Today’s post brings you bookish road trip picks – books plus other bookish things as well – as I go down another journey of six degrees and more.
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🔗 Six Degrees of Bookish Road Trip Picks
Ever notice how one good book can lead you down a winding literary road? That’s the magic of Six Degrees of Separation, where we start with one title and follow bookish breadcrumbs from theme to theme. This time, we’re cruising through stories tied together by road trips, loss, family ties, and more.
All Fours —> Four for the Road —> Me (Moth) —> Run for the Hills —> How Moon Fuentes Fell in Love with the Universe —> Walk Two Moons —> Road Trip! Camping with the Four Vagabonds —> (four/road trip) All Fours
All Fours —> Four for the Road
The Link: “four” and road trip!
All Fours by Miranda July is a surreal, sensual journey of self-discovery unfolds when a woman on a solo trip abandons her original plan and follows her desires instead. As with all previous six degrees, I am yet to read this starter book. And as with others, seems like one I might enjoy, so it is now on my TBR!
Four for the Road by K.J. Reilly is a book I found earlier this year and added to my TBR and finally just started it now. It is one I know I will love, and maybe shed a few tears along the way reading it. Three teens and an unexpected adult set off on a cathartic road trip, each seeking to process grief and loss in their own way.
Four for the Road —> Me (Moth)
The Link: road trip and death
Me (Moth) by Amber McBride is a powerful, lyrical novel in verse about a grieving girl and a boy on a road trip, both carrying spiritual and ancestral weight on their shoulders. And one I read (and loved) a couple of years ago
Me (Moth) —> Run for the Hills
The Link: road trip/family ties
In Run for the Hills by Kevin Wilson, four half-siblings—strangers until now—hit the road across America to track down the father who abandoned them, in a darkly funny and heartfelt search for answers, connection, and closure. This one is a recent addition to my TBR (published May 2025), and I loved the preview.
Run for the Hills —> How Moon Fuentez Fell in Love with the Universe
The Link: road trip/family ties
How Moon Fuentez Fell in Love with the Universe by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland
When Moon is stuck traveling with her influencer twin on a tour bus road trip, she finds beauty, truth, and a love that challenges everything she believed.
I read this one in 2021 as it was part of the Cybils awards YA fiction nominations, and I was one of the round one judges that year (one of my fav things to do each year is being a Cybils Awards judge!!)
How Moon Fuentez Fell in Love with the Universe —> Walk Two Moons
The Link: the word “moon” and road trip (this chain is all about road trips after all!)
Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
A poignant road trip story where a girl retraces her mother’s steps, discovering family truths and coming to terms with grief and change.
I read this when my daughter got it as part of a return gift from a birthday party a few years ago, and oh my, did I love it!!
Walk Two Moons —> Road Trip! Camping with the Four Vagabonds
The Link: road trip and numbers in the title too!
Road Trip! Camping with the Four Vagabonds:Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Harvey Firestone, and John Burroughs by Claudia Friddell & Jeremy Holmes
A delightful nonfiction picture book recounting a real-life camping road trip taken by Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Harvey Firestone, and naturalist John Burroughs.
So I added this to my Christmas wish list in 2022, and ended up borrowing it from the library to read it later! It is a delightful road trip indeed, and one that teaches and entertains all at the same time.
Road Trip! Camping with the Four Vagabonds —> All Fours
The Link: “four” again and road trip, one last time!
And we’re back, circling from the foursome on the road to a solo quest gone wildly off course—but no less transformative.
🎒 The Bookish Five with More Road Trip Picks
Four for the Road
Four for the Road by K. J. Reilly
Asher Hunting wants revenge. Specifically, he wants revenge on the drunk driver who killed his mom and got off on a technicality. No one seems to think this is healthy, though, which is how he ends up in a bereavement group (well, bereavement groups. He goes to several.) It’s there he makes some unexpected friends: There’s Sloane, who lost her dad to cancer; Will, who lost his little brother to a different kind of cancer; and eighty-year-old Henry, who was married to his wife for fifty years until she decided to die on her own terms. And it’s these three who Asher invites on a road trip from New Jersey to Graceland. Asher doesn’t tell them that he’s planning to steal his dad’s car, or the real reason that he wants to go to Tennessee (spoiler alert: it’s revenge)—but then again, the others don’t share their reasons for going, either.
