Rick O’Shea: Love in the wild west, a wife befriends an AI sex doll and time travel with a twist: books to pack this summer

Here’s three novels perfect for a great escape on your holidays

Impossible turns of a language: Kevin Barry. Photo: Brian Farrell

Rick O'Shea

I have a confession to make — I never have “holiday reads”. When I’m away, I read much less than I do when I’m at home, the exact opposite to most people I know.

I’ve never been to a sun resort, and most of my holidays involve doing a lot of things, usually in cities. The only times I get to read on holiday is in the airport (I’m the fastidiously early type) or on the flight itself. Unsurprisingly, I frequently come back with more books that I left with (this time I left with two and came back with six).