Holidays are a time when most people pick up a book or an e-reader. Those of us here at Cyclebodia who read English language fiction have created a list of our holiday reading recommendations. Whether you like to read on the beach, by the pool or at a table with plenty of coffee and cake to hand, we hope we’ve suggested a novel that will really add to your holiday experience.
The Holiday by T.M. Logan: Three families rent a villa in Provence for seven days. What was supposed to be a perfect holiday spirals into deceit, ugly secrets, rage and death.
Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart: It is 1981. Glasgow is dying and good families must grift to survive. Poignant and brutal. Not a feelgood novel.
The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo by Amy Schumer: Amy shares stories about her family, her relationships, her career, good – and bad – sex, recounting the experiences that have shaped who she is today. Witty, deadpan honesty.
The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead: Elwood Curtis is sent to the Nickel Academy, a chamber of horrors, where abuse is rife, where corrupt officials and tradesmen do a brisk trade in supplies intended for the school, and where any boy who resists is likely to disappear ‘out back’.
Little Disasters by Sarah Vaughan: A deep dive into the complexity of motherhood. Women’s literary fiction.
Shakespeare for Squirrels by Christopher Moore: Shakespeare meets Dashiell Hammett in this wildly entertaining murder mystery. An uproarious, hardboiled take on the Bard’s most performed play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary: A wonderfully uplifting debut is a joyous confection of comic misunderstanding and endearing romance between two residents of the same flat who have never met.
Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi: In a small back alley in Tokyo, there is a café which offers its customers a unique experience: the chance to travel back in time.
The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin: A.J. Fikry, bookstore owner, is going through a hard time. But one day A.J. finds two-year-old Maya, with a note attached to her asking the owner to look after her. His life – and Maya’s – is changed forever.
A Faulty Eviction by Daniel Adam Garwood -The eccentric tenants of Pendrick Court refuse to accept eviction notices from their tyrannical landlord. They band together and form a war cabinet. Will they hold on to their apartments? Will all of them make it through the battle alive? Fresh, fast-paced, clever and incredibly funny.