Travel Reading List Challenge: 2026 Edition

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Carol Guttery

This 2026 reading challenge is all about where reading hits the road.

In addition to being a book nerd, I am a recovering bookseller and avid traveler. I believe strongly that books and travel go together. Books inspire travel and travel encourages reading.

Reading a book with an atmospheric setting can give you an acute sense of place…which has often inspired me to travel. Earlier this year I read The Pasha of Cuisine and it definitely moved Turkey higher up my wish list, if only for the food. My experience of hiking from San Gimignano to Sienna was enriched by a pre-read of Towers of Tuscany, which was set in both cities. And a recent co-read of Huck Finn and James was further informed by a visit to Twain’s hometown of Hannibal, MO which I took a few years ago.

And if you get what I’m taking about, you’re in the right place. This is why I’ve co-hosted the annual Travel Reading List challenge for the past 8 years and we want you to join us!

2026 book challenge travel reading list.

I’m joined in the book challenge by fellow travel blogger (and book lover) Mary Jo at Traveling with MJ and a crew of intrepid readers from our Travel Reading List Facebook Community.

Here’s how it works:

We’ve designed this challenge to encourage you to read more…and read more diversely. And we mean “diversely” in the broadest term. This challenge encourages you to read outside of your go-to genre, with books from authors who belong to different races, cultures and lived experiences. It has 24 basic prompts (2x books a month), with an additional 6 prompts for the advanced challenge.

  1. Check out the book challenges below. I’ve listed all thirty reading prompts with some book suggestions for each.
  2. You can get a printable copy the prompts here.
  3. Join our Travel Reading List Facebook group where you can engage with other book nerds and get ideas for your reading goals.

5-Star Reads to Wedge into Your Challenge

I don’t grade on a curve and I don’t hand out 5-stars lightly. It has to make me want to recommend it to everyone. It has to make me feel something or it need to do something surprising. The books below did that for me in 2025. So, I would encourage you to read them and figure out a way to wedge them into the reading challenge.

Obviously, all of these fit the prompt; recommended by someone in the TRL group.

  1. How to Read a Book, Monica Wood. Not the cutesy bookstore book that I was expecting. But rather a thoughtful meditation on what it means to forgive and how to live a meaningful life.

    Prompts: Yellow cover (sort of).
  2. This American Woman: A One-In-A-Billion Memoir, Zarna Garg. Sure, you expect a funny memoir from a comic, but this one is also very touching and empowering. Her audiobook performance brings all the feels.

    Prompts: Yellow cover (sort of), about a character on a journey, short chapters.
  3. Moscow X, David McCloskey. I love me a cold war spy novel and this one highlights our contemporary cold war with Russia. It features tons of twists and intrigue. Part of a series and all of them are good.

    Prompts: Featuring a conspiracy, character with a secret identity, money or finance in the storyline.

  4. Fortune Favors the Dead, Stephen Spotswood. Having worked in a bookstore that specialized in mysteries, I fancy myself somewhat of an expert on the topic. This series, set in 1940’s New York features two female detectives and it mixes Sherlock vibes and hard boiled PI tropes. They’re quite a pair as one detective is a genius with MS, and the other is a wise-cracking former circus performer.

    Prompts: Destination you remember visiting (I love NYC), secret identity.

  5. The Lighthouse Keeper, Eugenio Fernández Vázquez (Author), Mariana Villanueva Segovia (Illustrator), Kit Maude (Translator). This book came recommended on a NY Times article of beautifully illustrated children’s books. I used it for the 2025 in translation prompt. The illustrations have a wonderful whimsy and movement and the storyline is darker than you might expect for a picture book.

    Prompts: None, other than I’m recommended it to you and it’s worth 15 minutes of your time to seek it out at the library.
  6. Automatic Noodle, Annalee Newitz. Because sentient robots trying to retain their personhood rights should absolutely open up a food stall that features hand-pulled Chinese-style noodles. The dark post-war SF setting is muted by the cozy found family character relationships.

    Prompts: Yellow cover (sort of), set in a destination I remember visiting (SF), cozy vibes.
  7. A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping, Sangu Mandanna. Cozy witchy books is sub-genre of fantasy that I’m totally here for. This one features magic powers (both found and lost), a sharp poke at crusty aristocratic power structures, a creaky inn, a hunky romantic foil and an animated chicken carcass.

    Prompts: Cozy vibes, set in a hotel/motel/inn/b&b, with a neurodivergent character.

