Whimsy Soul
  • Beauty
  • Destinations
    • California
    • Europe
    • City Guides
    • National Parks
    • Southwest
    • Handy Map Tool
  • Activities
    • Wine Tasting 🍷
    • Beach & Swim 🌊
    • Flower Fields 🌸
    • Museums & Gardens 🖼
    • Hot Springs 💦
  • Fashion
  • Home Decor
    • Our Cabin
    • Home Decor
  • Cocktails & Recipes
  • Witchy Things
  • About
    • About Whimsy Soul
    • Meet The Team
    • Work With Us
    • Contact
  • About
  • Meet The Team
  • Map Tool ✈️
  • Our Cabin
Whimsy Soul
Whimsy Soul
  • Style
    • All Fashion
    • Cold Weather Style
    • Warm Weather Style
    • Product Reviews
    • Travel Style
  • Activities
    • Wine Tasting
    • Hot Springs
    • Flower Fields
    • Beach & Swim
    • Hiking
    • Murals & Photo Spots
    • Museums & Gardens
    • All Travel
  • Destinations
    • West Coast
    • Southwest
    • Mountain
    • East Coast
    • Midwest
    • The South
    • Europe
    • Latin America
    • National Parks
    • Canada
  • Hotels
    • Hotels
    • Camping
    • Vacation Rentals
  • Home Decor
    • Home Decor
    • Whimsy Homes
  • Beauty
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Cocktails
    • Fandom
    • Wellness & Self Care
    • Witchy Things
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel

10 Good Books To Read While Traveling

  • Kara
  • December 8, 2018
  • Contains Affiliate Links
a book, old fashioned camera, hat, passport

Lazily sitting on a beach and reading few gripping novels in your beach bag… curled up on an airplane with clouds out the window and a good story in your lap. I love reading while traveling – these days, it’s some of the only times I get a chance to read a good book. Life these days is all go-go-go, but there is a lot of downtime on a trip, and that’s when I get to tackle books on my reading list! These are 10 good books to read while traveling this year (that aren’t Eat, Pray, Love lolz.)

Your reading style may be different from mine, but my favorite types of books to read while traveling are mysteries that grip me, quicker reads or light fantasy novels. Skip the heavy Pulitzer Prize novels, Vladimir Nabokov scripts and the prize winning nonfiction books for another time. Vacation is all about not making your head hurt too much, am I right? Plus, it sucks starting a book on a trip and not being able to finish it before that trip is over. A good travel book is hard to find, so I hunted for you! These are all the best books to read just for trips! Also, you can shop all of them on Amazon.

10 Best Books To Read While Traveling

The Beekeeper’s Apprentice

I’m obsessed with this fiction books series. It’s all about Mary Russell the young, smart wife of Sherlock Holmes! They solve mysteries together around the age of World War 1, but it’s told from the perspective of Mary and Sherlock is very much a secondary character, not the main focus. In some novels, he’s hardly there at all. It’s a refreshing take on the classic Holmes novels and I personally love how it’s all about girl power. There are * I think* 14 books in this series, so the perfect thing to tackle on a long adventure!

Red Tea

One of my friends wrote this book!!! Red Tea is a story about a woman from the United States who goes to live in a small village in Japan to teach English. Seems harmless until kids start popping up dead everywhere. My friend actually taught English in Japan years back and used her first-hand experience to write a tale that keeps you on your toes while educating you about Japanese culture. It’s a quicker read – perfect for a roundtrip flight

Red Alert: An NYPD Red Mystery

I read this book while on a plane to New York City! I actually finished it on the flight there – all of James Patterson’s books are fast reads. This story is about a bunch of rich guys in Manhattan getting murdered, and the cops who solve the crime. The mystery takes them literally all over New York, which was so fun to read right before I was heading there myself!

Great books to read while traveling can be ones set in the location you are traveling to!

Michelle Obama’s ‘Becoming’

“Your success will be determined by your own confidence and fortitude” Our formal first lady has! it! going! on! This is a book about practical insights and empowerment about life, along with a true story or few from her past.

