Perfect holiday reading for me is an intelligent, literary fantasy to transport me to another world, the way books by E. Nesbit and T. H. White did when I was a child, or as the Harry Potter saga did for my daughter. But the magic of J. K. Rowling’s books didn’t work for me. It wasn’t the plot I was too old for, but the approach and style, as I discovered when I read The Magicians by Lev Grossman (Heinemann, £10.99; Buy this book).

This is my ideal escapist fantasy read, a Harry Potter book for grown-ups. Not that the publishers let on: the book is packaged like a conspiracy thriller, and the F-word never mentioned. But it has the same basic plot about a lonely young man whose understanding of reality is utterly changed once he’s invited to become a student at a secret school for magicians. This is a sophisticated, subtle novel that is also magical fun. I can’t imagine any lover of well-written classic fantasy, from C. S. Lewis’s Narnia books to the works of Diana Wynne Jones, who won’t absolutely adore it.

With The Keeper (Bantam, £6.99; Buy this book), Natasha Mostert steps aside from the well-beaten path of urban fantasy with a refreshingly different, suspenseful love story. Mia Lockhart is a tattoo artist in South London, but she also has a second secret vocation as a “Keeper”. Using a mystical discipline handed down through centuries from mother to daughter, she is able to protect a few chosen male fighters — at least until she attracts the attention of a mysterious stranger. This unusual, deftly written tale combines martial and healing arts with speculation about the life-force known as chi, marrying modern science with mysticism, and steering clear of romantic clichés.

Stephenie Meyer’s first science fiction novel is now out in chunky paperback, light enough to pack for many days of reading. In The Host (Sphere, £7.99; Buy this book) she has put a different spin on the invasion-of-the-body-snatchers idea, as told from the perspective of one of the invaders, who are a kinder species than us human beings. Although it is promoted as her first “adult” novel, it will appeal most to the same teens who adored the Twilight series. It has a similar rambling narrative about old souls and young love fuelled by a potent, sticky, mix of yearning, danger and sexual frustration.

The Sunday Times 100 best holiday reads

Choose from a rich haul of novels and thrillers (including two prizewinners) or fill your mind with the sharpest new nonfiction

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• Summer reading: fiction roundup

• Summer reading: children's books

• Summer reading: audio books

• Summer reading

Summer reading

The Sunday Times top 12 choices in fiction and nonfiction

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Summer reading: fiction

A perfect day would start in the winding streets of Barcelona and end with a classic Agatha Christie mystery

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• Erica Wagner chooses her favourite summer books

• David Aaronovitch reviews the best history books for your holiday reading

• Tim Teeman reviews the best books to take on holiday

• Val McDermid reviews the latest thrillers

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• Summer reading for children

• Summer reading: biography/memoir

• Lisa Tuttle reviews the latest science fiction and fantasy novels

• Summer reading: fiction that you loved on vacation

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• Summer reading: music

• Summer reading: outdoors

• Summer reading: travel

• Summer listening: audiobooks

Carrie Ryan’s The Forest of Hands and Teeth (Gollancz, £9.99; Buy this book) is set after an unexplained zombie apocalypse. Mary, the novel’s narrator, lives in a fortified village compound, constantly menaced by the legions of “Unconsecrated” on the other side of the fence. For all anyone knows, the villagers may be the last surviving remnant of humanity. But life goes on, and the main concern of Mary, even faced with a terrifying future, is choosing between two lads, wondering if love trumps security, and if she will live long enough to find out. Compelling enough to suggest that zombies may be the new vampires.

Ideas are the great strength of science fiction and any fan who wants plenty to think about while travelling would be well advised to take The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, Volume Three (Solaris, £7.99; Buy this book). In his introduction, the editor George Mann suggests that the dystopian view of the future has become the science fiction norm in these pessimistic times, and calls for a change, writing “I miss the fun. I miss the adventure.”

A novel set in a cemetery, featuring a homeless misfit, a grieving widow and two young people, unhappy in life, now even unhappier after their sudden deaths, may not sound uplifting, but Peter S. Beagle’s A Fine and Private Place (Tachyon, $15 from www.tachyonpublications.com) is wise and funny, a gentle, character-driven fantasy about life, love and the possibility of second chances even when it seems far too late. This was Beagle’s first novel, originally published in 1960, but it has a timeless quality and is well worth seeking out as an antidote to despair and a welcome change from standard genre obsessions.

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