Chelsea Fagan's Desert island Books
Featuring the book that made Chelsea fall in love with reading, and her favourite romance of all time...
This week’s Desert Island Books guest is the wonderful Chelsea Fagan, writer and co-founder of The Financial Diet. She’s also author of A Perfect Vintage—a captivating romance set amidst the magic and lure of the French countryside, and a heady escape into a world of opulence, temptation, and family intrigue.
You can buy A Perfect Vintage from Bookshop.org, but if you fancy getting your hands on a copy of it, why not consider becoming a paid subscriber of my Substack? Each week, you’ll be automatically entered into a draw to win a book by the guest from my Desert Island Books series.
Featuring the book that made Chelsea fall in love with reading, and her favourite romance of all time, read on to find out which eight books she’d take with her to the sandy shores of a desert island.
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
This is the first book that truly made me fall in love with reading – and beyond reading, with the act of learning in itself. It remains a book that delights and fascinates me, even as an adult, and as so much of it is about exploring your own imagination, it would be the perfect thing to have on a deserted island.
Neither Here Nor There by Bill Bryson
My all-time favorite travel book, by my all-time favorite travel writer, Neither Here Nor There follows Bill Bryson on a trip through two very different versions of Europe, 20 years apart. His writing is so effortlessly funny and vivid, so having this book would feel like I’m still getting to travel.
The Idea of You by Robinne Lee
My favorite romance novel of all time – and a huge inspiration for my own – this book would give me a nice touchstone of escapist romance to fall into whenever I was getting a little bored (which would probably be very frequently).
Call Me By Your Name by André Aciman
Perhaps this is cliché, but no book has ever been quite as evocative for me, and in terms of the setting and descriptions, it remains in my view the all-time great for total immersion. Reading this would immediately transport me to an idyllic summer in the north of Italy.
To See You Again by Betty Schimmel
One of my favorite memoirs, this sweeping story follows a woman through her teenage love, their separation at a concentration camp, and her life after (featuring an eventual reappearance by the first love she thought dead). To this day, reading it never fails to move me deeply, and it would be the perfect earth-shattering story to visit now and again while alone.
The Expatriates by Janice Y K Lee
This book, featuring the interwoven stories of several women in Hong Kong, is one I’ve come back to several times over the years, and experience differently with each age I bring to it. It’s rich, complicated, thoughtful, and so many other things that would keep my mind busy as the days wore on.
If You Have To Cry, Go Outside by Kelly Cutrone
Another of my favorite memoirs – and totally distinct from the other one on this list – Kelly Cutrone paints a portrait of her life and values that is polarizing, imperfect, and totally unapologetic. I’ve been lucky enough to interview her, and her total commitment to authenticity and self-possession is something I am always hoping to emulate.
The Pisces by Melissa Broder
Another book I’ve read over and over for its totally unique portrayal of a complicated protagonist and her love affair, this book defies reason but remains emotionally extremely satisfying for me. Who doesn’t want to read about a difficult woman falling in love with a hot merman??
Oh I know Chelsea from The Financial Diet but didn’t know she released a book! interesting.