Hello,
Step up to my beachside book bar. I’ll be your bartender today. What can I get you?
Fair warning, our menu is long… like, Cheesecake Factory long. So, you might need to open this post in your browser to read the whole thing.
“Recommend me a classic beach read.”
You want the book equivalent of a glass of rosé. Something light, fun, and summery.
PEOPLE WE MEET ON VACATION by Emily Henry: When I’m on a vacation, I love reading about characters who are also on a vacation. Poppy and Alex, best friends since college despite being polar opposites, have an annual tradition of taking a summer trip. The trips run the gamut from budget-friendly to super-luxe. The one thing they have in common? An undercurrent of unrealized romantic tension. This is my personal favorite Emily Henry.
WHO’S THAT GIRL by Mhairi McFarlane: One of my hall-of-fame reading experiences was gulping this book down on a poolside lounge chair in Palm Beach. Edie makes a stupid, drunken mistake that leaves her outcasted at her office. She retreats home to the north of England and takes an assignment ghostwriting a memoir for a Hollywood heartthrob (I pictured Game of Thrones-era Kit Harrington). Extra Credit: You’ll be ready to read the forthcoming sequel YOU BELONG WITH ME, out 9/3.
THE BLUE BISTRO by Elin Hilderbrand: Would you even trust me if there wasn’t an Elin book—who New York Magazine dubbed “The Queen of Beach Reads”—in the first few recs? I wouldn’t. Although this one is from 2005, it’s my all-time fave. Adrienne turns up in Nantucket for the summer and takes a job as a hostess at a popular restaurant. If you’ve ever worked in the service industry (*raises hand*), this is among the best restaurant novels I’ve ever read. Equal parts gossipy, heartwarming, and heart-wrenching, this beach book really does have it all.
“No, make it newer.”
You read beach reads even when you’re not at the beach. (Same!) You’re in the advanced class and want the latest and greatest.
SWAN SONG by Elin Hilderbrand: The Queen of Beach Reads’ newest—and last!— Nantucket novel. I haven’t read it yet, but you better believe it’s the first thing going in my beach bag on my next trip. A mysterious couple buys a $22M beachfront mansion and their lavish parties lead them to become the talk of the town. The chatter reaches a fever pitch when the house burns down and all of their staff goes missing.
THIS SUMMER WILL BE DIFFERENT by Carley Fortune: I am powerless to resist the lush settings and will-they-or-won’t-they vibes of a Carley Fortune novel. I already know this one’s going to skyrocket Prince Edward Island to the top of my travel destination list. Lucy and her best friend Bridget escape to PEI for a girls’ trip, but when Bridget’s flight is delayed, Lucy has an unforgettable night with a handsome stranger… who happens to be Bridget’s younger brother. Over the years, Lucy and Felix try and fail to resist their electric chemistry. But this year, when Bridget goes AWOL a week before her wedding, things have to be different.
SUMMER ROMANCE by Annabel Monaghan: There are no messy twenty-somethings here. This is a grown woman romance with grown woman problems. A professional organizer whose personal life is a mess—three kids; mid-divorce; grieving her own mom—meets a handsome stranger at the dog park. But what starts as a summer fling turns out to be so much more. Laugh out loud funny with a totally unique and captivating male lead, I finished this and immediately wanted to start it over to experience it all over again.
ONE-STAR ROMANCE by Laura Hankin: I cannot and will not stop raving about this book! Natalie, a debut novelist, has to walk down the aisle at her best friends’ wedding with Rob, a man who gave her book a one-star review on Goodreads. How’s that for a setup?! The two keep getting thrown together at their respective best friends’ life events where they clash again and again until it turns into… something else. Something, romantic? Hankin has a way with humor and this book had me snort-laughing. I don’t think I’ve ever shipped a book couple harder. READ. THIS. BOOK.
“Still no, make it spicier.”
OK, I get it, you’re just here for the bedroom scenes.
BRIDE by Ali Hazelwood: All of Hazelwood’s novels, which typically feature women in STEM, are capital-S spicy. But, if I’m honest, there’s something about the alpha-male/ submissive female dynamic that makes me uneasy. But you know what decimates that problem? Turning the characters into werewolves and vampires. OF COURSE he’s an alpha-hole, he’s a werewolf! Misery (actual name, stick with me) was raised in the human world, but is the daughter of the ruling Vampire. Her hand in marriage is offered (against her will) to the new werewolf Alpha to create political peace. Cut to Misery trapped in a strange world (very Beauty & The Beast), with a strange man, that she’s strangely attracted to. Yes! Yes! Yes!
