Deciding what books to take with you on holiday is harder even than choosing which of your favourite dresses to pack. It's definitely got to be gripping but something more thoughtful often works well on holiday when you have more time to slow down and savour the words.
Whatever you like to read - from literary fiction to psychological thriller (and everything in between) - here are are the books we recommend you take with you this summer.
Big-hearted love stories
Into The Blue by Emma Brodie
AJ and Noah meet as teenagers in this will-they-won’t-they romance set in the theatre world in the 2000s. The pair fall in love and share a blissful summer – until Noah disappears with no explanation. Seven years later, they end up working together on a TV show and are forced to confront what happened.
Main Characters by Bobby Palmer
This unique story charts a new relationship from the point of view of everyone but the couple themselves. It’s obvious to all that Clara and Seb have a connection, but can their delicate bond survive working together?
Headline Review Main Characters by Bobby Palmer
The Love Library by Sarra Manning
The Love Library is a 200-hundred-year-old institution that promises a chance to meet your favourite romantic heroes from fiction in real life. When Tess gets an invite, she can’t resist a chance with her one true love, Darcy. But head librarian Gabe seems determined to sabotage her dates…
Twenty Years Together by Tom Rob Smith
Smith is known for thrillers such as Child 44, but this new novel is something quite different: a tender and raw queer love story. Danny and Luis have been together 20 years and, thanks to a law change, can finally marry. But when Danny proposes, it threatens their whole relationship.
Simon & Schuster Twenty Years Together by Tom Rob Smith
Almost Life by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
This sweeping love story begins on the steps of the Sacré-Cœur in Paris in the summer of 1978 and follows Erica and Laure through the decades as they move in and out of each other’s lives.
Almost Life by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry
Henry is known for her swoonsome romances set in beautiful locations. This one is set on a small island off the coast of Georgia, where a reclusive heiress invites two authors – Alice and Hayden – to compete to write her biography. Will their hatred of each other stand in the way of getting the job done? Out now in paperback.
Penguin Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry
Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid
The Daisy Jones And The Six author returns with the bittersweet story of an illicit affair between two NASA astronauts, set against the backdrop of the space shuttle programme. A thought-provoking read with a strong female character. Out now in paperback.
Penguin Atmosphere: A Love Story by Taylor Reid Jenkins
Smart, witty novels
Villa Coco by Andrew Sean Greer
I was totally charmed by this joyful novel about a directionless young man who takes a job working for an eccentric 90-year-old baroness. Set over a summer and autumn in Tuscany, it’s full of gossip, warmth and sunshine.
Sceptre Villa Coco by Andrew Sean Greer
Natural Disaster by Lisa Owens
The second novel from the author of Not Working takes a witty look at the early days of motherhood. It’s a mum’s last day of maternity leave and she wants to make it perfect – of course, everything goes wrong
Fundamentally by Nussaibah Younis
This novel about Nadia, who accepts a UN job in Iraq rehabilitating ISIS brides, is one of the funniest I’ve read for ages. Alongside the hilarious observations, it’s a thought-provoking, sensitive book about race, religion and womanhood. Out now in paperback.
Weidenfeld & Nicolson Fundamentally by Nussaibah Younis
The Players Club by Rachel Mills
A secret group of women make it their mission to let one another live their dreams for a day. Beth sees a chance to reinvent her life, but the line between self-invention and self-delusion is pretty thin…
Bitter Sweet by Hattie Williams
Books that give an insight into the publishing world are fascinating and this juicy novel about a young woman in the thrall of an older writer is a gem. It’s an age-old plot told in a fresh way and the characterisation is perfect. Out now in paperback.
Seduction Theory by Emily Adrian
Lecturer Simone is a star at a college in New York, while her husband, Ethan, a failed novelist, is happy to play the adoring second fiddle – until the couple’s slightly smug marriage is thrown into chaos when they spend a summer apart. A fun, fresh read. Out now in paperback.
Weidenfeld & Nicolson Seduction Theory by Emily Adrian
Weidenfeld & Nicolson Seduction Theory by Emily Adrian
Consider Yourself Kissed by Jessica Stanley
Set against the backdrop of an eventful decade in British politics, this literary love story looks at the intricacies of a long-term relationship, with characters so real they live beyond the pages. Out now in paperback.
Penguin Consider Yourself Kissed by Jessica Stanley
Penguin Consider Yourself Kissed by Jessica Stanley
We All Live Here by Jojo Moyes
To say Lila’s life is messy is an understatement: she lives in a ramshackle house with two stroppy daughters and her stepdad, while trying to keep her career as a writer on track. Then her real dad, who she hasn’t seen in 35 years, reappears…
Michael Joseph We All Live Here by Jojo Moyes
Atmospheric page-turners
The Compound by Aisling Rawle
The Traitors meets The Hunger Games in this novel set during the filming of a reality TV show where contestants will do anything to win. An entertaining takedown of consumerism and performance culture. Out now in paperback.
