My favorite thing about vacations (specifically, a beach vacation!) is all the reading time. there is nothing better than the feeling of having nothing to do, nowhere to be, no real responsibility… just sitting in the sun and losing yourself in a great book, preferably with a tropical drink in hand. It’s the perfect escape from reality and something I really enjoy. I’m heading to harbor island with a group of friends next weekend and I’m thinking about both the books I plan to pack and my clothes.
You are reading: Good books to read at the beach
You’ll notice that I didn’t actually (surprise alert) include any thrillers on this list. I tend to prefer happier books during the holidays and read a mix of lighter reading, historical fiction, young adult, etc. all of these books are certainly interesting, but none of them are scary. this is a mix of favorite books to read over the years (I wanted to include a mix of old and new as I tend to focus on new releases for my monthly lists but I know I have a lot of library readers so reserving is easier with older books!). here we are…. some new, some old…all of them perfect for a beach vacation!
25 great books to read on a beach vacation
These are in no particular order, just a list of favorites from the past few years that I think would be the absolutely perfect books to read on the beach or on vacation. consider this my master summer reading list. From fast-turning pages to sweet love stories, I’ve got you!
the seven husbands of evelyn hugo, by taylor jenkins reid
This is one of my favorite books of all time. I think it would make such a fantastic summer read if you haven’t read it yet. it’s glamorous and dazzling, with a lot of angst (+ happiness too) in between. I found it indecipherable, and although I read it a long time ago and passed it on to a friend (can’t remember who!), it has stayed with me and I often think about buying another copy just to have it and read it again. It is an absolute favorite and such an escape! If you haven’t read this book yet (it’s from 2018), I implore you… it’s a must read! order on amazon or bookshop.org
people we meet on vacation, by emily henry
I loved this book. I’m not a big romantic person, but I couldn’t get enough of this book and these characters. when i was doing the podcast, we even had emily henry to talk about it. she is, for the record, a total gem of a human being: I would love to be friends with her, which of course makes me want to read all of her books. This is a fun love story with deeply sympathetic and relatable characters. i read this while i was in palm springs (my first post-lockdown vacation last year), where (a total coincidence, i didn’t know how to get in) the book was set. now i want to try to match my books with my vacation, it was fun to read a place while i was there. order at amazon or bookshop.org.
malibu reborn, by taylor jenkins reid
we love taylor jenkins reid! I think she may be the only author I give reprises to on this list, she’s probably my favorite for lighter beach reads, as her novels are very transporting, usually of a mistake, and usually involve wealthy and glamorous celebrities. of some kind. This one (set in Malibu) is about a family of favorite brothers (who have also dealt with their fair share of hard times) in the 1980s. there’s nina, the talented surfer/supermodel, her brothers jay and hud (one a champion surfer, the other a photographer), and her little sister. equipment. there’s drama and glamor galore, all the trimmings for a perfect beach read! order at amazon or bookshop.org.
in a new york minute, by kate spencer
This was another one of those romance novels that made me think, “hmm, maybe I like romance after all?” But it’s much more than a romance novel, it’s (in my opinion) a New York love story, especially being young in New York City, which was a long time ago! If you’ve moved from New York and find yourself missing it, this is the book for you. I loved every minute of this. It’s the perfect getaway to New York.
opens with one of those bad days we’ve all had (you get fired from your job, you sweat on the subway, your dress rips!), with a believable and relatable but worthwhile cute encounter. pass out, and then it turns into a hilarious/embarrassing story and finally yes, a love story. loved this it didn’t hurt that it was written by kate spencer (co-host of forever 35, one of my favorite podcasts!). order at amazon or bookshop.org.
cover story, by susan rigetti
I was tired of scammers (blame all the scam related TV… making up anna, wecrashed, the dropout), so I wasn’t sure what I would think of this, but I loved it. this is such a fun book! is it anna delvey, mixed with a little caroline calloway? I said this on last month’s reading list, but I think this book will be the best beach read of 2022.