THE PARADISE PROBLEM by Christina Lauren: Pretty Woman meets The White Lotus meets Succession… do I even need to say more? Liam “West” Weston’s sister is getting married, and his parents expect him to bring his wife to the wedding. Except his marriage to Anna was a sham for her to get student housing (you know… typical rom-com shenanigans). He shows up at Anna’s door, waves a wad of cash, gives her a makeover, and brings her as his plus-one to the wedding on a private island. What could go wrong? Well, for starters, they could catch feelings.
THE PAIRING by Casey McQuiston (out 8/6): I hope your vacation’s in August, because this one is perfect for you. I heard the author describe the book as “bisexual sluts abroad!” and, honestly, perfect three-word description. Kit and Theo—estranged exes—end up on the same European food and wine tour. So, naturally they make a bet to see who can hook up with more people on the trip. Except the person they really want in their bed is each other. Everything about this book is lush… the settings, the food descriptions, the bedroom scenes. Truly a feast of a novel.
“Make me cry.”
Are you sure you’re okay? I mean…weird flex, but the customer’s always right, so…
WE ALL WANT IMPOSSIBLE THINGS by Catherine Newman: You asked for it, so here’s the novel that’s made me cry the hardest in recent history. Ash’s best friend of forty-two-years is dying of ovarian cancer. As she spends her final few days with her best friend in hospice, she flails through every other aspect of her life. It’s as achingly tender as it is heart-wrenching, and has lots of surprisingly funny moments. You couldn’t pay me to re-read it (I don’t have that kind of emotional strength), but I’m glad I read it in the first place.
LIZZIE & DANTE by Mary Bly: I think this book should have been more popular than it was. But I guess “crushing beach reads” is a niche genre. Lizzie and her best friend (and her best friends’ movie-star boyfriend) take a trip to the island of Elba after she receives a devastating diagnosis. There, she meets a reclusive chef named Dante. Lizzie must face questions about whether it’s better (or even fair) to love someone for a short while or not at all?
THE PEOPLE WE KEEP by Allison Larkin: Abandoned by her father and living in a broken-down trailer, April hits the road to try and make it as a singer/songwriter. As she moves from place to place, she happens upon more and more people who impact her life. A beautiful book about chosen family and the traumas we can’t escape no matter how far we run, I read this through a haze of tears.
“Just kidding. Scare my pants off.”
Didn’t you see the sign out front? It says “Scardey-cats only,” but I’ll try my best.
RECKLESS GIRLS by Rachel Hawkins: May I interest you in a modern reimagining of Agatha Christie’s AND THEN THERE WERE NONE set on a creepy tropical island? Lux and her boyfriend score the job of a lifetime crewing a boat for a pair of spoiled rich girls who want to go to a mysterious and desolate island due west of Hawaii. Except when they arrive, they’re not the only one’s there. Paradise sours when one person goes missing and another turns up dead. Perhaps this wasn’t such a dream job after all?
FIRST LIE WINS by Ashley Elston: This cat-and-mouse con-woman thriller that came out in January is getting serious buzz, and for good reason. Evie Porter is Ryan Sumner’s dream girl: the textbook southern belle. There’s just one problem… Evie Porter doesn’t exist. Every time I thought I had my arms around this book, there was a huge twist. It kept me guessing until the very end. It’s also fully scaredy-cat approved.
SUCH A BAD INFLUENCE by Olivia Muenter: You’re dreaming if you thought I wasn’t going to recommend this twisty influencer suspense novel. I can’t stop screaming about how amazing it is! One of the internet’s most popular personalities—after all, Evie grew up in the public eye as part of a YouTube famous family—goes missing… during a livestream. Her social-media-averse sister Hazel springs into action to find out what happened to Evie, but in the process, finds out more about her picture-perfect family than she bargained for.
“Leave my pants alone. I don’t want them scared off OR flirted off.”
No problem, let’s see what else I have behind the bar.
THE GUNCLE by Steven Rowley: Equal parts fun and sweet, like a Dirty Shirley with one of those tiny tiki umbrellas. Patrick—a once-famous sitcom star—takes in his niece and nephew after their mom dies and their father checks into rehab. Out of his depth with a six- and nine-year-old in his very non-kid-friendly Palm Springs life, Patrick is forced to adapt…and fast. Extra credit: Make it a double-header and read the newly released second installment THE GUNCLE ABROAD once you finish.
