Recently the blog has mostly focused on bookshops rather than books. That’s because my two month trip around Bali, Lombok and Thailand introduced me to some fantastic bookshops, and I was simply too excited about them not to share my thoughts and photos.

It wasn’t just bookshops that I fell in love with, I also came across a number of book stalls. My favourite was this one on Gili Meno, a small and quiet island just off Lombok in Indonesia.

My travels did give me plenty of reading time, as anyone who follows me on Instagram will probably have noticed! I haven’t spent much quality time with my books since my return and do miss those sunny days of endless beach reading.

I also appreciated the reading lifestyle of a backpacker. When I left the UK in a jumble of nerves at the beginning of February, I had one book and one borrowed Kindle. The Kindle meant I had a bottomless pile of electronic books in my backpack, but I hardly used it, preferring to pick up real books along the way. I swapped, part-exchanged and bought a couple, most of them sun bleached with crumbling pages, well thumbed by other travellers.

Not knowing what my next book would be was quite thrilling and it opened me up to writers and genres that I wouldn’t usually try, such as crime writers Ruth Rendell and Kathy Reichs or YA author John Green whose Paper Towns I gobbled up in a couple of sittings.

How do your reading habits change on holiday? And what are your favourite reading spots across the world? The best spot I found was next to the river in Pai, Thailand. Perfect weather, perfect temperature and stunning scenery!

Here’s a full list of the books I read (or started) whilst travelling. Over the next few weeks I hope to write a short post about each book, so watch this space…

Reasons to Stay Alive – Matt Haig

The Golden Notebook – Doris Lessing

The Lie – Helen Dunmore

Sweet Tooth – Ian McEwan

Doctor Slaughter – Paul Theroux

The Witches of Eastwick – John Updike

Thirteen Steps Down – Ruth Rendell

Paper Towns – John Green

The Loving Spirit – Daphne Du Maurier

The Honeymoon – Justin Haythe

Death Du Jour – Kathy Reichs

White – Rosie Thomas