By the time you read this, I will be in Spain—and maybe I will have read these books by now. But I bought them for the trip and I’m writing this before departure, so I’ll tell you why they’re with me (on Kindle).

Sedella: The Story of a Spanish Village by John Hardy is (according to its Amazon blurb) “a romantic historical novel about an Andalucian village, from prehistoric times to the present day… Each of the historical chapters is in two parts. The first part is a fairly factual account of the relevant time, though some of these facts may be slightly altered in time, etc., to fit the story. The second part of the chapter is a story set around these historical events.” Two things drew me in: historical novel and romance. It should be light reading plus a little education.

Bueno: A Love Story Set in Spain by Christy Esmahan made the cut because (1) it has a 4.5 out of 5-star rating; (2) it has food scenes; (3) the protagonist is a teacher; and (4) it’s a romance—which promises, light reading and a happy ending.