lora ricci is a naive college student struggling to make ends meet… she attends nyu and interns for her. When she meets glamorous clean energy heiress Cat Wolff, the two form a highly unlikely friendship… with Lora eventually leaving Nyu, moving in with Cat at the Plaza Hotel and going to work as her ghostwriter. chaos ensues… you feel so much second hand anxiety for lora. I really think this is going to be one of the most popular summer reads this year. order at amazon or bookshop.org
stardust sister, by jane green
a bit of historical fiction, but the fun kind! It felt a bit like a mix of the seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Daisy Jones and all six. Think of an older (wiser) woman telling the story of her younger (wilder, irresponsible) years in 1960s London (and Morocco!). Claire is from a small town on the outskirts of London. she has a difficult relationship with her stepmother, she struggles with her weight, she has no idea what she is doing with her life. A chance meeting takes her to Morocco and she suddenly befriends a group of amazing musicians, fashion designers and artists. She befriends the magnetic and ethereal Talitha Getty (falling a bit in love with her in the process), but her brilliant life is not what it seems. order on amazon or bookshop.org
she regrets nothing, by andrea dunlop
This book is a fun train wreck, in the best possible way. When Layla Lawrence is orphaned at just 23 years old, her cousins show up at her funeral. The only thing is that she didn’t even know that she had cousins! There’s liberty, who’s 5 years older, plus twins, leo and nora… living a glamorous life in new york city. It turns out that Laila is from an incredibly wealthy family in Manhattan, but Laila’s father separated from her parents and moved to the Midwest before Laila was born. laila gets up and moves to new york, she lives with her cousin nora de ella… but all that glitters is not gold. she makes every mistake possible, she socially climbs recklessly and relentlessly pursues the lifestyle she feels she was so unfairly denied. again, a train wreck in the best possible sense: she couldn’t leave him! order on amazon or bookshop.org.
the chrystie affair, by nina de gramont
Another fun (and highly imaginative!) read of historical fiction. I really enjoyed it, much more than I thought I would, if I’m honest it ended up being quite a page turner for me! In case you’re not familiar with the backstory, Agatha Christie disappeared for twelve days in 1925 (right after her husband filed for divorce). Upon being found in a hotel, she simply said that she did not remember what happened. this is an imaginative (fictional!) look at what might have happened during those twelve days. It’s witty and clever and told (strangely enough) from the perspective of Ella Archie’s husband’s mistress: Nan O’Dea. The deciding factor is that Nan doesn’t seem to love Archie. So why destroy her marriage? place your order at bookshop.org or amazon!
the blue bistro, by elin hilderbrand
this is my favorite elin hilderbrand book (and we all know that elin hilderbrand is the queen of reading on the beach!!!). I really love that it’s set in a restaurant (having grown up in a restaurant and worked literally every job possible, I’ll read anything set in a restaurant!). adrienne dealey has spent her professional career hopping around luxury destinations, working in hotels. After a particularly bad breakup (her ex took all of her money), she heads to Nantucket for the summer with one goal: to make money.
He manages to land a job as assistant manager at Nantucket’s fanciest restaurant, during the restaurant’s last summer. she falls in love with boss/owner thatcher smith. but what the hell is going on between the co-owner of her, fiona!? she honestly, reading it, she would have thought that elin had spent much of her life working in restaurants, her research and her attention to detail was very good. This is my ideal summer read! order it on amazon or bookshop.org.
the idea of you, by robinne lee
I had to include this, in case any of you haven’t read this book, as it was a massive bad podcast on paper (we did it as a book club pick in the early days and also had robinne) . ). something tells me it’s highly unlikely, but oh, if you haven’t read it, drop what he’s doing and fix it immediately! It took me a little while to figure this out (the idea of a 40-year-old falling in love with a 20-year-old seemed gross to me), but my friend Becca wore me out.
