Summer Holiday Books To Read 2020

Even though most of us can’t travel overseas this year, I’m hoping that you’re still looking for summer holiday books to read? Here’s our newest book list for summer 2020. These are not just travel books but books that I have read and loved and have challenged me in some way. Happy Summer Holiday Books 2020.

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Summer Holiday Books
Summer Holiday Books

The Man in the Tent: My Life under Canvas

Tony is 51 and he’s decided to live in a tent.  In this first book, he relates a funny, quick-witted but informative account of a 4-year life in a tent. Will he survive the harsh British winters? Or even the advice of his family and friends who aren’t so keen on his lifestyle choices.


Nine Lives: My Time As MI6’s Top Spy Inside al-Qaeda

Aimen Dean trained and lived with the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks and swore allegiance to Osama bin Laden BUT he was a double agent foiling attacks and saving lives. His story revolves around his determination to defend his faith whilst detailing training camps of Afghanistan, fighting in Bosnia and laundering money in the UK.


The Beekeeper of Aleppo

Nuri is a beekeeper and his wife, Afra, an artist. They live simply but happily in the beautiful Syrian city of Aleppo until it is destroyed by war and they are forced to escape. it is a moving and compassionate book that details the triumph of human spirit.


The Gendered Brain: The new neuroscience that shatters the myth of the female brain

Using neuroscience, Gina Rippon unpacks the stereotypes that bombard us from our earliest moments and shows how these messages mould our ideas of ourselves and even shape our brains. On a daily basis we face deeply ingrained beliefs that our sex determines our skills and preferences, from toys and colours to career choice and salaries. But what does this mean for our thoughts, decisions and behaviour and is this why women are less likely to ‘succeed’?


Rewild Yourself: 23 Spellbinding Ways to Make Nature More Visible

We’re not just losing the wild world. We’re forgetting it. We’re no longer noticing it. We’ve lost the habit of looking and seeing and listening and hearing.  Howeveer we can make hidden things visible, and this book features 23 spellbinding ways to bring the magic of nature much closer to home.


Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire

Akala is a BAFTA and MOBO award-winning hip-hop artist, writer and social entrepreneur, as well as the co-founder of The Hip-Hop Shakespeare Company. You might have seen him on TV speaking about race and his childhood or even his TEDx talk? He writes dynamically and articulating and this is a must-read book if you want to understand the perspective of a black man growing up in the ‘motherland’.


Gotta Get Theroux This: My life and strange times in television

From much-loved documentary maker Louis Theroux comes a funny, heartfelt and entertaining account of his life and weird times in TV with particular reference to his bizarre relationship with Saville.


Surrounded by Idiots: The Four Types of Human Behaviour

After a disastrous meeting with a highly successful entrepreneur, who was genuinely convinced he was ‘surrounded by idiots’, communication expert Thomas Erikson dedicated himself to understanding how people function and why we often struggle to connect with certain types of people.   This book offers a simple method for assessing the personalities of people we communicate with based on four personality types (Red, Blue, Green and Yellow), and provides insights into how we can adjust the way we speak and share information. This book was written in 2014 but it’s a good read to come back to and his newest book Surrounded by Psychopaths: or, How to Stop Being Exploited by Others (due to be published later this year) looks like it will be another big success.


As Good As It Gets: Life Lessons from a Reluctant Adult 

Romesh Ranganathan, standup comic and reluctant traveller, reflects on the demands of daily life and the challenges of adulting today.  Watching his friends descend into middle age, his waistline thicken and his finances dwindle to fund his family’s middle-class aspirations, Romesh faces an uncomfortable truth that this is not quite how he imagined it. Rom wrestles with greater questions, such as, Could I save my family in a crisis? Do I possess the skills to assemble flatpack furniture? Am I too old for streetwear? Is it alright to parent my kids through the medium of Fortnite? A hilarious account of parenting in the modern world when you don’t want to adult.


Why Women Are Blamed For Everything: Exploring the Victim-Blaming of Women Subjected to

This self-published book managed to sell 10,000 copies before it found a publisher and is an incredibly hard-hitting analysis of victim-blaming against women. What is it that causes us to blame women who have been abused, raped, trafficked, assaulted or harassed by men? Why are we uncomfortable with placing all of the blame on the perpetrators for their crimes against women and girls? Be prepared to read with your mouth open and have your mind blown but it’s an essential read.


Young Offender: My Life from Armed Robber to Local Hero

The title put me off this book a bit but it turned out to be an honest and inspiring tale of a man who was abused by his uncle, bullied at school and who joined a street gang in West London. Today Michael is a local business owner and a father who spends time helping others find their way.


Above the Clouds: How I Carved My Own Path to the Top of the World

Due to be published in September 2020, Kilian is an accomplished, Spanish mountain & long-distance runner and mountaineer and he just scaled Everest TWICE in one week.  This is his memoir.


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Brilliant summer holiday books to read any time.

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As a small child my favourite book was 'People of the World' which featured Inuits from Alaska, children from China and farmers from Peru. It was a glimpse into another world that would inspire me to wander the globe in search of something special.

 

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