Recommendation Lists

This week I am on staycation (in my own house, going elsewhere would be a holiday, don’t @ me), so naturally, I’m dreaming of getting to visit places that are a little less familiar, and I thought it would be a great time to compile a list of places in books I would love to visit on holiday/vacation. This includes some places in different time periods, as well as some that are fully fictional – so let’s just imagine that interdimensional travel is possible!

1. Skyllea from In the Ravenous Dark by A.M. Strickland

A lot of amazing-sounding places in fantasy books sound really dangerous, but Skyllea, where the mages have colourful hair and everything is lush and green, might just be safe enough for a quick visit… We only get a brief glimpse of it in the book, so it would be wonderful to visit and explore! Although the book is set in dark, dangerous Thanopolis, where Rovan fights for her freedom and the freedom of those she loves, Skyllea made a big impression on me.

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2. Surfside, from The Secret of Danger Point by Kim Dwinell

I would love to visit Surfside, the adorable seaside town setting for this paranormal mystery graphic novel. It just seems super-cute and a really friendly, safe place to hang out, even with the ghosts! I could imagine spending a long summer there, visiting all the different places we see in the book.

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3. The Japanese gardens described in Rootbound: Rewilding a Life by Alice Vincent

Rootbound mostly features gardens in the UK, primarily London, and if I was staycationing pre-pandemic I probably would have tried to visit some, so I discounted those for this list. Instead, in this world of interdimensional travel, I’d go to Japan so I could see the different gardens there for myself.

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4. LA, as described in Emma Hearts LA by Keris Stainton

This cute romance for younger YA readers has a perfect holiday feel, even though the main character has moved to LA perfectly. There are loads of delicious details about the location – they go on a celebrity tour, wander around TV sets and check out different restaurants and cafes. It all made me desperately long to see it all with my own eyes!

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5. The Italian castle in The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim

Okay, I don’t actually want to go here right now. The Enchanted April’s castle is beautiful and quiet, somewhere that you’d go to be left alone, as Lady Caroline does, and I’ve had quite enough of that thank you! But under pre-pandemic circumstances, it would definitely have been a must-visit.

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6. Venice, as described in Unveiling Venus by Sophia Bennett

The first book in this duology, Following Ophelia, is set in London, but in Unveiling Venus Persephone Lavelle (the artist’s model formerly known as servant girl Mary Adams) goes to Venice to escape scandal and heartbreak. I have actually been to Venice, so this feels like I’m cheating a bit, but I would love to see it in earlier eras!

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7. The mountains of Switzerland, as described in A Season in the Snow by Isla Gordon

I am not normally one for daydreaming about cold temperatures, especially as I have no interest in skiing, snowboarding, or other winter sports. But this book made me reconsider the beauty of snowy landscapes and the potential cosiness of chalets. After a bereavement, Alice and her dog, Bear, go to live in Switzerland, in a friend’s chalet, for several months. It’s a bittersweet story that made the most of its location – and despite the marketing, isn’t really a Christmas novel as only a tiny portion of the story features the festivities. So you can read it any time of year!

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8.  Australia, as described in The Lucky Escape by Laura Jane Williams

Yes, Australia is a whole, vast country. So what? If I could steal the entire honeymoon depicted in this book I would! That is almost what Annie, the protagonist does, after being jilted on her wedding day – her would-have-been mother-in-law lets her take the holiday and she brings an old friend with her. It’s relaxing and luxurious and exciting – and with my magical interdimensional travel method, I wouldn’t need to do the long flight!

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Today in honour of World Music Day (aka Fête de la musique) I thought I’d share some of my favourite novels involving music! I’ve split them into two themes:

Girls in Music

My Secret Rockstar Boyfriend by Eleanor Wood

Tuesday Cooper is an aspiring music journalist who starts getting comments on her blog posts from someone claiming to be Jackson Griffith, her rockstar crush. She is extremely sceptical, as so far only her best friends, her boyfriend, and her mum have read her blog, but to her absolute surprise, it turns out to be real, and after exchanging emails he invites her to meet him at Glastonbury. I loved how much Tuesday, who starts off as a bit of a pushover and quite naïve, grows up thanks to this adventure. It’s a fun YA read.

