If you’ve already blocked off days on your calendar to travel with friends in the coming months, you’re doing summer right. The season’s long days and hot weather are practically a call to vacation, so of course your wanderlust is flaring up. Why fight it? Barring serious obstacles and obligations at home, now's the time to take advantage of the chance to enjoy new sights.
Although traveling alone can be great, I find trips with friends to be even more memorable. Admittedly, it’s not always smooth sailing, because personalities can clash and even close friends can get snippy, but overall there’s nothing like travel to deepen the special bond between BFFs. Packing quality reading material can minimize problems by providing entertainment, whether on the road or in the down times when everyone just wants to relax. To make travel easier on all of you, we’ve partnered with Oyster to compile a list of books that you won't want to leave home without.
If you and your crew have travel plans in the works, here are seven books you should add to your packing list.
Oyster is an app for reading books on your smartphone or tablet. Discover new books, download them in seconds, and even read them offline. Buy books on Oyster or subscribe to Oyster Unlimited—dubbed the “Netflix for books”—to get access to over 1 million books. Click here to get started with three months of reading on Oyster Unlimited for $0.99.
The Group by Mary McCarthy
Once shocking and controversial, Mary McCarthy’s The Group is the critically-acclaimed story of eight college friends’ first summer after graduating with the Class of 1933. Gathering for the wedding of one group member, the women have to face the real world head-on, each dealing with their own struggles, goals, and ideals. With their very distinct personalities, you and your friends are bound to find them relatable.
Snobs by Julian Fellowes
Given that it's written by the creator of Downton Abbey, Snobs is guaranteed to hook you. The contemporary novel centers on Edith, a young woman from a middle-class English family whose life suddenly gains new possibilities when the very eligible Charles, Earl of Broughton, proposes to her. Like the characters in the book, you and your pals can try to decide whether Edith is more into Charles or his title.
Adulting by Kelly Williams Brown
Adulting by Kelly Williams Brown covers the struggles that we all deal with as we transition to adulthood, and provides a guide to dealing with them. You and your besties can bond over these common trials and tribulations, while learning valuable lessons. There’s strength in numbers, after all.
Prospect Park West by Amy Sohn
If your squad loves following and discussing TV shows together, Prospect Park West by Amy Sohn will provide dramatic storylines to spice up your trip. This satire follows four women over the course of an eventful summer in Brooklyn. The book has everything, from love and sex to the pressures of parenting to kleptomania. (Bet you didn’t see that last one coming.)
The Astronaut Wives Club by Lily Koppel
Lily Koppel’s The Astronaut Wives Club tells the true story of the women whose husbands were selected for the dangerous and high-profile Mercury Seven space missions. Whether or not you've watched the new TV adaptation, you’ll be intrigued by the women’s sudden rise to fame, and the ways their lives and marriages were affected. The strength of their bond in light of everything they faced will inspire you.
The Summer of First and Lasts by Terra Elan McVoy
If your friends are like sisters, you’ll love The Summer of First and Lasts by Terra Elan McVoy. Set at a summer camp, three siblings deal with the good and bad of growing up and first love. There’s rebellion, betrayal, and forgiveness, all with the requisite splash of teenage angst.
The Recipe for Radiance: Discovering Beauty's Best-Kept Secrets in Your Kitchen by Alexis Wolfer
The Recipe for Radiance: Discovering Beauty's Best-Kept Secrets in Your Kitchen by Alexis Wolfer provides natural beauty remedies that you’ll be dying to try, with methods for everything from fighting wrinkles to evening skin tone. Team up with your friends to test out your favorite recipes. It’ll be like the sleepovers of your youth, only better.
Image: Pedro Ribeiro Simões/flickr
