Books to Bring Along on the Journey

If you’ve kept up-to-date with my blog posts over the last ten weeks or so, you might have realised that I am a bit of a travel fiend. Ever since I entered my teenage years, travelling to new countries, experiencing cultures that differ to my own and exploring the sights and wonders across the globe has been one of my most treasured pastimes. At the age of 19 I trekked the Inca Trail in Peru towards Machu Pichu; one of the seven wonders of the world and the experience was simply unforgettable. In just a few weeks, my boyfriend and I have a three-week trip planned, starting in Singapore and ending in Nusa Dua, Bali. Bali has been on my travel bucket list for quite some time now and, I am super excited to visit its mesmerising temples, taste the local cuisine and finally discover for myself what everyone has been raving about these last few years. I will admit, when I go on holiday I am not the one for sitting around, lazing by the pool, soaking up the sun. Perhaps, mostly because I burn like a lobster within minutes of being exposed to the sun but, also because I get very bored, very quickly. In anticipation of this, whenever I go away I like to take at least one book with me in my hand luggage that I can delve into in those rare spare moments.

Recently, I have been considering my choices for the novel I would like to bring to Asia with me and I began to realise that I prefer to choose a book that I can easily dip in and out of, without struggling to remember what happened the last time I picked it up. You know how it is, you’re reading on the plane one minute and, the next, you’ve dozed off drooling on your partners shoulder or the lovely air stewardess appears, offering you a refreshing beverage. Before you know it, a couple of days have passed before you’re next settling back in. If you can relate or, you’re simply looking for some inspiration for your next novel, below you will find a carefully considered list of holiday recommendations that are ideal for a bit of light summer reading! Happy reading fellow fiction [or perhaps, travel] lovers!

Conversation with Friends by Sally Rooney

21-year old Frances, a college student and aspiring writer, is level-headed and wistfully observant. Frances is the best friend and, the occasional lover, of the beautiful and self-obsessed, Bobbi. The two young women now perform spoken-word poetry together in Dublin and, their equilibrium is disrupted when photographer, Melissa, spots their potential. As the pair are drawn into Melissa’s orbit, Frances is reluctantly impressed by the older woman’s charm, sophisticated home and, even her tall and handsome husband, Nick. Amusing their flirtation may seem, Frances experiences a strange intimacy neither of them expects and, as Frances wills to keep her life in check, her relationships increasingly resist her control.

Captain Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernières

Captain Corelli’s Mandolin is an epic tale of an enduring hope of love and the devastating brutality of war, set on the Greek island of Cephalonia amid the Italian and German occupation of the Second World War. When Antonio Corelli, an Italian army officer, falls in love with Pelagia, the daughter of the village doctor, he begins to question his reasons for fighting. As the war grows closer, the pair are forced to choose between their commitment to their countries and the love they shared for one another.

Into the Water by Paula Hawkins

When a single mother turns up dead at the bottom of the river that runs through town, the death mimics the death of a vulnerable teenage girl who met the same fate earlier that summer. They are not the first women lost to these dark waters yet, their deaths disturb the river and its history, revealing secrets long submerged.

Left behind her lonely 15-year old daughter. Parentless and friendless, she finds herself in the care of her mother’s sister; a fearful stranger who has been dragged back to the place she deliberately ran from – a place she vowed she would never come back to.

Perennials by Mandy Berman

Rachel and Fiona always treasured their summers together as campers at Camp Marigold. But now, reunited as counsellors, their relationship is much more tumultuous. Rebellious Rachel, a self-assured city kid raised by a single mother, is losing her patience with her best friend’s growing insecurities; Fiona, the middle child of a not-so-perfect suburban family, envies Rachel’s popularity among campers and fellow counsellors. For the first time in their friendship, the pair begin keeping secrets from one another and, unfolds the tensions of a turbulent summer and a tragic event, forcing Rachel and Fiona to confront their pasts and, the adults they are now becoming.