When she’s not scanning scripts, you’ll find Emma Roberts with a novel in hand.
The well-read actress isn’t one to keep her favorite reads to herself, either. Together with producer Karah Preiss, Roberts created the book club Belletrist to share the new releases and timeless classics filling their bookshelves.
Summer is the perfect time to slip a book into your bag and take a relaxing vacation. Roberts has shared her summer must-read list, The Reading Route, with Trainline – the ideal travel companion when riding the rails through Europe.
“Reading has always been transformative for me, and there's nothing more exhilarating than losing yourself in a great book, especially while exploring picturesque towns and cities abroad,” says Roberts.
“By partnering with Trainline, I was able to combine my passions for travel and reading to curate a diverse selection of train reads for lovers of all book genres. My goal is that people will find inspiration and excitement in these books and, perhaps, even draw inspiration for their next European adventure.”
From psychological thrillers to memoirs from literary legends, here are Roberts’ suggestions for your summer reading list and our recommendations on where you should read them.
Emma Roberts’ summer book recommendations
And where you should read them on a summer European vacation.
Image Credit: Getty Images, joe daniel price. Image Location: Dean Village, Edinburgh, Scotland
Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter
“I read this book when it first came out and literally handed it to every person who would take it. To me, it’s the perfect vacation read – smart, elegant and aspirational. It’s the story of a globe-trotting novel spanning fifty years following a great love affair that begins in a fictional Italian coastal town and takes the reader from Portland to California and beyond.”
Read it in: Edinburgh, Scotland
Closest station: Edinburgh Waverley
Though part of Beautiful Ruins takes place in Italy, we can’t resist cozying up with tea or a pint in an Edinburgh café on a rainy summer’s day. Beautiful Ruins takes you across the world, including to the Scottish capital for the Fringe Festival, but the moment you slide a bookmark between its pages, you can explore the ruins of St. Anthony’s Chapel in Holyrood Park or hop a train to the many beautiful castle ruins throughout Scotland.
The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman
“Karah told me to read this book many years ago after a train trip she took in Italy. We are both obsessed with stories about American expats living abroad, and this book is just that. It’s the story of an English-language newspaper in Rome where the headlines are less dramatic than the people writing them. We both loved the richly drawn characters and the delightful intrigue that unfolds in this super-fun novel.”
Read it in: Rome, Italy
Closest station: Roma Termini
The Imperfectionists, set in Rome, has captivating characters not unlike the Eternal City’s own historical figures. Melodrama? Tragic death? Philandering spouses? The Imperfectionists and Rome share their scandalous, somber, and sincere stories. With chapters that read like short stories, The Imperfectionists is an ideal on-the-go book that you can easily flip through while riding Rome’s metro.
Image Credit: Getty Images, Alexander Spatari. Image Location: Paris, France
A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
“One of our favorite non-fiction books ever. Another tale of eccentric expats abroad, this time in Paris in the 1920s. This is a must-read for anyone who fantasizes about being young and creative in Paris in the early 20th century. And if you don’t fantasize about that, you will after you read A Moveable Feast, Hemingway’s account of the high-spirited lives of American writers and artists living in Paris during the 1920s. This one makes a great read for a quick trip between London and Paris.”
Read it in: Paris, France
Closest station: Paris Saint-Lazare
Where better to read A Moveable Feast than in the city where its true tales emanate from? Thumb through Hemingway’s memoir in two key places: the Ritz Paris, where he stored the original notebooks that became his memoir, and Café de Flore, a spot where Hemingway and other writers gathered in the 1920s.
The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
“One of our favorite literary thrillers of all time by a true master of suspense, Patricia Highsmith. It felt too easy to suggest Strangers on a Train for this series, but don’t sleep on that one either! Karah and I both love Ripley for its descriptions of the Italian coast and for the web of lies created by Tom Ripley, the charming sociopath who inserts himself into the moneyed world of Dickie Greenleaf, taking us readers to Italy and across other European countries in a murderous turn.”
Read it in: Atrani, Italy
Closest station: Vietri sul Mare-Amalfi
What a timely pick from the talented Ms. Roberts. Netflix’s Ripley was a stellar spring show, and it’s no surprise the novel it’s based on is a popular summer read. Ripley was filmed across Italy, including in Venice, Rome, Naples, and Palermo, but we suggest reading it on the beach in the Amalfi Coast. Not only was Ripley filmed in Atrani, but so was The Equalizer 3, which will surely make Atrani a must-visit destination well into 2025.
Image Credit: Getty Images, Graham Custance Photography. Image Location: Polperro, Cornwall, England
The Sleeper by Emily Barr
“If you are looking for something more contemporary but still in the thriller vein, The Sleeper literally takes place on a train when Lara, dissatisfied with her life, does something we all wonder about: she embarks on a passionate affair with someone she meets on the sleeper train that she’s been taking to her new job. When Lara disappears one night, her friend begins her own journey to discover what happened, but with the truth comes so many secrets. Definitely a must-read if you’re looking for a fulfilling page turner!”
