Last week, I went on vacation to Sicily. The tremendous heat caused fires all over the island, yet the resilient Sicilians carried on. Even though the fires were put out a mere day before we’d arrived, everything clicked along.
I spent the first day and a half perusing different materials: a marketing handbook, a couple of articles about editing, and a “How to be a successful writer” book. I commented and took notes.
While busy listing action items it suddenly dawned on me: even though I was at the picturesque fishing village of Cefalu, reclining on a lounge chair, I wasn't truly unwinding. I wasn't on a real vacation. I realized that if I wanted to recharge I needed to give my mind a rest.
I recharge while reading fiction, I know that about myself.
I saw a review on Insta and made an impulsive one-click purchase, going for the latest TikTok sensation.
The book I bought is Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yaros. It’s a New Adult Fantasy adventure. To me it was kind of like Dragonflight meets Harry Potter.
It’s not in my contemporary romance genre - hence no latest “writing trends” notes can be taken. The characters in it are in their twenties, quite different from the thirty and forty-something protagonists I typically write about.
Not a ‘useful’ book then. Perfect!
And what’s more important - it is a very good, unputdownable read.
I sipped Limoncello spritz (I gotta tell you, I like Aperol spritz better), in front of the Isola Bella, and in between watching people wade the shallow water to the rocky island and back, I read.
I read when my husband took a siesta in our air-conditioned hotel room (Summer in the Mediterranean - you want to make sure your room has AC), and during the 45-minute line for the cable car down from Mount Etna.
I had a good book, and I wallowed in the pleasure of unashamed reading. I devoured all 645 pages before coming back home.
And that, people, was a real vacation.
Do you have a really good book you read? One that sucked you into its world, and you never wanted to leave? I’d love to hear about it.