I don’t know about about you, but there’s something about the onset of summer that makes me dream of other lands. I love to escape into books and often find new activities to try and places to visit based on what I read. Here’s a list of 10 beach reads that will leave you dreaming of distant shores and planning next year’s summer vacation!

Turkey

The Strange Journey of Alice Pendlebury Set in Post-War London, Alice Pendlebury is a young single “nose”- perfume scent developer, who gets told by a fortune teller in Brighton that she’ll meet 6 people on her quest to find out about her mysterious past in Turkey. Let visions of Cappadocia fill your head as you follow Alice on this wild adventure!

Wisconsin

The Coincidence of Coconut Cake Okay, I know what you’re thinking, “who feels wanderlust for Milwaukee?” You will, after reading this book! This foodie novel is a love letter to Milwaukee and will make anyone add it to their summer travel list! Lou, the restauranteur/chef behind struggling Luella’s fine french restaurant and Al, a British food critic who’s spent too much time with Gordon Ramsey, will take you on a Nora Ephron worthy romance!

England

Emma: A Modern Retelling Jane Austen fan or not, this charming novel will transport you to the English countryside and have you aching for rolling misty hills, high tea, and long gravel drives. In this very close retelling of Jane Austen’s Emma, Alexander McCall Smith captures the nuances of the characters even as he adjusts the story for the modern era. Fans of the original will bask in the little details, and even those unfamiliar with the source material will find joy in this quintessentially British story.

Nova Scotia

New Girl in Little Cove Set in Nova Scotia in the 1980’s, Rachel O’Brien, a mainlander Canadian gets a job as the new french teacher at the catholic school in this island fishing village and immediately starts ruffling feathers. Domnhait Monaghan’s rich descriptions of both people and setting will send your imagination running and you’ll be looking up flights to Nova Scotia before you even finish the book.

The Great Lakes

The Suite Spot Without giving away the shocking set up in this novel, single mother Rachel Beck finds herself with a lot of hotel experience and in need of a big change of pace. When, on impulse she takes a management position at a brewery hotel on Lake Erie, she expects the hotel to actually be open for business but instead finds herself with the opportunity to build a business from the ground up and reinvent herself in the process. This book will have you dreaming of lake days and pinewood forests.

France

Lunch in Paris: A Love story, with recipes Based on her own life, this book tells the story of when Elizabeth Bard went to Paris for a weekend, met a frenchman, and never went home. It’s the Parisian romance every girl dreams of, complete with recipes for all the French food Elizabeth fell just as in love with as the man.

The Lost Vintage Kate, a native Californian with French roots is studying to become a Master of Wine, the highest level a sommelier can reach. In an effort to give her a leg up on the test, she visits her family’s ancestral vineyard in France and starts digging up secrets from the second world war. Unlike, Lunch in Paris which will have you strolling along the Seine in your dreams, this book will take you south to Bordeaux and have you salivating over crisp white wine and rolling hills covered in vineyards.

Japan

Before the Coffee Gets Cold This quirky novel is probably the most unique book on this list. To quote from the back of the book, “A cafe in Tokyo where patrons can travel back in time. But only until their coffee gets cold… What would you change if you could travel back in time?” Immerse yourself in Japanese culture as you enter into the lives of a number of people who attempt to change their past, before their coffee grows cold.

Mongolia

Rough Magic: Riding the World’s Loneliest Horse Race This memoir of when Lara Prior-Palmer became the first woman, and youngest person ever to win the 1000 kilometer Mongol Derby, a race across the Mongolian desert, ridden largely on feral horses, while constantly bombarded with extreme weather conditions. This book is an actual ride, and will leave you dreaming of nomads and arid landscapes.

Colorado

A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains This book is a wildcard here. Unlike the rest on this list, this one was written in the 1800’s. It’s a collection of letters Isabella Bird wrote to her sister during the autumn of 1873 when, on her return journey from Hawaii to London, she decided to ride horseback 500 miles through the Rocky Mountains in what is now Colorado. Anyone who has ever hiked in Colorado or wanted to will recognize names like Estes Park and this book will have you dying to get out there and explore these gems today.

Do you have any wanderlust inspiring summer reads? Drop them in the comments!