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Sometime last week, I put a poll on my Instagram to ask you guys what YOU would like to read next, and surprisingly, a lot of you wanted book recommendations! Well, actually, 50% wanted books, and the other 50% wanted me to write more Thailand blogs, which, of course, I will do over the course of time. However, I think this is a great opportunity for me to share my recommendations with you, especially this year, because I have been reading A LOT this year (on my 16th book now). AND, unexpectedly, they have mostly all been books by female authors!
They aren’t all travel books, and they aren’t even all the same kind of story. There are travel memoirs, historical fiction, cosy fiction, and a psychological thriller series that I absolutely couldn’t put down. What they do have in common is that they were written by women and, in very different ways, took me somewhere.
Sometimes that meant an actual country I hadn’t visited. Sometimes it meant stepping into a completely different culture or another woman’s life. And sometimes it simply meant disappearing into a story for a few hours and forgetting about everything else I was supposed to be doing.
Rather than give you a list of every book I’ve read this year, I’ve picked five that I genuinely enjoyed and would happily recommend to another reader. I am not going to rate or rank any of the books, though, for two main reasons: first, I don’t dare to rank these powerful, strong, vocal women who have so marvellously put their emotions into their books, and second, because a book doesn’t have to be a “bestseller” or the “best book I have read” to be worth recommending; sometimes, it just needs to give you a safe haven you can disappear into on a random Thursday night.
So, here is what you asked for.
The Shooting Star
By Shivya Nath
What it’s about
The Shooting Star is Shivya Nath’s travel memoir about the early years of building a life around travel. It follows her journey away from a more conventional path and into independent travel, as she figures out what it means to make travel part of everyday life rather than something reserved for a few weeks of annual leave.
What I particularly liked is that it doesn’t feel like a simple collection of places visited. There is much more of a sense of following the journey itself: the experiences, decisions, and discoveries that gradually shaped the traveller and writer Shivya would become.
Why I recommend it
I have been a big fan of Shivya ever since I first stumbled across her blog in 2012. She was one of the primary inspirations behind why I chose travel writing, so when I found out she had published her first book, I ordered it immediately. That was in 2018. Yes, it then took me eight years to actually read it.
I started The Shooting Star a few times over the years, but life was complicated and something or another always seemed to get in the way. When I set myself the goal of reading 20 books this year to revive my reading habit, I decided this had to be the first one.
And I really enjoyed it. Shivya’s writing is beautifully worded, which I wasn’t expecting any less from someone whose blog I had been following for so long, but what I particularly liked was getting to see the earlier part of her journey. It felt almost as though I was travelling alongside her during those years and getting a glimpse of the experiences that helped shape the travel writer I already knew from her work.
That was probably the biggest reason this book stayed with me. I wasn’t reading it as someone who had just discovered a travel writer; I was reading the story of someone whose work had influenced my own decision to become one. There are plenty of travel memoirs out there, but for me, that personal connection made The Shooting Star a very different reading experience.
Where it took me
One of the things I loved about The Shooting Star is the sheer range of experiences Shivya brings into the book. You get the kind of travel stories that make you feel as though you’ve been dropped into the middle of somewhere completely unfamiliar, from taking part in an Ayahuasca ceremony in the Amazon rainforest in Ecuador to lying beneath the Milky Way in Spiti. There are remote landscapes, encounters with different communities, and plenty of moments where travel feels much more about the experience itself than simply arriving somewhere and seeing the sights.
It is also a good reminder that travel can look very different from the standard holiday itinerary. Shivya’s experiences take you into places and situations that you probably wouldn’t encounter on a conventional trip, which is part of what makes the book so enjoyable for anyone who is drawn to more independent, curious ways of travelling.
Read this if…
You enjoy travel memoirs that are about more than ticking destinations off a list, or you’re curious about what happens behind the travel blogs and stories you follow online. And if you’ve ever bought a book because you knew you really wanted to read it and then somehow left it sitting on your shelf for eight years, you’ll probably understand my relationship with this one.
