Reader Crystal passed along a recent article from NPR soliciting nominations for the best beach reads ever, which they then narrowed down to 100.
What’s a beach read? NPR defines:
“When you read one, your surroundings recede, time bends and you’re transported, mesmerized, enthralled. These are page turners to be sure, but that doesn’t mean they’re brainless. This year’s list will be fiction only; any genre, any period.”
Personally I feel like the key is the page-turning part. You’re at the beach! You’re relaxing! There are distractions! The brain should not be overly taxed, but the book should still be really fun and engaging to read.
Which is why I was a littttle surprised to see NPR’s choices for the top 100, including such literary heavyweights as Dostoyevsky’s THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV and Lawrence Durrell’s Alexandria Quartet.
Don’t get me wrong – I love me some Lawrence Durrell (I represent his estate in the US for crying out loud) and you should absolutely buy JUSTINE and take it to the beach or wherever else you want to read it because it’s incredible. It’s just not quite what I’d think of as a “beach” read. It’s a great literary masterpiece after all, and thus I see it more in the “lounging by the fireplace in cold weather” arena.
I think we can do better than NPR.
So. What are your favorite beach reads of all time?
I’ll start with SPHERE by Michael Crichton, CRYPTONOMICON by Neal Stephenson (NPR got that one right), and anything by Jane Austen.
What are your favorites?
Nikki Hootman says
SciFi – Jack McDevitt, Lois McMaster Bujold.
Dana Fredsti says
Anything and everything OTHER than heavy literature. I want to relax with my summer reads (and ideally I like to read while lying on a raft in a pool, although that's difficult to do in San Fran). Needs to be paperback. Mysteries, horror, goofy chicklit… I love finding series or one author to read each summer. One year it was Lovecraft, this year it's the Repairman Jack series by F. Paul Wilson. Harry Ptter, he Casca, the Eternal Mercenary books by Barry Sadler, the Art Lovers mysteries by Hailey Lind…Anything by Barbara Hambly and Charles de Lint. Oh yeah, and I'm with Sierra on Rosamond Pilcher. And I'm greatly enjoying the current trend of zombie novels. Gone With the Wind can be re-read at least every other year. Books! Give me books, dammit!
David says
Ditto what Huffstutter said about Tourist Season. Anything by Hiaasen, really. I'd read Hiaasen's shopping list.
On another note, it's lists like this that make me continue to hate NPR. In my opinion, a list that contains this many "heavy hitters" as "beach reads" just serves to alienate readers and makes the listmakers look like intellectual showoffs. About 80 percent of these books should be read nowhere near a beach.
They do realize that the beach is that big sandy thing with water on the edge where Corona is magically transformed into a beer that tastes really good?
Anjali says
I'll second Time Traveler's Wife and the Lisa See books, which I could not put down.
Bill Greer says
Time Traveler's Wife is one of my favorite books. I'd also agree with anything by Carl Hiaasen and "The Ruins" by Scott Smith (which I actually read on a beach in Mexico).
Here's one of out left field and would never be considered literary: "A Salty Piece of Land" by Jimmy Buffett. The perfect beach read, if you ask me.
I've tried taking David Sedaris books to the beach, but I end up laughing myself silly on the plane or in the airport and I finish them before I even get to the beach.
Word verification – uncor: when you don't want to band to come back out and play more songs.
Model1911a1 says
With the Old Breed, EB Sledge
He writes of beaches being more and more forgotten as each day passes.
Andrea Cremer says
The Love Letter – Cathleen Schine
Good Omens – Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman
Anything by Christopher Moore
Ditto for Laurell K. Hamilton
Thomas Burchfield says
My problem is that I don't read on the beach (I'm restless and like to Wander About, Look at Things, and Play in the Water), so this is actually hard for me to answer.
But if you put a Super Soaker to my head, I'd probably say someone like comic Westlake or Lee Child (whom I read when I took vacation in New York last October); light action-adventure.
At the Red Room this week, I've posted an article on the San Francisco apartment where Dashiell Hammettwrote "The Maltese Falcon", "The Dain Curse" and "Red Harvest."
Just click on my name . . . .
Amy says
Most recent page-turner I've read is American Wife. I wish I'd read it at the beach, instead of being interrupted by work while trying to read on my commutes.
