It appears that several of our SBTB Podcast Patreon Discord are planning for a vacay. In preparation, we’d like to compile some great vacation reading suggestions for the occasion.
Sarah: On one memorable vacation, this book gave me an absurd good time: The Very Virile Viking by Sandra Hill ( A | BN | K | AB )
Carrie: If you haven’t read The Windflower by Laura London ( A | BN | K | G | AB | Scribd ) on the beach then you haven’t lived.
Lara: During my last holiday, my best friend introduced me to the bonkers series that is Dark Olympus by Katee Robert. Her and I would read the books and then chat about the insanity. A memorable holiday!
Sarah: I thought about this query, and a good vacation book has to fit some criteria that I admit are rather finicky. I want it to be easy to enter and exit – I might have to get up, go get food, go swim, do whatever I’m doing on vacation and then go back to it. So I don’t want to have to onboard myself over and over to remember the people and the plot.
I also don’t want to be sad or scared or anxious or anguished. I’m on vacation ffs. I have plenty of that.
I joke a lot about reading books that aren’t “Right here, Right now,” and when I myself am “somewhere else,” I like a soapy, fun escape for vacation reading.
Ergo: The Very Virile Viking by Sandra Hill.
In 2017, I recommended the Chesapeake Bay series and the Born In series by Nora Roberts, and those would still work for me, though both deal with some heavy business. Contemporary Nora is ideal for vacation – not thriller Nora or ParaNora. Those are different. Same with Lucy Parker’s Act Like it, backlist, Shelly Laurenston’s Crows, and Deanna Raybourn’s anything.
Elyse: I can’t read thrillers on vacation because my brain goes into hyper vigilant mode. I often read beachy romance when I’m at the beach or camping romance when I’m at a cabin. The Carley Fortune books set on a lake are a great vacation read.
I also read the Armand Gamache mysteries ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) on vacation but fair warning they start off cozy but the series gets darker as it goes on.
Shana: I like to read a book on vacation that is totally absorbing but short, or one that’s focused on travel. I think I actually have more space for slightly sad books or unusual literary structures while I’m chilling on a beach than in my regular life when I’m reading for escape in short bursts.
I just read the Our Riches by Kaouther Adimi ( A | BN | K | AB ) while I was on a cruise. It’s a lyrical little book about an Algerian bookstore during their fight from independence. But, I get that it might not fit many people’s beach reach needs. I think Jodi Mcalister’s Here for the Right Reasons ( A | BN ) would be perfect for a vacation. It’s fun, easy to get sucked in, and you can take advantage of the free time to never put the book down.
Which books would you suggest for prime vacation reading? Do your recommendations differ depending on locale? Let us know in the comments!
I just binge reread THE INNKEEPER CHRONICLES by Ilona Andrews over our vacation. I tried reading new books but I couldn’t get into them. I wanted something funny, adventurous and comfortable. That series always hits the spot for me.
I’d also recommend Kimberly Lemming’s MEAD MISHAPS series for similar reasons. Hilarious, goofy and action packed with considerably more steam than INNKEEPER.
Of course, I will always recommend the action-packed wannabe slacker that is MURDERBOT, by Martha Wells. I agree with @SaraGale — I like Ilona Andrews’ INNKEEPER and HIDDEN LEGACY series (magical worlds, alpha heroes, found family). In terms of other action series that are good for vacations, Deanna Raybourn’s KILLERS OF A CERTAIN AGE series (retired assassins who should all be played by Helen Mirren), and Jessie Mihalik’s CONSORTIUM REBELLION series (but I love him! in space, with action of all sorts).
For happily-ever-afters with some literary fun, I recommend Jasper Fforde’s THURSDAY NEXT series. I loved the first one, THE EYRE AFFAIR (Jane Eyre, literary detectives, so many puns!), and enjoyed the next few. Katherine Center’s snappy rom-coms are also a fave — THE ROM-COMMERS, THE BODYGUARD.
For romantic fantasy with HEA, I love Diana Wynne Jones’s HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE and the similar SORCERY OF THORNS from Margaret Rogerson (magical worlds, slacker heroes who do actually care, strong women). Stephanie Burgis’s new WOOING THE WITCH QUEEN (strong women, cinnamon roll wizard librarian, found family) and her HARWOOD SPELLBOOK series (alternate magical Regency England with a heroine’s journey).
And if you need a hilarious audiobook, there’s Michael Schur’s HOW TO BE PERFECT, which has the cast of “Good Place” TV series popping it amid the discussion of philosophy.
I read books set where I am going or written by authors from there so I don’t have general suggestions. I am also always very open to the serendipity of books I happen across at a hotel or used bookstore. I pack my phone/ereader with books so I have lots to choose from, and am so deeply grateful I no longer have to carry enough physical books with me.
An old Mary Stewart can work for me — diverting but not intense, usually a crumbling manor house or Italian beach involved.
You Are Here by David Nicholls takes place on a walking tour in England. Slow-burn romance with slightly older protagonists.
The Wedding People — Even though TW for self-harm early in the book, it’s such a joy-filled and upbeat book and really isn’t dark.
The Borrowed Life of Fredrick Fife was one of my book club reads. Very easy to read, sweet, a little poignant at times but a lovely happy ending.
Second (or third) the suggestion for Lucy Parker.
Going out on a limb but Flights by Olga Tokarchuk is all about, well, flights — travel, fleeing things, returning — and is a serious of vignettes and short stories. Some of the vignettes are only a few paragraphs. It might be interesting to read while taking a trip, and then have time to kind of onder all the different meanings. It’s not a light book and there’s no linear plot, so this may not work if you’re looking for distraction and frivolity.
