The 30 Best Books About Road Trips

Book Summary

Zahra Starling and her younger half sister, Aurora, have little in common beyond the father they share. After a terrible loss, Zahra has withdrawn into the quiet routine of her Los Angeles kitchen, while Aurora, a rising Hollywood starlet, seems to have the glamorous life Zahra avoids. Aurora has everything she’s ever dreamed of, except a relationship with her sister.

Their uneasy distance is interrupted when their dying father asks both daughters to come to him because he has a long-held secret to reveal. Since painful memories make Zahra unwilling to fly, Aurora sees a road trip to Seattle as both an escape and a chance to finally connect with her guarded sister. Forced into close quarters on the road, the women reopen old wounds, clash over their different versions of family history, and begin to understand each other in unexpected ways.

Book Summary

TV writer Kit has spent her whole life penning scripts about the perfect family – one that is warm, quirky, and always working things out in 22 minutes. But her real-life family is not so picture-perfect.

When her television show is unexpectedly canceled, Kit finds herself heading back to her hometown in North Dakota – a place she never thought she’d return to. There, she reunites with her estranged siblings and aging father, and suddenly the drama gets real.

Told across both the present day and memories of the family’s cross-country road trips over the years, the novel explores the bonds formed through shared experiences, long car rides, and the stories families tell about themselves. Through the combination of small-town life, unresolved childhood wounds, and the pressure to redefine herself off-screen, Kit begins to see her family – and herself – in a new light.

Book Summary

Maggie is a 49-year-old gallery owner who has been scammed out of her life savings by a romantic fraudster. Twenty-something Flick is a junior reporter looking for a big career break, and she thinks that exposing Maggie’s romance scammer might be just the answer.

Together, these two unlikely allies embark on a wild ride across Europe, chasing the con man. Along the way, however, they may just find something even bigger.

Book Summary

This crime novel is set against the assassination of JFK and centers on a cat-and-mouse-like chase across 1960s America.

Frank Guidry is very loyal to New Orleans mob boss Carlos Marcello, but such loyalty isn’t enough to protect you when you know too much. Within hours of JFK’s murder, everyone with ties to Marcello is turning up dead. Guidry has good reason to expect he’ll be next because he was in Dallas on an errand for his boss just weeks before the assassination.

With few other options, Gudry decides to hit the road for Las Vegas. He knows that the first rule of running is “don’t stop,” but when he sees a gorgeous housewife who has broken down on the side of the road with two kids and a dog, he realizes that traveling with her could give him the perfect cover.

Charlotte is also desperate to escape her small-town Oklahoma life with a hopelessly drunk husband in hopes of creating a better life for her kids.

Book Summary

Eleanor Bell is a widow who has dedicated her whole life to her family at the expense of pursuing her own dreams of becoming a singer. On the eve of her 69th birthday, she is diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s. Eager to fullfill her dreams before it’s too late, she decides to set out on a bucket list tour of summer music festivals.

Much to the dismay of her adult daughter, Leanne, Eleanor forgets (maybe on purpose) to tell anyone where she’s going. Desperate to find her mom, Leanne enlists the help her somewhat-distant teen daughter, Nora.

Nora is heading off to Yale in the fall where she’ll be one of the school’s first female undergrads. The things she wants to do is spend her summer on the road with her mom. But thenshe hears something on the radio that changes her mind… her grandmother’s voice.

Nora and Leanne embark on a roadtip in a Lincoln Continental that has them criss crossing the map from Atlanta to California, Denver, and Seattle, then back to New York and New Orleans. They always seem to be one step behind Eleanor, who by this point has been dubbed the Dame of Rock n’ Roll by the one and only Johnny Carson.

Book Summary

After her beloved father dies, Ophelia Dahl discovers a document that upends everything she thought she knew about her family: the mother she believed had died decades earlier may have instead abandoned her. And she may still be alive.

Determined to find answers, Ophelia turns to Beau Augustin. Beau was her childhood best friend turned teenage nemesis. The two are now estranged, but he’s an acclaimed author whose current writing project about family deceptions is taking him on a West Coast research trip. Ophelia convinces him to make her search for the truth about her mom part of his project.

In a Subaru filled with emotional baggage, the two set out from San Diego, following clues through California and into southern Oregon. As the miles pass, old grudges, long-held secrets, and unresolved feelings rise to the surface.

