IN JANUARY, WHEN PACKING MY BAGS FOR A "READING RETREAT” IN the Dominican Republic, I agonized about which books to bring. A few days later, bellied up to the beachside bar at the all-inclusive Dreams Macao Beach Punta Cana resort (where, in place of barstools, swings are suspended from the thatched ceiling), I sipped a mojito, cracked open James Salter's Light Years, a novel I reread annually, and knew that I'd chosen well.
But if I'd had any regrets, summoning a new paperback would've been as easy as ringing for a book butler. I was down in the DR to experience Pages in Paradise, a collaboration between the publisher Penguin Random House, Belletrist Book Club (the brainchild of actress Emma Roberts), and Apple Vacations (no relation to the iPhone maker). For readers who like to beach, the retreat left no page unturned.
The programming kicked off even before check-in: Ahead of arrival, guests could log in to the resort's app to reserve beach reads from an on-site library curated by Belletrist. Housed in the airy hotel lobby, the collection included buzzy contemporary fiction by the likes of Zadie Smith and Curtis Sittenfeld. Guests could also order books via room service (or personal butler) anytime or select one from the chic library carts located at the adults-only pool. The property's various bars featured the "Pages Pour," a specialty cocktail themed to the program's inaugural book-of-the-month selection, Jenny Xie's debut novel, Holding Pattern. They called the drink a gin-fashioned-a fruit-forward riff on the old-fashioned, zippy with pineapple-cinnamon syrup.
This story is from the April - May 2024 edition of Esquire US.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the April - May 2024 edition of Esquire US.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
IN JUDGMENT OF DONALD TRUMP
He may never face justice for his most serious offenses. But the everyday prosecutors who've won clear verdicts against him have exposed Trump as the unfit citizen he truly is.
TRAVEL GETS LIT
Book butlers! Curated libraries! Custom cruises! Literary-themed vacations are the hot new trend in tourism.
RED ALERT
Dior’s asymmetrical, angular Chiffre Rouge watch is back and as bold as ever
The Undeniable Joel Kim Booster
The actor, comedian, and writer has hit his career sweet spot: not \"widely reviled on the Internet yet\" but high on the authentic power of making people laugh.
Angling for the Big Fish That Breaks Hearts
People fall in love with Patagonia for many reasons. The breathtaking landscape. The gauchos. The Malbec For me it was the thrill of fly-fishing in a mountain stream near the bottom the world. On my latest trip would I finally hook that elusive trout worthy of my majestic surroundings? By David Coggins
SHOES FOR GETTING WEIRD
The Rick Owens sneakers that remind Christopher Fenimore, the photographer behind the popular Five Fits series on Esquire.com, of a stranger time in his life
MAC DADDY
You need the simple, streamlined mackintosh coat in your spring rotation
Shawn Fain Is Done Making Nice
The combative new president of the United Auto Workers has emerged as the strongest voice in a resurgent labor movement in America
Game Time for Grown-ups
My most meaningful form of self-help right now involves an afternoon of Skee-Ball, Super Shot, Pac-Man, and a double-pepperoni flatbread from the Shareables menu—all punched into my Dave Buster’s Power Card
EVERY THING MEANS SOME THING WHAT IT'S LIKE BEING ROBERT DOWNEY JR.
Last night he came downstairs around bedtime and didn't see either of them.