As you are going to Turkey darren ( would love to know resort and Hotel costs etc) How About Louis De Bernieres book ” Bird without wings” based in Turkey. The scene is set around the Kaya ghost Village ( Kayakoy) near Olu Deniz where they had the population exchange in the 1920’s ( Worth having a look around)
Birds Without Wings tells of the inhabitants of a small coastal town in South West Anatolia in the dying days of the Ottoman empire: Iskander the Potter and fount of proverbial wisdom; Philothei, a Christian girl of legendary beauty who is courted almost from infancy by Ibrahim the Goatherd, their great love culminating in tragedy and madness; Karatavuk and Mehmetçik, childhood friends who play in the hills above the town, Mehmetçik teaching the illiterate Karatavuk how to write Turkish in Greek letters; the two holy men of different faiths, Father Kristoforos and Abdulhamid Hodja, who greet each other with the words ‘infidel efendi’; the landlord Rustem Bey, his wife’s adultery and stoning, and his journey to Istanbul in search of a Circassian mistress. It tells also of Mustafa Kemal, the man of destiny, who by virtue of military genius and sheer bloody-mindedness defeats the Franks and reshapes the whole region in his image.

When jihad is declared against the Allies the young men of the town are sent to war. Karatavuk soon finds himself at Gallipoli where he experiences the intimate brutality of trench warfare, the loss of many comrades and of his own innocence. As the great world intrudes, the twin scourges of religion and nationalism lead to forced marches and massacres, hunger grips the town and the peaceful fabric of life is destroyed.

Epic, yet profoundly humane, Birds Without Wings is a glorious novel by one of our finest and best-loved novelists.

Honeymoon With MY Brother by Franz Wisner

A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson

Oh man, don’t even get me started on vacation books. Love them!

1. Anything by Paul Theroux, but my favorite is The Pillars of Hercules, which I recommend for any trip anywhere on the Mediterranean.

2. Bel Canto by Ann Patchett. It’s a great book to read in a foreign country where you don’t know the language, and you’ll want the translator character to become your best friend.

3. Into Thin Air or Into the Wild - your vacation will seem like a cake walk after reading either one.

(or, mine! LOL)

Back in the days when I could actually read on an airplane (instead of entertaining two little kids) I loved to get the Traveler’s Tales book for the destination I was visiting. It was a nice, light, way to get a deeper understanding of the area & sometimes I even picked up a few activity ideas or travel tips along the way.

How about “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho ?

Do have a wonderful holiday!! I hope you end up loving Turkey as much as we did. Maybe look into a gulet cruise since it is so hot.

Don’t miss Ephesus, but be there when it opens on a non cruise boat day. We had the place to our selves for the first hour and we were there in high season!!

If you can make it to Pumukkale …the healing waters are soooo healing & it is the only place you can swim with the Gods…in the same place as Cleopatra.

Turkey is unique and soo cheap. Have a ball!

… take at least one classic - and make yourself read it. It improves the English wot they learnt you at skool (sic) . Improves the mind and you never know, you may even like it! Have a great time and remeber all of us still in the trenches…..

My favorite travel book is Holy Cow by Sarah Macdonald. She’s an Australian journalist who reluctantly found herself living in India when her fiancee was transferred there. The cultural observations and personal growth she was forced to experience are really intriguing.

Headed off to Costa Rica at the end of the month and I’ll be taking a very un-Central American book, Colin Thubron’s “Shadow of the Silk Road.”

More Ketchup than Salsa by Joe Cawley for a hilarious look at expat life in resort destinations.