What to read on your next holiday

Wanderlust wonders

Stories that transport you – no passport required. Lose yourself in novels set in unforgettable locations: from sun-drenched Greek islands to the Canadian wilderness. These books will make you want to book a flight immediately.

1. A Land So Wide by Erin A Craig
Be swept away to the Canadian wilderness in this dark, folkloric, almost fairytale. Mapmaker Greer Mackenzie lives in the tiny settlement of Mistaken, where the Warding Stones keep the beasts of the forest and the monstrous Bright-Eyeds at bay. But when her beloved is cast out, Greer dares to follow him. The beautiful, sinister landscape is as much of a character as the intrepid Greer herself.

2. The Menu of Happiness by Hisashi Kashiwai
Kyoto’s Kamogawa Diner is no ordinary café. It’s run by father-and-daughter food detectives, who serve dishes that are a portal to the past. Patrons include a pianist who longs to taste the meal she shared with the only man she ever loved and a diner seeking gyoza and forgiveness. A bestseller in Kashiwai’s native Japan, this is tender, charming – and delicious.

3. No Friend to This House by Natalie Haynes
You can’t get much further flung than Ancient Greece. The brilliant Natalie Haynes breathes life into the myth of Medea and Jason and the Argonauts, set in ancient lands riven with passion and danger. Haynes says this is the novel she has been preparing to write for most of her life – don’t miss it

Long-haul literature

Immersive reads for long journeys. For those ten-plus hour flights, these are the epic, absorbing novels you can really sink into. Think sweeping narratives, rich character arcs and stories that make time disappear.

1. Buckeye by Patrick Ryan
Tom Hanks, Ann Patchett and Ann Napolitano are already fans of this sweeping historical American epic. In small-town Ohio, Cal and Margaret are both married – but not to each other – and their entanglement will ricochet through the following decades and generations. A stunning, everybody-will-be-talking-about-it novel that soars into the realms of masterpiece.

2. Cursed Daughters by Oyinkan Braithwaite  The much-lauded Oyinkan Braithwaite (My Sister, the Serial Killer) returns with an otherworldly literary family saga. Three generations of women live in their haunted ancestral home in Lagos, dogged by a family curse that ordains that the man they love will die. Can Eniiyi escape this fate or will she, too, love in vain? So enthralling you’ll wish your flight was longer.

3. What We Can Know by Ian McEwan
In 2119 the lowlands of the UK lie under water and Tom Metcalfe, an academic at the University of the South Downs (now an island archipelago), studies the archives of the past and stumbles across a clue that could lead a lost great love poem written by renowned poet Francis Blundy to his wife Vivien back in 2014. Speculative-meets-dystopian fiction with a Possession-inspired story within a story from one of our finest living writers.

Backpack reads

Slim volumes that pack a punch. Short novels and short stories with big impact – ideal for travellers who pack light but still want a meaningful read. Perfect for weekend breaks or short-haul flights.

1. Other People’s Fun by Harriet Lane
Ruth is sliding into quiet, unnoticed, separated, sidelined middle age – so when Sookie, the cool girl who ignored Ruth at school, suddenly wants to be friends, she basks in the attention. But nothing is at it seems in this stiletto-sharp story of contemporary life and the lies we tell each other – and ourselves.

2. The Land of Sweet Forever by Harper Lee
The collection of Lee’s never-seen-before early short fiction and later essays is ideal for reading in short bursts. Dip into stories from her childhood and from the set of To Kill a Mockingbird with Gregory Peck, and marvel at Lee’s inventive, mercurial mind.

3. The Predicament by William Boyd
Travel writer turned reluctant accidental spy Gabriel Dax finds himself inveigled in an exceptionally tangled web of intrigue, with the CIA and Mafia hot on his heels. This is what happens when your MI6 handler is, ahem, too hot to handle. Artfully crafted and terrifically good fun.

Horizon-expanding non-fiction

The best non-fiction for curious travellers. For those who like their travel reading grounded in reality, these non-fiction picks offer insight, inspiration and a deeper connection to the world.

1. Fly, Wild Swans: My Mother, Myself and China by Jung Chang
The (very) long-awaited sequel picks up where Wild Swans left off. Chung arrives in the UK in 1978 on a scholarship programme and is bewildered by the West. She becomes a successful academic, but it comes at the cost of prolonged separation from her family back in China. A fascinating, coolly clear-eyed overview of both Jung’s life and China – then and now – and a love letter to her mother.

2. The Traitors Circle: The Rebels Against the Nazis and the Spy Who Betrayed Them by Jonathan Freedland
For those who like their non-fiction to read like a propulsive thriller. A group of eclectic high society rebels – including army and government officers, countesses and a former model – meet in secret to defy Hitler’s Nazi regime – only to be betrayed by one of their own in 1943. A traitor betrays the traitors. A jaw-dropping tale of human decency, courage and resistance.

3. The Cultural Tutor: 49 Lessons You Wish You’d Learned at School by Sheehan Quirke
Quirke (aka The Cultural Tutor) is a social media star with 1.7m followers on X, but don’t let that put you off: Alain de Botton is a fan, and this is an engrossing romp around the globe and into the wonders of the world. In 49 short lessons – from Babylon to Ronaldo (no room for snobbery, here) – the engagingly warm and witty Sheehan leads you on an adventure into culture.

Beach break books

Easy, escapist reads for lazy days. Whether you’re poolside, seaside or sofa-side, these are the stories that go down as easily as a cold spritz. Light but not fluffy, smart but not heavy – they’re the perfect balance for a relaxed holiday mindset.

1. One of Us by Elizabeth Day
Expect betrayal, bad behaviour and a sharp-eyed study of privilege, politics and power in Day’s darkly funny, anti-establishment revenge novel. After a spectacular fall-out with his friend Ben years earlier, Martin is ushered back into the fold of the Fitzmaurice family. Always the outsider, Martin cannot resist entry into the inner circle, but finds it riven with appalling acts, ruthless ambition and so many secrets stuffed into the woodwork that it’s a wonder the Fitzmaurice dynasty is still standing…

2. Boleyn Traitor by Philippa Gregory (Oct)
Jane Boleyn is sister-in-law to ill-fated Anne, lady-in-waiting to five of Henry VIII’s six wives and a royal spy. Gregory’s research is impeccable, but she wears it lightly when transporting you to the Tudor court in all its pomp, glory, drama, with Machiavellian manoeuvres and a toweringly egocentric king.

3. The Murder at World’s End by Ross Montgomery
On a remote tidal island in Cornwall in 1910, a Viscount seals Tithe Hall from top to bottom. The next morning, he is found dead in his locked study. Montgomery is a master storyteller who combines the nostalgic appeal of a very English sensibility (think Cluedo and Gosford Park – it’s delightfully upstairs-downstairs) with a wickedly sharp wit.

4. The Impossible Fortune by Richard Osman
As the Thursday Murder Club octogenarians return, Joyce’s daughter is getting married. But the best man has gone missing, a villain is on the prowl for the secret code that unlocks the titular impossible fortune and there’s murder afoot. To the Jigsaw Room with our merry band of retirement community sleuths. As ever, Osman combines wit with genuine heart.

Collect Avios online with Waterstones