I look for bookshops wherever I travel, but I didn’t expect to find one at a luxury resort in the Maldives. A friend and I had arrived with a few books between us and had already worked out where we’d read them: on the swing, in a hammock, stretched out on a beach chair, or simply plonked on the sand.
Then we discovered the Barefoot Bookshop At Soneva Fushi, in the Baa Atoll, shoes are discarded almost as soon as you arrive.
The resort calls it its “no news, no shoes” philosophy, and the bookshop fits in.
“Most guests come in saying something like, ‘I just want a good holiday read’ — something easy to get lost in, but still meaningful. Instead of starting with a genre, Berdaly starts with a conversation. “I usually start with a conversation rather than a category, asking what they’ve recently enjoyed, how they feel, and what kind of mood they’re in. A beach read here can mean very different things: for some it’s light and romantic, for others it’s reflective or beautifully written. I like to curate based on that feeling, almost like matching a book to a moment in their holiday. That’s quite different from how many of us choose books at home, armed with reading lists, recommendations, and titles we feel we ought to get to. Here, those plans change. Berdaly notices it in how guests browse. They rarely rush in looking for one particular title. They pick up books, flip through the pages, and sometimes sit down to read before deciding whether to buy. “Being barefoot, surrounded by nature, makes the experience feel more personal and intuitive. Janavi Iyer, visiting from India, agrees. “Walking barefoot into a bookshop on an island felt unexpected — and a little magical. The shelves are not packed tight with spines. In fact, they are so carefully curated that I found books I wouldn’t have picked at home. The best part? If you don’t make it to the bookshop, the bookshop can come to you. It debuted during JLF Soneva Fushi, carrying books by writers appearing at the literary festival, and later became a roaming collection curated by Ultimate Library. Guests can come across it at breakfast or by the beach, or ask their Barefoot Butler to bring it to their villa. At its launch, Blackwell called the Book Tuk “a fun and inventive way to get great books into the hands of travellers at the greatest point of need. And for them to re-engage with the joy of reading for pleasure; one of the key memorable holiday experiences. It brings a whole new dimension to beach reading”. “Instead of guests coming to the bookshop, the books go to them, at breakfast, by the beach, around the island. “It often starts a conversation in a very natural way. Guests might not plan to buy a book, but they’ll stop, browse, ask for a recommendation, and suddenly they’re leaving with something they didn’t expect. It brings a sense of playfulness and discovery, which fits perfectly with the Soneva spirit. She also uses the tuk-tuk to hold small reading sessions for children at breakfast. The Barefoot Bookshop has become more than a bookstore. Its programme has included writing workshops, storytelling sessions, author conversations and quiz nights. Books are now one more thing guests can do on an island otherwise associated with beaches, diving, food and doing very little at all. Pieter Van Der Hoeven, general manager of Soneva Fushi and a father of four, has another reason for keeping a bookshop on the island. “In a world of notifications, algorithms and endless scrolling, opening a book is almost an act of rebellion. He sees reading as part of the resort’s approach to wellness. “At Soneva, wellness isn’t only about how we look after the body; it’s also about what we give the mind. A holiday may be one of the few times that happens easily. A book that might take weeks to get through at home can disappear surprisingly fast when the only decision is whether to move from the hammock to the beach. So, what does a Barefoot Bookseller read on an island? Berdaly is currently reading Ann Patchett’s Whistler . “I’m halfway through and already completely drawn into the story. It’s beautifully written and perfect for island reading. For holidaymakers, she recommends James Nestor’s Deep , an exploration of freediving, the ocean and humans’ relationship with it; Jennifer Probst’s To Sicily with Love , for romance and sunshine; and Carley Fortune’s Our Perfect Storm , a romance set against the coastal landscape of Tofino. My friend and I had arrived feeling quite pleased that we had brought books with us. We had enough, surely, for the swing, the hammock, the beach chair, and the sand. Then we walked into a bookshop, barefoot. Teja Lele is an independent editor and writes on books, travel and lifestyle.
In 2022, Soneva Fushi introduced the Maldives’s first Book Tuk, a three-wheeled mobile bookshop that takes books around the island.
Many are looking for an escape, something they can enjoy by the beach or before dinner, without it feeling too heavy,” says Zhudylz Berdaly, Soneva Fushi’s Barefoot Bookseller. It becomes less about following a list, and more about discovering something that fits their mood during the holiday,” she says. I ended up with a stack of engaging reads,” she says. “A bookshop arriving at your sun lounger is really hard to beat as a holiday indulgence,” Iyer says. Berdaly says it has also changed who stops to look at the books. It slows us down, makes us think and allows us to disappear somewhere else for a while,” he says.
The idea dates to 2018, when Soneva founder Sonu Shivdasani worked with Ultimate Library to open the first pop-up bookshop in the Maldives. Ultimate Library, founded in 2007 by Philip Blackwell, a fourth-generation bookseller and publisher, curates collections for hotels, resorts, private residences, ski chalets, safari lodges and country houses in more than 50 countries. In 2021, another Barefoot Bookshop opened at sister resort Soneva Jani, on a jetty on the lagoon.
Tucked among the island’s greenery, it looks nothing like the bookshops I usually frequent. Shelves branch out like trees; books suspended on strings seem to float overhead. There are no pavements outside, no commuters hurrying past, and little reason to rush through the shelves. You wander in barefoot, pick up a book and take your time deciding whether it belongs next to your sun lounger. The Soneva Fushi pop-up stayed. A bookshop on a holiday island makes sense: people finally have time to read. But the Barefoot Bookshop is less about selling books than helping people work out what they feel like reading.