Emily Henry and Jen Comfort come to mind.
I don’t think I change what I’m reading when I go on vacation, but I’m more likely to splurge on a new release or something that I can’t get through my local library.
That being said, Naomi Novik’s fairy tale Spinning Silver would be a good choice if you want to read about someplace cold from a hot beach.
Vacation is a good time to reread old favorites, so perhaps Julia Kent, Jennifer Crusie, the more amusing Heyers, or the always amusing Pratchett. I like romances/light fiction set in places I may never get to see. Leonie Mack, Jenny Bayliss, or Nicky Pellegrino come to mind. I also enjoy long running series that you know what you’re getting into like J. D. Robb’s In Death, Nalini Singh’s Psy-Changeling, or Rosalind James’s Rugby and Kiwi series. All very different books, but the angst and the jeopardy never jumps the shark. I also want to boost the signal for Mary Stewart and–of course–Ilona Andrews.
I’m not looking for something heavy or thoughtful on vacation. I want light escapism, with some magic or beaches. I’ve been loving Hazel Beck’s Witchlore series, and just finished Book 3 (Truly, Madly, Magically). For tried and true, I’m going to pick up Elin Hilderbrand or Susan Mallery.
I often read the same sort of thing on vacation that I do at home, but I want to second the Mary Stewart, Stephanie Burgis, and Ilona Andrews recommendations.
I will definitely reread Nora Roberts’s more magical fantasy series on vacation, particularly the Three Sisters Island trilogy, the Cousins O’Dwyer trilogy, the Circle trilogy, the Guardians trilogy, the Key trilogy, and the Dragon Heart Legacy trilogy. (Also, I’m totally stealing the term “ParaNora.” Genius!)
Cozy fantasy is also a good vacation choice for me. Sangu Mandanna’s The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches is wonderful. I recommend Travis Baldree’s Legends & Lattes series if you haven’t read it, as well as The Teller of Small Fortunes by Julie Leong, The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst.
And finally, if I’m in the mood for comforting, slow-paced, (mostly) low-stakes historical fantasy romance, I’m going to turn to Celia Lake.
Like @kkw, I like to read books art where I’m going. Tony Hillerman or Rebecca Roanhorse when I would travel to my parents in Arizona. Lauren Dane’s Brown Siblings for my trip to Seattle. I reread her Diablo Lake books last fall in Tennessee.
Rereads are my next favorite. A comfort read like Meljean Brooks’ Kracken King or a Courtney Milan historical because I can put it down and go about vacationing without book regret.
Seconding the Jasper Fforde Thursday Next series!
My personal comfort rereads are the original Bridgerton books by Julia Quinn; no over-the-top angst and lots of humor. Or, if you don’t mind a little YA, anything by Diana Wynne Jones, in particular the Howl books (yes there are three of them – I just flabbergasted a high school kid with that knowledge) and the Chrestomanci series. DARK LORD OF DERKHOLM is also fun.
I actually always take a heavier item from the TBR on vacation (along with a lot of my usual escapist stuff) because
a) I finally have the time and
b) I always get asked what I am reading and I want something to admit to other than gay romances – those are between me and my eReader, not strangers on planes or aunts/uncles/grandparents.
And by “something heavier” I mean Gideon the Ninth, The Martian, The Swimmers, etc. Just my own personal strategy of having a decoy book to wave at people so they don’t see my Amy Lane/Mary Calmes/AJ Sherwood books.
Having said that, I cannot overstate how much I loved and binged the Scholomance series by Naomi Novik last year – would be a great one to take on vacation if you have the time to get into the world building. Also numerous people I know have taken The Rosie Project on a plane, and laughed so hard that everyone around them wanted to know what the book was so they could check it out 🙂
Since my vacation usually consists of a 14-hour road trip drive home to visit family, I pack all the library books I’ve been not reading. I also get like 3-4 audiobooks on CD to listen to; it makes the drive much more bearable.
For me it’s Terry Pratchett, especially on a plane. It meets Sarah’s criteria.
@HeatherS – that’s what we call a “family trip”. Not a vacation. Anything that involves related persons (including our kids) who are not my husband is not usually restful.
I hope you are blessed with restful relatives. : )
@kkw’s comment reminded me of childhood cross-country summer trips, hauling more books along than the rest of the family’s combined luggage, and my parents’ fruitless exhortations to take my nose out of my book and look at the passing country.
I haven’t flown anywhere since 2019 but I’ve been invited to visit a longtime friend in early April. I’ll likely load my Kindle with some favorite books for the plane such as S.K. Dunstall’s Linesman series or Anne Bishop’s Written in Red or Andrea Hõst’s Touchstone series or …. I might also take along a new to me book such as Elizabeth Camden’s When Stars Light the Sky or All This Can Be True by Jen Michalski or those two free N.R. Walker books I picked up today. A mix of a guaranteed good read plus the possibility of finding a new favorite sounds good to me!
We usually stay at Landmark Trust properties they turn historic buildings that you couldn’t live in permanently for whatever reason into lovely interesting holiday. We’ve stayed in a tin mine steam engine house, a water mill, a water tower, a holy well, a House of Correction, a tiny school, various follies as well as proper houses. They provide a set of bookshelves with relevant books, so the tin mine steam engine house had books about tin mining, static steam engines, and Daphne Du Maurier novels along with books about the locality and a selection of books left by previous holiday makers.If I don’t find anything to my taste on the shelves I usually have a biography and always a pile of New Scientist to catch up on. I don’t usually read fiction, I’m too likely to get completely caught up in fiction and that isn’t really fair to Mr J, the dog or the other people we go on holiday with.