“Books to Read When You Miss Home”

For Travelers, Expats, Dreamers, and Anyone Who’s Ever Left Something Behind

Missing home is a quiet ache.
It doesn’t always come with tears, sometimes it’s the smell of a dish you can’t find abroad, the accent in a stranger’s voice, or the way your name gets mispronounced. For travelers, immigrants, and nomads, that ache follows us like carry-on luggage.

Books, though?
Books can take you back.
They remind you of where you came from, or gently help you understand what you’ve left behind.

This list is for the days when you miss home so much it hums in your bones.

We chose these five books because they are:
    •    Emotionally resonant: They explore identity, family, and distance.
    •    Highly acclaimed: Literary quality with broad global recognition.
    •    Relatable: Written by or about people who leave, return, or belong to more than one place.
    •    Beautifully written: Language that makes you pause and feel.

5 Books to Read When You Miss Home

1. The Namesake – Jhumpa Lahiri

India ⇆ America
A quietly powerful novel about a boy born in the U.S. to Indian parents who struggles with his name, his identity, and what it means to straddle two worlds.
Quote Vibe:
“Some names carry the sound of home, even when the tongue forgets how to say it.”

2. Americanah – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Nigeria ⇆ USA
Ifemelu leaves Nigeria and lands in America, only to realize that race, love, and home all feel different when you’re far away. It’s funny, sharp, and honest.
Quote Vibe:
“She carried Lagos in her laughter, even when the streets were unfamiliar.”

3. What We Lose – Zinzi Clemmons

South Africa ⇆ America
A poetic, unconventional novel about grief, diaspora, and what it means to feel in-between. A short, powerful book for days when you miss your mother, your home, or your sense of self.
Quote Vibe:
“Loss smells like your mother’s kitchen even oceans away.”

4. The Little Prince – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Universal
It may seem like a children’s book, but it’s actually a gentle reminder that love, memory, and “home” can’t always be explained. Sometimes, they’re a rose.
Quote Vibe:
“Home is not a place, it’s the person who waters your rose.”

5. The Art of Leaving – Ayelet Tsabari

Israel ⇆ Canada
A memoir made of essays about migration, culture, and the tension between roots and wings. It’s raw, intimate, and written by someone who understands what it means to carry many homes inside her.
Quote Vibe:
“Some homes you leave with your feet others, you carry in your throat.”

How to Get Started
    •    Pick the one that echoes your current season: grief, longing, joy, or identity.
    •    Read slowly. These aren’t rush-through books. They’re meant to hold your hand.
    •    If you’re abroad, read one with someone back home turn it into a shared memory.

You don’t always need a plane ticket to feel at home again.
Sometimes, all you need is a story that reminds you who you are, where you’ve been, and what’s waiting for you when you return.

Have you read any of these? Or do you have a book that brought you back home?