Sofia Coppola has long been the tastemaker of this generation – pointing the way through young love, melancholy and feeling adrift with her signature cocktail of dreamy, hyper-feminine aesthetics. But if you didn't already know – not only is Coppola a bonafide cinephile, she's also an avid reader. Her debut film was an adaptation of Jeffrey Eugenides' seminal Virgin Suicides book – and her most recent film, Priscilla was also an adaptation – this time of Priscilla Presley's memoir.
But if you were wondering what Sofia Coppola currently has on her vacation reading list – she's given us the details. Posting a full suite of reads to her Instagram, where it appears she's reading as widely as Gothic novels and 2020s Lit-Fic. For all the details of her current book rotation (and to maybe inspire your own upcoming holiday reading list), check out the full list below.
1. Simple Passion by Annie Ernaux
One of the books also featured on Olivia Rodrigo's recent reading list, Ernaux's semi-autobiographical tale of an emotionally draining two-year relationship is all about obsession, longing and destructive love.
2. Loved and Missed by Susie Boyt
A novel about love's gains and missteps by British novelist and journalist Susie Boyt, this one chronicles a school teacher mother who takes care of her granddaughter while her daughter is in the throes of drug addiction.
3. Writers and Lovers by Lily King
One of the most recommended books of the last few years, King's Writers and Lovers is a brilliantly funny and heartbreaking coming-of-age novel that follows a 31-year-old aspiring novelist in the midst of debt, grief and a restaurant job in 1990s Boston.
4. Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
Du Maurier wrote this now-cannon Gothic novel back in 1938 while living in Egypt. Its unnamed protagonist marries a wealthy widower before discovering that both he and his manor are still haunted by the memory of his late first wife.
5. Lonely Crowds by Stephanie Wambugu
This is the debut novel from Wambugu (and has already won a slew of awards including the Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction). It follows a volatile friendship between two schoolgirls escaping bleak childhoods – and the ambiguous spaces between friendship and romantic love.
6. The Compound by Aisling Rawle
Irish author Aisling Rawle's 2025 dystopian satire also made Coppola's reading list. Think Hunger Games meets your favourite Black Mirror episode– where a young woman wakes up on a remote desert compound with 19 other contestants on a popular reality TV show.
7. Waiting for Britney Spears by Jeff Weiss
A pop culture read for fans of Von Dutch and The Simple Life, Weiss's semi-fictional memoir blurs fact and fancy to follow a young writer chronicling America's sweetheart through Vegas superclubs and Malibu car chases. A perfect supplement to a viewing of Coppola's The Bling Ring.
8. Contrapposto by Dave Eggers
Dave Eggers' latest novel turns its attention to art, identity and reinvention. Set within the contemporary art world, Contrapposto explores ambition, performance and the stories we tell about ourselves, delivered with Eggers' trademark wit and emotional precision.
9. The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout
Strout – one of contemporary fiction's most celebrated writers – returns with another devastating portrait of family, memory and the unspoken emotional currents that shape our lives. The Things We Never Say examines the tensions between love, regret and forgiveness.
Looking for more holiday reading recs? We've dished on all the books to add to your beach bag this summer. Looking for a book to bring on a cold-weather vacay? Warm up cold nights with our winter reading list.
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