A book can be the difference between visiting somewhere and fully immersing yourself in it. Long before you unpack, the right novel or memoir can tune you into a place: its streets and coastlines, its food and weather, its people and their secrets. Therefore, whether you’re bound for a Greek island, a Cornish cove or the French countryside, these are the books to pack alongside your passport, reports BritPanorama.
What we’re reading
The best books according to your holiday destination
Spain
Hot Milk by Deborah Levy
On the sun-bleached coast of Almería, southern Spain, Sofia and her mother arrive in search of a cure for an illness that has mystified doctors. This simmering, hypnotic story, adapted into a film starring Emma Mackie, reveals what a trip abroad can uncover.
Penguin, £9.99
France
One More Croissant for the Road by Felicity Cloake
Food writer Cloake embarks on a cycling journey across France in search of the country’s finest classic dishes, from croissants to cassoulet. Part travelogue, part culinary quest, this engaging book is likely to inspire readers to book a ferry if they haven’t already.
Mudlark, £9.99
Portugal
Night Train to Lisbon by Pascal Mercier
When a reserved Swiss classics teacher discovers a Portuguese book by chance, he abandons his old life and boards a train to Lisbon. The narrative unfolds as both an atmospheric literary mystery and a philosophical inquiry into self-discovery and missed opportunities.
Atlantic, £9.99
Turkey
The Bastard of Istanbul by Elif Shafak
In Istanbul, four generations of Kazanci women live together under one chaotic roof until an Armenian-American visitor arrives, prompting old family secrets to surface. Shafak’s novel is rich with food, folklore, humour and history, capturing the vibrant pulse of the city.
Penguin, £9.99
Italy
Call Me by Your Name by André Aciman
Few novels capture the ache of summer romance quite like this one, set during one long, languorous season in northern Italy. Aciman’s modern classic follows the intense, all-consuming affair between 17-year-old Elio and graduate student Oliver.
Atlantic, £9.99
Greece
The Island by Victoria Hislop
Off the coast of Crete lies Spinalonga, the former leper colony at the heart of Hislop’s beloved bestselling family saga. Moving between past and present, it tells a gripping story of secrets and romance enriched by a vivid sense of Greek history and island life.
Headline Review, £9.99
Cyprus
Bitter Lemons of Cyprus by Lawrence Durrell
In the 1950s, Lawrence Durrell bought a house in a Cypriot village and sought to establish a new life there. His memoir is filled with the sea, sunlight, and unforgettable local characters, capturing the island’s changing political landscape.
Faber, £10.99
Ireland
My Favourite Mistake by Marian Keyes
Rural Ireland is animated in Keyes’ latest warm and engaging novel, in which Anna Walsh swaps Manhattan for a fresh start in the small town of Maumtully. Here, she encounters an old flame while working on a luxury retreat that the locals would prefer to see fail.
Penguin, £9.99
Wales
The Last Party by Clare Mackintosh
A New Year’s Eve gathering at a luxury lakeside development in North Wales ends tragically with a body discovered in the water. Mackintosh’s twisty crime novel explores resentment within a tangled community, set against a hauntingly beautiful backdrop.
Sphere, £10.99
Cornwall
Rough Music by Patrick Gale
A seaside cottage in North Cornwall serves as the setting for two trips decades apart: first during Julian’s childhood in the 1960s, and then again as he revisits during a complicated adult life. Gale interweaves timelines to reveal buried family secrets while vividly depicting the rugged Cornish coast.
Tinder Press, £12.99
Croatia
The Olive Grove by Eva Glyn
Antonia hopes for a new beginning on the Croatian island of Korčula, but the olive grove where she works as a housekeeper holds its own secrets. This novel offers breezy summer reading with enough emotional depth and local history to satisfy.
HarperCollins, £10.99
Switzerland
Hotel du Lac by Anita Brookner
After a scandal exiles her to a Swiss lakeside hotel, romance writer Edith Hope encounters guests as lonely and observant as she is. Brookner’s evocative Booker-winning novel is elegantly crafted, cool, and quietly devastating.
Penguin, £8.99
The Netherlands
The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden
In the Dutch province of Overijssel in 1961, Isabel’s carefully structured life is disrupted when her brother’s girlfriend comes to stay for the summer. This Women’s Prize-winning debut transforms a country house into a space of desire and reckoning.
Penguin, £9.99
Scotland
Windswept by Annie Worsley
After leaving academia for a small-holding on the north-west coast of Scotland, Worsley’s life becomes shaped by the drama of the natural world. Her memoir immerses readers in the elemental beauty of the Scottish Highlands.
HarperCollins, £10.99