the plot is very funny and gripping (and somehow believable, despite the fact that the writing (and descriptions of solene’s outfits) is so good that I fell for it! a mother (very elegant, divorced, French ) takes his teenage daughter to a (lightly veiled) harry styles concert. somehow they find themselves in love. highly recommended, did you also see that it will be made into a movie starring anne hathaway? /strong>
olga dies dreaming, by xochitl gonzalez
I actually listened to this as an audiobook (it was wonderful and felt more like a performance than a reading) and I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed it. It tackles a lot of big issues (AIDS, sexuality, Puerto Rican culture and history), but it’s presented as a light-hearted, fun book about a wedding planner, hers, her many suitors, and her closet politician’s brother. and it’s (sometimes!) light and fun, while being serious. both and. I really loved this is a very complicated family story. brother and sister olga and prieto (both doing great things in new york: prieto is a congressman and olga is one of new york city’s top wedding planners) were abandoned by her mother, a radical anarchist. They struggle to balance their social ambitions with sadness for their absent mother, all in the wake of Hurricane Maria. order on amazon or bookshop.org
the imitation, by lucy sykes & jo plaza
This is another classic beach read (in my opinion) and will always be one of my favorites; especially since I spent so much time working for a new fashion company (there were definitely some fun parallels) and of course because I always wanted to work for a magazine when I was young! imogen returns to work at glossy (a fashion magazine) after taking 6 months off for health reasons and discovers that everything has changed. eve (his former assistant, fresh out of harvard business school) has been put in charge and is hell-bent on digitizing the magazine, which is necessary for the magazine to survive, but she’s doing it all wrong and insensitively.
The authors do a great job of capturing the difference between the old guard of print media and the young new generation of digital media. Does Mogen pack up and get out of there, or does she settle in and learn to tweet? I couldn’t put it down, I loved it. it’s fresh, fun and smart… if you work in fashion or digital media, it’s an absolute must! order at amazon or bookshop.org
girl town, by elizabeth gilbert
I loved this book and still think about it often. elizabeth gilbert is just… a genius. the depth of her writing blows my mind, everything she has done is so different! her (and she seems incapable of not writing a new york times bestseller, ha ha). The book follows Vivian Morris (a 19-year-old Vassar dropout) to New York City, through ups and downs and from middle age to 89. She moves into town to Ella Peg’s aunt’s house, where she designs costumes for glamorous showgirls…and she spends most nights out on the town. when she makes a terrible mistake, her entire world implodes and she faces ruin, but she ultimately lands on her feet. this is the story of female friendship, female sexuality, redemption… and much more. she couldn’t leave him. order at amazon or bookshop.org
american royalty, by katharine mcgee
Do yourself a favor and order this entire series as is. so. well and the third is about to come out. Imagine if after the Revolutionary War, George Washington became King and not President. and then he fast-forwards to the present day and writes a book about the teenagers who will rule the palace. there is princess beatrice (the heiress), and her brother her twin + her sister jefferson and samantha. It’s deliciously good (reminiscent of the 1000th floor cast in the best possible way. Samantha is the wild child, Jefferson is the dreamy prince every girl wants. We also meet the two girls vying for Jefferson’s heart: the manipulative Daphne, and down to earth, nina order on amazon or bookshop.org
party for two, by jasmine guillory
I love all of Jasmine Guillory’s books, but this is my favourite. olivia just moved to los angeles to start her own law firm. While she is staying in a hotel on her first night in town, she chats with a handsome man in the hotel bar. when she goes up to her room, she realizes that she hadn’t recognized him: she had been talking to senator max powell. this makes her laugh at first, but when they meet again at a conference a few weeks later, sparks fly and they soon fall in love with her. But can Olivia handle the spotlight?