Book Summary

Millicent never expected to be traveling to Key West with a portion of the ashes of her elderly best friend in her backpack. But before Mrs. Nash died, Millie promised that she would reunite her with the woman she loved 80 years earlier.

She also didn’t expect to be on a road trip with a cynical writer. Millie met Hollis through her ex’s MFA program and was surprised to find him also stranded at the airport due to flight cancellations. They agree to make the long drive together, getting to know each other. While Mille thought this trip was about Mrs. Nash’s love story, maybe it’s really about her own.

Book Summary

Lewis is young, gay, and out of work. When he learns that his insufferable, homophobic neighbor, Chester Wheeler, is in need of end-of-life care, he doesn’t need the headache. But he does need the money. Lewis agrees to run errands and be on call for other things Chester might need. The two exchange barbs, bicker, and push each other’s buttons. But when Chester tells Lewis his dying wish, Lewis can’t say no.

Chester wants Lewis to drive him from Buffalo to Arizona in his rusty Winnebago so that he can see his ex-wife, who he hasn’t seen in 32 years, one last time. One week and two thousand miles is a long time to spend together. But along the way, Chester will reveal some of his life-long secrets. This vulnerability leads to understanding and a surprising new friendship.

Book Summary

Ever since her dad vanished two decades ago, it’s just been Madeline Hill and her mom on their organic farm in Coalfield, Tennessee. But her quiet routine is upended when Reuben Hill, a Boston-based novelist, arrives claiming to be her half-brother.

Reuben reveals that their father abandoned multiple families across the country and proposes a road trip to find their other half-siblings and confront their elusive father.

As Madeline and Reuben journey through America, they gather more siblings, each with unique stories shaped by the same absentee father. From a college basketball star in Oklahoma to a young filmmaker in Utah, the group navigates their shared histories and the complexities of newfound familial bonds.

Book Summary

Life coach Nikki Parekh believes that life is built on single decisions, and she has spent her career encouraging others to stay open to opportunities and to make bold choices when they come along. But when her boyfriend, Jay, casually proposes after six months of dating, she suddenly questions whether she is following her own advice or rushing into a future she has not fully chosen.

Seeking guidance from her emotionally distant mother, Tara, Nikki instead finds a woman facing her own turning point. Tara is unhappy in her long marriage to Devon and decides it’s time for a divorce after 40 years. She still carries regrets about the dreams she set aside decades earlier, including graduate school at MIT and a lost college love named Ben.

After family tensions erupt during Nikki and Jay’s engagement celebration, Tara impulsively buys an RV and heads out in search of herself and Ben in Maine. Worried and confused, Nikki joins her mother on the road.

Book Summary

When thirteen-year-old Jubie and her family, including three siblings, her mother, and the family’s Black maid, Mary Luther, head from North Carolina to Florida on vacation, she had no idea how the summer roadtrip would change her life forever.

As the family drives further south, Jubie starts noticing more anti-integration signs and racial tension. Soon, her mother finds it more difficult to find a safe place for Mary Luther to use the restroom. But Jubie still never predicted the shocking turn their trip would take. She’s left confronting her parents’ failings and wondering where her own convictions lie.

Book Summary

Jenna has been married for four years when her husband suddenly asks for a divorce. With newfound time on her hands and everything in her life in flux, she agrees to accompany her eccentric grandmother on a road trip to visit the seaside town in Massachusetts that shaped their family history.

As they drive, Evelyn tells Jenna a star-crossed tale of the teen romance that changed Evelyn’s life more than seven decades ago. While Evelyn insists that the trip back to her hometown has nothing to do with Tony, Jenna isn’t so sure.

Discovering the secrets and truths of Evelyn’s past allows Jenna to discover a whole new side of her grandmother, and may also open her eyes to new possibilities for her future.

Book Summary

Jane Pyre once wrote the songs for The Lightning Bottles, the ’90s grunge duo she formed with charismatic frontman Elijah Hart. Their meteoric rise, first in Seattle and then worldwide, was followed by a very public implosion. Elijah, always the more popular one, vanished – and the world blamed Jane. She became one of the most despised and misunderstood women in music.

Five years later, Jane moves to a quaint village in the German countryside. She’s intent on disappearing, but soon discovers that the sullen teenager next door is a Lightning Bottles superfan. The teen insists that Elijah is alive and has been leaving coded messages for Jane.

