Driving Over Lemons

By Chris Stewart,

Book cover of Driving Over Lemons

Book description

A special anniversary edition with an updated chapter set 25 years on by Chris Stewart.

Over two decades ago we set up Sort of Books to help our friend, the some-time Genesis drummer Chris Stewart, bring his sunlit stories of life on a Spanish mountain farm to print. Ever the…

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Why read it?

5 authors picked Driving Over Lemons as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Driving Over Lemons is a quintessential travel book that inspired me to throw away my regular life and start exploring the world.

This classic tale takes you to far-flung shores bathed in sunshine, filled with misadventures, and bursting with glorious food. What more could you need to start dreaming, take a leap, and make your perfect life a reality? 

This is my go-to for the start of any big project and always gives me the courage to go for it and laugh in the face of adversity on the way.

Chris Stewart had a circuitous path to ex-pat life in Spain. He was the drummer for the band Genisis, a sheep shearer, and a travel writer. Then he and his wife bought a farm in Andalusia and grew olives, almonds, and lemons. His book Driving Over Lemons was an unexpected hit, with 350,000 copies sold.

Suddenly, people were making a pilgrimage to their farm in Spain. Although Stewart follows some of the familiar tropes of the genre (the resourceful locals, the quirky members of the ex-pat community), his writing is fresh and funny. Unlike Peter Kerr, Stewart and his wife…

From Alice's list on ex-pat life in Spain.

I've never met an expat that hasn't read this book. Chris Stewart has a unique style of explaining situations and places that bring alive the imagination. The humour he uses keeps the book entertaining, and to be honest, it was after reading this book that encouraged me to convert my emails back home into a book of a similar style. Thanks Chris.

From Alan's list on emigrating to Spain.

Dormice & Moonshine: Falling for Slovenia

By Sam Baldwin,

Book cover of Dormice & Moonshine: Falling for Slovenia

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Why am I passionate about this?

Author Author Snow lover Fish out of water Traveller

Sam's 3 favorite reads in 2024

What is my book about?

When two brothers discover a 300-year-old sausage-curing cabin on the side of a Slovenian mountain, it's love at first sight. But 300-year-old cabins come with 300 problems.

Dormice & Moonshine is the true story of an Englishman seduced by Slovenia. In the wake of a breakup, he seeks temporary refuge in his hinterland house, but what was meant as a pitstop becomes life-changing when he decides to stay. Along the way, he meets a colourful cross-section of Slovene society: from dormouse hunters, moonshine makers, beekeepers, and bitcoin miners, to a man who swam the Amazon, and a hilltop matriarch who…

Dormice & Moonshine: Falling for Slovenia

By Sam Baldwin,

What is this book about?

'Charming, funny, insightful, and moving. The perfect book for any Slovenophile' - Noah Charney, BBC presenter

'A rollicking and very affectionate tour' - Steve Fallon, author of Lonely Planet Slovenia

'Delivers discovery and adventure...captivating!' - Bartosz Stefaniak, editor, 3 Seas Europe

When two brothers discover a 300-year-old sausage-curing cabin on the side of a Slovenian mountain, it's love at first sight. But 300-year-old cabins come with 300 problems.

Dormice & Moonshine is the true story of an Englishman seduced by Slovenia. In the wake of a breakup, he seeks temporary refuge in his hinterland house but what was meant as…


Driving Over Lemons took me on a humorous journey to a dilapidated farm in the Alpujarra Mountains in Southern Spain. I could picture many of the scenes in my mind and I laughed out loud at the unusual experiences Chris and his wife experienced as they settled into their new rural life running a rustic sheep farm in unfamiliar territory.

From Linda's list on unusual travel stories.

I bought this book when the idea of moving to Spain was just that, simply an idea. By the last page of Lemons, my mind was buzzing. We could do this, I thought. And we could, and we did. So that’s why I recommend Chris’s book. He inspired our own move to Spain and without his book we may never have driven over lemons, (or figs, or olives, or almonds), or rescued a vulture, or lived in a tiny, crazy, mountain village, or written a series about our own adventures. Thank you, Chris Stewart!

From Victoria's list on moving to Spain.

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