Get lost in a good book

Reading and travelling are the perfect activities to pair together. Whether you’re enjoying the latest thrillers on a long flight, amusing yourself on on trains across a new continent or simply lounging by the pool and losing yourself in the pages of a novel – you shouldn’t even consider a trip without having a book in your bag, or on your tablet.

So we’ve asked around the Forum offices to see what everyone has been reading lately, to put together our Top 5 page turners of the season. Let’s get reading!

Killing Commendatore: A Novel

 

International bestseller and multi-award winning literary phenom Haruki Murakami is back with this epic new novel. As ambitious in scope as they come, Killing Commendatore follows a thirty-something painter from Tokyo who, in the wake of being abandoned by his wife, accidentally opens a circle of mysterious circumstances. To close it he must travel the world and contend with the abstract as well as the physical, in a book that’s been described as a tour de force of love, loneliness, war and art. Honestly, if you love literature – this is a must read.

Influencer: Building Your Personal Brand in the Age of Social Media

 

If you have any interest in online life, or harbour ambitions to make it as a superstar influencer on social media, then this book is essentially your bible. All of those people you follow on Instagram and Twitter? They started with zero followers, and along there way to fam and fortune made a ton of mistakes. Fortunately, Brittany Hennessy, former nightlife blogger, and now Senior Director of Influencer Strategy and Talent Partnerships for Hearst Magazines Digital Media, is here to share her unrivalled insights into the branded content industry. You can bet that the humble bloggers here at Forum have been reading Influencer: Building Your Personal Brand in the Age of Social Media cover-to-cover on every trip we take!

Hippie

 

A man with no shortages of amazing stories from his own life and experiences, Paulo Coelho weaves a rich tapestry in this semi-autobiographical novel. Following a young Brazilian writer as he travels the world in search of love, meaning and adventures, Hippie is a meditation on the dreams of one of the most defining generations of our time – one who dared to dream of peace and challenge the establishment. Filled to the brim with wanderlust, this book is the perfect travelling companion. It’s certainly inspired us to dust off our rucksacks and book a flight across the world.

Fly Girls: How Five Daring Women Defied All Odds and Made Aviation History

 

You may be surprised to learn that between the world wars one of the most popular, and dangerous, sports was aeroplane racing. Yup, that’s right. Thousands of fans would flock to watch these multi-day events, making heroes of the daredevil pilots who cheated death at every turn. Well, they made heroes of the male pilots… This book is the riveting true story of five women who fought to compete against the men, and won. We still can’t decide if this is the best or worst book to read on a flight (air safety has come a long way since the 1920s), but it is definitely one of the most inspiring and courage-filled books we’ve read all year. Fly Girls: How Five Daring Women Defied All Odds and Made Aviation History by Keith O’Brien.

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life

 

Okay, our boss was pretty confused to find a book with this title lying about our desk (The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life). However, in actual fact this is an absolutely essential self-help guide that eloquently, and hilariously, takes a stand against the trite and cliched “positive thinking” movement we’ve all grown up with. With a surprising amount of academic research to back it up, and a whole load of poop jokes, Mark Manson argues that the key to life isn’t turning lemons into lemonade – but learning how to enjoy lemons. This is a celebration of the flaws and limitation of being human, and we loved it. 

So there you have our Top 5 book recommendations! We hope you pick one or all of these up, and they give you as much pleasure on your flights and holidays as they gave to us. And remember, in the words of Dr. Seuss: “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go!” Happy travels, and happy reading!