The Borough Press The Compound by Aisling Rawle
Heartwood by Amity Gaige
A female hiker goes missing on the Appalachian Trail in this tense novel that uses its isolated setting to great effect. It’s told from three women’s points of view – the hiker’s journal, the warden heading up the search and a seventysomething armchair detective. Out now in paperback.
Caller Unknown by Gillian McAllister
Simone arrives in Texas for a camping trip with her 18-year-old daughter, Lucy, but on the first night she wakes to find Lucy missing. From there, the story races at full tilt as Simone does all she can to get her back, even if it involves committing a terrible crime...
Penguin Caller Unknown by Gillian McAllister
Thrilling reads
The Night Stairs by Erin Kelly
A creepy boarding school for girls is the atmospheric setting for the latest gothic thriller from Erin Kelly, author of The Skeleton Key. Add haunted stairs, a new headmistress with a secret and mass hysteria among the girls, and you have the makings of a spine-chilling read.
Everything She Didn't Say by Jane Casey
The author of the Maeve Kerrigan series brings the same depth and drama to this standalone novel. Ruth and Maura are spending a month in a picture-perfect cottage on the County Mayo coast. Then Ruth wakes up alone one morning, covered in someone else’s blood. Suddenly, she’s the main suspect in a homicide investigation – and no one believes her version of events.
Hemlock Press Everything She Didn’t Say by Jane Casey
The Murder At World's End by Ross Montgomery
The first adult book from the acclaimed children’s author is a fun take on the locked room mystery. When the Viscount of Tithe Hall is killed by a crossbow in his study, the unlikely sleuths are under-butler Stephen and his employer, pottymouthed octogenarian Miss Decima. Out now in paperback.
Penguin The Murder at World’s End by Ross Montgomery
The Book Of Guilt by Catherine Chidgey
This chilling novel’s shocking plot turns will make you gasp. Identical triplets Vincent, William and Lawrence have lived in a Sycamore Scheme home since birth, cared for by their Morning, Afternoon and Night Mothers. When allowed into the world for the first time, they begin to question everything they’ve been told.
John Murray The Book of Guilt by Catherine Chidgey
Family, friendship and all the feels
The Great Wherever by Shannon Sanders
This sprawling multigenerational story of a Black family in the American South, from the time of slavery to modern day, is narrated in part by four ghosts. The central character, Aubrey, who inherits a share of her family’s land in Tennessee and unleashes her ancestor’s ghosts, is a brilliant creation – funny and chaotic.
Viking Drill & Tool The Great Wherever by Shannon Sanders
The First Act Of Summer by Joanna Glen
I’ve loved this writer since 2021’s All My Mothers; there’s something magical about how she writes, especially the beautiful settings – in this book, the south coast near Christchurch. Hester and Elias were inseparable as children, until they turned 14, when Hester’s actions led to a tragedy that ended their friendship. Years later they meet again, but can Elias ever forgive her?
The Borough Press The First Act of Summer by Joanna Glen
Some Bright Nowhere by Ann Packer
Eliot and Claire have been happily married for over four decades, but when Claire receives a terminal cancer diagnosis, she decides she wants her friends to look after her for her final days, not her husband. A beautifully written, thought-provoking and sometimes uncomfortable story about marriage and intimacy.
Like Family by Erin White
Fans of Elizabeth Strout will love this emotional smalltown family drama about three couples whose lives are interwoven. Caroline and Ruth have been friends for ever, but even Caroline doesn’t know the secret at the heart of Ruth’s relationship with her wife, Wyn. Out now in paperback.
The Museum Of Second Chances by Jo Leevers
A gorgeously joyful story is what we all need right now! Evelyn Silver collects left-behind objects no one else wants, displaying them in her Museum of Maritime Curiosities. Her most precious treasure is a scrap of lace found pinned to her blanket when she was abandoned as a newborn. When the museum is threatened with closure, the community rallies around Evelyn to save it.
An Unlikely Visitor by Joanna Cannon
After the disappearance of her daughter Jeannie and the death of her beloved husband, Margaret lives an isolated life, talking to herself in her devastatingly quiet house… until, one day, someone unexpected arrives and together they begin to figure out what happened to Jeannie all those years ago.
The Borough Press An Unlikely Visitor by Joanna Cannon
Show Me Where It Hurts by Claire Gleeson
I had to stop and pause at times as I read this raw and tender novel about forgiveness and grief. Although the story of Rachel, a mother learning to live again after the death of her children at her husband’s hands, is a tough read, it’s ultimately one of love and hope. Out now in paperback.
Sceptre Show Me Where It Hurts by Claire Gleeson
And Notre Dame Is Burning by Miriam Robinson
Reading a novel that feels genuinely fresh is rare – especially in a debut – but this stunning story of a woman’s grief pulls it off. Told through letters and fragments of memories, the protagonist, Esther, reflects on the end of her marriage after a miscarriage and the discovery of her husband’s multiple betrayals. Out now in paperback.
Corsair And Notre Dame is Burning by Miriam Robinson
Female, Nude by Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett
This sultry story set during a sun-baked Greek villa holiday is a delight. Painter Sophie is on her best friend’s hen week. It should be a time to let loose, but instead there’s jealousy and mistrust between the friends – and an affair with a local man makes Sophie rethink her whole future. Out now in paperback.