Complete with unexpected revelations, lots of chicken Caesar salads at roadside restaurants, a stolen motorcycle, and an epic kiss at a rest stop minimart, what begins as the road trip to revenge might just turn into a path towards forgiveness.
(1 & 2) Book Beginnings and First Line Friday
BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAY is hosted by Rose City Reader. What book are you happy about reading this week? Please share the opening sentence (or so) on BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAY! Add the link to your blog or social media post and visit other blogs to see what others are reading.
Happy Friday and welcome to the FIRST LINE FRIDAY, hosted by Reading is My Superpower! It’s time to grab the book nearest to you and leave a comment with the first line.
3 Friday 56
THE FRIDAY 56 is hosted by Anne at HeadFullofBooks. To play, open a book and turn to page 56 (or 56% on your e-reader). Find a sentence or two and post them, along with the book title and author. Then link up and visit others in the linky.
4 Book Blogger Hop
The purpose of THE BOOK BLOGGER HOP is to give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, and befriend other bloggers. THE BOOK BLOGGER HOP is hosted by Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer.
How do you strike a balance between providing enough information to pique readers’ interest without giving away too many spoilers in your reviews?
I tend to focus more on my own thoughts and feelings of the story and characters, leaving the narrative aspect to the book description already provided by the publishers. At times, I include quotes and passages (without spoilers), like with the first line Friday and Friday 56. And I can only hope that my love for the story piques readers’ interests just enough for them to pick up the book.
🎒 5 Road Trip Picks for a Lit(erary) Summer
No road trip—real or fictional—is complete without the right essentials. Whether you’re hitting the highway for real or traveling from the couch with your favorite characters, I have five summer road trip picks – bookish ones only – that will keep the journey smooth, spirited, and snack-filled.
- Audiobook Playlist
Download a mix of road trip-themed audiobooks and short story collections—perfect for miles that fly by (especially when it seems they don’t!). Here are a few suggestions for you: - Bookish Bingo Card
Turn pit stops into literary adventures by checking off fun bookish finds along the way. Here is a printable bingo card for you to use.- BONUS WAYS TO PLAY:
- Everyone gets a different row/column. First to finish wins a snack or book pick!
- Travel Journal Style: Use it as prompts to draw or write about along the way.
- Bookish Family Feud: Use squares as questions — each player answers one when their turn comes.
- BONUS WAYS TO PLAY:
- Travel Reading Pillow
Keep things comfy and hands-free while reading in the passenger seat or at a scenic overlook. Plus, if you need to nap, get this super-cool comfy-twisty neck pillow - Mini Clip-on Reading Light
Ideal for late-night reading marathons without disturbing the driver (or anywhere else too) - Bookish Snack Pack
Pair your snacks with your reads—for example, with the books Walk Two Moons or How Moon Fuentes…, you can pair with themed treats like Moon Pies! Select trail mix or these smart cookies (literally) from Education Snacks for the Four Vagabonds
And Now, the End of This Road Trip Picks Post
Dear reader, which of these books featured/listed here have you read/will you pick to read first? Any other suggestions for road trip-themed books? Which books would I find on your six degrees starting with All Fours?
I used road trips as my theme for Six Degrees this month, there are so many great road trip books and the post apocalyptic ones always grab my attention.
A road trip is a clever way to connect all these books.
Nice work! Run for the Hills sounds very good–it’s going straight to my TBR!
Well done! I can’t believe I didn’t even think of the road trip element for my chain. No matter!
A great chain. I loved how your first link doubly connected up to the starter and how you rounded off so neatly too. Camping with the Vagabonds is a book I’d love to read too!
I haven’t read any of these, but I liked your clever links in this chain
Thank you Emma!