Can You Handle Some Literary Magic?

1. A Drop in the Ocean, by Jenny Ogden

When Anna Fergusson, a 49-year-old neuroscientist who specializes in Huntington’s disease, loses her job in Boston, she impulsively decides to rent a cabin on Turtle Island, a secluded spot along the Australian Great Barrier Reef — a serene and gorgeous setting where seabirds and turtles romp. This lush, lyrical read will make you question the fragility of life and plans, the complexity of love and new beginnings. And perhaps the best part? It will transport you to Turtle Island, and satisfy your craving for the beach.

2. Baby Island, by Carol Ryrie Brink

If you think you’re too old to read a children’s book, think again. Baby Island follows two young siblings, Mary and Jen, as they become stranded on a deserted island when a ferocious storm hits their ship. But they are not the only survivors — there are also four babies now under their care. First published in 1937, this book teaches you courage like few others can. If you read it as a child, read it again for a completely new experience. The context, the bravado and the hidden hope will affect you differently — we promise you won’t be disappointed.

3. The Beach House, by James Patterson

This murder mystery kicks off when Peter’s body is discovered off the coast of East Hampton. His brother Jack, a law student in New York City, smells foul play and decides to investigate. After some digging, he learns that Peter was much more than a valet for rich partygoers — he’d been making serious money satisfying the sexual needs of the richest women and men in town. In his search for answers, Jack comes up against local lawyers, police and paid protectors who separate the multimillionaire summer residents from hired help like his brother.

4. The Vacationers, by Emma Straub

This novel follows the secrets, joys and jealousies that emerge over the course of an American family’s two-week stay on Mallorca. The Posts have a lot to celebrate: a daughter who just graduated from high school and her parents’ 35th wedding anniversary. But skeletons fall out of the closet, laying bare the family’s unresolved past, at the most inopportune time. With descriptions of mountains, beaches, tapas and tennis courts — not to mention domestic drama — it’s a great read for your vacay.

5. The Forever Summer, by Jamie Brenner

What happens when your perfect world falls apart? Marin Bishop must spend her summer piecing together fragments of her much-loved former life after she loses her job and fiancé — along with her father’s respect — in one fell swoop. Fleeing to her grandmother’s beachside B&B on Cape Cod, with her newly discovered half sister, seemed like the only right thing to do. Join her at the seaside as she reconciles her definitions of success.

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1. The Overstory, by Richard Powers

This winner of the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for fiction will introduce you to trees around the world and their complex interconnections to the humans around them. Powers’ 12th novel was born when he experienced what some would call a “spiritual conversion” after encountering one of the last giant trees in the wilds in Northern California. Something about its towering height spoke to him, and he recognized it as being in the league of those great trees used to build Silicon Valley and San Francisco. In a collection of interwoven stories, you’ll encounter trees in the most surprising places and even track a fable told from the perspective of a Stanford University prison experiment survivor. Throughout, the writing is as picturesque and honest as a camping trip, and it’s the closest thing to being outdoors.

2. Harlem Grown: How One Big Idea Transformed a Neighborhood, by Tony Hillery

This picture book is inspired by Hillery’s real-life experience starting an urban farm to address food insecurity for inner city youths. The illustrations by Jessie Hartland (of Steve Jobs: Insanely Great fame) will no doubt bring the giggles to both you and your child. The wide-paged spreads open up like a giant “Where’s Waldo?” search, only it’s New York City’s Harlem. When our child protagonist, Nevaeh, first finds the lot, she calls it “the haunted garden,” and Hillery fires our imaginations with descriptions of shattered bottles and collapsed couches. Still, Nevaeh sees potential, and with some TLC, she and her community transform the lot into an oasis.

3. The Last American Man, by Elizabeth Gilbert

Gilbert offers a stirring look at contemporary American male identity as she explores the fascinating true story of Eustace Conway. Conway left home at age 17 to move to the Appalachian Mountains. For more than two decades, he lived in the rolling slopes, wearing skins from animals he’d hunted, and trying to convince others to renounce their materialistic ways and return to nature. The book challenges our assumptions about what it means to be a modern man in America.

4. Into Thin Air, by Jon Krakauer

This best-selling work of nonfiction is the author’s personal account of the events leading up to, and during, the 1996 Mount Everest disaster that claimed eight lives, four of them in his group. In this adventure novel like no other, Krakauer invites readers to journey with him as he delineates every detail of what’s necessary when trying to summit Everest. As the story reaches its climax, Krakauer unmasks the limitations of the human mind when deprived of oxygen and reveals the terrifying reality he experienced when actions were taken under the fight-or-flight response. This book also raises questions about who and how many should be allowed to climb Mount Everest when the stakes are so high.