I love the trope of famous people dating normal people, I loved olivia as a character (she’s smart, funny, and very relatable), and I liked that the characters were my age…sometimes reading novels romances about twenty-somethings depresses me a little. a little. he was down to earth, sexy, funny, smart…can’t recommend him enough! order at amazon or bookshop.org.
the light we lost, by jill santopolo
some books just haunt you and this one broke my heart. just thinking about it makes me cry again! she is about a young woman, torn between the dreamy (but frivolous!) love of her life since her youth and her stable and loving husband. she is gabe, whom she meets in college. there is an instant spark. they move in together and are so perfect together, but their dreams take them in opposite directions. Gabe becomes a photojournalist (he heads to the Middle East) while Lucy pursues a career and life in New York.
The book spans 13 years, during which Lucy marries someone else and has children. he is romantic and terribly sad at times and will stick with you 100% after you read it. I’m not trying to make anyone cry on the beach, but if you haven’t read this yet, you’ll love it. is a great summer read. order on amazon or bookshop.org
matchmaking for beginners, by maddie dawson
This was one of my best books of 2018 and would make an absolutely fantastic summer read! all marnie wants is an ordinary life. the minivan, the picket fence, etc., etc. she is engaged to the man of her dreams and she is on her way to having everything she ever wanted. She then meets Blix Holliday (her fiancé’s eccentric great-aunt, a Brooklyn-based matchmaker). she and blix get along, but blix is dying. Marnie’s marriage ends up blowing up after two weeks and in a big twist, Blix leaves her Brooklyn brownstone to Marnie (not her nephew or anyone else in the family).
the building is full of eccentric but endearing friends of blix; and marnie learns that she may be the perfect person to follow in blix’s footsteps. in fact, I cried at the end of this book: it’s so sweet, so moving, so perfect. order on amazon or bookshop.org
headfirst, by hannah orenstein
if you are looking for something to feel good and happy where the end is tied in a bow, this is your book! Initially, I wasn’t so sure about a romantic gymnastics story, but I loved it. there’s a redemption story (I love it when a character gets into shape and finds passion from her…falling in love along the way), a powerful friendship between the female characters, and the training dynamic was so sweet and touching. avery is a former gymnast whose career ended in the olympic trials with a devastating injury.
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Since then, he’s never been able to act together…he dropped out of college and never really discovered his passion. when her boyfriend, the quarterback, brutally dumps her, she returns to her hometown, desperate for a fresh start, but unsure what she’ll be like. order on amazon or bookshop.org
next year in havana, by chanel cleeton
I like the Cuban version of the dollhouse (another favorite). alternates between present day and 1958 just before/during/after the revolution. It is the story of Elisa (growing up very rich in Cuba during the Batista era-her father, a sugar magnate) and Marisol-her granddaughter. Marisol steps on Cuba for the first time in her life at the age of 31 to scatter the ashes of her beloved grandmother. she gets to know the city, meets an attractive man and discovers great secrets that her grandmother had been hiding.
The author’s description of Cuba is so perfect that it made me feel like I was there. (I went several years ago and it was a favorite trip). If you have been to Cuba, it will make you nostalgic, if you haven’t, you will still enjoy it. highly recommended! order on amazon or bookshop.org
love and other words, by christina lauren
one of my favorite page turns! i will start by saying how much i love christina lauren. christina lauren are actually two friends, and they are one of my favorite authors. anything new they have, I will always pre-order it. this one is somewhat reminiscent of the light we lost (also on the list!), albeit less harrowing. What happens when childhood sweethearts meet again after ten years apart? I love a saga from high school to adults.
macy is working ambitiously on her career as a pediatric assistant while planning her wedding to an older, financially secure (but terribly boring) man. everything falls apart when she meets elliot, her first love. we really don’t understand why they were separated to begin with (this will come later). everything dissolves and he is all she can think about. Honestly, this book is an emotional roller coaster in the best possible way. there is a horrible secret (there always is!) that comes to light and takes a turn. It kept me up all night and is the perfect read for the beach. just make sure you don’t have any distractions! order at amazon or bookshop.org
gauze trenches, by andré leon talley
I get so jealous every time I see a friend reading this and it’s brand new to them. It’s one of my all-time favorite fashion memories (a New York Times bestseller for a reason!) and André didn’t hold back from spilling the tea. The book chronicles André’s rise from growing up in the Jim Crow South to moving to New York and working with Andy Warhol at Talk Magazine. from there he ended up in wwd, moved to paris and then returned to new york to be fashionable.
