab suggestion - a great read, set on a very special tiny Greek island ... a book I will come back to - even though I know the end!

So ... what about everyone else?
 

Linkback: https://www.enjoykalkan.com/forum/index.php?topic=6285.0

[Enişte]

I finished reading pretty much everything Bill Bryson has ever written and loved them all.  I then moved on to one of the worst books I have ever read - Frankie Boyle's autobiography.  The title 'My Sh*t Life so far' says it all.  Funny man on TV but his book is laughable.

[Kefgirl]

How spooky Eniste! I'm reading (ploughing through) that one at the moment! Agree absolutely with your analysis    I don't mind the odd swear word from time to time, it can be funny, in its' place, but he goes over the top IMO.
Just finished Up With the Larks, by Tessa Hainsworth.  It's about a high-flyer who worked for the Body Shop and decided to jump off the treadmill and relocate to Cornwall. She becomes a post woman, out on the rounds and is a nice, gentle, easy read. My head is sometimes a bit frazzled from things at work, so a book that doesn't need a lot of concentration and analysis is sometimes just the ticket!
Humphrey Lytteltons' It just occured to me..... is well worth reading too. I used to love him on "I'm Sorry, I haven't a Clue"
 
Great idea for a thread lorilou!

[Blue Lizard]

tap in books into the search bar..........several old threads on there with books people have liked. One thread  is about 4 pages long with lots of ideas...(tried to post link but it won't do it!)

[Chucky]

The old threads are in the "Everything else Section"

[Enjoy Kalkan]

Im really interested in reading Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain - has anyone read it?

[Enişte]

Now half way hrough Danny Wallace's 'Yes Man' - very funny and only appropriate levels of profanity!

[pw]

Im really interested in reading Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain - has anyone read it?

If you like New York and cooking you'll love it and if you don't it's still a good a good read and a real eye opener

[popps]

Midnight Express by Billy Hayes. Amazon's synopsis reads:
 
"For Billy Hayes, 1970 was a horrifying year. It was the year when he tried to smuggle 4lbs of hashish from Istanbul back to his home in America. It was the year when he was arrested at Istanbul airport, tried, and sentenced to 30 years in a Turkish jail. For five years he suffered the filth, brutality and degradation of imprisonment in an environment of hellish squalor, while his family fought in vain to secure his release. Finally in desperation, he made a daring escape bid and incredibly the bid succeeded. This is the astounding true story, told in Billy Hayes's own words, of those five years of living hell and of the harrowing ordeal of his time on the run. Vivid and realistic without being morbid, it is a classic story of survival and human endurance, told with humour, intelligence and total honesty."
 
Moral: Always pay your restaurant bill, don't let the Efes cloud your judgement, and never question a member of the jandarma as to why they carry machine guns while patrolling Patara beach.
 
For those who can sometimes get over sensitive about any veiled criticism about the "beloved land", I am only joking. 
 
 

[Kefgirl]

Ha Ha Popps, no offence taken! 
On the subject of  Midnight Express, it's a brilliant book, I've read and re-read it many times.
Just as an aside, there is a part of the book where Billy Hayes describes "Walking the Wheel"  which is a basement or cellar, where all the patients with serious mental illness walk in a circle, many abreast, for hours and hours. It's  extremely difficult to join the moving mass of people and impossible to stop or change direction.
Pete and I were in IKEA one Bank Holiday, (huge mistake, never go on a BH!  )
Pete suddenly couldn't stand it any longer and said to me, in an anguished tone- "Oh God, this is like "Walking the Wheel"  I knew exactly what he meant and was laughing like an idiot, much to the wonderment of the serious shoppers!   

[lorilou]

Kefgirl - that's hilarious ... but very true. Ikea on BH Monday. Now I know you're crazy....