11 Beach Reads Chosen by Some of Our Favorite Authors

Christina Ianzito,

AARP

Comments

Published June 29, 2023

You can certainly read any kind of book on the beach (War and Peace? Why not?). But generally, the term “beach read” refers to a light summer novel — maybe with some humor or heartache (or both) — that pairs effortlessly with a lazy day relaxing pool- or oceanside. Because some of these books are waaaaay better than others, we asked six novelists to offer their recommendations for fantastic summertime reading. Here are their all-time favorites.

Beatriz Williams

Williams is a best-selling author of historical novels, including Our Woman in Moscow (2021), and the new The Beach at Summerly. Her beach-read pick:

The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons (2001)

“My idea of a great beach read doesn’t necessarily involve beaches, or even summer, but it absolutely must have an addictive love story and take place at least partly in the past. This one delivers on both. Set in the Soviet Union during the Second World War, it brings together army officer Alexander and idealistic student Tatiana in a star-crossed romance that endures through the harrowing siege of Leningrad and the claustrophobia of Stalin’s police state. As a bit of a Pushkin geek, I came for the title — a reference to one of his great poems — and stayed for the characters and their immaculately reconstructed historical world.”

Jill Shalvis

Shalvis is a best-selling author of summery novels, including the Sunrise Cove series. Her latest is The Sweetheart List (June 13), featuring a woman who seeks (and finds) a new start in Lake Tahoe after her life falls apart. Shalvis’ top summer reads are:

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang (2018)

“I first read this novel on Avila Beach (in California) one summer on a rare day off. I inhaled this story of Stella, a woman with autism who falls in love for the first time in her life. Her world is math, all math, all day long, and to watch her roll into her emotions for the first time, like a tumbleweed in the wind, really did it for me.”

28 Summers by Elin Hilderbrand (2020)

“The Kiss Quotient was lighthearted fare; I loved 28 Summers for the opposite reason. The two main characters, Jake and Mallory, meet for a secret romance on Nantucket every year, but this summer, the relationship grows more complicated. The story snagged my heart from the very first page, as the pair form a bond that lasts and perseveres through so much. Your heart will ache and soar, and ache again.”

Victoria Benton Frank

Frank is the author of My Magnolia Summer, about an aspiring chef in New York City who returns to her family on South Carolina’s Sullivan’s Island when her grandmother needs her help, and discovers how much she’s really needed. The daughter of best-selling novelist Dorothea Benton Frank, who died in September 2019, Frank offers three summer-book recommendations:

The Woman in the Window by A. J. Finn (2018)

“This book was a fantastic read with gripping writing. It’s about a woman who is a shut-in and fills her days by watching — or, rather, spying on — her neighbors. Then she sees something she shouldn’t, and the drama unfolds. To summarize this book would give it away, but the character has a whole backstory that you discover as you read. I totally lost myself in it.”

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert (2006)

“This super-famous memoir about Gilbert’s journey to mend her broken heart and find herself is my most well-loved book — the pages worn, highlighted and dog-eared. I loved the story, but it’s the friendships that she makes along her journey and the lessons those friends teach her that stuck with me. Maybe one day I’ll do an Eat, Pray, Love journey of my own.”

The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells (1996) — and any of her other books

“A true Southern book, about friendship and growing up together, it helped form who I am as a writer. I love the flashbacks to the characters’ childhoods, the tears and the laughs. I still am trying to convince my girlfriends to make crowns and call ourselves the Ya-Yas.”

Emma Rosenblum

Rosenblum, a debut novelist, is the author of Bad Summer People, a murder mystery/social satire centered around a wealthy group of New Yorkers behaving very badly on Fire Island. Her beach-read favorites go back several decades:

Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann (1966)

“Susann’s classic, about three women making their way in New York City and L.A., has everything you’d want in a beach read: drugs, sex, drama, drama, drama. At 15, I read an old copy of my mother’s I’d found in our basement, and was just as scandalized in the ’90s as readers likely were when it came out. It set the bar for summer binge reading that I’m not sure will ever be topped.”

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis (1991)

“I know, I know, but read it on the beach, I’m telling you! When it’s bright and sunny out! Ellis’ journey into the mind of killer Patrick Bateman is chilling for many reasons, including its depiction of greed and ambition in 1980s New York City. After you’ve finished, make sure to watch the film, starting Christian Bale. It’s equally as creepy.”

Jane L. Rosen

Rosen is author of last year’s A Shoe Story and other novels, including the new On Fire Island, which follows Julia Morse, a book editor who chooses to spend one last summer on Fire Island among the people she loves (presumably not the bad folks in Rosenblum's book!), aware that her time with them is fleeting. Rosen’s best-ever beach reads are:

Nora Goes Off Script by Annabel Monaghan (2022)

“An uplifting story about finding oneself again, this is both the perfect rom-com and the perfect beach read. Nora and Leo give such real-life love story vibes you will find yourself laughing, crying and falling in love along with them.”

The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy (1986)

“The Prince of Tides spans 40 years in the turbulent lives of the Wingo family. Set in the South, with the contrasting pull of New York City, the novel is one of those modern classics that stay with you long after you’re through. Conroy is a master at portraying the dysfunctional, tumultuous, close-knit and quirky Wingos as they test familial bonds, leaving you ripe to reflect on your own.”

Vanessa Riley

Riley’s upcoming book, Queen of Exiles (July 11), is a fictionalized account of Marie-Louise Christophe, wife of Henry I, who became Haiti’s only queen after the Haitian Revolution in the early 1800s. She recommends:

Destiny’s Captive by Beverly Jenkins (2014)

“This is the perfect summer read for anyone with a thing for sexy pirates and sweeping love stories. Jenkins pairs a free-spirit woman who steals not only treasures and ships but hearts, too. She balances adventure at sea with a captain willing to be tied down by the right partner, literally. The joy of living free shines through every page and reminds the reader that life’s risks are worthy of the promises of reward.”

%{postComment}%

Christina Ianzito covers scams and fraud, and is the books editor for aarp.org and AARP The Magazine. Also a longtime travel writer and editor, she received a 2020 Lowell Thomas Award for travel writing from the Society of American Travel Writers Foundation.