The Lion Women of Tehran
By Marjan Kamali
What it’s about
The Lion Women of Tehran is historical fiction set primarily in Tehran from the 1950s onwards, following the friendship between Ellie and Homa as they grow up against a backdrop of enormous political and social change in Iran. The two girls come from very different circumstances: Ellie grows up with more privilege, while Homa comes from a politically active family and develops a strong sense of justice from a young age. Their friendship is tested repeatedly as their lives, ambitions and political beliefs take them in very different directions.
The novel moves between their personal lives and the wider changes happening around them, making it as much a story about friendship, class and women’s lives as it is about Iran’s turbulent history.
Why I recommend it
I picked this one up because I wanted something that would take me somewhere I haven’t travelled yet, and The Lion Women of Tehran did that really well. I knew very little about what Tehran and everyday life in Iran might have looked like during the 1950s and the decades that followed, and I enjoyed getting that perspective through the lives of two women rather than through a purely historical account.
What I particularly liked was the contrast between Ellie and Homa. They grow up very differently and have very different ideas about what they want from life, but their friendship remains at the centre of the story. Homa is the more politically outspoken of the two, while Ellie is much more concerned with finding a safe and comfortable life, and watching those differences develop as they grow older gives the story quite a lot of its tension.
I also liked that the history never completely takes over the story. The political upheaval matters because of what it does to these women and the people around them. You see how decisions made at a national level eventually reach into friendships, families, relationships and ordinary everyday life.
There are some difficult parts to the story, particularly around women’s rights, political repression and violence, so this isn’t exactly light reading. But I thought Kamali handled the historical setting in a way that made me want to know more about Iran rather than simply giving me a history lesson.
Where it took me
This book took me straight into Tehran, particularly the Tehran of the 1950s and 1960s. Some of my favourite parts were the scenes of Ellie and Homa wandering through the Grand Bazaar, spending time at Homa’s family home and experiencing a side of Tehran that is very different from the city most of us probably picture today. Kamali brings in the food, markets, homes and everyday details of Iranian life alongside the larger political story.
As the story progresses, you also get to see Tehran and Iran change through the eyes of the women living there, from the political tensions of the earlier decades through the revolution and its aftermath. For me, that was one of the strongest reasons to read it: it gave me a window into a country and period of history that I knew far less about than I realised.
Read this if…
You like historical fiction that gives you a strong sense of place without becoming a history textbook, particularly stories about female friendship, women’s lives and cultures you may not know much about. If Iran is somewhere you’ve been curious about but haven’t travelled to yet, this is also a good book to add to your reading list before you start planning that trip.
Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop
By Hwang Bo-reum
What it’s about
Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop is a gentle slice-of-life novel set in a neighbourhood in Seoul. It follows Yeongju, who leaves behind her high-pressure corporate job and marriage and opens a small bookshop and café, despite having no real idea what she is doing. As the shop slowly finds its feet, she gathers a group of customers, friends and employees around her, each dealing with their own questions about work, relationships, expectations and what they actually want from life.
There isn’t a huge plot driving the book forward, and that’s rather the point. Much of the story is made up of conversations, everyday encounters and the gradual development of the people who find their way into the bookshop. It is really a book about books, coffee, community and figuring out what makes a life feel worthwhile.
Why I recommend it
This was probably the cosiest book I read this year, but I don’t mean cosy in the sense of being mindlessly cute. There is quite a lot going on underneath the quiet bookshop setting, particularly around burnout, work culture, and the pressure to follow the life you are supposed to want. Yeongju has done everything expected of her, yet finds herself completely exhausted and unhappy, which is what eventually pushes her to start over.
I really liked the fact that the book doesn’t present one perfect answer to the question of what a successful life looks like. Yeongju is trying to work out what she actually wants, while the people around her are doing the same in their own ways. Some are questioning their careers, some their relationships, and some simply whether the life they are living is enough.
