5 Books to Read Before Your All Inclusive Vacation | Your Next Chapter: Beach Getaway
You've booked the trip. The kids are counting down the days on a calendar in the kitchen, and you keep opening your phone just to look at the resort photos again. That stretch between booking and boarding is its own little season, and it deserves its own reading list.
So here are five books that match the mood of a beach getaway. Warm, breezy, a little romantic, easy to fall into by a pool with a drink sweating on the table next to you. None of them are set at an all-inclusive resort, that's not the point. They're just the right temperature for where you're headed.
Beach Read, by Emily Henry
Two writers, one summer house next door to each other, and a bet that pushes them both out of their creative ruts. It's funny, warm, and light on its feet, exactly what you want when you're easing into vacation mode and don't want to think too hard yet.
I always recommend this one for the first day of a trip, the flight down or the first afternoon by the pool while everyone else naps. It sets the tone.
People We Meet on Vacation, by Emily Henry
Two best friends, one summer trip a year, and a falling out that's kept them apart for the last two years. This one plays with timelines, jumping between past trips and the present one, and it captures that specific feeling of a friendship built entirely around travel.
If you've got a travel friend of your own, someone you only really see on trips like this one, this book will hit differently. It's the kind of story that makes you want to text that person the second you finish it.
Malibu Rising, by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Set over one wild day in 1983, this follows four siblings, children of a famous musician, as their lives converge at their annual end of summer party. It's got warmth, family tension, and a real sense of place, that specific California coastal energy.
I like this one for families who are drawn to the beach as much for the lifestyle as the water itself. It's a good poolside read that still has some depth to it.
One Italian Summer, by Rebecca Serle
A woman grieving her mother travels to the Amalfi Coast on the trip they had always planned to take together, and finds something unexpected waiting for her there. It's emotional, but never heavy, and the setting does a lot of the work.
This is the one I'd pack for a quieter moment on the trip. An early morning with coffee before everyone else is up, or a plane ride when you want something that will actually hold your attention.
The Guest List, by Lucy Foley
A wedding on a remote island off the coast of Ireland, a storm rolling in, and a guest list full of people with reasons to want the groom gone. This one is faster and darker than the rest of the list, more thriller than romance, but it shares that same immersive, can't put it down quality.
If your travel style leans more suspense than sunshine, this is the pick that will keep you up past your bedtime, in the best way.
Ready to plan your own version of this trip?
If you're dreaming of a stretch of beach, a good book, and a vacation where everything is handled for you, let's start there.
Fill out my Trip Starter Form at https://wonderwithpat.com/planyourtrip and I'll take it from there.
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