2026 Reading Challenge: Travel Reading List

Basic Challenge: 24 Prompts

  1. A book by an author from Oceania. Check out this extremely long list of books set in Australia. On it, my fave authors are Jane Harper and Peter Carey.
  2. A book set in the Southwest. If you want some eco-warriors, try The Monkey Wrench Gang by Edward Abby. For Navajo culture mixed with magic and monsters, try The Sixth World series by Rebecca Roanhorse.
  3. A book set in Appalachia. Barbara Kingsolver wins the day with Animal, Vegetable Miracle (non-fiction) or Demon Copperhead (fiction).
  4. A book with a family member in the title (e.g., daughter, son, mother, etc.). Memoir; I’m Glad My Mom Died. Mystery; Granddad, There’s a Head on the Beach.
  5. A book by a favorite author. This is highly subjective, but I recommend that you take a look at Lauren Groff, Martha Wells, Rebecca Solnit or Percival Everett.
  6. A book with a title that starts with the letter B. From the fantasy files; Babel (R.F. Kuang), Binti (Nneti Okorafor), The Bird King (G. Willow Wilson), Black Water Sister (Zen Cho), Bookshops and Bonedust (Travis Baldree), Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil (VE Schwab).
  7. A book with a yellow colored cover. With Asian themes, characters or settings; She Who Became the Sun (Shelley Parker-Chan), The Original Daughter (Jemimah James Wei), Yellowface (R.F. Kuang).
  8. A book set in a destination on your travel bucket list. I’m looking forward to visiting Prague (The Secret of Secrets).
  9. A book set in a destination you remember visiting. Well, I’ve spend a crazy amount of time in Spain in the past 10 years. Here are some books set there.
  10. A book set in the future. Saltcrop is on my TBR for this one.
  11. A book with a color in the title. Silver Elite (Dani Francis) and Theo of Golden (Allen Levi) are on my TBR for this one.
  12. A book with cozy vibes. The Authenticity Project (Clare Pooley).
  13. A Reese’s book club book. I’ve got book club guides for a bunch of Reese’s picks.
  14. A book featuring a conspiracy. For high octane: Fearless (M.W. Craven) and The Elias Network (Simon Gervais).
  15. A book with a nosy neighbor character. Well, let’s get literal here; Nosy Neighbors (Freya Sampson).
  16. A book with a character with a secret identity. Creation Lake (Rachel Kushner) or How to Age Disgracefully (Clare Pooley).
  17. A book that is biographical fiction. Pretty much anything by Marie Benedict would fit this prompt.
  18. A book that has money or finance as part of the storyline. My TBR has Dead Money (Jakob Kerr) and The Princess of Las Vegas (Chris Bohjalian).
  19. A book recommended by someone in the TRL group. This whole page is that.
  20. A book set in a hotel, motel, inn, B&B. My TBR has The Dream Hotel (Laila Lalami).
  21. A book that is a police procedural. Nightshade starts a new series by Michael Connelly. It’s set on Catalina Island.
  22. A book about a character on a journey. I really loved The Talented Ribkins. It’s a great family road trip story with a splash of magic. And The Road to Tender Hearts is on my TBR.
  23. A book about the law or lawyers. Andy Carpenter series featuring a lazy lawyer and his golden retriever.
  24. A book with an apostrophe in the title. On my TBR: Lady Eve’s Last Con (Rebecca Fraimow) and A Killer’s Game (Isabella Maldonado).

Advanced Challenge

  1. A book with short chapters. The Silent Patient and Anxious People.
  2. A book with a neurodivergent character (or by a neurodivergent author). The Maid (Nita Prose) and Convenience Store Woman ( Authored by Sayaka Murata and translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori.
  3. A book by two or more authors. On my TBR; Abundance (Ezra Klein & Derek Thompson).
  4. A book that is narrative nonfiction. This one is well outside my wheelhouse. Come over to the Facebook group and give me a suggestion.
  5. A book about an overlooked person in history. The Personal Librarian (Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray).
  6. A book that reminds you of childhood. Where the Wild Things Are, which was published the year I was born.

For more book ideas, you can review my recommended reads from the 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 challenges.

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Meet our Writers:

Carol Guttery
Carol is the founder of Libro Maniacs. She's a serious book nerd and recovering bookseller. She reads 60+ books a year and loves nothing more than helping others find a great read.

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