Are you obsessed with finding the best books – yes, multiple – to read on holiday? Broadcaster Sara Cox is!

Welcome to The Happy Place Guide To Holidays! In this chat – brought to you by British Airways Holidays – Fearne and Sara share their thoughts on how to take your holiday reading more seriously. They natter about the joy of reading a novel set in the country you’re holidaying in, and whether the vivid descriptions of a location have inspired them to travel there themselves.

They also swap their own experiences of writing books, and reveal the beautiful locations that have informed elements of their own novels. Plus, Sara explains why she’s trying to stop writing about characters who are useless and dysfunctional in her books, and why she’s re-living her party-girl days...

You can find a list of all of Fearne and Sara’s recommended reads below!

British Airways Holidays are ATOL protected, offer a 24hr holiday helpline, and allow you to book with a low deposit. All holidays include a generous baggage allowance per person. Go to Ba.com/holidays to find out more.

Fearne and Sara’s reading list:

Remarkably Bright Creatures – Shelby Van Pelt

Girls – Kirsty Capes

Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden

Butter – Asako Yuzuki

The Convenience Store Woman – Sayaka Murata

The Island – Victoria Hislop

Daisy Jones And The Six – Taylor Jenkins Reid

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo – Taylor Jenkins Reid

Carrie Soto Is Back – Taylor Jenkins Reid

Girl On A Train – Paula Hawkins

The Compound – Aisling Rawle

Ma’am Darling – Craig Brown

Lady In Waiting – Anne Glenconner

Chocolat – Joanne Harris

The Thousand Lights Hotel - Emylia Hall

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Getting lost in anxiety, shame, or self-loathing? Spiritual leader Gabby Bernstein wants you to acknowledge all the messy parts of your true character. Spoiler: you’re not going suddenly to like yourself overnight, but acknowledging the uncomfortable bits will get you there sooner!

In this chat with Fearne, Gabby explains how ‘protector parts’ like perfectionism, people pleasing, and numbing out can spiral into extreme self-soothing behaviours like drug or porn addiction if they’re not dealt with.

Fearne and Gabby chat about anxiety as a protection mechanism, exploring why being focused on the heart palpitations and hyper-vigilance is stopping you dealing with your deeper wounds.

Plus, Fearne notices that her OCD is back so Gabby takes a moment to help her check in with her current stress levels – you can follow along with this exercise too!

Gabby’s latest book, Self-Help, is out now.

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Do you love a true crime scam documentary? Our latest Happy Place Book Club read is for you! Iconic author Lisa Jewell has written Don’t Let Him In, a thriller about a perfect man... who’s a fraudulent liar.

In this chat with Fearne, live from The Happy Place Festival, Lisa explains how she got into the mind of a psychopath despite being a very honest person herself. They explore how people fall for charming romance scammers, and how Lisa has become a relentlessly happy person.

Plus, Lisa’s written 24 novels but has given up on trying to be a ‘professional’ kind of person – she explains how to sod the rules and build confidence in your own process.

If you’re new to Happy Place Book Club episodes, don’t worry, there are no spoilers here! If you want to join the Book Club, we’re on Instagram @happyplacebookclub, and Book Club episodes are released the first Friday of every month!

Thank you to Penguin Audio for the use of Don't Let Him In audiobook, narrated by Richard Armitage, Joanna Froggatt, Louise Brealey, Gemma Whelan and Tamryn Payne.

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