21 books in our travel bags this summer

One might think that working at a guidebook company would exhaust our staff from reading when we’re off the clock, but au contraire! We’re constantly reaching for our next great reads, both on and off the road, not only to get lost in fascinating stories but also to visit new places (no plane ticket required).

Here are the novels we are reading this summer – and the places they are set.

Theory & Practice by Michelle de Kretser

Set in: Melbourne, Australia
Recommended by Tasmin Waby , Editor

It’s a little “Sally Rooney," with a plot centered on uni, careers, first loves, friends, family and finding yourself, but with the added pleasure of being transported to Melbourne’s boho neighborhood of St Kilda before the era of social media and smartphones (when we had to stalk romantic rivals in person). It’s not all 20-something drama, though – this short and very readable novel critiques motherhood, academia, colonialism, ethical non-monogamy, and more.

What Happens in Amsterdam by Rachel Lynn Solomon

Set in: Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Recommended by Rachel Lewis , Senior Social Media Manager

It’s one of my summer favorites, and the way she describes the food and architecture (and, of course, romance) in Amsterdam only makes me want to visit that much more.

City of Falling Angels by John Berendt

Set in: Venice, Italy
Recommended by Melinda Anderson , Managing Guidebook Editor

No matter where I am, when I’m down, I go to Venice in my mind. So when I found out that our planned August trip to Argentina was getting big-footed by my son’s baseball tournament schedule, I immediately reached for this book, which I know will transport me from Cooperstown/Oneonta this summer. It's my favorite fun nonfiction about the lagoon: a book that reveals the magic, decay, and secrets of Venice through engaging, curious, oddball Venetians and residents in the wake of the 1996 fire that destroyed La Fenice opera house.

My other favorite about Venice – the one that makes me feel smart and super-duper satisfied – is Invisible Citiesby Italo Calvino, an imaginary conversation between Marco Polo and Kublai Khan in which the merchant-explorer describes 55 fantastical cities that map memory, desire, perception, and reality. They all point back to his hometown of Venice, in a non-narrative, dreamlike structure that still somehow manages to be easy to read.

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

Set in: Annapolis, Maryland
Recommended by Melissa Yeager , Destination Editor for the Western USA and Canada

This is a very quick read that’s perfect for the plane. A rich story of older adults living complex lives shaped by years of experience and heartbreak – told through the main character's letters with friends. I'd really recommend it for anyone gathering courage for their first overseas trip.

Whistler by Ann Patchett

Set in: New York City, NY
Recommended by Ann Douglas Lott , Digital Editor

You’d best believe I will be getting my hands on a copy of Ann Patchett's newest book. It’s set in and around NYC (most of the story takes place at the Met); it's always fun to read and watch things about the place you live. I've also heard that, like Tom Lake, which I read and adored earlier this year, it's very much a story within a story. Patchett always does this so beautifully. It's a story of love, family and art.

Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese

Set in: Kerala, India
Recommended by James Pham , Destination Editor for Southeast Asia

This novel that tells the story of three generations of a Malayali family living in Kerala, on India’s Malabar Coast. The author is also a doctor, so the progress of medicine is a theme, but it's primarily about the land and the people tied closely to it. It shines a light on issues of the time: child brides, caste, colonialism and revolution. The writing is incredibly descriptive. It's over 700 pages long, so it's taking me a few trips to read, but it's engrossing enough that I prefer it to airplane movies.

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah

Set in: Alaska, USA
Recommended by Serina Patel , Director of Audience

Not a typical summer read, but this story is set in 1970s Alaska, and although it is a bit dark and intense, the way Kristin Hannah describes Alaska's beauty (harsh winters, fresh spring flowers and mountaintops) makes me want to go and experience it for myself. The story is one of survival and tenacity, a girl and her mother navigating her father's PTSD from the Vietnam War, while learning how to live in remote Alaska (with no experience in how to live in the wilderness). You will be angry, sad, hopeful and gut-wrenched while reading it – and even after all that, she paints Alaska as an unforgiving, beautiful piece of nature.

My Life in France by Julia Child 

Set in: France
Recommended by Melissa Yeager , Destination Editor for the Western USA and Canada

A delicious read documenting Child’s adventures in Europe when her husband was part of the Foreign Service, her education in French cooking, and her quest to make an approachable French cookbook for Americans. If you like exploration of minute cultural differences, this is fun.

The Talented Mr Ripley by Patricia Highsmith

Set in: Italy
Recommended by Max Felderman , Sales and Marketing Manager

It's one of my favorite movies, but I never got around to reading the book. Perfect for a vacation read, it's equal parts tense crime thriller and dark comedy. It also takes you all around 1950s Italy via train, car, and even gondola!

A Private Man by Stephanie Sy-Quia

Set in: Italy, England and France
Recommended by AnneMarie McCarthy , Destination Editor for Western Europe

I'm nearly finished this, and the descriptions of Rome and its food are as dreamy as summer haze. Plus the French countryside! It's about a priest in the '50s who falls in love with a brilliant teacher and decides to leave the Catholic Church, and is based on the novelist's grandparents. As well as a love story, it's an examination of end-of-life care, old age, and Catholicism and its doctrine (so hot right now, thanks Leo!).

