In 2019, he edited and published the Underdog anthology and co-wrote the cabaret show Siblingship. Tobias’s debut novel, Anything But Fine, was published in 2021, and was awarded the Australian Association of Family Therapy’s Book Award for Older Readers, was shortlisted for the Australian Book Industry Awards Book of the Year for Older Readers, was named one of Better Reading’s Top 50 Kids Books (2022), and was included on Bank Street College of Education’s list of Best Children’s Books of the Year (US, 2023). His second novel, Take a Bow, Noah Mitchell, was published in 2022 in Australia and 2023 in the US. Tobias’s third YA novel, Wrong Answers Only, is out now in Australia and the US!

One of the many things I love most about reading is that it allows you to travel literally anywhere in the universe—or to another universe entirely—from the comfort of your couch, or bed, or beach towel. Books open doors to other worlds and elicit a special kind of wanderlust that, I believe, can only be conjured by turning a page. So, to help with your literary exploration, here are seven books that will take you to extraordinary places …

Wrong Answers Only by Tobias Madden (me!)

Fancy taking a cruise to nine of the most iconic, idyllic ports in the Mediterranean? Want to taste some tapas in Barcelona? Sample some snails in Toulon? Throw in some family secrets, best friend drama, and hot gay guys making questionable decisions, and this book really is the all-you-can-eat buffet you’ve been waiting for!

The Guncle Abroad by Steven Rowley

If you fancy a trip to Europe without the teen angst, you should definitely sign up for The Guncle Abroad. You’ll get to tour some of Europe’s hottest locales with everyone’s favorite witty guncle and his precious (precocious?) niece and nephew. This whirlwind family getaway is sure to warm your heart.

The Expanse Series by James S.A. Corey

If the freezing cold of deep space is more your speed, than take a tour of the outer reaches of the solar system in this epic sci-fi saga. Launching with Leviathan Wakes, this brilliant, nine-book series takes readers all the way from Earth to the moons of Jupiter and far, far beyond. It is mind-bending and utterly breathtaking.

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

Speaking of mind-bending, why not let Susanna Clarke personally guide you through Piranesi’s house—labyrinthine, infinite, full of marble statues, and periodically flooded by a vast, inexplicable sea. Is there anything beyond the walls of house? Is there anyone else in the world but Piranesi and the Other? Well, you’ll just have to visit to find out!

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

If you like the sound of marble statues but you’d like a little more star-crossed gay romance thrown in, why not head back to Greece and spend some time with our dear friends Achilles and Patroclus? This book will make you feel like you’re sipping wine and breaking bread with the Grecian armies as they lay siege to Troy. Oh, and you’ll be crying the whole time. I should probably mention that…

Midnight Library by Matt Haig

If you’re not afraid of a good cry, you might also want to pick up this global bestseller. You’ll travel with Nora to the Midnight Library and, from there, to alternate lives all over the world as our protagonist tries to right her wrongs and find her perfect life. But is there such a thing? And does the Library have the answers?

The Bump by Sidney Karger

Wyatt and Biz certainly don’t have the answers, but they do have a baby on the way imminently, so they need to get their shit together. Surely a babymoon road trip from NYC to California will give them the time and space to figure everything out before there’s a little one begging for their attention at every minute of every day… Right? Well, no, not exactly, but it makes for one hell of a trip!

The post Seven Books That Take You Places appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

Is there anything more magical than checking into a rental house with a group of friends? Some of my favorite memories involve squeezing as many bodies as physically possible into a vacation home, staying up late listening to your friends’ laughter and waking up early to the sound of someone making scrambled eggs, the smell of coffee brewing in the kitchen. The buzz feels like part sleepover, part summer camp, with a generous sprinkle of getting to stay up past your bedtime.

Yet sharing small spaces makes it hard to eschew the less glamorous sides of group travel. The practicalities, like the bathroom schedule jigsaw or competing for the sole blow dryer, are only augmented by the emotional minefields, like wanting to avoid a friend’s new-and-less-than-universally-loved significant other who tagged along for the trip, or a late-night (and potentially tequila-fueled) argument turning into an awkward morning at the kitchen table for all parties, with a hangover to boot.

