Books, they can shake your world upside down. A good book is changing your mood like that perfect vacation spot that energizes your spirit.
Put these two together and what you get is a vacation book, a memory of that wonderful, heavenly place where you spent your valuable leisure time. Aruba Today dived into a local book store and wondered which Aruba books thrill the visitor’s mind. Sylvia Wouters, store manager at Bruna Book Store, gladly helped us out and informed us about a small selection of Happy Island Miracles in pictures and words.
Aruba Point to Point by Federico Cabello
“Beautiful pictures of Aruba, this is a perfect coffee table book to dream away with”, explains Sylvia. The book has 192 full color pages and more than 400 photos in a landscape format of 9.1 x 6.6 x 1.1 inches. In the words of the author: “Slipping beyond a dynamic tourist industry to discover its wild and undeveloped beauty. Starting at the extreme north of the island, at California Lighthouse, I travel south along pristine beaches of white sand and calm, translucent seas, passing hotels, sailboats and shipwrecks as I go. At the southern tip, it is hard not to wish that the island would never end. Then back up the rocky East coast, where time and the eternal embrace of the waves have opened secret bays and stunning beaches in the shelter of rock walls. From beach to beach, point to point, cave to cliff to boat to bird, Aruba truly is… One Happy Island.”
We Are Aruba by Linda Reijnders
Worldly life tales of islanders that come from 76 different countries. This is a book that tells the stories of immigrants who make up for the multicultural society that Aruba is. A world within an island, a cocktail of people. The book is visibly enriched with a picture of each interviewed immigrant and an image of her/his country as well as a map with the country’s location. In the back you will find a list with all nationalities living in the island and their numbers.
Aruba Monuments Guide by Michel Bakker and Olga van der Klooster
Aruba! Everyone knows this tropical island in the sun with pearly white beaches and palm trees swaying in the trade winds. But theres more to Aruba than this. It has a fascinating history, a diverse culture and a rich architecture. Traces can still be found of the original indigenous inhabitants, and of the gold industry and aloe plantations. The islands architectural heritage includes historic churches, a fort and a lighthouse. And you will come across the islands characteristic cunucu houses wherever you go. This guide will lead you through this wonderful cultural heritage along three routes: one driving route around the entire island, and two walking routes in the cities of Oranjestad and San Nicolas. You will discover places known only to insiders. And of course this guide also provides historical backgrounds and practical information.
Modern Caribbean Flavors by Helmi Smeulders
This is the book about the contemporary Caribbean kitchen with healthy recipes made with fresh and local ingredients. With recipes for Tropical Quinoa Salad with Mango & Pomegranate Seeds, Sweet Potato Salad, Goat Merguez, Watermelon Sangria or Plantain Soup, the Caribbean vibe enters your kitchen, and you feel for a bit you are back in the tropics again….