Jane finds herself drawn back into the past that she’s tried so hard to outrun. She and her teen neighbor set out on a cross-continent European journey to retrace the band’s early days and to confront the myths that fame created.

Book Summary

A decade ago, hairstylist Jess Greene’s mother ran off with a man she barely knew. Since that time, Jess has been raising her younger half-sister, Tegan. Now 31 years old, Jess has also been keeping a secret all these years. She has always known that her mother’s boyfriend is an accomplished con man who has since been featured on a popular podcast. But what Jess didn’t expect was for Tegan to figure that out for herself.

Now that Tegan knows, she plans to leave the safety of the home her sister has provided for her in search of their mother. She doesn’t plan to search alone, though. She’ll be accompanied by the prying podcaster and the podcaster’s handsome producer, Adam. Jess doesn’t want Tegan to go, but since she can’t stop her, she reluctantly agrees to go along.

As the four make their way across the country, they work to unravel the mystery of where the couple went and why. For the first time in a long time, Jess is discovering what it’s like to step outside the walls she built up around her. She’s surprised to feel a connection with Adam – something she didn’t even realize she was missing in her life.

Book Summary

Mercy Blain has spent the last two years in isolation due to severe anxiety, but when her house burns down, she’s forced back into the world. She seeks refuge with her not-quite-ex-husband, only to discover that staying with him and his new partner only exacerbates her anxiety disorder.

On a whim, she purchases a “vintage” (tiny, old, and smelly) camper van and embarks on a road trip, accompanied by her loyal dachshund, Wasabi. Beginning in Adelaide, South Australia, she journeys northward through the Outback, traversing vast landscapes and remote towns en route to Darwin in the Northern Territory. Along the way, she encounters a colorful array of fellow travelers, including friendly “grey nomads” and a Scotsman with his own secrets.

Book Summary

Jess is in a terrible phase of life. Her husband disappeared, leaving not only her, but also his son Nicky behind. Plus, she’s short on cash, and her math whiz daughter has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to compete in the Math Olympiad in Scotland. The math contest comes with a cash prize, and it’s just what Jess needs to cover the 10% of her daughter’s tuition that isn’t covered by a scholarship.

When she gets an offer from a knight in shining armor to drive the family to the Math Olympiad, it’s the last person she expects. Geeky Ed is a tech millionaire. Jess only knows him because she cleans his house. While the last thing he needs is to be on a road trip with his house cleaner, her two quirky kids, and their flatulent dog Norman, Ed gets sucked into their story, and they all set off to Scotland.

Book Summary

Starla is only 9 years old when she makes a series of decisions that change her life overnight. It’s 1963, and she lives with her strict grandmother in Mississippi. Despite being grounded, Starla sneaks out to see the annual 4th of July parade. When she’s caught, she believes her grandmother’s threats of reform school and sneaks out again with the intention of finding her mom all the way in Nashville. 

Starla is offered a ride from a black woman, Eula, traveling with a white baby, quite a controversial scene in the 1963 South. Their road trip is full of adventures, sometimes dangerous, and the long chats along the way help Starla redefine family and better understand the world she lives in.

Book Summary

After Noelle’s beloved grandmother passes away she comes across a stash of old letters and photos that hint at a forbidden love in her gram’s past. Hoping to learn more, Noelle creates a TikTok video appealing for info.

When the video goes viral, she is able to track down her grandmother’s secret love, Paul. She learns that Paul had once planned to take her gram on a honeymoon roadtrip, but they never got the chance.

Now Noell has the opportunity to take the trip instead, but Paul insists that his grandson Theo also tag along. The problem is that Theo also happens to be Noell’s handsome high-school rival. Can she survive two weeks in a car with him?

Book Summary

Station Eleven is set in a dystopian future during the collapse of civilization. It all begins one night when a famous Hollywood star dies onstage during a performance of King Lear. Soon, the world as we know it begins to dissolve. A nomadic group of actors, known as the Traveling Symphony, begin roaming between scattered outposts in the wasteland that remains of the Great Lakes Region.

The story moves back and forth between the early days of the Hollywood star to fifteen years in the future as the Traveling Symphony risks everything for art and humanity.

