Travel reading: We take these 5 books with us on vacation

holiday reading
We take these 5 books with us when we travel

Colleen Hoover: “Forever a part of you”

Colleen Hoover says she keeps trying to write romantic comedies, but never really succeeds. Also “Forever a Part of You” deals with subjects too heavy to fall into that category. Kenna comes out of prison after five years trying to process the tragic events that led to her incarceration. Above all, she wants to finally hug her now four-year-old daughter – for the first time in her life. “Forever a Part of You” is very emotional, but Colleen Hoover still manages to tell this powerful story with ease. When you read it, you feel incredibly empathetic – both with Kenna and with all the other characters. This clever book is simultaneously tragic and hopeful without being kitschy (dtv 15.95 euros).

July Zeh: “New Year”

An exciting choice not only for holidaymakers in the Canary Islands and young parents: the narrow band “New Year” by Juli Zeh is a novel about the demands of family life. He plays in Lanzarote, where vacationers Henning get on his bike in the morning to feel his own limits again, his wife and children are still asleep. He quickly realizes that and why he cannot find his role between job, family, marriage and self-care. “I had the same problem as Henning when I became a mother – I just didn’t find my role,” said Juli Zeh in an interview with “BRIGITTE Woman”. She wrote the novel in a frenzy, the idea came to her in Lanzarote. Like writing “New Year”, the reading is short but intense (btb Verlag, 11 euros).

Lucy Foley: “Summer Night”

In “Summer Night” the successful digital journalist Julia and the TV star Will celebrate their wedding. The extravagant setting: a remote island off the west coast of Ireland. Lucy Foley tells the exciting story of these wedding celebrations, where not only the weather puts a spoke in the wheel for the bride and groom, from different perspectives. This suspenseful thriller poignantly shows that we often don’t know the people closest to us as well as we think we do. The dark secrets of this wedding party claim at least one victim in the end. And you’re rooting for the last second (Penguin, 11 euros)!

Taylor Jenkins Reid: “The Seven Men of Evelyn Hugo”

Thanks to social media and the like, we are often convinced that we know everything about the lives of others – especially celebrities. “The Seven Men of Evelyn Hugo” is a sensitive novel that cleverly refutes this misconception little by little and shows how much we can be deceived by external appearances. Taylor Jenkins Reid tells this queer love story about Hollywood legend Evelyn Hugo in a gripping way and with a lot of empathy – even for those characters who hurt others through their actions. A wonderful reminder that no one is exclusively good or bad, but that we all do our best (Ullstein, 10.99 euros).

Hanya Yanagihara: “A Little Life”

If the heat of the Mediterranean summer doesn’t have you glued to the lounger – this novel by the American writer Hanya Yanagihara will probably do, and not just because of its almost 1000 pages. The book about the lives of four friends in New York is absolutely captivating and shows the full spectrum of being human: from merciless cruelty to nurturing warmth and unconditional love. The story of the four men is an emotional roller coaster ride that makes you laugh and cry. Volker Weidermann in the Literary Quartet quite rightly called it “an overwhelming book” (Piper, 18 euros).

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