Harry Potter (audiobooks!)

If you’re going on a long road trip, I highly recommend listening to the Harry Potter audiobooks! Obviously, this series is a must read books, but you can’t read while driving. We listened to books 1-4 while on a road trip around the UK and they were so riveting and well produced. Made our long hours of traveling via car so much fun! It’s a must-read for road trips.

A Woman In The Window

I read this while camping and it couldn’t put it down! It starts off slow, but has such a dramatic ending. The main character is a woman who has agoraphobia and hasn’t left her house in over a year and she’s a ~bit~ of a drunk (hey, I would be too if I were trapped inside for a year.) One day, she witnesses a murder across the street … but nobody believes that it actually happened.

Crazy Rich Asians

They’re rich. Like, really really freaking rich. Now made into a major motion picture, this story follows the lives most of us could never even dream to live.

Anything by Jennifer Crusie

Sometimes when you’re traveling, you just need something really easy, light and quick to read…aka not the most well written or elaborate, mind-bending novel in the world. Anything by Jennifer Cruise fits that bill. Best part? They’re as low as $2 on Kindle say WHAAAA?! Put on that privacy notice, you’re reading them all!

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

As one Amazon reviewer says “Imagine if Marilyn Monroe lived to be 79 years old, decided to write a tell-all book, and plucked you (assuming you’re an unknown 21st century journalist) out of obscurity to write it.” This book has all the old American Hollywood glam and a riveting story. Beautifully written & the greatest vacay read!

The Naturals

This story is all about a teenager who is really gifted at reading people. Picture Sherlock Holmes level of skill, so the FBI recruits her (and other teens with special gifts) to help solve cold cases. I haven’t read it yet (it’s on my list) but I’d be surprised if a teenager love triangle wasn’t tossed in there somewhere, too.

I hope this list of books helps you pack and an awesome story or two on your next trip!! I think these are all interesting books to read and have read (almost) all of them myself. If you have any good books to read that you want to add to the list, just leave a comment below. Also comment if you have questions, or you can DM me on Instagram @thewhimsysoul!

Kara

I'm the founder of Whimsy Soul (this blog you're reading!) I'm a type 3 enneagram cat lady who lives in San Francisco and loves to find everyday magic to share with others. You can probably find me hunting down hot springs with girlfriends, kayaking, cooking with my husband, petting strangers' dogs or watching like, all the things on Netflix. Follow me on Instagram for even more inspiration!

2 comments
  1. Shahzaad says:
    December 8, 2018 at 5:59 am

    You have a good taste in books, Kara.

    And yeah, perhaps, traveling is some of the only times when most people get a chance to read a book.

    Thank you for the awesome list, thanks.

    Reply
    1. Kara says:
      December 17, 2018 at 9:52 am

      Happy you like this list! With my busy daily life, a plane or long car ride is really the only time I can sit and read these days.

      Happy holidays
      Kara

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Trending Posts
  • Easy Lavender Iced Coffee Recipe
    • My Homemade Stuffed Crust Pizza Recipe That I Make Every Friday Night
      • 23+ Things To Do in Pensacola, Florida (According to a Local)
        About
        Whimsy Soul is a lifestyle website founded by Kara Harms. Together with a team of talented Whimsy Writers, we inspire our community to take the ordinary and make it extra.
        Learn More
        Follow Whimsy Soul
        Brand
        • About
          • About Us
          • Meet The Team
          • Soul Homesteading – Our Sister Blog
        • Contact
          • Contact
          • Work With Us
        • Careers
          • Guest Contribute
          • Open Job Positions
        Travel
        • Destinations
          • United States
          • Wine Regions
          • Latin America
          • Europe
        • City Guides
        • Hotels
        • Plan A Trip Map
        Lifestyle
        • Shop Staff Favorites
        • Fashion
        • Beauty
        • Recipes
        Whimsy Soul
        • About
        • Policies
        • Contact
        Find your everyday magic

        Input your search keywords and press Enter.