It is also a book for people who genuinely love books. There are discussions about reading, bookselling, authors, and the role that books can play in people’s lives, and the bookshop itself gradually becomes a place where people come to sit, talk, read, drink coffee, or simply spend time without having to achieve anything.
The pace is definitely slower, but I actually loved that about it. It was the kind of book that had me daydreaming about having my own little bookshop-café, where I could spend the day reading, drinking coffee, and chatting to people who wandered in because they loved books too. There is something very appealing about the life the book creates around the shop, where reading isn’t something you have to squeeze into the gaps between everything else you need to do.
Where it took me
This one took me to a much quieter side of Seoul than the one you usually see in travel guides. Rather than following the city’s skyscrapers, shopping districts and famous sights, you spend most of your time in a residential neighbourhood, inside a small independent bookshop and café where people know each other and gradually become part of the same little community.
I particularly liked getting that glimpse of everyday Korean life through the characters. You see the pressures of work and education, the importance placed on having a respectable career, the café culture, and the way people carve out small pockets of space for themselves within a very busy city. It isn’t a book that will give you a checklist of places to visit in Seoul, but it does give you a different way of imagining the city.
And, admittedly, it made me want to find a quiet neighbourhood bookshop and café whenever I have the opportunity to visit Korea.
Read this if…
You like quiet, character-driven fiction, books about books, independent bookshops, Korean fiction, or stories where not very much happens but you still enjoy spending time with the characters. It’s also a good choice if you like the idea of a book that lets you escape into a slower, quieter little corner of life for a while.
Rootless and Restless
By Shivya Nath
What it’s about
Rootless and Restless is Shivya Nath’s second travel book, but it is quite different from The Shooting Star. Rather than telling the story of how she became a nomadic traveller, this book takes you into some of the more remote and less-travelled corners of the world and the people, communities and traditions she encounters there.
From Indigenous communities in Myanmar and the mountain deserts of Uzbekistan to Iran, Japan, the Arctic and the Pacific Ocean, the journeys are as much about understanding a place as they are about getting there. There is also a strong thread running through the book about climate change, responsible travel and the impact our desire to see the world can have on the places we visit.
Why I recommend it
If The Shooting Star made me admire Shivya as a travel writer, Rootless and Restless reminded me why I have followed her work for so many years. This is the kind of travel writing I enjoy most because the destinations aren’t really the main event. The interesting part is what happens when you get close enough to a place to start paying attention to the people who live there, the traditions they are trying to preserve, and the changes happening around them.
I also liked that the book doesn’t romanticise remote travel. Some of the experiences are uncomfortable, complicated or downright difficult, and Shivya is honest about the responsibilities that come with travelling through fragile environments and communities. That makes the stories feel much more grounded than a typical travelogue where every difficult journey somehow ends up being a wonderful adventure.
There is a lot of variety here too. One chapter might have you thinking about Indigenous communities in Myanmar, while another takes you into the stark landscapes of Uzbekistan or a completely different conversation about conservation in the Pacific. It never felt like I was simply reading the same travel story in a different location.
And because I had already read The Shooting Star, I found it interesting to see how Shivya’s travel writing has evolved. This feels like the work of someone who has spent years travelling and has become much more interested in the questions behind travel: who gets to visit these places, what happens when they do, and what responsibility we have towards the people and environments we encounter.
Where it took me
This book covers a ridiculous amount of ground, and some of the places Shivya writes about are exactly the sort of destinations that make you pull out a map while reading.
You get the stark mountain landscapes of Uzbekistan, remote Indigenous communities in Myanmar, centuries-old traditions in Japan and an island deep in the Arctic. There are also journeys through Iran and into the Pacific, where Shivya encounters one of the last living members of an entire species.
But what I liked most is that the book doesn’t just take you to these places. It gives you glimpses of how people live there, the stories they carry, and the environmental pressures affecting them. It made several of these destinations feel much more complicated — and much more interesting — than they would have been if I had simply seen photographs of them on Instagram.
