In this blog article, we have gathered recommendations on literary classics to bring along on your travel journey. These ten books are essential companions if you want to expand your horizons and enrich your travels. If you want to deepen your curiosity, and carry stories with you through heart, soul and mind - these recommendations are a handful of both warm, frightening, witty and nostalgic favourites you should add to your suitcase and bookshelf. Don’t have any place left in your travel bag? Download with audiobook or become a member at Audible.

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café by Fannie Flagg

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café by Fannie Flagg is a warm, deeply human story that weaves together past and present through the lives of women in a small Alabama town. Blending humor, heartbreak, and Southern charm, it explores friendship, identity, resilience, and the quiet acts of bravery that shape ordinary lives.

The Cider House Rules by John Irving

The Cider House Rules by John Irving is a richly layered novel that follows Homer Wells, an orphan raised in a remote Maine asylum, as he grows into his own moral compass beyond the world he knows. Blending compassion, complexity, and Irving’s signature storytelling, the book explores themes of family, choice, love, and the ethical gray areas in life. In 1999 the book was adapted into a movie and won two Oscars.

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

The book A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara is a sweeping, emotionally intense novel about friendship, trauma, and healing over several decades. Though heavy, its raw emotional power keeps it consistently in conversation and on bestseller lists.

The Boy In The Striped Pajamas by John Boyne

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne is a haunting, pared-back story about an unlikely friendship between two young boys separated by the fence of a concentration camp during World War II. Told through the innocent eyes of a child, the novel exposes the devastating consequences of ignorance, prejudice, and war in a way that is both simple and profoundly affecting.

Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer

Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, which has a movie with the same name, follows the true story of Christopher McCandless, a young man who abandons conventional life to pursue radical freedom in the Alaskan wilderness. The book blends adventure, introspection, and investigative journalism, exploring the human desire for meaning, solitude, and escape from societal expectations. A must-read for any travel soul.

The Time Machine by H. G. Wells

Written by H. G. Wells, The Time Machine is a groundbreaking, dystopian science-fiction novella that follows a Victorian scientist who travels far into the future, only to discover a world divided between the gentle Eloi and the subterranean Morlocks. Both imaginative and sharply critical, the story blends adventure with social commentary, using time travel to explore humanity’s evolution, inequality, and the consequences of our choices across millennia.

The Grapes Of Wrath by John Steinbeck

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck is a powerful, unflinching portrayal of the Joad family as they flee the Dust Bowl in search of dignity and survival in California. Blending intimate human struggle with sweeping social criticism, the novel captures both the brutality and resilience of people pushed to their limits, making it one of the most enduring works on hardship, hope, and the fight for justice in America.

The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain follows young Huck as he escapes his troubled life and journeys down the Mississippi River alongside Jim, an enslaved man seeking freedom. Through sharp humor and vivid storytelling, the novel confronts the moral contradictions of its time, offering a timeless exploration of friendship and the courage to challenge society’s unjust norms. It is a heart-touching and important story that is both humorous, sweet and sad at the same time.

A Wizard Of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin is a beautifully crafted coming-of-age tale that follows Ged, a gifted but impulsive young mage, as he confronts the dark force he accidentally unleashes. With its lyrical prose and profound reflections on balance, identity, and responsibility, the novel stands as a timeless cornerstone of fantasy literature—powerful, deeply wise, and endlessly imaginative. An absolute classic you have to read if you are exploring fantasy.

The Little White Bird by J. M. Barrie

The Little White Bird written by J. M. Barrie is a whimsical, introspective novel that blends fantasy with tender reflections on imagination, childhood, and the bittersweet ache of growing up. Best known for introducing Peter Pan in this book, the story drifts between London life and magical storytelling, offering a nostalgic meditation on the joys and complexities of fatherhood and childhood. The Peter Pan story and this original book where it all stems from in J. M. Barries work, is a beautiful fairytale story that suits well for adults - just be aware that this can be quite a hard read, as the plot is quite whimsical and the language can be a challenge due to it being a book from 1902. Nevertheless, a classic.