Oh, summer! The season where finding just the right book can help you further escape into paradise as you soak in the sunshine and fresh air. With many of us taking off to the beach for some R&R, we put together a list of books that we think make the perfect summer reads. No worries in the world but to enjoy the breeze in your hair and the smell of the ocean as you get lost in a good book. Here are our top ten books that will make you laugh, cry and take you on a thrilling ride, all while enjoying the summer heat. Happy reading!
1. Yearbook by Seth Rogen
Yearbook is actor, producer, and writer Seth Rogen’s collection of hilarious stories and personal essays. He touches on many moments in his life including his grandparents, Jewish summer camp, doing stand-up comedy as a teen, his adventures of living in Los Angeles, and experiences with the other famous people living there. If you’re a fan of Seth Rogen’s humour and films, you’re sure to enjoy this book.
2. Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead
Transporting us from one century to the next, Great Circle first leads us into the globe-trotting life of Marian Graves, in the early to mid 1900s. Marian is obsessed with flying, and ends up dropping out of school and forging a relationship with a wealthy bootlegger. It’s a relationship that allows her to follow her dream of flying over the North and South Poles. The book then takes us to Hollywood in 2014, with the story of Hadley Baxter. The young actress is set to star in a biopic about the legendary pilot, Graves. Hadley wants to redefine herself through this role, and her determination matches that of the character she is portraying. The two women’s stories are intertwined in this epic summer read, filled with colourful characters and thrilling and life-changing adventures!
3. Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé
Ace of Spaces is a contemporary YA thriller has been described as “Gossip Girl meets Get Out,” and centers around Niveus Private Academy students, Devon and Chiamaka, and their struggles against an anonymous bully called Ace. This bully is determined to reveal all of their dark secrets, but the high-school game soon becomes dangerous and maybe even deadly.
4. Summer on the Bluffs by Sunny Hostin
Summer on the Bluffs is a New York Timesbestseller by The View cohost Sunny Hostin, takes us to Martha’s Vineyard and into the most exclusive black beach community called Oak Bluffs. It tells us the story of super successful couple Ama and Omar and their three “goddaughters,” Esperanza, Olivia, and Billie. After Omar passes away, Ama decides to move to France, but is determined to bring the girls together for one last summer, and gift one of them with the beach house they’ve spent many summers in. Each of the women wants the house desperately, but each fear their secrets may hurt their chances of being chosen. However, they aren’t the only ones with secrets!
5. Sex and Vanity by Kevin Kwan
Sex and Vanity was written by the author of the New York Times bestseller, Crazy Rich Asians. It brings readers a fun new beach read that takes them from Capri to New York City in a tale of love, where the heroine is torn between two men and two very different worlds. Lucie is the daughter of an American-born Chinese mother and American father, and has always favoured her dad’s side. When she meets George Zao in Capri, she instantly can’t stand him, yet can’t resist his charms. Fast-forward five years, and Lucie is engaged to “The Most Eligible Gentleman on the Planet,” Cecil Pike. All is fine, until George appears in East Hampton and Lucie once again finds herself drawn to him. She spins a web of deceit all in the hopes of keeping George from entering her life. Join in on the craziness that takes readers into the extravagant lives of the rich and famous, and gives us this modern-day love story filled with humour and colourful characters.
6. Falling by T.J. Newman
This is one of the books I’m most excited to read! Falling became an instant New York Times bestseller, and from the reviews it’s been receiving, it’s not a surprise. Imagine you just boarded a flight to New York with one hundred and forty-three other passengers, but didn’t know that 30 minutes before the flight, the pilot’s family had been kidnapped. And the only way to save his family is for everyone on the flight to die. This chilling thriller was described by American author Don Winslow as “Jaws at 36, 000.” Have I convinced you to pick this up for your next beach vacation?
7. The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix
This is a thrilling read by Grady Hendrix, who approaches the slasher movie tropes from a fresh angle. The final girls in horror movies are the girls who live to see another day after making it through the most horrifying night of their lives. The Final Girl Support Group follows Lynnette Tarkington, who survived a massacre and has met with a support group for the last ten years, consisting of five other females who have survived their own horrors. After one of the women misses a meeting, Lynnette starts to fear the worst—someone knows about the group and is coming for them. But the thing about final girls is that they never, ever give up!
8. Beach Read by Emily Henry
In Emily Henry’s latest book, two struggling authors spend the summer writing and challenging each other in the small beach town of North Bear Shores. They’re both struggling with writer’s block and have both experienced some trauma. January Andrews is a romance writer that no longer believes in happily-ever-after, and Augustus Everett is the darling of the literary fiction world. The two neighbours strike up a deal to help them shake off their writer’s block by agreeing to write in each other’s genre. Beach Read is a heartfelt look at life and love and taking second chances.
9. Rock the Boat by Beck Dorey-Stein
Rock the Boat sees three old friends return to their small town of Sea Point, New Jersey, for an unforgettable summer. Kate Campbell returns home after her boyfriend of 12 years breaks up with her. Her neighbour Ziggy Miller is mourning his father’s sudden death and trying to decide whether he can keep running his dad’s plumbing business. And Ziggy’s best friend, Miles Hoffman, comes home to help him with his father’s accounting, and prove to his mom that he is ready to inherit the family’s Sea Point resort. All three must face their past and deal with the secrets that come to light, and rediscover who they are now, and who they want to be.
10. The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller
The Paper Palace has all the ingredients for a good beach read: secrets, lies, and an emotional love triangle. Elle, who is happily married with kids, makes a decision one night on Cape Cod that could change the course of her life. While their spouses chatted together inside the summer place she visited every year, Elle and her oldest friend, Jonas, stepped out and had sex. Elle must now decide between the life she has with her husband or the life that she always thought she’d have with her childhood love. It’s a deeply emotional page-turner that will have you sinking into your beach chair as you delve into the lives of these characters.
Grow Your Beach Reading List
Want more books to add to your beach reading list? We have more recommendations for you to check out in this blog post.
