This is part of my Summer Reads series where I’ll be sharing book recommendations – a series of “not just cookbooks”.
Today’s #summerreads is inspired by the Camino de Santiago, since I’m currently in the process of walking from San Sebastián to Bilbao on the Camino del Norte.
Those of you who follow me on Instagram and who have been reading this blog for a while will know that in the summer of 2022, I finally finished walking the last 115km along the Camino de Santiago, from Sarría to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. That was the fifth leg of the Camino which I started in 2016 (if you’re interested, I wrote a Q&A post in response to some of the questions people had asked me along the way that year). In theory, was supposed to complete a leg each summer until 2020 but the pandemic put a little spanner in the works…
Wait, what is the Camino de Santiago?
The Camino de Santiago (the Way of St. James) is an extensive network of ancient pilgrim (walking) routes stretching across Europe and coming together at the tomb of St. James (Santiago in Spanish) in Santiago de Compostela in northwest Spain.
As someone who has walked the entire Camino (and blogged every day of it (see here), I’m always interested in Camino literature, where others share their experiences, and this week, I’m sharing two great reads for Camino enthusiasts!
First up, one you might not expect – a memoir from actor Andrew McCarthy about walking the Camino with his son.
Walking with Sam: A Father, a Son, and Five Hundred Miles Across Spain
From the publisher:
An intimate, funny, and poignant New York Times bestseling travel memoir following award-winning author and actor Andrew McCarthy as he walks the Camino de Santiago with his son Sam.
When Andrew McCarthy’s eldest son began to take his first steps into adulthood, McCarthy found himself wishing time would slow down. Looking to create a more meaningful connection with Sam before he fled the nest, as well as recreate his own life-altering journey decades before, McCarthy decided the two of them should set out on a trek like few others: 500 miles across Spain’s Camino de Santiago.
Over the course of the journey, the pair traversed an unforgiving landscape, having more honest conversations in five weeks than they’d had in the preceding two decades. Discussions of divorce, the trauma of school, McCarthy’s difficult relationship with his own father, fame, and Flaming Hot Cheetos threatened to either derail their relationship or cement it. Walking With Sam captures this intimate, candid and hopeful expedition as the father son duo travel across the country and towards one another.
You may know McCarthy as the actor (notably, St Elmos Fire, Pretty in Pink) but he’s actually an accomplished writer as well. In this memoir, McCarthy walks the Camino for a second time, this time with 19 year-old Sam, his son, and initially they are at odds. This story offers an insight into what it’s really like to walk the Camino, peppered with loads of information about the walk and its history but also it’s an examination of father-son relationship dynamics plus a healthy dose of introspection for both McCarthy and Sam. I thoroughly enjoyed this one. Highly recommended.
Buy Walking with Sam: A Father, a Son, and Five Hundred Miles Across Spain on Amazon (this affiliate link should bring you to the Amazon store in, or closest to, your country).
For free worldwide shipping, find Walking with Sam: A Father, a Son, and Five Hundred Miles Across Spain on Blackwell’s.
Support your local Indie bookstore and purchase Walking with Sam: A Father, a Son, and Five Hundred Miles Across Spain on Bookshop.org.
Walk, Eat, Repeat: Culinary Adventures on the Camino de Santiago
As a fellow food writer and someone who has walked the entire Camino, I devoured this book in one day.
From the publisher:
A fresh take on the Camino packed with the flavours of northern Spain.
In this deeply personal culinary travelogue, food culture writer Lindy Mechefske invites readers to join her in savouring the richness of the Camino. Returning to the most basic human needs — walking, eating, and sleeping — she rediscovers purpose at a time of change and transition.
Walk, Eat, Repeat recounts Mechefske’s arduous, yet fulfilling, pilgrimage on the Camino from the Pyrenees mountains to the ancient pilgrim city of Santiago de Compostela. Inspired by her late father’s words, “soldier on,” she chronicles the highs and lows of the trail, the kindness of her fellow pilgrims, and the tortas, tartas, and tortillas, and other culinary highlights that she savoured along the way. With each chapter accompanied by a recipe from the region, Mechefske has not simply written a story of walking the Camino, but a tale of relishing the emotional intimacies and the epicurean delights of this ancient pilgrim path.
Even though it’s been 6 years since my first stage of the Camino and 2 since my last, I remembered so much of my trip through Mechefske’s vivid descriptions (at the end she says that she didn’t take many notes along the way, I can’t believe she wrote this detailed recount based on scant notes like the ones she shared!!).
This is a very realistic depiction of what it’s like to walk the Camino. Mechefske shares the ups and downs, the blisters, the pain, the hunger, and the need for a bus from time to time, but ultimately, this is a joyful novel that will make you want to book your trip tomorrow! If that isn’t an option, she shares recipes at the end of each chapter you can make at home, bringing a little bit of the Camino to you.
For Camino enthusiasts but also for those who are interested in a well-researched story with delicious recipes.
Buy Walk, Eat, Repeat: Culinary Adventures on the Camino de Santiago
on Amazon (this affiliate link should bring you to the Amazon store in, or closest to, your country).
For free worldwide shipping, find Walk, Eat, Repeat: Culinary Adventures on the Camino de Santiago on Blackwell’s.
Support your local Indie bookstore and purchase Walk, Eat, Repeat: Culinary Adventures on the Camino de Santiago on Bookshop.org.
Please note: This post contains affiliate links. I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. This post also contains affiliate links for Blackwell’s and Bookshop.org. This means that if you click over and purchase something, I will receive a very small percentage of the purchase price (at no extra cost to you). Thank you in advance!
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