Read this if…
You like travel writing that goes beyond beautiful landscapes and famous sights, especially if you’re interested in remote places, Indigenous communities, sustainable travel, and the stories behind the destinations. And if you enjoyed The Shooting Star, I think this is a natural second book to pick up – just don’t expect it to be the same book twice.
The Housemaid Series
By Freida McFadden
What it’s about
The Housemaid series is a psychological thriller trilogy following Millie, a young woman who takes a job working for wealthy families and, in the process, discovers that the seemingly perfect lives behind those expensive front doors are anything but perfect. The three books are The Housemaid, The Housemaid’s Secret, and The Housemaid Is Watching, with The Housemaid’s Wedding serving as a short story between the second and third books.
I’m deliberately not telling you much more than that because this is one of those series where knowing too much before you start can completely ruin the fun. There are secrets, lies, seriously questionable people, and enough twists to make you repeatedly think you know where the story is going before discovering that you absolutely did not.
Why I recommend it
This recommendation is here for a very different reason from the other four. I didn’t read The Housemaid because I wanted to learn something, travel somewhere, or contemplate the meaning of life. I read it because I wanted to know what the hell was going to happen next.
And then I read the second one. And then the third.
That is probably the best way I can describe my experience with this series. These are ridiculously easy books to get through because McFadden knows exactly when to drop another piece of information that makes you need to keep reading. Just when you think you’ve worked out what is happening, something changes the picture again.
I also think the series works particularly well if you don’t mind books that are a little over-the-top. This isn’t subtle literary fiction, and it isn’t trying to be. It is a psychological thriller designed to keep you turning pages, and sometimes that is exactly what I want from a book.
After reading travel memoirs, historical fiction and cosy Korean fiction, I apparently needed three books full of secrets, suspicious characters and increasingly chaotic situations. I have no regrets.
Where it took me
This one didn’t take me to a country or introduce me to a culture. It took me into the increasingly strange and uncomfortable world of Millie and the families she encounters, where almost every apparently ordinary situation has the potential to turn into something much darker.
And unlike the other books on this list, I wasn’t daydreaming about visiting the places in the story. I was sitting somewhere comfortable, reading far later than I intended because I wanted to know what happened next.
That is a legitimate kind of escape too.
Read this if…
You like psychological thrillers, unreliable characters, secrets, twists, and books that make you say, “Okay, one more chapter,” approximately seventeen times.
Also, read them in order. Technically, McFadden says the books don’t have to be read chronologically, but the reading experience is better that way because later books can reveal things from earlier ones.
A Quick Note Before You Go
Well, there you have it: five recommendations from the 16 books I’ve read so far this year, and somehow they managed to cover everything from travelling through the Amazon rainforest to revolutionary-era Tehran, a little bookshop in Seoul and some seriously questionable families. Apparently, I don’t have a particularly consistent reading taste, and I’m quite happy about that.
I originally started reading more this year because I wanted to get back into the habit of reading properly, rather than spending every evening scrolling through my phone. It has been a surprisingly good reminder that books don’t have to be useful, educational or even particularly profound to be worth your time. Sometimes you want a book that takes you somewhere new, sometimes you want to learn about a place or a culture, and sometimes you just want to sit down and find out what the hell happens next.
If you enjoyed these recommendations, you might also like some of my other travel stories, particularly my posts about Uzbekistan and Laos, or my reflections on why I prefer slow travel to rushing through a destination. And if you’re looking for more books by female authors, I’m sure this won’t be my last list. I’m already reading my way through the next batch, so there may well be a Part 2 at some point.
If you’d like new posts delivered straight to your inbox, my newsletter goes out every Tuesday. You can also find me on Instagram, where I share the moments and observations that don’t always make it onto the blog.
And now I want to know what you’re reading. Have you read any of these books, or is there a book by a female author you think I absolutely need to add to my list? Tell me in the comments. I am always looking for an excuse to buy another book.