My most memorable rental was at age twenty-five, when my high school friends rented a share house in Ocean Beach, Fire Island. Fire Island is accessible only via ferry, which means that the streets are filled solely with pedestrians and bikini-clad bicyclists calling out, “on your left.” It also means that there are no cars, so any dramatic exit plan must adhere to a not-so-frequent ferry schedule. Luckily, that summer, the ferry schedule wasn’t a problem. Instead, we built sandcastles and played silly games and sang off-key karaoke; we drank rocket fuels and ate cold cheese pizza (both Ocean Beach specialties) and danced until our flip-flops fell apart. It wasn’t without growing pains – at the time, I remember grappling with immense career anxiety – but though my sunburns begged to differ, I left that summer feeling healed. 

This is the magic that I wanted to capture in my novel Serendipity, which follows a group of friends who similarly rent a share house in Fire Island for three summer weekends. Because I firmly believe that a trip is the perfect backdrop to explore themes of a complicated friend-group, and to pay homage to the beautiful humanity that is our long-term relationships. Besides, who doesn’t love strapping messy, big-hearted characters into a rental house for a weekend at the beach?

In that same spirit, I’m thrilled to share some of my favorite stories that feature the highs and lows of a friend group getaway, perfect reading material for any upcoming trips or staycations (with friends, family, or, for perhaps the wisest among us, solo travel.)

Happy Place by Emily Henry

I’m always a sucker for Emily Henry’s witty banter and heart-soaring romance, but I think my favorite scene from her 2023 bestselling novel Happy Place is when we get to watch Harriett and her best friends stroll the streets of Knott’s Harbor, Maine perusing bookstores and the local bar scene, falling into a familiar lockstep despite the years that have passed in between. Come for the second chance romance between Harriett and Wyn – a recently-broken up couple who must fake that they are still dating for the sake of the trip — but stay for the themes of found family and friend group growth. This surely won’t be the first time you’re seeing Happy Place on a recommendation list, and because of Henry’s warm and wonderful writing, it won’t be the last.

In Five Years by Rebecca Serle

In my personal Mt. Rushmore, Rebecca Serle hails queen of the Atmospheric Novel. Her characters’ meals will make you hungry, their apartments will materialize as Zillow listings in your head, and her settings make you feel like you’ve registered for a new mailing address by the turn of her last page. And while In Five Years is set predominantly in the streets of New York City, it features a weekend trip to the Hamptons that will make you feel like you’ve grown up saying the phrase “Out East.” As Dannie and her posse settle into the beautiful beach house – assigning rooms, cooking dinner, taking in the ocean breeze – I could smell the salt air through the pages. It had the magic splendor of sharing space with new and old friends, but I also loved getting to see how that getaway directly impacted Dannie’s relationships and journeys once she’d returned back to her real and regular programming in NYC. Filled with heart, magic, and humanity, In Five Years is the perfect escape.

The Five-Star Weekend by Elin Hilderbrand

A list about vacations wouldn’t be complete without a highlight from Beach Read Queen, Elin Hilderbrand, and her twenty-ninth novel The Five-Star Weekend reinvents the friend group trip concept in a completely charming and captivating way. After suffering a major heartbreak, protagonist Hollis Shaw decides to host a “Five-Star Weekend” on Nantucket by inviting one best friend from each phase of her life: her teenage years, her twenties, her thirties, and her midlife. What follows is a surprising, summery story of friendship, love, relationships, and growth. Reading Hilderbrand’s novels always feel like you’ve been transported to Nantucket’s shores, and The Five-Star Weekend is no exception.   

Best Men by Sidney Karger

In my (biased) opinion, there is no better place for a friend group share house than the beloved Fire Island, and I was so excited when I read Sidney Karger’s debut Best Men last year and was treated to a weekend getaway in Fire Island Pines. The Pines are famous for being an LGBTQIA+ harbor and hotspot, and in Sidney’s debut, it’s the perfect locale for the (titular) gay Best Men, Max and Chasten, to visit as part of the bride Paige’s bachelorette party weekend. The beach scenes and vivid nightlife jump right off the page, but I most loved the moments between the group at the house. The group cooks dinner, goes swimming, spends time with old friends and new as Max also grapples with the growing pains of his best friend moving onto a new life chapter without him. Laugh out loud funny, and a moving portrait of long-term friendship, Best Men has a forever spot as one of my favorite reads.