5. Lord of the Flies, by William Golding

A harrowing survival manual, Lord of the Flies explores the space between boyhood and manhood, between boundaries and the boundless, between the governed and the ungoverned. The book seeks answers to century-long questions about the human condition: Do boys really grow up to be different from their fathers? Is violence an inherent part of human nature? When should you root for the underdog? And are some people born natural leaders?

1. Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage, by Alfred Lansing

This account of Edward Shackleton’s incredible expeditions to Antarctica in the early 20th century will make you wonder, dream, pray and hope — all as you travel on a journey that’s still very hard to make. But this book, as the name suggests, is ultimately about the will to survive. Endurance, a ship carrying 28 explorers, got trapped in ice that carried it far off course. The explorers were forced to survive with few provisions in sub-zero temperatures for two years, before inventive solutions helped them sail back to safety. We all encounter weak moments in life. Read this book, and you’ll be convinced to never give up.

2. Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston

If love’s an adventure, Janie Crawford is an explorer you want to know. This 1937 novel follows the life of the teenage Crawford as she finds out what love, life’s joys and sorrows, and womanhood meant for a Black woman at the start of the 20th century. Crawford’s journey through three marriages as an attractive, light-skinned, long-haired, dreamy girl takes her places she never thought were for her — including a self-discovery that helps her find her own voice.

3. The Alchemist, by Paul Coelho

Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy, is on a mission to find a treasure near the Egyptian pyramids. The source of his belief? A recurring dream that a gyspy fortune teller says points to the treasure. His travels throw up what seem like insurmountable obstacles, but as you might have guessed, this allegorical tale is about following your dreams no matter what, and reading the “omens” that appear along the way. Was Santiago’s dream real? Does he find the treasure? Grab this best-seller and find out.

4. Hippie Food, by Jonathan Kauffman

Up for a foodie adventure? This book takes you back to the ’60s, from vibrant spices in bustling Middle Eastern markets to quirky peacenik Seattle cafes. It’ll answer the questions you never thought to ask. Who created avocado toast? Why didn’t more Black hippies get back to the land? Kauffman’s tales lead us to examine the role food played in the awakening of a generation and how that brown rice bowl you often enjoy was once the perfect protest fuel. Turn up the volume on your favorite Jimi Hendrix album and get ready to cook up flower-child staples from the comfort of your home.

5. A Cook’s Tour: Global Adventures in Extreme Cuisines, by Anthony Bourdain

An adventure, travel and recipe book all rolled into one, this Bourdain classic takes you to places and uncovers flavors that — especially in these times — you can only dream of savoring. It’ll soothe the wanderlust of travel lovers and inspire anyone searching for adventure to find it in their own kitchens. And if you’re already planning some post-COVID-19 trips, Bourdain might have some spicy ideas for you to consider.

1. The Boys in the Boat, by Daniel James Brown

If the book’s subtitle — Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics — doesn’t grip you, an unmatched cast of characters most definitely will. An eccentric coach, a tireless boat-building mentor, a crew of sons from working-class America, elite rivals from fancy Eastern universities and Adolf Hitler’s personal team on the waters of pre-WWII Germany all combine in this brilliant read. Root for the underdog American eight-oar team as they take gold in an event in which no one gave them a chance. You’ll all but feel the water on your face and the wind tear through your hair as you grip your book tighter than an oar.

2. Liners to the Sun, by John Maxtone-Graham

How did cruising start? And how have some of the boldest and stupidest cruises formed part of the industry’s present? None of us is going on a cruise anytime soon — not while it’s likely you might end up quarantined on the ship, idling at sea because no one’s willing to let you dock during a pandemic. But Maxtone-Graham, a maritime historian and specialist in ocean liners and cruise ships, takes you back to happier days in the history of ocean-bound cruising.

3. Why We Swim, by Bonnie Tsui

This delightfully poetic reflection on water, and what continues to bring us back to it, quickly becomes about much more than the mere act of swimming. As Tsui, a journalist, takes readers from a San Francisco swim club to Saddam Hussein’s palace pool, and introduces you to samurai swimmers in Japan and the human seal of Iceland, she also explores her own personal, and gorgeous, relationship with the act of submergence. The pages fly in this work of reported nonfiction, more butterfly than breaststroke, leaving us to rise gasping for air between chapters, before being pleasantly dunked back into this masterfully researched pool of gems.

4. Master & Commander, by Patrick O’Brian

This is the first of a 20-novel series set around 1800 and focused on the exploits of a British Navy captain Jack Aubrey and his friend and ship’s surgeon, Stephen Maturin. Not unlike reading Moby Dick, the descriptions of sails and ropes, sheets and yardarms can be dizzying for someone not raised on the sea, but the effect is to put you right there on the ship, to the point that you can almost feel the salt spray hit your face. There are clashes with the French navy, international intrigue and characters who come vividly to life (and for those who saw the film adaptation, you can picture Russell Crowe in the lead role).

