Whether your travel plans this summer involve sipping a drink by the beach, finding hidden gems in a new city or exploring the historical sites of an ancient culture, get inspired by this list from the team at The Bombay Circle Press. Pair your vacation destination with a book that captures its atmosphere.
Ancient Islands in Santorini, Greece
A heart-wrenching love story based on Greek legends, read The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller on your trip to Greece. Achilles, “the best of all the Greeks,” son of the cruel sea goddess Thetis and the legendary king Peleus, is strong, swift, and beautiful, irresistible to all who meet him. Patroclus is an awkward young prince, exiled from his homeland after an act of shocking violence. Brought together by chance, they forge an inseparable bond, despite risking the gods’ wrath.
Rugged Landscapes on a Roadtrip through Ireland
A book that captures the feeling of a hot summer against dramatic Irish landscapes, read Sunburn by Chloe Michelle Howarth. It’s the early 1990s, and in the Irish village of Crossmore, Lucy feels out of place. Despite her fierce friendships, she’s always felt this way, and the conventional path of marriage and motherhood doesn’t appeal to her at all. Not even with handsome and doting Martin, her closest childhood friend. Lucy begins to make sense of herself during a long hot summer, when a spark with her school friend Susannah escalates to an all-consuming infatuation, and, very quickly, to a desperate and devastating love. Fearful of rejection from her small and conservative community, Lucy begins living a double life, hiding the most honest parts of herself in stolen moments with Susannah. But with the end of school and the opportunity to leave Crossmore looming, Lucy must choose between two places, two people and two futures, each as terrifying as the other. Neither will be easy, but only one will offer her happiness.
A Cosy Day in Tokyo, Japan
After a busy day exploring the city, curl up with Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa. Hidden in Jimbocho, Tokyo, is a booklover’s paradise. When Takako’s boyfriend reveals he’s marrying someone else, she reluctantly accepts her eccentric uncle’s offer to live rent-free in the tiny room above the shop. Hoping to nurse her broken heart in peace, Takako is surprised to encounter new worlds within the stacks of books lining the Morisaki bookshop. As summer fades to autumn, Satoru and Takako discover they have more in common than they first thought. The Morisaki bookshop has something to teach them both about life, love, and the healing power of books.
Culture in London, England
After a day spent in London’s West End, explore a darker side of the city with The Corpse Played Dead by Georgina Clarke. An undercover assignment for the Bow Street magistrates has the fabulous Lizzie Hardwicke posing as a pitiable seamstress at a popular theatre on Drury Lane. She soon learns that behind the scenes there is a world as sordid as the bawdy house she calls home, but possibly far more dangerous.
When a nobleman and patron of the arts is brutally murdered and left on display centre-stage, the theatre is thrown into disarray. The investigation becomes all the more urgent with public scrutiny on the magistrate’s men including William Davenport, his assistant, with whom Lizzie continues to grow closer. Her suspect list is long but she must find a way to see through all the masks worn backstage without letting her own slip.
The Corpse Played Dead is the second instalment of the gripping and vividly imagined Lizzie Hardwicke mystery series.
Armchair Travel
If you’re not planning any trips but want to explore from the comfort of your home, read Less by Andrew Sean Greer. Arthur Less’ former long-term boyfriend invites him to his wedding to someone else. He can’t say yes—it would all be too awkward; and he can’t say no—it would look like defeat. Thus begins an around-the-world-in-eighty-days fantasia that will take Arthur Less to Mexico, Italy, Germany, Morocco, India and Japan and put thousands of miles between him and the problems he refuses to face.
For more book recommendations for all occasions, check out The Bombay Circle Press.