Tinder Press Female, Nude by Rhiannon Lucy Coslett
Tinder Press Female, Nude by Rhiannon Lucy Coslett
Period dramas
Beyond The Edge Of Light by Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton
Young Englishwoman Julia ‘Missie’ Ormesby meets Conrad von Echlau, a German aristocrat, in Munich in 1938 and their connection is instant. When the Second World War breaks out, Missie returns to England heartbroken. There, her fluency in German leads her to Bletchley Park and back into contact with a German soldier on a secret mission.
Bantam Beyond the Edge of Light by Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton
Land by Maggie O’Farrell
The 10th novel from the award-winning author of Hamnet is another beautiful, immersive novel that explores trauma, family legacy and Irish history. O’Farrell transports the reader to Ireland in 1865, where Tomás and his son Liam are mapping the land for the Ordnance Survey. When they make an unexpected discovery while out surveying, it changes the course of the family’s life for ever.
The Scandalous Ladies Football Club by Frances Quinn
Quinn has made a career from finding quirky characters from history to base her novels around. This time, it’s a women’s football team in 1890s London, led by Minnie, a 28-year-old teacher and women’s rights advocate. Dealing with prejudice at every turn, each of the women has their own reason for being there. An uplifting story of camaraderie and courage.
Simon & Schuster The Scandalous Ladies Football Club by Frances Quinn
The Boy From The Sea by Garrett Carr
A stunning debut novel from this Irish writer, who’s previously written young adult fiction. The story starts in 1973, when a baby is found abandoned on a beach on Ireland’s west coast. He’s taken in by a fisherman, whose decision has ripple effects on his family and community. I was mesmerised by the ups and downs of life in this small coastal village.
Fascinating women’s stories
The Artist by Lucy Steeds
Provence, 1920: Edouard Tartuffe, a (fictional) reclusive painter, and his niece Ettie, are joined by young aspiring journalist Joseph. Rich and evocative. Out now in paperback.
The Eights by Joanna Miller
It’s Oxford, 1920, and women have been admitted to the university for the first time. Enter Beatrice, Dora, Marianne and Otto. Out now in paperback.
Flashlight by Susan Choi
An original novel about a man who goes missing from a beach and the fallout for his family. A study of the experiences of Koreans in post-war Japan. Out now in paperback.
A Family Matter by Claire Lynch
Told through a dual timeline (2022 and 1982), this is a powerful story of motherhood, prejudice and family. A short novel that carries huge weight. Out now in paperback.
Vintage A Family Matter by Claire Lynch
Stunning storytelling
Whidbey by T Kira Madden
This gem of a novel follows a woman on the run from her stalker, a man who has molested and haunted her since childhood. Woven into her story are those of two other women – the stalker’s mother and another of his victims. A heartbreaking and thought-provoking story that will stay with you.
Frida Slattery As Herself by Ana Kinsella
When young actress Frida meets up-and-coming director John, neither realises what a life-shaping moment it is for them. Told from both their points of view, this wonderful debut novel explores the fine line between friendship and love, and collaboration and exploitation.
SCRIBNER Frida Slattery As Herself by Ana Kinsella
Seascraper by Benjamin Wood
This stunning debut about a young man working as a shrimp-collecting shanker is one of those books that doesn’t seem like much at first, but whose quiet beauty gets under your skin. Out now in paperback.
The Names by Florence Knapp
When Cora’s son is born, she must choose a name for him: Julian, as she wishes; Bear, her daughter’s choice; or Gordon, as his abusive father wants. Here, the story splits into three parallel timelines: in each, he has a different name and life. Dazzling. Out now in paperback.
The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
Straight-talking Sybil Van Antwerp, 73, likes to keep the world at arm’s length and communicate by letter. When her eyesight begins to go, Sybil is forced to face up to her past. A charming, thought-provoking read. Out now in paperback.
Michael Joseph The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
Audition by Katie Kitamura
An acclaimed actress meets a much younger man for lunch in a Manhattan restaurant. What follows is a story split into two competing, contradictory halves – a clever, thought-provoking read about identity and the roles we play. Out now in paperback.
Memoirs and more
Receipts From The Bookshop by Katie Clapham
This diary of a year in the life of bookseller Katie and her mother Carolyn, owners of Storytellers, Inc in St. Annes on Sea, is full of humour and insights.
Phoenix Receipts From the Bookshop: A Bookseller's Year by Katie Clapham
Strangers by Belle Burden
An intimate memoir about the end of a marriage. Burden’s honesty draws you in as she refuses to put all the blame on her ex, despite his affair, and examines her own role.
Ebury Press Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage by Belle Burden
London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe
Compelling non-fiction investigating the death of a man who fell from the balcony of a luxury high-rise and the double life he’d been living.
London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe
The Smallest Restaurant In Paris by Rachel Khoo
Before the TV shows and cookbooks, Khoo studied at Le Cordon Bleu Paris. This gorgeous memoir charts that time, complete with recipes.
The Smallest Restaurant In Paris: A Memoir by Rachel Khoo