Read it in: Cornwall and London, England
Closest stations: London Paddington and Penzance
For anyone still longing for the heart-stopping twists of Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train, The Sleeper will keep you turning pages all night long. And you’ll have all night to read it when you take the sleeper train between London and Cornwall. The Night Riviera service runs between England’s capital and Cornwall’s coastal town of Penzance, offering ample time to read without missing a moment of sightseeing.
My Husband by Maud Ventura
“This one was a Belletrist pick last summer, and it’s the story of a French housewife who is romantically obsessed with her husband, despite the many years they have spent together. A blockbuster literary sensation in France, this is a great read for anyone traveling through Europe and looking for romantic intrigue and smart, witty prose!”
Read it in: Bordeaux, France
Closest station: Bordeaux-Saint-Jean
Should you need another obsession in the vein of Caroline Kepnes’ You but with a dose of humor to balance the wit, take Roberts’ suggestion and meet My Husband. It’s a novel you’ll obsess over and is best savored in Bordeaux: an intoxicating French city with infatuating wines.
Image Credit: Getty Images, Alexander Spatari. Image Location: Barcelona, Spain
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
“If you are looking for something more in the historical fiction category, this book is perfect, especially if you are traveling through Spain! In Barcelona in 1945, Daniel is coping with the loss of his mother while Barcelona is healing from the Spanish Civil War. An antiquarian book dealer, Daniel falls in love with the book The Shadow of the Wind, and as he searches for more work by the author Carax, he discovers that each copy is being destroyed, which sends Daniel on a journey filled with secrets and twists. We love this book because it is an epic tale that has antiquarian books at the heart of the novel.”
Read it in: Barcelona, Spain
Closest station: Barcelona Sants
The Shadow of the Wind is a book for literature lovers. It reads like a 19th-century novel, and like the caring crease your thumbs leave on the page corners, Zafón’s words leave a small but eternal mark on your soul. The “Cemetery of Forgotten Books” is a four-novel series with The Shadow of the Wind as its initial entry. Read all four on a long stay in Shadow’s setting, Barcelona, and consider taking a Spanish Civil War tour to learn more about the context preceding the novel’s events.
The Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy
“If you’re looking for literary romance and high-flying glamor, this book is just so much fun and exactly that. Republished by one of my favorite independent imprints, The New York Review of Books, Elaine Dundy’s first novel follows Sally Jay Gorce, a Holly Golightly type, as she frolics through Paris as a young American woman looking for adventure and excitement in the 1950s.”
Read it in: Paris, France
Closest station: Paris Saint-Lazare
As you frolic through the French capital, chasing the adventures of Sally Jay Gorce, catch up on a few chapters over dinner at Le Relais de Venise L'Entrecôte. It’s the place to eat steak frites in Paris: it’s the only meal they serve, and you’ll know why when you taste it.
Image Credit: Getty Images, SHansche. Image Location: London, England
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo
“One of the more contemporary novels on this list, Girl, Woman, Other is a serious, but electrifying portrait of diverse women in London. Not to mention it won one of the most prestigious international literary awards, the Booker Prize! Weaving together twelve unique stories, Evaristo examines identity through the interconnected yet varying points of view of mostly women-identifying Black characters and explores how their experiences in contemporary London shape them. This is a book for the reader who wants a more emotionally charged, literary read for their travels.”
Read it in: London, England
Closest station: Liverpool Street
These stories about struggles and strengths of Black British women won the Booker Prize alongside Margaret Atwood’s sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale. A fitting place to read about different perspectives of England is in London’s Black-owned restaurants and cafés, like Dark Sugars on Brick Lane in Shoreditch.
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
“How can anyone resist a book about a library filled with endless shelves, stacked with books detailing parallel versions of the protagonist’s life? I actually read this book while I was traveling, and it scratched that universal itch a reader has to be transported while being literally transported. Matt Haig does not disappoint with this one!”
Read it in: Bedford, England
Closest station: Bedford
We’re all guilty of daydreaming about an alternate life, especially when we travel. Wonder about the what-ifs as you read The Midnight Library in its setting of Bedford. Read it at the foot of Bedford Castle Mound, on the banks of the River Great Ouse, or even in the Bedford Central Library, pausing only to realize you’re spending your day in beautiful Bedfordshire – sometimes what-is is way better than what-if.
Image Credit: Getty Images, FreshSplash.
The Reading Route with Emma Roberts and Trainline
Books and trains are one and the same: both will take you on whirlwind adventures and leave you forever changed.
Download the Trainline app and start planning your literary-inspired vacation in Europe, then become a member of the Belletrist online reading community to share your thoughts on Roberts’ summer reading recommendations.