Questions of Travel by Michelle de Kretser

Set in: Australia and Sri Lanka
Recommended by Kellie Langdon, Senior Guidebook Editor

This has been on my TBR pile for a while. Not only was it written by a former Lonely Planet editor (also nominated for her most recent novel above) with part of the plot set in a Lonely Planet-esque guidebook publisher’s office, but it is also partly set in Sri Lanka, which is rather high on my bucket list. This was also an award-winner a decade or so ago, if you’re into that sort of thing.

A Cup of Zen by Kai Tsukimi

Set in: A peaceful place
Recommended by Bridget Fitzgibbons, Director of Marketing

À la Kindle, I always bring “A Cup of Zen”. Not a typical book, instead it's 21 soul-soothing short stories to help calm the mind and bring a little peace before falling asleep (especially in new places!). 

London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe

Set in: London
Recommended by Tasmin Waby , Editor

Entrusted by Zac Brettler’s family to tell his story, Keefe looks at the confluence of events that led up to this 19-year-old’s tragic death, digging into London’s dark side where wealth, ambition and corruption run amok. Keefe also considers the part Hollywood and social media play in shaping this young man’s dreams. I've never been a fan of true crime, but I honestly couldn't put this down.

The Artist by Lucy Steeds

Set in: Provence, France
Recommended by Claire Naylor , Editor

A young journalist escapes the tension of his family in post-war London on a mission to write about a famous reclusive artist who lives with his niece – who's also his put-upon assistant – in a village in rural Provence. This debut novel has themes of war, love, food, beauty, secrets, women's rights and art running throughout and captures the heat and tension of a stiflingly hot summer in the 1920s.

Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall

Set in: Dozens of countries
Recommended by Acacia Gabriel , Associate Editor

Each chapter talks about a different country and how its geography has influenced its history. This is truly a great book for learning about geopolitical history and just understanding the world. It gives me a much more well-rounded perspective on places I haven't learned much about and just makes me feel like a better traveler overall. For how informative it is, it’s also shockingly easy and fun to read.

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

Set in: Rural southwest Virginia
Recommended by Brekke Fletcher , Senior Director of Content

As I am on my way to Patmos, Greece, for a writer's conference with some authors I'd like to read. Barbara Kingsolver will be running a few of the salons, so I'm reading Demon Copperhead right now. In my Libby queue are three other books by authors who will be in Patmos: Southernmost by Silas House; Startlement: New and Selected Poems by Ada Limón; and How to Say Babylon: A Memoir by Safiya Sinclair. Considering I'm leaving in 10 days, I don't imagine I'll complete this list in time for the trip, but I'll be finishing these by the end of summer. And I'll be beginning a manuscript that will hopefully be on your summer reading list in 2028!

Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin

Set in: Paris, France
Recommended by Alison Killilea, Production Support Editor

I'm not far into it, but I am really enjoying the writing style. Set in 1950s Paris, it does seem to evoke a certain feeling of an American in Europe (a bit like The Talented Mr Ripley,see above, or The Sun Also Rises), and is also a fascinating read given the context of a Black man writing about gay white men.

Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali

Set in: Iran
Recommended by Bridget Fitzgibbons

A beautifully written historical fiction book following the friendship of two Iranian women strung through Iran’s turbulent history (and present). I always appreciate that historical fiction helps make the very real and difficult facts of history more accessible and all too resonant.

Too Soon by Betty Shamieh

Set in: Detroit, Michigan; San Francisco, California
Recommended by Caroline Trefler , Destination Editor for the Eastern USA and Canada

This novel, by a Palestinian American writer and playwright, is about three generations of Palestinian American women and set in Detroit and San Francisco in the 1960s and 1970s, NYC post-9/11 and Palestine in 2012. I found it at the Tenement Museum gift shop, one of my favorite places to shop for NYC- and immigration-themed books. 

Night Train to Lisbon by Pascal Mercier

Set in: Bern, Switzerland; Lisbon, Portugal
Recommended by Akanksha Singh , Destination Editor for Central and South Asia, Southern and East Africa

I periodically revisit this book whenever I'm headed to Lisbon (or if I've been away from the city for too long). A Swiss teacher impulsively leaves his monotonous life in Bern to head to Lisbon after he first encounters a mysterious Portuguese woman and then picks up a book by a (fictional) Portuguese doctor set during the Salazar dictatorship. I won't give away more, but there's a line in the doctor's book I think about often:"Given that we can live only a small part of what there is in us – what happens to the rest?” which is, on some level, what the book is about. It sounds woo-woo-ish – the idea that places can "pull" you to them, based on chance encounters and bookshop finds, and maybe it is – but the book contains some of the most beautiful writing about life and Lisbon I've encountered.

Days of Love and Rage by Anand Gopal

Set in: Syria
Recommended by Fionnuala McCarthy , Editorial Director

It was recommended by the brilliant writer Patrick Radden Keefe (see London Falling above); that was all the encouragement I needed. It's a work of nonfiction that starts in 2011 and tells the story of six ordinary people who become fighters in the revolution against the government of Bashar al-Assad during Syria's civil war. It's a physically heavy book at 600 pages (probably should have bought it on my Kindle for traveling!). I grew up at a time when lots of people went on holiday to Syria, and it was known for its ancient historic sites like Aleppo and Palmyra, places that were severely damaged in the war. There's a copy of Lonely Planet's last Syria (and Lebanon) guidebook, published in 2008, in our office, and I really hope I will one day get to go.