Beach reads can be classified as a myriad of things, so what really makes a book count as one?
In our book, a beach read is anything that takes place at the beach, something that could be considered a light read and perfectly easy to follow along with as you tan on the sand, and a book that almost always leaves you sighing in content.
Let’s dive into it—the best of the best, our top 10 favorite beach books to bring on your next vacation.
The 10 Best Beach Books
People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
Poppy and Alex are two best friends, despite having nothing in common, who met in college and now live in different cities. But once a summer, for the last decade, they take one magnificent week of vacation together.
Except for two years ago, when something happened that ruined their friendship and tradition possibly for good. However, when Poppy is presented with an opportunity to make things right with her best friend, when he agrees to go on one final vacation together, she realizes she has one week left to reconnect with her best friend, overcome the thing that tore them apart two years ago, or lose Alex forever.
This is the perfect read to take on vacation as you relax on the beach. It’s filled with playful banter, vivid imagery, and tons of laugh-out-loud moments that will bring you to all of the fun locations Poppy and Alex visit as they learn what it means to love.
You can buy this on Amazon.
The Hotel Nantucket by Elin Hilderbrand
The most lovely paradise read, this novel transports you straight into the world of life on Nantucket with a little heartbreak, a little crime, a little haunting, a little romance, and some pretty inspiring friendships.
It follows the aftermath of a tragic fire that burned down The Hotel Nantucket in 1922 and took the life of a 19-year-old-chambermaid as London billionaire Xavier Darling purchases and renovates it. He hires Lizbet Keaton as his general manager, a local Nantucket sweetheart, who in turn recruits a full staff for the hotel, but each person is harboring their own secrets, including who was responsible for the fire and death of the girl from 1922 who has been haunting the hotel ever since.
Welcome to the island of Nantucket; you can purchase this book here.
Every Summer After by Carley Fortune
Told over the course of six summers, Carley Fortune is the #1 New York Times best selling author of Every Summer After where Persephone and Sam have six summers to fall in love, a moment to fall apart, and only one final weekend to get their story right.
This light-hearted read features warm summer nights spent at a cozy laketown and follows Percy as she runs from her childhood home after she made the biggest mistake of her life.
But when she receives a call from the man who used to be her best friend before she fled the lakeshore of her youth, she finds herself racing back and is forced to confront the choices she made so many years ago that had sent her packing.
Every Summer After spans six years and gives all of the nostalgia some of us have never had—memories of lazy summer days and falling for the boy next door.
This book is available on Amazon.
Beach Read by Emily Henry
This isn’t just your average beach read, despite its title—it’s a hooking read that juggles themes from friendship to cancer to regret and a gripping rivalry between two authors.
Enter Augustus and January; one an acclaimed author of literary fiction, the other a bestselling romance writer who no longer believes in love.
These polar opposites have nothing in common except for the fact that for the next three months, they will be living in next-door beach houses, trying and failing to write their next novels.
The two authors come up with the genius plan to swap what they write about—cynical Augustus must write the next swoon worthy rom-com, while January is tasked with penning the next Great American Novel.
You can buy this fun beach read here.
The Same Bright Stars by Ethan Joella
The Same Bright Stars is thoughtful, precious, and the kind of tale that reaches down your core and touches your heart.
Join Jack, who has been at the helm of his family-owned restaurant ever since the passing of his father. With no life outside of the beach-front business, Jack is faced with conflict when big name corporation DelDine presents him with a very generous offer for his property. He craves a life outside of the restaurant but isn’t sure he could ever truly part with his family’s legacy or trust DelDine’s claims of honoring it.
This beach tale is “A warm novel about possibilities in midlife and the power of community.” —People's Most Anticipated Summer Books and will tug on all the right heart strings.
It is available for purchase on Amazon.
Monkey Beach by Eden Robinson
The Hill family’s seventeen-year-old son, Jimmy, vanishes at sea one day. Lisamarie, his teenage sister, takes it upon herself to set off alone in search of Jimmy all through the Douglas Channel, which will inevitably bring her to the famed sasquatch sighting place, Monkey Beach.
Join the turns of darkness and humor in Monkey Beach as tragedy strikes this Native community that will leave you feeling akin to washing away with the tide, like you’re watching the muted world up above from beneath the surface of the ocean as Eden Robinson provides a raw portrait of what life would be like growing up on First Nations reserve.
You can buy this beach book here.
The Beach House by Mary Alice Monroe
The Beach House is an endearing story about healing from the past and building new relationships that is written with a beachy flair and lessons in southern charm.
Caretta thought she left her troubled family far behind. But as her life is steadily spinning out of control, her mother contacts her with a request to repair the old family beach house. Caretta takes on a moral quest to save the sea turtles as she reconnects with old friendships long thought gone, realizes that past mistakes can be forgiven, and learns what “family is forever” truly means.
This beach book can be purchased on Amazon.
Untamed Shore by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
As Silvia Moreno-Garcia herself writes, Untamed Shore is “a poem to the Baja California landscape and to a certain type of old-fashioned crime novel,” the one of only she’s tempted to write a sequel to.
Readers are transported straight to the 1979 Baja California beach scene where Viridiana spends her days watching the fisherman pull in their nets and shark carcasses piled on the seashore. She dreams of life beyond her drab town.
She is ecstatic when a wealthy American writer and his family arrive in town and becomes his assistant, swiftly finding herself tangled up in their glamorous lives. But then one of them dies, the lies begin spreading, and Viridiana finds that her new friends might be more dangerous than they led her to believe.
This beach noir can be bought on Amazon here.
The Newcomer by Mary Kay Andrews
What would this list be without a novel from the queen of beach reads herself, Mary Kay Andrews?
The Newcomer follows Letty Carnahan after she discovers her sister dead on the floor and is certain that it was her sister’s sleazy ex who did it. Armed with cash, a diamond ring, and a faded magazine pointing her where to go, Letty checks into a small motel in Treasure Island.
While simultaneously trying to unravel her sister’s past, fit into the tight knit town, and not be sent to jail herself, Letty must find the truth under the watchful eye of police officer Joe and right the wrongs of the past.
Check out this beach read for purchase here.
The Great Reclamation by Rachel Heng
While this novel doesn’t have the same light and fluffy feel as others on our list, trading rom-com for a love story that is both powerful and heartbreaking, The Great Reclamation deserves a spot all the same.
In a richly imagined setting, Ah Boon lives in a fishing village in coastal Singapore that is under its waning years of British rule.
When he discovers he has the unique ability to find bountiful islands that move, something no one else can do, Ah Boon now feels a sense of duty to his community.
But he and his childhood love soon become tangled in historical tragedy when the Japanese invade and must reckon with the legacy of British colonialism, WWII Japanese occupation, and the sacrifices that come with the pursuit of modernity.
This beach book is available to buy here.
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