There’s a place for chick-lit on your holiday reading list, sure. Lauren Weisberger's Revenge Wears Prada, a sequel to her (allegedly) Wintour-bashing debut, will no doubt be a page-turner even if it doesn’t set your cortex crackling, and Nicole Richie’s dalliances with novel-writing, The Truth About Diamonds and Priceless, should go on the continent with you at least once. Not simply because they’re a bit sweary, dirty, and are full of very thinly disguised jibes at real people (Paris, Kimberly, the usuals), but they’re full of serious life-lessons too. True love really is more valuable than a trust fund and your friends might tell your secrets to the tabloids (see also Lauren Conrad’s literary oeuvre). 

But, the beach can equally be a place for intellectual stimulation. F Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway cracked out numerous works between them on the French Riviera - when they weren’t cracking out the gin at least – and in doing stimulated an entire fashion scene. Zelda Fitzgerald practically invented the sun-tan as a must-have accessory, don’t you know?

Plus, when you’ve gone to all that trouble to project ‘I’m a directional forward-thinker’ vibes with an off-beat Beth Richards bikini, or to say ‘I like French poetry and Mr Whippy is so Proustian for me’ with a Jane Birkin style crochet swimsuit, you wouldn’t want to go and ruin it all by waving a book covered with cartoon cupcakes and cocktails all over it, would you?

Click the gallery to see some of the best books, from fashion biographies and insights into iconic style-eras, to classic novels and inspiring non-fictions, that’ll boost your brain-power while you work on your tan.