Girls’ Night Out by Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke

Traveling with friends isn’t always sunshine and rainbows, and Liz Fenton & Lisa Steinke know this best. Despite its picture-perfect location of Tulum, Mexico, their thriller Girls’ Night Out ends up being the setting of friend-trip-nightmares when one girl goes missing. What starts as three women embarking on a group trip to Mexico to repair their bonds turns into a chilling, page-turning, dual-timeline mystery that demands to be inhaled. The settings are breath-taking, but it’s in the nuanced subtleties of Ashley, Natalie and Lauren’s complicated relationships where Fenton and Steinke’s voice really shines. Given that Fenton and Steinke have been real-life besties for over thirty years (since high school!) and written eight books together, it’s no surprise that they are the experts when it comes to crafting a story about the importance of friendship.

Friends in Napa by Sheila Yasmin Marikar

The title says it all! From Mindy’s Book Studio, Sheila Yasmin Marikar’s sophomore novel Friends in Napa is a darkly comedic mystery, as deliciously tantalizing as gossiping with a great friend over the perfect glass of wine. When Raj and Rachel Ranjani invite their closest friends from college for a reunion weekend in Napa Valley, California, they’re excited to celebrate the grand opening of their new luxury high-end winery. But tensions are immediately high upon the group’s arrival, and it doesn’t take much vino for secrets to spill and the illusion of friendship to crack when a dead body is discovered. It’s a look at the power, privilege, and identity strains that can arise amongst friends, making for a page-turning summer read.

Who We Are Now by Lauryn Chamberlain

Friend group trips aren’t exclusive to beachy destinations, though! One of my favorite getaways featured in a book swapped sunscreen and beach chairs for ski goggles and chair lifts, and I couldn’t have loved it more. While the majority of Lauryn Chamberlain’s dazzling sophomore novel Who We Are Now is set in New York City, following four college best friends as they navigate post-grad careers, relationships, and families, and health, a major plot climax happens outside the city during a friend group ski trip. Chamberlain’s entire novel is filled to the brim with beautiful odes to the loyalty, kinship, jealousy, and adoration that can come as college friends enter the real world together. This ski getaway will leave you gasping, gut-punched, and Googling how to take a shot ski.

In A Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware

On the other end of the destination bachelorette party spectrum from the aforementioned Best Men, meet Ruth Ware’s unputdownable, instant classic, In A Dark, Dark Wood. When Nora is invited to her estranged best friend Clare’s “hen party” for a weekend in a remote English countryside cabin – a glass house in the middle of the woods – she’s anxious but tentatively hopeful that it might be the first step towards mending the friendship. But what should be a cozy, celebratory weekend turns into something much worse, In A Dark, Dark Wood teaches us an age-old lesson: when invited to a group getaway that you have any hesitation about attending, decline! I couldn’t put this thriller down.  

Dele Weds Destiny by Tomi Obaro

A wedding is the perfect occasion for a friend group reunion trip, at least in the case of Tomi Obaro’s sensational debut. Funmi, Enitan and Zainab, former best college friends who are now in their forties, reunite in Lagos for one of their daughters’ weddings. It’s rare to read a novel where all three female characters feel so fully realized, the ebb-and-flow of their relationships so realistic, that the storylines truly come to life, yet Obaro pulls this off with effortless mastery. Getting to spend time with the women during their pivotal university years was a perfect way to study the lasting bonds of friendship. Part friendship reunion, part wedding drama, part love story, this is an illuminating novel not to be missed!

The Summer Pact by Emily Giffin

Okay, maybe this is cheating because I haven’t technically read Emily Giffin’s newest novel yet, but this one is already at the top of the list for my July most anticipated reads. The Summer Pact publishes on July 9^th and is sure to be a moving portrait about the people who help patch up our broken pieces. The premise: in college, four friends made a promise to always be there in any of their times of need. Now, when Hannah experiences an unexpected tragedy, she calls on her college best friends who, despite their recent distance, agree to escape to Capri, Italy together. Sure to be a powerful love story about friendship, grief, and healing, I can’t wait to sob into my beach chair with this in my hands come July.