This book is truly stunning. when it ended i felt so sad to leave his glittering world… apart from all the glamor and fashion it also tackles more serious (and timely) things like racism: the reason andré left wwd and paris was a terrible racist incident with a publicist on ysl. it is simultaneously a frivolous distraction but also a really important book. I loved. I have a book hangover when I finish it! order at amazon or bookshop.org.
get a life, chloe brown, by tallia hibbert
I totally loved this. If you’re one of those people who judges a book by its cover, it looks like it’s either you or a cheesy romance. and while it is a very sweet romance, it is much more than that! it’s a complex romance and boy are there some very hot sex scenes. definitely not you.
chloe brown has a chronic illness: after contracting pneumonia years ago, she has fibromyalgia and is always tired and sick. she is close to her family but she was dumped by her boyfriend + her friends when she got sick. but she has an absolutely adorable plan and to-do list… to help her literally “get a life.” things like “do something bad” and “have meaningless but completely pleasurable sex.” redford “red” morgan is chloe’s superintendent, but also an artist with some pretty heavy emotional baggage. the two initially hate each other (he thinks of the hate game) but eventually fall in love. order at amazon or bookshop.org
with the fire on top, by elizabeth acevedo
this will remain one of my favorite young adult books of all time and was a great summer read…i read it at a yoga retreat in sag harbor several years ago. when I opened the book, I was surprised (and slightly annoyed) that it was you. Was this going to be another fluffy high school romance? (it is, more or less, but it is much more than that). It’s about a teen mom emoni who grows up in philly and lives with her grandma and her daughter emma.
The book opened by talking about why he gave his daughter a “white” name and how he hoped it would give her more opportunities. the book is so sweet, but all i could think about for much of it was how privileged and lucky my high school days were. emoni is working multiple jobs, dealing with racial bias (and bias + stares for having a son so young) while trying to juggle the usual high school stuff (buddy drama! boys! schoolwork! apply to college!) order on amazon or bookshop.org
big summer, by jennifer weiner
I loved this book, a perfect idea for summer! there are some funny parallels with my own life (the main character is an influencer + it takes place partially in new york city (where i lived for 15 years) and partially in cape cod (where i grew up). it is the story of two girlfriends (very different) mending their friendship.daphne is a plus size influencer who grew up in new york in a working class family and had a scholarship for everything.she makes ends meet as a babysitter and manages her instagram.
Meanwhile, her ex-best friend, Drue, is one of those people who has had it all come easy: She’s rich, pretty, and just got engaged. she is also a bit of a bad girl. the two get together for their wedding and you think you’re getting a cute bride redemption friendship story, but then there’s a big mystery. I loved! order on amazon or bookshop.org
the royal we, by jessica morgan and heather cocks
this is now an absolute classic. I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately and I want to read it again just for fun. Or begging Heather and Jessica for a third book (the sequel is great too!). this will always and forever be one of my absolute favorite books. I never put books down after reading them, but this one has earned a permanent spot on my shelf because I love it. I’m not much of a reviewer, but I’ve read it twice (and it’s long!)
It’s basically kate middleton fan fiction in the best sense of the word. is the story of an american girl (bex) who meets the man of her dreams (nick) who turns out to be the prince of england. she follows them all the way to college and then through breakups, an engagement, the crazy royal wedding party and more. It’s juicy and fun and I couldn’t put it down! the perfect summer read if you happen to not have read it yet! order on amazon or bookshop.org
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