Top 10 holiday reads: September 2015

What will you be reading this September?

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1) Deep South: Four Seasons on Back Roads, by Paul Theroux

We’ve been impatiently awaiting this book for what feels like an eternity – and we’re not the only ones.

For the uninitiated, Paul Theroux has a reputation as one of, if not the, foremost travel writers of our time, with perennial bestsellers like The Great Railway Bazaar and The Old Patagonian Express rightly considered classics of the genre.

In his latest book, Jennifer Aniston’s uncle-in-law (look it up) takes us through America’s Deep South and, as ever, he has as much to say about the varied landscapes he passes through as he does about the people he meets along the way. It’s as evocative and entertaining as we hoped.

2) To Oldly Go: Tales of Intrepid Travel by the Over-60s

Age: it catches us all in the end. But worry ye not, because being a geriatric has never been so much fun – at least not according to the veteran travel writers behind this book.

Aged adventures leap off every page courtesy of writers like Dervla Murphy, who is never one for letting her personal safety get in the way of an adventure, and Colin Thubron, who recounts climbing the last stronghold of the Assassins… in his 60s.

If you’re an older reader, you’ll find plenty of inspiration here. If you’re younger, then you’ll be ashamed of how much faster these silver travellers are living than you.

3) Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights, by Salman Rushdie

A brand new novel set in the near future from one of the most celebrated and consistently imaginative authors of our time? Yes please.

Salman Rushdie returns with a rather special novel, which features his usual seamless blend of the realistic and fantastic. The stories of disparate characters are woven together as they gradually discover their part in a centuries-old, inter-dimensional conflict – at last, a book of high-literature that fulfills our desire for Marvel-esque narratives.

There is of course much more to this multifaceted satire than meets the eye, and it’s certainly one we’ll be making room for in our luggage.

4) Where My Heart Used to Beat, by Sebastian Faulks

It’s been a while since we had a new book from Sebastian “don’t mention Birdsong” Faulks: 2012’s A Possible Life was the last original novel from him, before Faulks took a break to bring us his homage to P.G. Wodehouse, Jeeves and the Wedding Bells.

Where My Heart Used to Beat sees Faulks return to familiar territory, following the fortunes of a troubled doctor seeking sanity on a French island during WWII.

A refining of ideas rather than a case of treading old ground, this novel is ambitious, entertaining and emotional. It could well be Faulks’ magnum opus.

5) Vargic's Miscellany of Curious Maps: Mapping out the Modern World, by Martin Vargic

It may not come as much of a surprise to you, but we love a good map. When teenager Martin Vargic’s incredible map of the internet went viral a year ago, it was only a matter of time before he was snapped up by a publisher.

Collected here in this beautiful edition are some of his most creative, informative and downright odd maps and infographics – we’re particularly fond of his Map of Stereotypes.

Bound to be a big hit this Christmas, it’s the kind of book you can return to again and again and always find some new detail to enjoy.

6) Drinking and Driving in Chechnya, by Peter Gonda

Though it sounds like a recipe for disaster, drinking and driving in Chechnya makes for a terrifically entertaining subject in Peter Gonda’s fantastic novel (though we definitely don’t advocate hitting the booze before getting behind the wheel).

Set in the mid-1990s, we follow Leonid as he delivers illicit wares around the recently dissolved Soviet states – inadvertently finding himself with a truck load of vodka, slap bang in the middle of the fighting in Chechnya.

A terrific debut with a compelling anti-hero and expertly drawn historical setting, Drinking and Driving in Chechnya may well be September’s best-kept secret. Until we told you all to go and grab a copy.

7) Tsunami Kids, by Paul & Rob Forkan

Paul and Rob Forkan have an incredible story to tell – one of terrible loss and sadness, but ultimately of the resilience and generosity of the human spirit.

When they and their two other siblings lost their parents to the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, they resolved to find a way to help other orphans around the world.

Developing the Gandys flip-flop brand, with endorsement from the likes of Richard Branson, they have been able to fund life-changing projects for children through their charity Orphans for Orphans. Laid bare in Tsunami Kids, their story is moving, inspirational and ultimately uplifting. Well worth a read.

8) Brave Enough: A Mini Instruction Manual for the Soul, by Cheryl Strayed

Cheryl Strayed, author of the New York Times best-selling book Wild, which was recently adapted for film by none other than Nick Hornby, returns with this little book of life-advice.

Reminiscent in tone to her earlier collection of essays, Tiny Beautiful Things, this collection of quotes and aphorisms is the perfect travel companion – always there for you with a well chosen word of comfort, a witty, and occasionally cutting, observation or a blunt, well-timed pep-talk.

A wonderful book to dip in and out of as the need arises, though there’s something gloriously heartwarming about reading it from cover to cover.

9) Undermajordomo Minor, by Patrick DeWitt

Patrick DeWitt’s fantastic 2011 novel The Sister’s Brothers, shortlisted for that year’s Man Booker Prize, is one of my favourite books of the past decade.

Thankfully, his new novel, Undermajordomo Minor, is no disappointment. DeWitt’s pitch-black humour mingles with undertones of violence and elements of the fantastical in an adventure that features a diverse set of succinctly sculpted characters, who trip along at a rollicking pace.

A highly visual fable that is almost impossible to put down, Undermajordomo Minor shows DeWitt is becoming a novelistic force to be reckoned with.

10) Notes from a Small Island, by Bill Bryson

Published at Cool Britannia's zenith in 1995, for many this is not only a travel writing classic but Bryson at his very best: his What's The Story? (Morning Glory).

It perhaps says something about the United Kingdom that it takes an outsider to accurately observe and record the peculiarities of the country and its people.

It's easy to get caught up in the legacy of this classic book and perhaps overlook what a feat of writing it is in itself. Bryson's decision to (try) and travel the country by public transport is an inspired one – and undoubtedly helped him gain such an insight into our peculiar land.