Half Credit: The Vacationers by Emma Straub

Technically, the characters vacationing to Mallorca in The Vacationers are both family and friends, so this might qualify as more of a half credit, but I’d be remiss not to include Emma Straub’s keenly observed ode to group travel in my round-up. The Vacationers has been one of my favorite books since it published in 2014, because of how vivid a portrait Straub paints of long-term relationships, well-kept secrets, and the highs-and-lows of a family getaway. With Straub’s signature braided storytelling and clever character quirks, this is a family vacation story that might even make you grateful for your own brand of family dysfunction, while of course, enticing you to book a trip to Mallorca.

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Hi, Sidney! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?

Hi there! My debut novel Best Men was published in 2023 and my second novel The Bump is coming out May 21^st. I’m also a screenwriter for film and TV and have a few screenplays and TV projects in active development with various producers and studios. Before that I was a writer/director with Comedy Central. I’m originally from the suburbs of Chicago and now I live in New York with my partner and our Australian labradoodle named Zelda.

When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?

I started reading every book I could get my hands at a very early age. In grade school I was in a program called Great Books where we’d read and report on classic books and I fell in love with all kinds of storytelling then. When I was about 12 years old, I sat down to write a Choose Your Own Adventure book, which was sort of like fan fiction and I knew I wanted to be a writer when my friends and family kept bringing that book up and encouraging me to write more. My best childhood friend and I also wrote little plays and original songs that we’d perform in our bedrooms. I was also a huge movie nerd so I studied screenwriting and filmmaking in college. But I’ve been making short films, filming original comedy sketches, writing screenplays and working on novels for as long as I can remember.

Quick lightning round! Tell us:

• The first book you ever remember reading: Where The Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein. Or maybe something by Judy Blume like Superfudge or Blubber.
• The one that made you want to become an author: Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger I think I read it in high school. I couldn’t believe the narrator was also the protagonist of the story. The intimacy of that blew my mind and I knew that I had to try writing in the first person.
• The one that you can’t stop thinking about: Most recently I read Yellowface by R. F. Kuang which was such a thrilling, funny, dark, sad, topical experience. It dives deep into the book world in a satirical way that I’d never read before. The highs and lows of that story have stuck with me.

Your latest novel, The Bump, is out May 21^st! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?

Gay couple having a baby.

What can readers expect?

The Bump is a rom-com so hopefully readers will laugh, feel joy, smile and maybe even cry a little.

Here’s the official description:

Wyatt Wallace is a practical, superorganized director of TV commercials. Biz Petterelli is a child-actor-turned-magazine-writer who thrives on spontaneity. Though polar opposites, they are fully committed to their relationship and their life in Brooklyn with their dog, Matilda. They’re also about to have a baby together.

And they’re freaking out.

They’ve both dreamed of becoming parents, but now that it’s happening, they’re doubting everything. Their baby is due in a few weeks and instead of flying to California just before the birth as planned, Biz has a better idea. They could use one last hurrah, along with some serious “us-time” to mend the issues they’ve been having lately—before they get tied down by fatherhood and its impending responsibilities. So the daddies-to-be load up their car and embark on an epic cross-country babymoon.

But when they take several unexpected detours, old wounds are reopened and secrets spill out that could change their relationship for better or for worse, forcing the couple to reexamine the meaning of family while building their own. After all, what’s a road trip without a few bumps along the way?

Where did the inspiration for The Bump come from?

When close friends of mine started having babies and sharing their stories, I couldn’t help but think this high stakes, life-changing milestone would make a fun and profound idea to set a novel around. Since most rom-coms tell the story of how a couple meets-cute, I wanted to tell a story about an established couple who go through all the twists and turns of a typical romantic comedy right before they have a meet-cute with their new baby.

Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?