1. The Road Trip Book: 1001 Drives of a Lifetime, by Daryl Sleath

There’s something about getting behind the wheel with thousands of miles ahead of you that sort of dissolves everything else in the world. And Sleath’s book is truly the road trip bible, encapsulating many of the most breathtaking, extraordinary and fun road trips the world has to offer. The global routes featured vary in length and level of challenge, with details about distance, start and finish points, must-see stops, detours and more to help you plan an unforgettable trip for when you’re ready to hit the road again.

2. The Red Car, by Marcy Dermansky

When our unlikely protagonist, Queens resident Leah, inherits a red sports car from her boss, the chance to travel to San Francisco to retrieve it is just what she needs to escape from her life of unfulfilled ambitions and a loveless marriage. There’s an aimlessness to her journey, yet her desire to claim the prize of a lifetime is one you’ll identify with, as you root for her every mile along the way.

3. The Kindness of Strangers: Penniless Across America, by Mike McIntyre

This isn’t your traditional road trip through vast plains and open country. Instead it’s a memoir about a hitchhiker (Mike McIntyre) who, after realizing that his life is passing by while he toils in a job he no longer finds fulfilling, decides to trek across the country with nothing more than the clothes on his back and not even a penny in his pocket. He relies on strangers to help him weather the roads without money, food or a roof over his head. But it’s the stories those strangers share with him that are perhaps the greatest acts of generosity.

4. This Is How You Lose the Time War, by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

This isn’t a road-trip novel in the traditional sense, because it’s a journey through space and time. But those might well be the trips our grandchildren are taking decades from now, so really, it’s good to get prepped. It’s also a grand romance and an epistolary tour de force about two superbeings chasing each other all around the universe.

5. The Shooting Star: A Girl, Her Backpack and the World, by Shivya Nath

It’s a true story in the truest sense. At the age of 23, Nath quit her corporate job, sold her material possessions and gave up her permanent address — answering the call to wander. Nath’s journey takes her from India, her homeland, to Ecuador’s Amazon rain forests via Himalayan villages as she unlearns all that she thought was true about the world. She immerses himself in myriad cultures through conversations and experiences you’ll wish you could emulate. “The fear bred by the news compels people to stay at home — trapped in a shrinking comfort zone,” she writes. That’s true for so many of us. She chose a different path. After reading this book, you might too.

1. New York City: The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells, by Andrew Sean Greer

Greer won the Pulitzer for his beautiful, funny, heartbreaking novel Less, but this earlier work — a time travel fantasy — is an unforgettable love letter to New York City through the years. Grieving Greta Wells, who lost her brother to the AIDS crisis of the 1980s, finds herself cycling through multiple past lives and trying to fix those other timelines when she can’t fix her own.

2. Istanbul: Memories and the City, by Orhan Pamuk

Part memoir of a family and part meditation on culture, this is a story of the conflict between the East and West, told through the city itself. Orhan Pamuk’s writing is unparalleled, symmetrical and subtle. Most of all, the book will make you long for Istanbul — the frescoes of Hagia Sophia, the cobbled streets of Balat — even if you’ve never been. There’s no better travel guide, especially when you can’t visit the actual city.

3. Philadelphia: Such a Fun Age, by Kiley Reid

This coming-of-age story follows 25-year-old Emira, a Black woman in Philadelphia, who works as a nanny for the children of tightly wound Alix. Their parallel lives in the city tell a smart, insightful story of racial microaggressions building up, of a Black woman finding herself and of a white woman trying to use her nanny in spiritually unethical ways.

4. Paris: The Dud Avocado, by Elaine Dundy

Pink-haired bohemian American-in-Paris Sally Jay Gorce sounds like the kind of person you’d hate to meet at a party, but in author Elaine Dundy’s hands, she’s delightful and clueless in all the right ways. Her jaunts around Paris will make you feel as though you’re with her, making all the same dumb decisions. This 1958 classic is based on Dundy’s own experiences in the City of Light.

5. Gaborone: The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, by Alexander McCall Smith

Your smile will not leave your face. That’s a guarantee, if you pick up this series of novels in which 34-year-old Precious Ramotswe takes on detective work in Botswana’s capital city of Gaborone. From cheating husbands to a cook who’s being blackmailed, nothing and no one is beyond Ramotswe. With dollops of humor enlivening every page, this series is unlike any other detective fiction you’ve read. Before you know it, you’ll be in love with Gaborone and Botswana.