These reads will get you exploring without the need for a boarding pass or a bank loan.
Scrolling social media can feel like pressing your face to the glass of someone else’s life. The trips, the gigs, the immaculate weekend photo-dumps – most of us don’t have the time or money to keep up. If I see one more ‘life-changing’ Japan trip post, I might have to lie down. That should be me, as our patron saint of pop, Justin Bieber, once sang.
Here’s the antidote: five recently released books that deliver movement without the need for a boarding pass, or the resulting blow to the bank. They drop you into deserts, cobbled streets and volatile kitchens, making you forget your phone. You might find you haven’t even missed it.
- Crux by Gabriel Tallent
Where you’re headed:
A sun-blasted Californian town where strip malls slump beneath late-capitalist despair. The story follows two teenagers, Tamma and Dan, who live for climbing, both on the sheer granite cliffs outside town and through the emotional obstacles of growing up.
Who should go:
Those who like novels that make your pulse jump, not only in the action but in the high stakes choices people make when they are still becoming themselves.
Best Season to Visit:
During a personal crossroads, when making choices about the future, or any moment that leaves you staring at the next leap and wondering if you’ll make it.
Souvenirs You’ll Bring Back:
Chalk dust, scraped knuckles, and the ache of wanting.
- Strange Buildings by Uketsu
Where you’re headed:
A prison, a hut in the woods, a home engulfed in flames and a shadowy chamber, to name a few. Sinister events unfold in 11 different buildings, all linked by a chilling secret. According to book buffs, each eerie setting mirrors the psychological turmoil and hidden truths of its inhabitants.
Who should go:
Sherlock Holmes lovers looking to flex their deduction muscles by getting stuck into solving a mystery. It’s not for the faint of heart.
Best Season to Visit:
It’s hard to think of a better time to dive into a spine-chilling read than on holiday, lounging somewhere sunny and warm. There’s something life-affirming about imagining others trapped in dark, perilous situations while you’re basking in the sunlight.
Souvenirs You’ll Bring Back:
A newfound love for architecture, an expert ability to read people and very possibly some nightmares.
- No Free Parking: The Curious History of London’s Monopoly Streets by Nicholas Boys Smith
Where you’re headed:
London, but not the squeaky clean London of postcards. From Oxford Street crowds to the obscurity of Vine Street, the book turns a Monopoly board into a map of violence, money, and accident.
Who should go:
Readers who love the idea that everyday places carry secret histories. It is also for anyone who can lose an entire evening to Monopoly and only realise when it’s suddenly midnight.
Best Season to Visit:
Excellent before a walk through any part of the city you thought you knew.
Souvenirs You’ll Bring Back:
A new suspicion that no street name is accidental and the urge to look up at plaques and corner signs.
4. Walk the Blue Fields by Claire Keegan
Where you’re headed:
Rural Ireland from the past – think rolling pastures, remote farmhouses, rustic churches and lonely coastlines. You’re bound to get lost in the pastoral settings and folklore-esque short stories.
Who should go:
Lovers of Sally Rooney who are craving that beautiful, faintly melancholic feeling you get from dipping into an interesting figure’s encounters.
Best Season to Visit:
On a calm Sunday afternoon or from the comfort of a bubble bath.
Souvenirs You’ll Bring Back:
An itching desire to go on a camping trip to an ‘Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty’, plus the warm feeling you get when coming home after a holiday full of lovely, short-lived encounters.
5. Lost Lambs by Madeline Cash
Where you’re headed:
A small town with neat houses and freshly painted walls, but something unsettling beneath the surface. At the centre is the Flynn family, with parents negotiating an open marriage and three daughters who have a talent for causing trouble.
Who should go:
If you can handle characters who will irritate you like relatives, this is for you.
Best Season to Visit:
When family is both the problem and the place you run back to.
Souvenirs You’ll Bring Back:A better understanding of the ways that power and money seep into ordinary lives.