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Pure escapism for the summer! On holiday you´ll finally have time to read all those books you´ve been meaning to read for decades. But don´t be too hard on yourself. I´ll always remember the teenage guy who pitched his tent next to mine on a Spanish beach and had only brought Great Works of Literature: Die Leiden des Junge Werther, Faust and Der Zauberberg. (it was a German boy. He wanted to start a mustard shop when he grew up). He looked thoroughly bored and miserable all the time. So maybe bring one sturdy classic and don´t forget to bring some old friends as well, like my

Summer reread top ten

. The only way to really know a book is to read it and read it again!

My Summer Reread top ten:

Little House in the big woods

1) Little House on the prairie
Laura Ingalls Wilder´s true story about her childhood as a pioneer´s daughter in the endless forests of Wisconsin. It´s such a comforting read! As long as Pa plays the violin, the bears will stay away and all is right with the world.

2)Emma
I´ll take mr. Knightley over Mr. Darcy anyday. Maybe not quite as much of a romantic hero, then again, not moody or conceited! A proper, grown up hunk of a man. Also, personally, I think the story of Emma is better than that of Pride and Prejudice. Knightley loves Emma inspite of her flaws and her annoying father.

I, Claudius

3) I, Claudius
Robert Graves´classic story about poor, stammering Claudius who ends up being emperor because his family has been killing each other and simply forgot about him.

Read it the first time in high school. I got so hooked that when disturbed I would need a moment to stop thinking everybody around me was plotting against me. On second thoughts, maybe I should keep that story to myself!

4) Anne of Green Gables
Ahhh. To fall asleep in Anne´s little room at Green Gables, under crisply starched sheets, eat Marilla´s plum jam, argue with Gilbert Blythe… I guess what I like about Green Gables is the simple life. They bake, they tend the hens, they drink lemonade.

5) Snow Falling on Ceders
Brillant literary whodunnit by my hero, David Guterson. The man has yet to write a book I didn´t love. Ceders is about a small very traditional fishing community where a dead fisherman ends up in some nets. Especially suited for those swelteringly hot days, because a lot of it is about snow and cold. Kept me up many a night!

Brideshead Revisited

6) Brideshead Revisited
Sadness and decay in a British aristocratic family. I have to travel to Venice by sea one day, just because Charles and Sebastian did.

7) Time Traveler´s Wife About to be made into a motion picture, so you really should (re)read the book! It´ll cool you down by the vast amount of tears you´ll pore over the story. I know I sobbed my way through it. Loved it. But my husband asked me not to read it when he was around, because of all the tears.

Little Women
I still secretly hope that Jo will pick Laurie this time around.

9) Lace
Ahhh. The mother of all beach reads! I´ve known for over twenty years who Lily´s mother is and still Shirley Conran ´s storytelling gets me every time!

10) Double play
On the island of Curaçao, four men languidly play their usual game of dominoes. Their lives will never be the same again. Brillantly funny and insightful book by Curaçaoan writer Frank Martinus Arion.