When we read fiction, we can escape the everyday world and experience lives full of drama in faraway places. But instead of reading to escape, what if you could escape to the faraway settings of your favorite books and share your reading experience with other book lovers? Where better to read Agatha Christie's murder mystery Death on the Nile than in Egypt, or Robert Harris' historical thriller Pompeii in Pompeii? Or how about a trip to Jamaica to discuss Ian Fleming's James Bond adventure Dr. No? That's the idea behind Books in Places, a UK company that organizes short trips like these to discuss books, as well as longer reading retreats. The company was started in 2023 by Paul Wright, who was already running a Bristol-based book club. He told The Times newspaper that he got the idea when his club was discussing a novel by Turkish writer Elif Shafak in a Turkish restaurant. He couldn't help thinking they would have a better conversation if they were actually in Turkey! Books in Places is part of a wider travel trend in which readers meet on literary trips that combine the fun of a vacation with the social experience of a book club. Page Break in New York organizes rural retreats to discuss contemporary fiction by new and underrepresented writers. San Francisco's Silent Book Club runs retreats where people can read and discuss whatever they like in locations like Costa Rica and Italy. Ladies Who Lit in the UK organizes reading retreats for women in places like Spain, Greece and the Caribbean. Where Books in Places stands out is that it brings readers to the places where the books are actually set. As Wright says on the company website, "Reading a book rooted in the place I'm exploring adds depth to my experience, making the streets, culture, and history come alive in a way nothing else can."