BooksAboutSpain: 2011

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Recommended Books about Spain 2

"Driving over Lemons" is an autobiography by Chris Stewart,an eternally optimistic Englishman starting a new life in Andalucía. It is a great read that describes both the highs and the lows of starting a new life in Spain.

I also enjoyed Chris Stewart's next two books....

Other books about Spain that I have enjoyed in the past...

Recommended Books about Spain 1

Tales of the Alhambra is a collection of essays, verbal sketches, and stories by Washington Irving. Irving lived at the Alhambra Palace in Granada while writing much of the material for his book.

Gerald Brenan's best-known work is 'South From Granada (1957)' which is generally regarded as being one of the best travel books about Spain.

As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning (1969) is an autobiographical account of an epic journey around Spain in the nineteen thirties. It is 1934 and Laurie Lee, the author, is a young man. He leaves the security of his Cotswold home to embark on an adventure.

Not only, in my opinion, is "Chronicle of the Conquest of Granada” by Washington Irving a jolly good read, but it appears to be a comprehensive history of the series of events and military campaigns that led to the expulsion of the Moors after 700 years on the Iberian Peninsula.

I enjoyed "Castilian Days" by John Hay. Unlike many travel books about Spain, it was not all about cathedrals, churches and castles. The book is a good balance between people and places. The first part of the book is dedicated to the habits and customs of the ordinary people of Castile in the late 19th century. The final chapters are mostly about some of the “must see” sights of this area of Spain – Madrid’s Prado, Segovia, Toledo, the Escorial and Cervantes hometown of Alcalá de Henares.

Robert Bovington
November 2011

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

BooksOnSpain Facebook Community site

BooksOnSpain:

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Welcome to BooksOnSpain. It is not intended just to review books about Spain but to share articles, blogs, photos and much else related to this great country.

Bienvenido a BooksOnSpain. No sólo tiene por objeto revisar los libros sobre España pero para compartir artículos, blogs, fotos y muchas otras cosas relacionadas con este gran país.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

BooksOnSpain

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Robert Bovington

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Driving Over Lemons by Chris Stewart - a review by Robert Bovington

My wife bought this book about ten years ago having heard a review on Radio 2. She enjoyed reading it and so did I. More than that, it inspired us to move to Spain. I must admit, though, that we didn't entirely follow in Chris Stewart's footsteps - working a farm in the Alpujarras sounded like much too much hard work so we relocated to the coast instead.

However, intrigued by Chris Stewart's book we began to explore the Alpujarras and during the last eight years have spent many enjoyable days in that delightful region. Recently, I reread "Driving Over Lemons" and still found it a funny, heartwarming book. In fact I enjoyed it more the second time around because I have visited some of the places and seen some of the things described - hillsides covered with olive and almond trees; the Moorish influenced houses that appear to cling precariously to the mountainsides; the acequias designed to bring water from the high Sierra to irrigate the crops and much more! However, this book isn't your normal travelogue - it is an autobiography of an eternally optimistic Englishman starting a new life in Andalucía. It is a great read that describes both the highs and the lows of starting a new life in Spain.

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Friday, September 9, 2011

The Alpujarras

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The Alpujarras:

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Monday, September 5, 2011

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Gerald Brenan was an English writer who spent much of his life in Spain and who has written a number of books about the country and its people.

SPANISH IMPRESSIONS: Gerald Brenan
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BooksOnSpain

A Long Hard Slog

Spanish Steps - Travels With My Donkey by Tim Moore A Review by Robert Bovington I found this book annoying, often tedious, occasionally interesting and very occasionally funny. So why did I find the book annoying? Well to start with, various critics have described the author as humorous - inside the book...

by: Robert Bovington

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