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Becoming Betty by Eleanor Wood

From the same author, a story of an attempted reinvention gone wrong! When Lizzie starts college she is determined to finally become cool, with a new look and a brave new personality. So when Viv, the lead singer in a local band, starts talking to her, she’s delighted – until Viv decides she should be their new bassist. Lizzie – or Betty, as Viv renames her – is horrified by this idea, but doesn’t want to let Viv down, so she throws herself into learning to play, and ends up falling in love with the instrument. Like My Secret Rockstar Boyfriend, it’s about music as a path to developing self-confidence and learning to stand up for yourself.

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Guitar Girl by Sarra Manning

A YA classic, I’m always stumbling over groups of women online reminiscing about this book. It came out in 2003 when I was a year younger than the protagonist, Molly, when she started the band, which made it all the more engaging to me back then! Like many real girls and YA protagonists before and since, Molly started a band, The Hormones, in the hope of becoming cool. But two years later, she’s being sued by her record company for 5 million pounds. Her lawyer asks her to write the story down, and that’s how we learn about the boys that negged their way in, their manipulative manager, and how it all went tragically wrong.

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This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales (review copy provided by the publisher several years ago)

Outsider Elise is painfully lonely, desperate to be noticed and loved and torn between her recently-divorced parents. When, one night she discovers a secret nightclub one night, it’s like stepping into a whole new world of music and glamour. There she finds the friends she’s been looking for and a new talent as a DJ – but can she keep the magic going, or will the problems of the real world creep in? I read this back in 2016 and I’m still obsessed by the idea of the secret nightclub!

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Jem and the Holograms, Vol. 1: Showtime by Kelly Thompson and Sophie Campbell

This is the first in a comic series based on the 80s cartoon about all-girl band Jem and the Holograms and their rivals The Misfits. It’s fun and ridiculous (especially when they go to an alternate dimension in one of the later issues!) and Sophie Campbell’s art is completely adorable, especially the way she draws Stormer. This also qualifies for ‘musicians as romantic hero(in)es’!

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Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

This is an unputdownable/unpauseable (the audiobook is fabulous) fictional oral history-style novel about a sixties supergroup that split under mysterious circumstances. Different members of the band, The Six, tell their versions of the story of how they got together and became famous, alongside managers, other people they worked alongside, and Daisy Jones, formerly a solo artist before joining up with The Six. It’s the sort of book where you have to decide what you think really happened, putting together clues and trying to dodge misdirections, and it’s extremely compelling.

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Musicians as romantic heroes

Love Song by Sophia Bennett (proof copy provided for review by the publisher several years ago)

This is one of my favourite romances of all time and probably my favourite YA romance. I adored it. Nina, an ordinary seventeen year old from Croydon, takes her little sister to a meet-and-greet with The Point, a hugely famous boy band, and ends up being recruited to be the lead singer’s fiancée’s new assistant while they go on tour. Despite this unusual scenario, it’s an utterly believable, absorbing story, and it captured my heart and imagination.

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If Every Day Was Christmas by Donna Ashcroft

Meg is the owner of a year-round Christmas shop in Scotland. Tom is a runaway pop star – his band had a Christmas hit that made his fortune but now haunts him. He’s hoping that hidden away in the Highlands, he can live a quiet life, but Meg has other ideas and is determined to make him feel festive. A very cute romance, with some family drama on Meg’s side to add dimension.

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One Christmas Star by Mandy Baggot

London primary school teacher Emily is determined to impress her headteacher and become deputy head, but when she’s told to organise the Christmas musical, she panics – she has no musical ability. Fortunately, she discovers Ray Stone in the school shed, a famous singer-songwriter who is currently drowning in bad press. As they help each other out, romance blossoms. This book set me on the path to Mandy Baggot fandom, and is a funny, lovely, Christmassy read.

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