Islands fascinate us and fill us with wonder. Even just thinking about an island can give people pleasure. everyone dreams of living on an island, perhaps for just a few days, or a month, a year or even forever... Islands fascinate us and fill us with wonder. Even just thinking about an island can give people pleasure. Roberto Rossellini and Ingrid Bergman loved Stromboli. Spielberg took Indiana Jones to the jungles of Sri Lanka. Jacques Brel sang the beauty of the Marquesas Islands. Princess Margaret found peace and tranquillity in Mustique. Marlon Brando and Paul-Emile Victor made their homes in Polynesia. Richard Branson and other modern-day adventures have actually bought the islands of their dreams, renting them out or transforming them into island-hotels. Tiny islets or vast expanses, famous or secret, lush and tropical or bare and windswept, they all attract the traveler. This is a book for dreamers, for travelers, and for anyone who wants to learn about the history of these islands and open their minds to adventure, tropical sun, jungles, lagoons, forgotten creeks and fabulous hotels.

Another heartfelt and delightful Christmas tale from the beloved New York Times bestselling author of The Bookshop on the Corner and Christmas on the Island. New York Times bestselling author Jenny Colgan returns to the setting of Christmas on the Island and Endless Beach for a heartwarming new novel celebrating the season, and Scotland. On the tiny, beautiful, and remote island of Mure, halfway between Scotland and Norway, a new hotel opening is a big event. New mother Flora MacKenzie and her brother Fintan are working themselves half to death to get it ready in time for Christmas. The new hotel’s impressive kitchens throw together two unlikely new friends: Isla Gregor is the hardworking young girl who has been a waitress in the island's cafe, dreaming of a bigger, better life now that she’s at a proper fancy hotel. Konstantin Pederson is working his way up in the hotel's kitchens too…but he is also, secretly, the only son of the Duke of Utsire. Konstantin has been sent to learn what it is to work hard for a living, before receiving his inheritance. Although he’s initially resentful, the place grows on him; he has never met anyone quite like Isla and her fellow Murians before. As the island’s residents and special VIP guests gather for the hotel’s grand opening gala, Christmas is in the air. But so are more than a few small-town secrets…

"Take a journey to some of the world's most stunning hotels, and follow in the footsteps of influential writers and inspirational artists who took refuge in the serenity and natural beauty of these landscapes. Escape Hotel Stories presents a global spectrum of sanctuaries from the hustle and bustle of modern life, celebrating a love of travel and nature, and advocating environmental protection"--Publisher's web site.

INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the bestselling author of Station Eleven and Sea of Tranquility, an exhilarating novel set at the glittering intersection of two seemingly disparate events—the exposure of a massive criminal enterprise and the mysterious disappearance of a woman from a ship at sea. “The perfect novel ... Freshly mysterious.” —The Washington Post Vincent is a bartender at the Hotel Caiette, a five-star lodging on the northernmost tip of Vancouver Island. On the night she meets Jonathan Alkaitis, a hooded figure scrawls a message on the lobby's glass wall: Why don’t you swallow broken glass. High above Manhattan, a greater crime is committed: Alkaitis's billion-dollar business is really nothing more than a game of smoke and mirrors. When his scheme collapses, it obliterates countless fortunes and devastates lives. Vincent, who had been posing as Jonathan’s wife, walks away into the night. Years later, a victim of the fraud is hired to investigate a strange occurrence: a woman has seemingly vanished from the deck of a container ship between ports of call. In this captivating story of crisis and survival, Emily St. John Mandel takes readers through often hidden landscapes: campgrounds for the near-homeless, underground electronica clubs, service in luxury hotels, and life in a federal prison. Rife with unexpected beauty, The Glass Hotel is a captivating portrait of greed and guilt, love and delusion, ghosts and unintended consequences, and the infinite ways we search for meaning in our lives. Look for Emily St. John Mandel’s bestselling new novel, Sea of Tranquility!

Christmas on the remote Scottish island of Mure is bleak, stark - and incredibly beautiful. It's a time for hunkering down, getting cosy in front of whisky barrel wood fires, and enjoying a dram with the people you love - unless, of course, you're accidentally pregnant to your ex-boss, and don't know how to tell him. In what should be the season of peace and goodwill on earth, will Joel think Flora is a bearer of glad tidings? Meanwhile Saif, the doctor and refugee from war-torn Syria is trying to enjoy his first western Christmas with his sons - but without his missing wife. Can the little family possibly find comfort and joy? Travel to the beautiful northern edge of the world and join the welcoming community of Mure for an unforgettable Christmas.

Adventure is a state of mind. An addiction to the unexpected, the unknown, freedom, and risk. It s Steve McQueen driving his speeding bullets during the shooting of Le Mans; Dian Fossey with her gorillas in Rwanda; Lawrence of Arabia fascinated by the Jordanian desert; Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda crossing New Mexico on their Harleys; and Harry Potter at Hogwarts. In this book, Francisca Matteoli follows the paths of these adventurers and brings their legendary films to life, connecting each narrative with an unusual hotel. A unique and personal guidebook, full of anecdotes, information, and souvenirs."