A holiday book has one job: to make you forget the time, the emails and occasionally the factor 30. These ten are worth their suitcase weight - absorbing enough for a long flight, light enough for a lounger, and good enough that you'll press them on someone at the pool.
Editor's Picks
- Beach Read - the definitive sunlounger novel
- One Day - the one for the flight home
- The Paper Palace - sun-soaked and deliciously tense
01Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
Two friends build video games and a lifelong, complicated love that isn't romance. The book of the decade for holiday word-of-mouth. No gaming knowledge required whatsoever.
02Lessons in Chemistry
A 1960s chemist becomes a subversive TV cook. Sharp, funny and furiously satisfying - the most-loaned book we know. Funnier on the page than on screen.
03Where the Crawdads Sing
A girl raises herself in the Carolina marshes; years later, a man is dead. Nature writing wrapped around a courtroom mystery - made for long, hot afternoons. A dependable book group argument starter.
04Beach Read
Two rival novelists, neighbouring lake houses, one summer. The definitive sunlounger novel - smart, funny and exactly as good as everyone says. Start here for Emily Henry, then move on to People We Meet on Vacation.
05One Day
Emma and Dexter on the same date across twenty years. Funny, true and quietly heartbreaking - ideal for the flight home. Best read in a single trip, and quite different in effect from either screen adaptation.
06The Paper Palace
One summer morning at a Cape Cod lake house, a choice between two lives. Sun-soaked, sensual and deliciously tense. Best read somewhere with water nearby.
07The Thursday Murder Club
Four retirees solve murders between elevenses. The perfect poolside crime novel - and there are three more when you land. Book one of five, so far.
08A Gentleman in Moscow
A count sentenced to life inside a grand hotel makes a world of it. Elegant, warm and completely transporting - the long-holiday book. Slow to start, then completely absorbing.
09Small Pleasures
A journalist investigates a claimed virgin birth in 1950s suburbia and finds her own life opening. Restrained, lovely and devastating. Quiet on the surface and unexpectedly brutal at the close, which is exactly why book clubs love it.
10The Salt Path
Homeless and newly diagnosed, a couple walk the South West Coast Path. The one non-fiction book that belongs in every beach bag. Read it before Landlines, and expect to start pricing walking boots by the final chapter.
11The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
An ageing Hollywood icon finally tells the truth about seven marriages. Glamorous, gulpable and smarter than it needs to be. The one book everyone finishes on holiday.
12Big Little Lies
School-gate politics, perfect houses and a death at the trivia night. Moriarty is the queen of the intelligent beach read. Sharper on marriage and money than the television version lets on, and just as fast.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the best book for a beach holiday this year?
Beach Read does what it says; Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is the one you'll end up discussing at dinner.
What about a long flight?
Pick something absorbing over something light: A Gentleman in Moscow or I Am Pilgrim from our thriller shelf will make the hours vanish.
One book for a reader who wants substance on holiday?
Small Pleasures - beautifully written but utterly compelling, and short enough to finish before the return transfer.
Paperback or e-reader for a holiday?
An e-reader if you are flying with hand luggage only or expect to finish more than two books, since weight and space decide it. A paperback if you want to read by a pool without worrying about sand, water or screen glare. Most regular holiday readers end up taking both.
Shelf 02Crime & Mystery
Cosy crime, gritty thrillers and a good whodunnit for a wet afternoon.
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Shelf 03Nature & Countryside
Nature writing, walking, farming and the wild places - our house speciality.
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Shelf 04History
Popular history, biography and the stories behind the stories.
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Shelf 05Cookery
Seasonal cooking, baking and the kitchen books worth the shelf space.
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