Amber says
I agree with both you and Scott: Michael Crichton, certainly. I'd take State of Fear, personally. Anything my Jodi Picoult. You'll be at the beach all day, in suspense.
Not my personal favourite, but I know a lot of people who would bring Nora Roberts.
If you're looking at YA, though… The Bartimaeus Trilogy (preferably book one, The Amulet of Samarkand) by Jonathan Stroud. A page turner, but the footnotes make it hilarious.
And I don't care where they stash it: YA, sci-fi, fantasy… Terry Pratchett is always good.
@Andrea: Good Omens is one of my favourites.
DebraLSchubert says
Anything by Susan Isaacs, Ann Rule, Chelsea Handler, or Kristin Hannah.
Thermocline says
A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson. Reading about enjoying the outdoors is a great match with actually enjoying it. Plus, I always leave one of his books feeling a tad smarter and in a better mood.
WV: Forat. The front part of a rat, from molars to the tip of the nose.
The Writing Muse says
Read Blood Stream by Tess Gerritsen on a beach in Mexico….it was perfect.
CKHB says
"Smart" chick lit and similar (I'm currently ranting on my blog about how chick lit does not deserve the bad rap it's gotten recently):
The Thin Pink Line by Lauren Baratz-Logsted
How to Be Good by Nick Hornby
I Don't Know How She Does It by Allison Pearson
I could also re-read The Corrections a million times and still be happy.
MattDel says
If we're talking escapist reads (which I go with because I don't really go to the beach very often if at all — us New Englanders are in a similar boat to our Canadian friends), then I have to go with any off this list:
Simon R. Green's Nightside
Jim Butcher's Dresden Files
Terry Pratchett's Discworld
Most H.G. Wells stuff
Any Sherlock Homes story
Maya / מיה says
Anything by Jennifer Weiner, Marian Keyes, or (to get a bit more literary) Barbara Kingsolver, and I'm good!
I'm also reading THE HANDMAIDEN'S TALE right now and it's engrossing, although it demands just a bit more concentration.
Irina says
"My LIfe in France" by Julia Child
Karla Doyle says
The beach is too crowded, I'd rather be on my patio, steps away from a well-stocked refrigerator. Regardless, summer reads need to be light and entertaining, just sweep me away to another life and don't ask me to think too much.
My picks would be Kristin Hannah or Emily Giffin.
Maya / מיה says
By the way, this will probably sound weird, but I associate the perfect "beach read" with anything that goes well with frozen berries or popsicles– in other words, a book that is just as refreshing and sweet. When I was little I would read and reread Noel Streatfield's "Shoe" books (especially DANCING SHOES) out on the hammock in my family's yard, while eating paper cups of frozen blueberries I swiped from the freezer… perfect summer reading.
Definitely no BROTHERS KARAMAZOV. However, I'll admit that I once took HEART OF DARKNESS with me on a college trip to Brazil… and while I only read a few pages while I was there, it was awesome to read about Marlowe passing the jungle while my river boat was! I also usually want to devour something substantive (but fun, like Dickens) when I go to a country where I don't speak the language… I guess I want to make up for feeling like an idiot each time I try to interact in the spoken language. Sadly, that effect hasn't stuck now that I've lived by a beach in Israel for more than a year… now I tend to go for chick lit!
RW says
I have a little supply of Robert Little spy thrillers that I save for the rare occasions that I get to go to the beach.
T. Anne says
White Platonic Dreams by… oh wait that's my book!
But seriously, anything by Jen Lancaster now that's just beachy.
Mercy Loomis says
Anything by Robin McKinley. I love all of her books.
Mira says
Laura and Marsha – oh, thanks, but I've read Half-Blood Prince, I just want to re-read it to compare.
Although I thought they did a wonderful job with the movie, I agree – books are always better than the movie. There's only one exception for me – the Wizard of Oz, which I think far outshined the book.
Someone mentioned Prachett? Definitely!
Yamile says
Last January my husband and I went on a getaway to Cancun, sans kids, for the first time in 8 years! And you know what I did? I read "Daughter of the Forest" the 1st one by Juliet Marillier of the Sevenwaters Trilogy, and I was so absorbed reading that I let my husband sleep for hours, under the scorching sun and its reflection on the white sand. When I woke him up he was so happy I had let him rest, but he didn't notice until much later how burned he was.
