Books Guaranteed to Take You to Another World

In honour of World Book Day, Park’s saving experts have created a list of reads that hold that special magic: transporting you off and away into a different time and place.

Date:

2 March, 2023

Go wherever your imagination takes you

Ah, the joys of losing yourself in a book!

Reading can take us to places, real and imagined, that no other media can. A steamy thriller can take us to a tropical beach to relax and rejuvenate, while an epic fantasy can energise us, creating a strange magical world to explore from the comfort of our couch!

Set your mind free

Reading is an affordable way to create a sense of escapism and encourage our minds to be creative. It helps us recharge and refocus.

Goodreads can keep track of the books we’ve read and recommendations others we might like. Plus, if our friends have an account, we can see what they are reading and share the experience.

Find your escape

It’s easy to think we don’t have time to read, there’s always something else to do. But taking time to focus and read is great for our mental wellbeing. If you’re worried about outside distractions, one top tip is playing music in the background. A classical score or soundscape is proven to help concentration. YouTube has loads of free playlists to suit everyone’s musical tastes. Another way to get lost in a book is to put away our mobile phones, tablets and laptops. Keeping them in another room or turning them off while we read means we won’t be tempted to sneak a peek. That goes for the TV too!

Treat yo’ shelf

Here are some of the top reading recommendations from Park’s saving experts...

  • A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin. One of the most epic sagas of all time, GRRM’s fantasy series is filled with the likes of daring swordfights, fire-breathing dragons and ancient magic. With all the interconnecting plots, we’ll be left to come up with our own theories for the world of Westeros.

  • The Shining by Stephen King. One of King’s most famous novels, The Shining is also one of his more chilling works. For those who enjoy horror, delve into the fragmented world of Jack Torrance, who alongside his family is looking after the Overlook Hotel for winter break. As an evil force begins to unravel Jack’s mind, the hotel begins to come alive with guests who surely can’t be there.

  • The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks. For fans of the Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams film, The Notebook is the quintessential love story between an uptown girl and the boy from the wrong side of the tracks. The Notebook is the sort of read that will break our hearts, then mend them, before breaking them again.

  • Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Arguably Austen’s most well-known novel, be transported back to Georgian England to delight in the budding romance between Elizabeth Bennett and Mr Darcy. Described by the BBC as ‘one of the 100 novels that shaped our world’, fans of period dramas are sure to love this classic.

  • Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie. From the Queen of Crime, the mysterious murder of an American tycoon with a dark past has gripped readers for years. With a myriad of twists and turns, everyone’s favourite moustached detective Hercule Poirot must solve the case before time runs out.

  • The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. Lauded as ‘It’s a Wonderful Life for the modern age, The Midnight Library is truly a book to get lost in. The protagonist, Nora Seed, finds herself with the opportunity to right past wrongs. But when Nora’s choices put the library in danger, she must answer the ultimate question: what is the best way to live life?

  • Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life by Hector Garcia & Francesc Miralles. Ikigai is a Japanese wellness method many believe contributes to the long life expectancy of its population. Known as the secret to leading a joyful life, this self-care guide offers an insight on improving our mental and physical health.

  • The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Macksey. Gorgeously illustrated, this book is full of beautiful quotes sure to pull on our heart strings. As one so poignantly says, ‘We often wait for kindness...but being kind to yourself can start now’. The book was adapted as a short film for the BBC last Christmas, which you can watch here.

The library

We can feed the bookworm in us by looking at the following reading resources: