Today’s literary adventure takes us to the water via books set on a boat. Whether you prefer to stay on the shore or enjoy tooling around on any manner of watercraft, these novels are able to transport us to any number of destinations. And there are so many possibilities depending on the type of boat and novel. Choices range from small crafts like rowboats and kayaks all the way up to yachts and huge cruisers. Then there’s where the boats set sail from rivers to vast oceans. Add your genre of choice and readers will be transported to anything from moonlit sails to jaunty trips or potentially deadly escapes.
We’ve got something for everyone with today’s fiction titles, from adventure novels and thrillers to historical fiction and romance. Even horror and classics! But I know there are so many more books set on a boat to choose from. We’ll need a second list for nonfiction titles alone! I hope you’ll share your fiction favorites in the comments.
Told in alternating perspectives, this dual timeline science fiction explores themes of family, survival, and the apocalypse. In 2019, seventy-year-old Signe takes to the ocean on a harrowing mission to cross in a sailboat, driven by lost love. Years later, following a worldwide water shortage in 2041, David and his daughter Lou flee drought-ravaged Southern Europe on a mission to reunite with their family. Along their journey, they find artifacts and belongings from Signe’s adventure, and their stories merge. Translated from the Norwegian by Diane Oatley. More info →
As a confirmed scaredy-cat, I was afraid to pick up this sci-fi/horror novel, but a couple of trusted readers told me I could probably handle it. They were right. Here’s the deal: Mermaids are real, but they are not like Ariel. Some researchers believe this with their whole heart and have made studying these mermaids, or sirens, their life’s work. Others are deeply skeptical, but regardless what camp they’re in, a huge swath of the scientific community is about to set sail on another voyage to the Mariana Trench, a follow-up to a seven years earlier voyage that ended in tragedy, with everyone on board lost at sea. No one is exactly sure why; skeptics called the whole thing a hoax. Both the siren skeptics and the true believers are about to discover mermaids are very real—and it will be a miracle if anyone gets out of there alive. More info →
A mind-bending mystery, alternate history, and queer romance rolled into one. In this time-slip novel, Napoleon conquers England in the Battle of Trafalgar and a stone portal in the sea serves as a passageway between centuries. When Joe steps off a train in the city of Londre, 1898, he has a postcard in his pocket written in forbidden English, with a postmark dated 1805, though it inexplicably bears the image of a recently-constructed lighthouse. “Dearest Joe, come home if you remember,” says the postcard, signed simply “M.” Joe’s search for M leads him to the Outer Hebrides and back and forth through the stone portals many a time on his dangerous quest to reunite with his family without changing the course of history—or erasing his own existence. More info →
From the author of Meet Me at the Museum, a story of three women brought together by a small narrowboat who embark together on a journey through the river canals of rural England. One woman anxiously awaits a surgery, one has given up her ordinary life to become a free spirit, one is unsure if she’ll return to her husband when the journey is done—but until those looming realities need to be faced, they’ll spend the summer together (along with one small dog) enjoying the scenery as they wend their way down the river at 4mph. More info →
This blend of women’s fiction and romance centers on a nearly-30-year-old woman named Jo who was excitedly working through a 30-by-30 list until her plans got derailed by a family tragedy. When her nieces unexpectedly show up for the summer, they demand that she get back to work on her list. She gets started by kissing a stranger: she thinks she’ll never see him again, but surprise! He’s her new neighbor AND her new coworker (soon to be dubbed “Hot Yacht Chef”) aboard the luxury yacht where Jo works as a steward. With the help of her friends, family, and new love interest, Jo starts facing the pain of the past, and plotting a course for the future—including plans to knock out that bucket list. The audiobook, as narrated by Karissa Vacker, was a walk-another-mile, fold-another-load DELIGHT. (Chaste.) More info →
James Mustich picked this fantasy adventure novel as one of his 1,000 Books To Read Before You Die. It follows Piscene Patel, a teenage boy from India who survives a shipwreck and subsequently spends 227 days on a life raft with a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. Years later, Pi tells his own story, but a surprise at the end leaves the reader wondering if they really understand what happened on that raft. If you turn immediately back to page 1 and start reading again looking for clues, you’re in good company. More info →
This dystopian novel with echoes of The Dog Stars and The Road is set in the not-too-distant future, where fires have ravaged the globe and religious extremists have seized control of governments. Lark, a teenage refugee and the sole survivor of a trans-Atlantic voyage, fled Maine with his family hoping to find sanctuary in Ireland, the last country rumored to be accepting refugees—only to discover upon arrival that the borders have closed and his perilous journey has only just begun. Dejected, starving, and alone, he sets out for Glendalough, the “thin place” his mother told him about before she died. Along the way he befriends Seamus, a trustworthy beagle who somehow managed to survive even after dogs were eradicated, and encounters others who wish to both help and harm him. More info →
In this twisty thriller, a travel writer takes an assignment aboard an exclusive luxury cruise ship. Shortly after arriving, she wakes in the middle of the night to the sound of something heavy being thrown overboard. She’s sure it’s a body … and yet no one is missing from the boat. She’s compelled to figure out what really happened, which puts more than her own life in danger. Strongly reminiscent of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None. More info →
Jennifer E. Smith’s adult debut introduces us to indie rock star Greta James three months after the death of her mother and right before her sophomore album releases. After her onstage meltdown goes viral, she needs to lay low and reluctantly agrees to go on an Alaskan cruise with her father that her parents had planned to celebrate their 40th anniversary. It’s a chance for Greta and her father to deal with past resentments. It’s also a chance for her to get to know historian Ben Wilder who is there to lecture about her mother’s favorite adventure story. More info →
In this story based on a true 2010 event, a cargo ship carrying more than 500 refugees fleeing war-torn Sri Lanka docks on Canada’s coast near Vancouver, thinking they’ve made it to safety after a long journey. After all, in the words of one character, “Canada has a reputation for being a soft touch.” But government officials wonder if the ship holds members of a terrorist cell, and so all the occupants remain in detention until the national security crisis—whether real or imagined—is resolved. Bala uses three perspectives to great effect: a refugee, his lawyer, and a new adjudicator who feels woefully unprepared to make these potential life-or-death decisions. More info →
In the near future, most wildlife has become extinct. Franny Stone arrives in Greenland to follow the last Arctic terns on their likely final migration to Antarctica. She finagles a spot on a fishing boat and develops a found family with the oddball crew. As they set sail, Franny learns there’s no hiding from her past—including a love affair and a crime. The story alternates between her current quest and her past history, exploring climate change, redemption, and the persistence of hope along the way. More info →
Imagine you’re a crew member on the 1845 Franklin Expedition, searching for the legendary Northwest Passage. Now imagine your ship is fully surrounded by thick, unyielding ice. The men on board the HMS Terror feel trepidation at the thought of a second summer with their ship stuck in the Arctic Circle, hoping for a thaw that will allow them to continue on or go home. As time passes, their supplies dwindle, tensions rise, and the men realize that there’s something out there, a predator that they are unequipped to handle. Desperate, they take to walking across the ice as a last attempt at survival. At 700+ pages, this novel is full of suspense and icy chills. More info →
Everett’s ingenious latest is a retelling of the Mark Twain novel, from Jim’s—or rather, James’s—point of view as he and Huck Finn raft down the Mississippi River. Completely brilliant, stunning on audio, and a book with staying power we’ll still be reading and talking about in ten, fifty, or even a hundred years. I first read this on ebook and then revisited it via the audiobook narrated by Dominic Hoffman—and found it unquestionably worth reading twice. More info →
I didn’t know a book could be both gorgeous and terrifying—but then I devoured this 2019 release in a day. When two college friends plan a long canoeing trip in northern Canada, they anticipate a peaceful yet memorable summer escape filled with whitewater paddling, fly fishing, and campfire cooking. The first hint of danger is a whiff of smoke, from an encroaching forest fire. The next comes from a man, seemingly in shock, who reports his wife disappeared in the woods. If these boys didn’t feel compelled to do the right thing and go look for her, they’d be fine, but instead they step in to help—and are soon running for their lives, from disasters both natural and man-made. A tightly-written wilderness adventure, a lyrical mystery, and a heartrending story of friendship, rolled into one. More info →
In this beloved children’s classic, King Caspian built the Dawn Treader for his quest to find the seven lost lords his evil uncle banished when he took over the throne. Edmund, Lucy, and their cousin Eustace join the voyage as they travel from the Eastern Islands to Aslan’s country at the End of the World. Lewis’s inspiration includes British and Irish fairy tales, traditional Christian themes, and Greek and Roman mythology. More info →
“Where does a mistake begin?” So begins this literary thriller inspired by a real-life 2014 Coast Guard rescue. Michael and Juliet, facing an ailing marriage and midlife malaise, decided to sell all their worldly possessions and spend a year sailing around the Caribbean. But now Juliet is home, Michael is absent, and we don’t know why—but it’s clear everything changed on the yacht. In dual narratives, we see Juliet struggling mightily to cope with her current life in the suburbs, and—thanks to her early discovery of Michael’s captain’s log from the voyage—we get Michael’s real-time, emotional account of their harrowing times on the open seas, and the unbearable stress it placed on their already-crumbling relationship. A harrowing portrait of a boat in peril and a marriage in crisis. More info →
Hemingway’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novella follows the epic battle between floundering Cuban fisherman Santiago and the giant marlin he struggles to catch. He hasn’t caught a fish in months but hopes his luck might change if he manages to persevere despite the elements and his own limitations. Some might reduce this timeless story to just “a man and a fish” but it’s so much more than that. More info →
Do you have any favorite books set on a boat? Please share in the comments.
P.S. Take a vicarious trip with these novels set on planes, trains, and automobiles and 15 books to take you on a vicarious vacation.
