By Mary Jaksch
A short while ago I was about to travel to Tonga for a chill-out. A couple of days before getting on the plane, I completed the most important pre-flight preparation. Guess what that was. No, it wasn’t getting travel insurance. Nor was it finding my passport. It was much more important:
I visited a book shop.
“I’ll be flying to Tonga in a couple of days. Have you got a classy mystery novel for me to read on the beach?”
The bookseller peered at me over his specs, “Have you read Stieg Larssen’s novels?”
“Stieg Larssen? – No. Should I know him?”
He looked at me as if I’d crawled out from under a prehistoric stone.
“Haven’t you heard of ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’?”
“Is it really that good?”
“Good?” he spluttered. “It’s fantastic!”
Then he put the three volumes on the counter, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo , The Girl Who Played with Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest
“If you’re spending a week at the beach, you’ll need to buy he first two books of the trilogy. They’re so riveting, you won’t be able to put them down.”
“You mean I should buy two books? No way!”
The bookseller’s wife joined in the conversation, and said: “Yes, really – you’ll get through the first book before you know what’s hit you!”
“Two books? No way! I need at least three to keep me going.”
So they wrapped up all three, beaming.
It was a mistake. I should have waited until I was in the airport. Because I started reading the moment I got home and was so engrossed, I nearly missed my flight… If you haven’t yet read Larssen’s trilogy, please go and read at least the first volume. They are a fantastic read!
Swedish investigative journalist and writer Stieg Larssen was never to see his books in print. He had a heart attack just three months after he delivered volume no. 3 to the publisher. He was fifty years old when he died on the operating table and never got to see his books become bestsellers.
Stieg Larssen’s books were not the only ones that found their way into my backpack. I also took some other interesting goodies with me.
I read Career Renegade by Jonathan Fields. It’s an inspiring read! If you want to change your work and actually do what you like, then read this book. It’s practical and eloquent.
The Purple Cow has now appeared in a new edition. It’s Seth Godin’s book on how to transform your business by being remarkable. It’s informative – especially if you’re planning to become an entrepreneur.
I also read Sebastian Faulks’ Human Traces under the palmtrees. That’s a wonderful novel of epic proportions. The Sunday Telegraph called it, “A bold and remarkable work of imagination.”
So there you have it – those are the books I read on a tropical beach in Tonga.
Here’s a question for you:
If you were heading for a tropical beach, what books would YOU take?
Please share your personal book tips in the comments.
Mary Jaksch is Chief Editor of Write to Done. Read more of her stuff on Goodlife ZEN and check out her FREE Virtual Zen Retreat.
