Need some reading material while on the island? Some sources:

–Check out Aquarius Styling Salon and Used Books (one block south of bridge, the last corner before bridge on the lagoon side, tel 621 0374).

–Some businesses have ‘Take one, Leave one’ book swaps, such as Caribe Island Resort (check the palapa), Mata Rocks, Ramon’s, Blue Water Grill, and El Sazon restaurant.

–San Pedro also has a public library and there are a couple of Little Free Libraries on the island!

Some reading suggestions below to get you ready for Belize! Additional suggestions welcomed!!

The Sky Place*, Lyla Cork (fiction)
“From the shadows of death, ancient magic rises…
A defiant princess. A desperate man. Ancient magic unites two unlikely allies, born centuries apart, in a struggle for survival.
The year is A.D. 562. Nineteen-year-old Ixchel is a Maya princess of Tikal who dreams of harnessing the magic of the gods. But her life is torn asunder when war erupts between Tikal and Caracol. She believes her dreams are shattered, but her incredible journey has just begun.
In the present, Mitch is a workaholic surgeon haunted by regret. On a medical mission in the jungles of Belize, he is attacked and left for dead. Caught between life and death, Mitch descends into the underworld where he discovers that ancient magic endures, and Ixchel alone can save him as he faces off against the demons of Xibalba.
But Mitch isn’t the only one who needs saving…
From the shadows of death, ancient magic rises and transforms a man’s ordinary life into a harrowing quest to save the woman he loves.”

The Fallen Stones: Chasing Butterflies, Discovering Mayan Secrets, and Looking for Hope Along the Way*, Diana Marcum
“Atop a hill in the rainforest of Belize, next to the ruins of a fallen civilization, a butterfly farm raises the brilliant blue morpho. What starts out as the worst vacation ever turns into a quest to learn more about the first-of-its-kind farm when journalist Diana Marcum inadvertently discovers this wildlife sanctuary, which is supported by an international live-butterfly trade.”

How to Cook a Tapir: A Memoir of Belize (At Table)*, Joan Fry
“In 1962 Joan Fry was a college sophomore recently married to a dashing anthropologist. Naively consenting to a year-long “working honeymoon” in British Honduras (now Belize), she soon found herself living in a remote Kekchi village deep in the rainforest. Because Fry had no cooking or housekeeping experience, the romance of living in a hut and learning to cook on a makeshift stove quickly faded. Guided by the village women and their children, this twenty-year-old American who had never made more than instant coffee came eventually to love the people and the food that at first had seemed so foreign. While her husband conducted his clinical study of the native population, Fry entered their world through friendships forged over an open fire. Coming of age in the jungle among the Kekchi and Mopan Maya, Fry learned to teach, to barter and negotiate, to hold her ground, and to share her space—and, perhaps most important, she learned to cook.”

Fifty Big Experiences on Ambergris Caye, Belize: A Small Things Guide*, Rebecca Coutant (aka San Pedro Scoop)
Belize has SO much to offer – but where do you start? SURE you want to see snorkel wiith sting ray and sharks, of course you want to see the Blue Hole but there is so much more that makes Ambergris Caye magic. For this author, it is the small things that made her fall in love with Belize’s most popular destination, Ambergris Caye. Little BIG Experiences.

Anchored in Belize*, Jean P. Lehmann & Deborah Valentine (fiction)
When a wildlife officer is found bludgeoned to death on the grounds of their condo in Belize, two retired professional women from the U.S. are forced to take matters into their own hands. They must establish their innocence and preserve the tranquility of the tropical paradise. In the process, they are assisted by an odd cast of characters who live on Ambergris Caye.

My Life and Travels in Belize*, Marlon August
Like many great books, this one had its Genesis during a conversation at a bar. In this case it was not just any bar, it was the Coco Locos beach bar in San Pedro, Belize. When I moved to Belize in 2006 Marlon August was among the first people I met. He was one of the bartenders at Coco Locos and we spent many days and nights in conversation and laughter. Sometime after his umpteenth story that had me amazed and entertained I suggested that he write down his experiences and put them into a book. What you are now reading is a result. 

The Layover*, Lacie Waldon (fiction)
After ten years as a flight attendant, Ava Greene is poised to hang up her wings and finally put down roots. She’s got one trip left before she bids her old life farewell, and she plans to enjoy every second of it. But then she discovers that former pilot Jack Stone–the absurdly gorgeous, ridiculously cocky man she’s held a secret grudge against for years–is on her flight. And he has the nerve to flirt with her, as if he doesn’t remember the role he played in the most humiliating night of her life. Good thing she never has to see him again after they land….But when their plane encounters mechanical problems, what should have been a quick stop at the Belize airport suddenly becomes a weekend layover…..

High Adventure*, Donald E Westlake (fiction)
Kirby Galway’s plan to sell Mayan artifacts to unscrupulous collectors in the U.S. is nearly disrupted when he meets Valerie Greene, an earnest young archaeologist.

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Jaguar: One Man’s Struggle To Establish The World’s First Jaguar Preserve*, Alan Rabinowitz.
“In the early 1980s, working at the behest of the noted biologist George Schaller, Alan Rabinowitz traveled to the newly independent Central American nation of Belize to study jaguars, once extensive throughout the Americas, in a remote, densely forested part of that country. (“If the world had any ends, [Belize] would surely be one of them” Aldous Huxley once wrote.) There, deep within mountainous jungle, Rabinowitz conducted a thorough study of the jaguar’s natural history, studying its diet (made up, he writes, of a surprising quantity of armadillos), movements, and territories, and learning the ways of the much-feared cat. He also learned a little something about himself–discovering, he writes, that “once I had overcome my initial fears of this dense, dark green world, I started to enjoy it.” Over his two-year stay, Rabinowitz developed plans to establish a forest sanctuary that would be free of the jaguar’s principal enemies–not deadly fer-de-lance snakes or other large predators, but loggers, poachers, and cattle ranchers, all of whom had their reasons for wanting to see jaguars disappear from the region. Although he was successful in convincing the Belizean government to authorize the Cockscomb preserve, Rabinowitz writes in the afterword to this revised edition of Jaguar (first published in 1986), the jaguar haven came at a cost to Mayan people who lived in the area and were forced to relocate. His memoir will be of great interest not only to admirers of the jaguar, a magnificent animal by any measure, but also to students of international ecological issues. –Gregory McNamee“