Summer is the season of beach reading! Generally, I define a “beach read” as something I can throw in a bag and know that the pages will just fly by. Maybe that’s a trusted favorite book or something new, taking a chance on a new author. Beach reads draw us in quickly and they are all about escaping our regular reality.
Simply put, they add to our sense of vacation and escape. That’s my take on the genre anyway! I think the best beach reads are also paperbacks and under 300 pages – beach reading is not the time to lug around a heavy encyclopedia!
Whatever your preferences, there’s a great beach read option for everyone. Here are my top three this season! Don’t forget the sunscreen!
- BIOGRAPHY
- Sometimes the best beach read escapes are ventures into someone else’s flip flops. If your go-to beach read is biography, spend some time with Kunal Nayyar:
- Yes, My Accent Is Real: and Some Other Things I Haven’t Told You by Kunal Nayyar
- I loved this book! It’s funny, witty, and a great example of pursuing one’s dreams while also figuring out what those dreams are. Kunal is hilarious and the pages fly by. But it’s so much more than a comedic memoir, because there’s also a lot of wisdom in this book. For example, several life lessons about dealing with disappointment when fate has other plans like, “If it happens, good. If it doesn’t happen, very good.”
- Yes, My Accent Is Real: and Some Other Things I Haven’t Told You by Kunal Nayyar
- Sometimes the best beach read escapes are ventures into someone else’s flip flops. If your go-to beach read is biography, spend some time with Kunal Nayyar:
- MYSTERY
- Mysteries are great for beach reads, since they are usually page-turners as we try to guess the ending. If you love complicated characters, then spend some time this summer figuring out where Bernadette went:
- Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple
- This is a very fun book, especially for anyone who likes a good contemporary mystery. The story is told via letters, emails, and regular chapters that cover multiple points of view from several characters. Each perspective is richly presented and has its own twists and turns.
- Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple
- Mysteries are great for beach reads, since they are usually page-turners as we try to guess the ending. If you love complicated characters, then spend some time this summer figuring out where Bernadette went:
- ROMANCE
- If you’ve ever wanted to meet someone just like in the movies via a ‘meet cute,’ then read this to see if it’s possible to find true love by spilling a cup of coffee or taking a road trip with a stranger:
- Would Like to Meet by Rachel Winters
- This book is such fun! It’s about a woman who decides to test out movie ‘meet cutes’ to inspire a screenwriter she’s working with who needs to finish a romantic comedy. It’s fun to read about the protagonist trying to find love the way they do in the movies, starting with spilling a drink on a few guys in a coffee shop to a road trip with a stranger. Overall an entertaining read, especially for ‘rom com’ movie fans.
- Would Like to Meet by Rachel Winters
- If you’ve ever wanted to meet someone just like in the movies via a ‘meet cute,’ then read this to see if it’s possible to find true love by spilling a cup of coffee or taking a road trip with a stranger:
Julie Manthey 