I HOPE THIS FINDS YOU WELL by Natalie Sue: I’m excited for this workplace comedy, which has been getting rave reviews. An IT mix-up gives persnickety Jolene access to her colleagues’ emails, granting her a front row seat to their secrets and private lives. The book is comped to ANXIOUS PEOPLE and ELEANOR OLIPHANT IS COMPLETELY FINE, if you enjoyed either of those (I did!).
SANDWICH by Catherine Newman: Every year for the past two decades, Rocky looks forward to an annual family trip to Cape Cod. This year she finds herself sandwiched in age between her mostly-grown children and aging parents. Scared of an emotional breakdown, I queried friends who’ve read early copies, and have been assured this doesn’t require the Costco-sized box of tissues needed for her previous novel, WE ALL WANT IMPOSSIBLE THINGS. And if you need any more convincing, Ann Patchett says “Sandwich is joy in book form.” Done. Sold!
“Make me feel smart”
You’re busy and important and don’t have time to read. This is your one shot to read something that will top fancy best book of the year lists.
REAL AMERICANS by Rachel Khong: Everyone I know who’s read this multigenerational family saga has said they just know it’s going to make their personal top 5 books of 2024. The book hopscotches from striving media interns falling in love in Y2K NYC, to a misfit teen in 2021, to Mao’s China. Even after reading a dozen reviews, I couldn’t tell you exactly what it’s about, but I can assure you I’m intrigued. Even though I’m more of a light and breezy beach read girl, this is 100% on my “must read this summer” list.
JAMES by Percival Everett: This retelling of THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN from the enslaved Jim’s point of view is billed as both “action-packed” and “ferociously funny” and has racked up rave reviews from just about every major newspaper.
MARGO’S GOT MONEY TROUBLES by Rufi Thorpe: I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it 7 million more times: I think this is THE book of the year—2024’s answer to 2022’s TOMORROW AND TOMORROW AND TOMORROW. Margo, a 19-year-old mom who got pregnant after an affair with her college professor, is broke. With tips from her ex-pro-wrestler father, she starts an Only Fans and dives into the wild world of online sex work. This book is fast-paced, quirky, and tender, but it also plays with perspective in interesting ways and tackles meaty thematic content. Truly a rare crowd-pleaser I think almost anyone would enjoy.
“Make me feel hip”
You want this year’s version of THE GUEST, the “cool girl” book of the summer. Coming right up.
BRAT by Gabriel Smith: (the voice behind ) has declared it’s going to be a Bratty summer. Full disclosure: she also admits a friend of hers edited the book. But she might not be wrong—everyone from Kaia Gerber to Jay McInerny is excited for this debut about a man mourning the death of his father and a recent breakup who agrees to clean out his parents’ house to get it ready to sell. While there, his skin quite literally begins peeling off as he sinks deeper into the mysteries of his family home. IDK if this one is for me, but it sure has a lot of “cool” cred.
PIGLET by Lottie Hazel: The titular Piglet (a childhood nickname that stuck) is a cookbook editor at an up-and-coming London publishing house. When her fiancé confesses to a betrayal two weeks before their wedding, she finds herself… insatiably hungry. This is billed as part rom-com, part women’s fic, part (not scary) body horror exploring women’s appetites. I’ll definitely be checking this one out.
ALL FOURS by Miranda July: It started with recommending the screenwriter’s second novel on our podcast. She pitched it as a slightly absurdist comedy about a semi-famous middle-aged artist who leaves her family to go on a cross-country roadtrip. Then, Melanie Lynskey posted about it on Instagram. Olivia Wilde followed suit. It feels like I’m hearing about this book everywhere. I’ve also seen a handful of people reading it in McCarren Park which was littered with copies of THE GUEST last summer. Do what you will with that intel.
So, that’s what we have on this summer’s reading menu. Have thoughts on any of these books? Additions? Leave a comment!
Until next time,
Becca
PS - This one took a lot of work to compile. Did you love it? If so, pass this guide along to a friend who might be looking for the perfect vacation read!
RIP my Libby holds.
This roundup is AMAZING! I’ve already read a few and totally agree with your thoughts. You are my new go-to for any and all book recs - thank you!!