The publisher describes this book as follows: “This suspenseful, elegiac, spellbinding novel charts the strange twists of fate that connect five people: the actor, the man who tried to save him, the actor’s first wife, his oldest friend, and a young actress with the Traveling Symphony, caught in the crosshairs of a dangerous self-proclaimed prophet.”

Book Summary

Sometimes in life, the worst of times can lead to something good. But this was pretty hard to even imagine for Jenny, whose week had turned into something that no one should have to bear all at once.

She’s a single mom who has just lost her job, her car won’t start, her son is a teenager with a teenage attitude, and it won’t stop raining…which makes her cottage literally fall off a cliff. And it’s not just her house that’s now gone…it’s all her possessions, including her son’s baby photos.

With nothing left, Jenny leaps into a new start as dramatic as her devastating week. She and her 18-year-old son, Charlie, join their nomadic neighbor, Luke, and his dachshund, Betty, in his campervan on a road trip around England. As Jenny moves forward on this unexpected adventure, she’s reminded of long-forgotten dreams, and her mind is free to begin dreaming about her future for the first time in a long time.

Book Summary

Logan and Rosemary were childhood friends who spent their summers together running through the woods and rebelling against their conservative small town. But then something happened the summer before high school that turned them into bitter rivals. They then went 10 years without speaking after graduation.

Both women are now in their thirties, but neither of them is living the life they’d envisioned for themselves. Still in their hometown and working as teachers at their alma mater, the two women are stuck in old patterns but for different reasons. Rosemary places security and stability above everything else, while Logan is impulsive but apathetic.

When their beloved English teacher mentor reveals that he only has a few months to live, the two women agree to fulfill his cross-country roadtrip request even though it means a whole summer together. As they travel in a van from Washington state to the Grand Canyon and from the Gulf Coast to Maine, the course they chart may just lead them back to one another.

Book Summary

Hadley needs to escape her physically abusive husband, Frank, to protect herself, her teenage daughter, and her special needs nephew. Grace is a new mother struggling with single-parenting while her husband is away. Hadley’s husband, Frank, has just cheated Grace out of her commission on a business deal.

One Friday night, these two women cross paths and form an alliance that sets the stage for a road trip adventure with major Thelma and Louise vibes (minus the violence). Together, Hadley and Grace, with three children in tow, are racing to stay one step ahead of the trouble that is chasing them – trouble in the form of Frank, the FBI, and the media. This is a humorous and adventurous feel-good story about two women trying to outsmart everyone to protect their families.

Book Summary

Wyatt and Biz are total opposites, but it’s always worked for their relationship. One is a practical TV commerical director, and the other a former child star who thrives on spontaneity.

They’ve wanted to become parents for as long as they can remember and now it’s finally happening. They are expecting a baby via surrogate… and they are freaking out!

They live in Brooklyn but the baby will be born in California. The plan was to fly out there before the birth, but they decide to instead spend their last few weeks before fatherhood on a road trip babymoon, enjoying some much needed “us-time.”

As the daddies-to-be make their way across the country in their 1992 Volkswagen Cabriolet they recharge at a beach in Provincetown, attend an impromptu baby shower in Chicago, and attend a Star Wars-themed wedding in Colorado.

But the road trip is not without a few bumps along the way. Unexpected detours open old wounds and reveal secrets that could change their relationship, for better or for worse.

Book Summary

Kathleen is living independently at 80 years old, and she’s rather impressed with the way she handled a recent scary situation with an intruder. However, her daughter Liza thinks this incident is a prime example of why Kathleen should move to a senior home.

Not only does Kathleen not want to move, she’s also ready for a new adventure traveling down Route 66 in search of an old friend. Liza’s already stressed and has no time to drive across the country with her mom. So, Kathleen publishes an ad for a driver and companion to travel with her across America.

When 25-year-old Martha sees the ad, she thinks it could solve all her problems. How much trouble could an 80-year-old be?

Book Summary

Ex’s Addie and Dylan haven’t spoken in two years, but are both headed to their friend’s wedding in Scotland. When their cars crash into each other, they have no choice but to carpool if they want to make it to the wedding on time. In addition to Addie and Dylan, Dylan’s best friend, Addie’s sister, and a random guy from Facebook who needed a ride are cramped into a Mini for the long ride across England.

Along the way, Addie and Dylan are forced to explore the events that tore them apart.