This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
Hurrah! Holiday time is finally upon us so I’ve been scrolling through the #bookadayuk hashtag, which is now being hosted by Doubleday Books UK, for some inspired beach reads. From books that are long enough to last the entire holiday to shorter books about summer romantic adventures, there are a variety of novels to choose from. I do love this hashtag. It provides so much bookish inspiration –perfect for us book nerds.
1. The Lemon Grove by Helen Walsh – If you’re online, and you must be to read this, chances are you’ve heard of this book. There has been a massive buzz about it. It follows the story of a married woman who falls for her stepdaughter’s boyfriend while on a family holiday in Majorca.
2. One Summer: America 1927 by Bill Bryson – A forgotten summer of 1927. The summer with a booming stock market, which saw the birth of talking pictures, plus a devastating flood of the Mississippi and a sensational murder trial. All brought back to life by Bill Bryson.
3. Ice Cream Girls by Dorothy Koomson – When Poppy and Serena were teenagers they witnessed a tragic event and were consequently given the title of The Ice Cream Girls by the media. Now, as adults, Poppy wants to set the record straight however Serena wants to keep the past in the past. But some secrets don’t want to remain hidden…
4. Casting Off by Emma Bamford – This is a memoir about a journalist who decided to escape the rat race and go off on an adventure. Having answered an advert on the internet for ‘crew wanted’, she flies to Borneo to live on a boat with a man she had never met before. And his cat. This is the book about her subsequent adventures.
5. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres – This novel is set in the early days of the Second World War. Captain Antonio Corelli is an Italian officer in command. It isn’t long before he and the doctor’s daughter, Pelagia, are having an affair. 
6. Where Rainbows End by Cecelia Ahern – Rosie and Alex were childhood friends only separated by Alex moving with his family to America. They have been apart all these years. Until now.
7. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt – The winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction 2014 this is the story of Theo Decker, who survives an accident that tears his life apart and which gradually leads him to the criminal underworld.
8. The Time of Our Lives by Jane Costello – Imogen and her two friends are off on an all expenses paid holiday thanks to Meredith winning a VIP holiday to Barcelona. But their plans of champagne and relaxation amongst the jet-set does not quite live up to reality as they stumble about from one disaster to another.
9. The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton – In the 1960s, teenager Laurel is hiding in a treehouse when she witnesses a shocking crime. It is now the present and Laurel is a well-loved actress, but she is haunted by the past and, wanting to know more about what she saw, she discovers the story of three people: Dorothy, Vivien and Jimmy in wartime London.
10. The Longest Holiday by Paige Toon – Leo is a sexy Cuban scuba diver whom Laura finds herself falling for, hard, in Florida’s Key West.
What books are you planning to read on your summer holiday this year?