The best holiday reads

One Point Two Billion, Mahesh Rao

If you don’t want to commit to one book, Rao’s 13 short stories will keep it fresh as he takes you from  tea plantation in the Nilgiri where a man is besotted with his daughter-in-law to Rajasthan where a family’s honour is at stake with the discovery a mass grave on their ancestral land.

Daunt Books

Why Not Me?, Mindy Kaling

If you can’t get enough of The Mindy Project, chances are you’ll love the funny girl’s second book too. Kaling draws you into her world with a steady stream of witty anecdotes, anxieties of being a Hollywood actor, relationship secrets, and her hilarious (second) coming-of-age stories. It’s 220 pages of straight-up humour.

Penguin Random House

Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear, Elizabeth Gilbert

The author of the hugely-popular Eat, Pray, Love takes on the role of a creativity guru. The book grew out of her TED talk, and talks about following your interests, shatters notions of creative suffering and shares some serious motivational tips along the way. We dare you not to be inspired.

Bloomsbury

Rogue Lawyer, John Grisham

A criminal defence lawyer, (unlike any Grisham character before) Sebastian Rudd has built a reputation for his affinity towards cases no one else will fight -- think a drug addict accused of murdering two little girls and a crime lord on death row. Working out of a bulletproof van (after his office was bombed), Rudd corrupt officials and mounting threats to seek out justice for his client.

Doubleday

See Me, Nicholas Sparks

Fans of Sparks will lap up this story about textbook bad boy Colin trying to lead a clean life and hardworking Mexican attorney Maria. A chance encounter on a rainy day sets off the wheels of romance, but Maria’s past soon catches up as death threats turn up at her doorstep testing their relationship in terrifying ways. We suggest you keep a box of tissues handy.

Hachette

The House of Hidden Mothers, Meera Syal

The comedian explores surrogate motherhood through a 48-year-old British Indian Shyama who finally finds happiness with her young lover Toby but yearns for a child, and the much younger Mala who lives in rural India and plans to escape her oppressive husband by being a surrogate mother.

Doubleday