Our top-10 books to holiday with this summer. Plus: must-visit bookshops around the world
To help you pick the right books for your summer reading list, we asked an array of cultural figures to share the titles old and new that have inspired them.
1.
‘Lonely Crowds: A Novel’ by Stephanie Wambugu
Selected by Kelsey Lu
“I relate deeply to the narrative and characters in Stephanie Wambugu’s 2025 book Lonely Crowds: A Novel – but in vastly different ways. It’s certainly not my story but it takes a very capable writer to make you feel seen in this way. It’s funny too, making it a truly great read for summer. I found myself having to slow down as I was approaching the end, out of fear that I was finishing it too quickly.”
Lu is an American singer and cellist.
2.
‘Is a River Alive?’ by Robert Macfarlane
Selected by Jessica Gardner
“Since my childhood, summer has meant outdoor swimming in creeks, rivers and the sea. So what better book to immerse yourself in than Robert Macfarlane’s 2025 work Is a River Alive? Part environmental treatise and part memoir, the author explores our relationship to nature and humanity through his journeys along three rivers in Ecuador, India and Quebec. This is a deeply poetic and spiritual book, beautifully written and peopled by friendships, so the narrative moves with their stories, as well as the flow of water.”
Gardner is the Cambridge University librarian and director of library services.
3.
‘King of Kings: The Iranian Revolution – A Story of Hubris, Delusion and Catastrophic Miscalculation’ by Scott Anderson
Selected by Kaja Kallas
“I have read many books on Iran but this one from 2025 stands out as being very well written, almost like a thriller. I just couldn’t put it down. Anderson looks at the time around the 1979 revolution but from a different angle. This is an especially relevant read today, as the geopolitical consequences of the revolution are playing out again in real time.”
Kallas is the vice-president of the European Commission.
4.
‘Democracy’ by Joan Didion
Selected by Zosia Mackenzie
“Joan Didion’s Democracy feels perfect to revisit this summer. I first read it years ago but I have been thinking about it again because its atmosphere feels newly relevant: themes of political drift, emotional detachment and the fading glamour of American power. The 1984 novel unfolds in a haze of tropical heat, political scandal and private disillusionment – where memories fragment, motives blur and chronology slips. Within that instability, Didion creates an eerily precise portrait of a culture shaped by performance and its selective memory. Democracy understands that history is often shaped less by ideology than by mood, memory and the stories that people decide not to tell themselves.”
Mackenzie is the production designer for the film ‘The Drama’.
5.
‘In the Name of Identity’ by Amin Maalouf
Selected by Ibrahim Maalouf
“In a time when cultural and identity fears are pushing people against one another, In the Name of Identity feels more necessary than ever. My uncle Amin Maalouf reminds us that we are never just one thing and that embracing our multiple identities is a strength, not a threat. This beautiful, lucid book, published in 1998, reconciles us with complexity, curiosity and humanity. Reading it this summer is not escaping the world – it’s facing the future with intelligence, openness and hope.”
Maalouf is a trumpeter and composer.
6.
‘The Elements of Power’ by Nicolas Niarchos
Selected by Lucas Zwirner
“I’ve been recommending that people read Nicolas Niarchos’s 2026 book The Elements of Power. As someone attuned to value and global networks, I found it totally gripping. The book makes colossal geopolitical forces feel immediate, interconnected and even tangible. It quietly but decisively shifts your world view.”
Zwirner is the chief commercial officer at David Zwirner art gallery.
7.
‘This Mouth is Mine’ by Yásnaya Elena Aguilar
Selected by Citlali Fabián
“This is a 2024 collection of essays by Yásnaya Elena Aguilar, a Mixe [a language family with speakers in Oaxaca, Mexico] linguist and one of the wisest voices from my region.With warmth and wit, she writes about Mexico’s indigenous languages and the quiet politics that erase them – an open letter that draws us into her life and experiences. ”
Fabián is a mixed-media photographer based in Mexico.
8.
‘Summer Light, and Then Comes The Night’ by Jón Kalman Stefánsson
Selected by Pietro Biancardi
“At times, being far from the world’s noise opens us up to the call of the heart and the senses. A tiny village of 400 souls in the Icelandic countryside becomes a magnifying glass on the eternal tug-of-war between human desire and the threads of fate. By blending poetic magic with an unrelenting wit, Stefánsson searches for an answer to the question, ‘Why do we live?’ Every page of this 2005 book is a revelation that hits deep, making us laugh, cry and dream.”
Biancardi is the publisher at Iperborea publishing house.
9.
‘All Fours’ by Miranda July
Selected by Maike Cruse
“There are books that I love reading because they allow me to escape my own thoughts and immerse myself in a character’s world. All Fours by Miranda July, from 2024, is one of those books. It’s about midlife crises, new beginnings and menopause. July’s characters are quirky, contradictory and a bit adrift. They nurture bizarre fixations and construct fanciful dreams, holding on to these with all their strength. Their inner worlds are relatable yet so offbeat that they provoke laughter and tears – occasionally simultaneously.”
Cruse is the director of Art Basel in Basel.
10.
‘Beginning Middle End’ by Valeria Luiselli
Selected by Olga Campofreda
“A mother, her daughter and the mythical landscape of Sicily over a summer. This 2026 book is the story of a woman looking for a new beginning after a divorce, while at the same time trying to start a new novel and looking after a 12-year-old girl. Merging memoir, road narrative and reflections upon female lineage, Valeria Luiselli’s latest work feels less like a novel than a new literary form altogether, where storytelling itself becomes an act of survival and reinvention.”
Campofreda is the curator of the Miu Miu Literary Club.
Our favourite bookshops
Looking for a quiet spot to browse the shelves? Here are 10 bookshops that get the Monocle stamp of approval.
Llibreria Finestres, Barcelona
Visit all three outposts for their superb book selection and innovative interior design.
Kalemat Bookstore, Dubai
With a quiet café and views of the Dubai skyline, Kalemat is a literary haven.
Good Company Books, Lisbon
This English-language bookshop emphasises Lusophone literature in translation.
Daunt Books, London
Leaded skylights, Edwardian shelving and a minstrels’ gallery make Daunt spectacular.
Read more: Leaf through London with 10 bookshops that are bound to please
Albertine, New York
Housed in a Gilded Age mansion, Albertine stocks the US’s largest commercial collection of French literature.
Read more: New York’s 10 best lesser-known bookshops
Librairie 7L, Paris
Established by the late Karl Lagerfeld, the sleek 7L focuses on photography, design and haute-couture publications.
Ogaki Shoten, Tokyo
This Kyoto-based bookshop’s first Tokyo outpost has a café and hosts exhibitions.
Livraria da Travessa, Rio de Janeiro
This beloved spot has exemplary curation and is set to expand with more outposts.
Gleebooks, Sydney
A cherished bookseller in Sydney for more than 50 years, Gleebooks has three locations.
Never Stop Reading, Zürich
This design-savvy shop is stacked with books on architecture, photography, art and design.