The story is told in a dual POV of the main couple so I had a blast alternating between Wyatt and Biz. The double perspective kept me on my toes but also allowed me to dig further into what motivates both of them. The main characters are polar opposites so exploring how they overlap and how they don’t was fun and it became the engine to their story in order to finally get them on the same page emotionally.

This is your second published novel! What have you learned between the two when it comes to writing and publishing?

Lots of people are reading! Whether it’s family members, friends, long lost high school friends, social media friends or complete strangers, it’s incredible to learn just how many people read my first book, Best Men. Thanks to my amazing publishing and publicity team, as well as social media, I’m receiving constant feedback on my first book a year later and now I’m feeling the anticipation of my second book.

What’s next for you?

I’m working on my third book right now. It’s maybe a bit too early to describe what it’s about but it will definitely have humor and heart like my first two books. I also have a few screenplays in development, one set up with Billy Porter producing, that I hope will become movies very soon.

Lastly, are there any book releases that you’re looking forward to picking up this year?

I just picked up Emily Henry’s latest novel, Funny Story, which I can’t wait to read since she always brings the rom-com joy. I’m also looking forward to Steven Rowley’s The Guncle Abroad.

Will you be picking up The Bump? Tell us in the comments below!

The post Q&A: Sidney Karger, Author of ‘The Bump’ appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

With a premise like that, who wouldn’t want to devour this book in one sitting? Sidney Karger definitely has a talent for setting the scene. From the get-go, we follow Max and his intrinsic thoughts which draw you right into the narrative. The setting of the story, New York City, almost becomes another secondary character as it draws you in with its charm.

The highlight of this book is certainly the characters, especially our main character Max. If you’re a fan of Steven Rowley or Alexis Hall‘s brand of humour, then you will absolutely devour Best Men. Max Moody’s internal monologue is at times hubristic and at others self-deprecating but above all, it’s always witty, funny, and will have you laughing out loud with how often you’ll catch yourself thinking “hey, that’s what I’d say!”.

With that in mind, I wouldn’t exactly call Best Men a rom-com though. The comedy part is definitely overpowering here and it takes more than a while for any sort of romance to kick off (which I was very fine with since Max was such a riveting character) and even then, the focus is more so on the best friend plot between Max and Paige. I think this would have benefitted from giving Chasten his own point of view since we never really get a read on the guy and it was often hard to see any kind of bond developing between Max and Chasten without knowing where exactly Chasten was at emotionally. Still, I somehow preferred the focus on Max and Paige’s changing friendship dynamics. Honestly, give me more of this in romance. I adored the premise of having to navigate the truly tough situation of finding yourself faced with your best friend…finding a new best friend.

So if you’re looking for a witty yet emotional story following the difficult dynamics of a triangle friendship with a bit of romance thrown into the mix, then Best Men is the book for you!

Best Men is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore.

Will you be picking up Best Men? Tell us in the comments below!

Synopsis | Goodreads

When two best men in a wedding party fall for each other, they realize love isn’t a piece of cake in this hilarious and heartfelt romantic comedy debut by screenwriter Sidney Karger.

Max Moody thought he had everything figured out. He’s trying to live his best life in New York City and has the best friend a gay guy could ask for: Paige. She and Max grew up next door to each other in the suburbs of Chicago. She can light up any party. She finishes his sentences. She’s always a reliable splunch (they don’t like to use the word brunch) partner. But then Max’s whole world is turned upside down when Paige suddenly announces some huge news: she’s engaged and wants Max to be her man of honor. Max was always the romantic one who imagined he would get married before the unpredictable Paige and is shocked to hear she’s ready to settle down. But it turns out there’s not just one new man in Paige’s life–there are two.

There’s the groom, Austin, who’s a perfectly nice guy. Then there’s his charming, fun and ridiculously handsome gay younger brother, Chasten, who is Austin’s best man. As Paige’s wedding draws closer, Max, the introverted Midwesterner, and Chasten, the social butterfly East Coaster, realize they’re like oil and water. Yet they still have to figure out how to coexist in Paige’s life while not making her wedding festivities all about them. But can the tiny romantic spark between these two very different guys transform their best man supporting roles into the leading best men in each other’s lives?

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