When you finally have everything all set to travel abroad, the plane tickets are bought and your checked luggage is packed, you finally have time to pack the things you actually want and not the bare necessities. For me, this always means filling up my carry on backpack with as many books as will fit. These are books that will feel like home and will hopefully be something that you want to pick up while drinking coffee in a Parisian cafe or more likely while waiting six hours in an Atlanta airport for your flight connection…
1. "The Summer I Turned Pretty"
By: Jenny Han
This is the perfect book if you are looking for a little romance. It is about a girl named Belly (I know, it’s weird) who every summer goes to live at a beach house with these two amazingly hot boys, and all of a sudden she realizes that they could be interested in her and worse, that she could be interested in them. This is perfect if your study abroad takes you near a beach as this book loves a little sand in its pages.
2. "Stolen"
By: Lucy Christopher
This book is definitely for someone who is looking for a little bit more of a fear factor. This is written as a letter from the victim of a kidnapping to her kidnapper. Gemma was taken from the airport by a mysterious and handsome man who brought her to the middle of the desert in Australia to live with him. It is heartbreaking and thought-provoking because a kidnapping can seem so different when the captor is young, attractive, and seemingly in love with you. Read this if you are looking for just a little excitement and nervousness while waiting for your layover in Bangkok.
3. "Lunch in Paris: A Love Story with Recipes"
By: Elizabeth Bard
The book is a must if you are headed to Paris. This is one woman’s story of how she went to Paris, met an impossibly cute man, ate the most amazing food of her life, and decided to never go home. This will totally start a fire in those romantic parts of your mind that make you picture yourself strolling down Parisian alleys late at night with a handsome man and everything goes your way. It is a totally relatable book that shows the protagonist soothing homesickness with chocolate and trying to split up her time between dates with her new French boyfriend and eating as much as she possibly can.
4. "Who Will Run the Frog Hospital?"
By: Lorrie Moore
If you are a small town girl out in the big wide world and feeling a little scared, this might be perfect for you. This is the story of two best friends and all the hijinx that they get into while working summers at their local amusement park. It is amazingly well written and totally heartwarming. Perfect for when London just seems a little bit too big.
5. "Sputnik Sweetheart"
By: Haruki Murakami
Last on my list is perhaps my favorite book. This is the story of a young writer girl who goes missing. Not like kidnapped or abducted missing, more like she just vanishes into thin air and her few friends that she leaves behind, including a much older woman lover and the man who has been pining after her since they met, are left to scramble to find her. It really hits home if you find yourself walking around your new country and thinking that maybe you could just disappear and start a new life there. (But for real, go home. Your family misses you.)
