Beach Reads: Three Travel-Inspired Books to Bring on Vacation

Looking forward to curling up with a riveting read on the beach or poolside? Or just want a book to read while on the plane or on the train? Readers will find the following five books, evocative of exotic destinations, mysterious cultures, and interesting strangers, hard to put down.

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On the Road by Jack Kerouac

“Nothing behind me, everything ahead of me, as is ever so on the road.” Jack Kerouac's novel is part fiction, and part autobiography of his travels across America. It chronicles the adventures of Sal Paradise and his friend Dean Moriarty on the Great American Road Trip: A road to self-discovery and personal fulfillment. The settings are incredibly diverse, from small-town dive bars in the Midwest to party places in Mexico, and the characters' experiences are brought to vivid life thanks to Kerouac's masterful use of language.

The Beach by Alex Garland

“If I'd learnt one thing from travelling, it was that the way to get things done was to go ahead and do them. Don't talk about going to Borneo. Book a ticket, get a visa, pack a bag, and it just happens.”

Alex Garland's first novel tells the tale of a young, troubled English backpacker who sets out on a quest to find a legendary, idyllic, unspoilt beach in Thailand. Although Richard eventually finds it, not all are as they seem, and even paradise can be corrupted. The Beach is a modern-day Lord of the Flies: dark, compelling, touching on themes of loss of identity, drug use, and the breakdown of civilization. All these make it impossible to put down.

The Shipping News by Annie Proulx “Everybody that went away suffered a broken heart. 'I'm coming back some day,' they all wrote. But never did. The old life was too small to fit anymore.”

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Annie Proulx's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel is centered on Quoyle, a large, bumbling newspaperman from upstate New York who, as a consequence of tragic circumstances, finds himself uprooted and transplanted to Newfoundland. 

Proulx, a native New Englander, says a lot by saying little. In short, detailed sentences, she writes with incredible deftness about the harsh beauty of the Newfoundland coast, transporting readers to Killic-Claw, a place of magical knots, vivid dreams, and new beginnings.

A vacation is the perfect time to get some reading done. For more discussions on the best books to read while on vacation, follow this John Jefferis Twitter account.