So, "Daughter…"definitely a page turner, but too engrossing.
Now, I'm reading "The Vampire Lestat" because I recently bought the whole Vampire Chronicles. Also, because it's less scary to ready it at the beach, under the blazing sun than in the middle of the night.
I'm on my way to the beach right now, and I already have my little paper back tucked into a ziplock bag.
Dana Fredsti says
Maya, I LOVE the "Shoe" books! Which reminds me of other childrens faves… The Betsy and Tacy series by Maud Hart Lovelace and the Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander. Heck, the Narnia books. My sister got me started on reading by handing me The Silver Chair and saying, "Read this! You'll love it!"
Betsy Ashton says
Anything escapist from Baldacci to C.J. Box to Barry Eisler to The Kite Runner.
Dana Fredsti says
Now if only someone would provide me with a vacation, a pool, a raft and some sunshine…
frohock says
Can't-put-it-down-I'll-bite-you-if-speak-to-me kind of good read? My picks would be:
Horror – The Gentling Box by Lisa Mannetti
Contemporary – Tender Graces by Kathryn Magendie
Literary – A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest Gaines
Teresa Frohock
Anonymous says
Most YA fiction. Entertaining, speedy, enveloping, and thought-provoking. They whole genre is practically defined by your description above.
Cynthia says
I second Moby Dick– I reread it every year… Raymond Chandler I adore, or Arthur Conan Doyle…I want to read the Time Traveler's Wife when I go to Greece next month, but will end up rereading Frankenstein for school.
Such is the life of a grad student 🙂
Nathan Bransford says
dana-
I know, seriously, kind of ironic to be writing the beach read post when it is completely freezing outside in SF.
Marilyn Peake says
For me, the HARRY POTTER books are great beach reads. Funny story … I was leaving for vacation the day after the final book in the series, HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS, came out. I decided not to pre-order in it in case it was delivered while I was away, and I figured the stores would all be sold out of it the first day it came out. I was kind of bummed. Then, after passing through security at the airport, I discovered a most enchanted thing: piles of HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS in airport bookstores! We all bought a copy, got in line, sat down on the floor and started to read. We noticed other people nearby also sitting on the floor, reading the same book. Our surroundings disappeared. When we got on the plane, we had a really funny airline steward. Over the intercom, we periodically heard him say things like, "OK, let’s get this plane off the ground – Wingardium Leviosa!" and, "If you need anything … don’t bother me, I’m reading HARRY POTTER!" He was very funny, and handed out lots of extra snacks that day.
SPHERE by Michael Crichton is definitely a great beach read, also CONGO.
Recently read THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES by Sue Monk Kidd. Loved it! For me, it definitely fulfilled NPR’s requirement that "… your surroundings recede, time bends and you're transported, mesmerized, enthralled." Felt the same way about THE POISONWOOD BIBLE by Barbara Kingsolver.
Also recently read THE LACE READER by Brunonia Barry, and think it would make a great beach read.
Read THE ROAD by Cormac McCarthy on one vacation; couldn’t put it down.
Laura Martone says
Mira – Oh, no, I understood that. I realize that you were just planning to re-read HP 6. I'm just saying that trying to COMPARE it to the movie might be a mistake. I loved the book – and I WANTED to love the movie, but I ended up only liking it. I mean, I cried at the right place (course, I cry easily at the movies), but the tension was minimal.
Often, I enjoy the books better than the movies… except with WONDER BOYS. The book's great, but the movie is inspired!
Yamile – I LOVE Anne Rice's vampire books, but I especially love reading them at night. Don't ask me why – but I LOVE feeling scared… so the setting in which I read horror novels makes a difference. Like the time I read THE SHINING in a walk-in refrigerator. Yeah, don't ask about that either.
wonderer says
I'm with Dana – give me the beach, then we'll talk. 😉
If that's taken care of, I'd pick rereading childhood favourites. Nostalgic and immersive. Also agree with JKR, Pratchett, Dan Brown, and chick lit.
Anatole says
The Sookie Stackhouse novels.
They are engaging and interesting to read, even if not the most thought-provoking thing out there.
Malia says
Okay, I've never commented on here. I'm one of Nathan's lurkers, but not a troll. I hope. Anyway, I had to give a couple of my favorites that I couldn't put down. I read a lot of YA so "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins and Shannon Hale's "Book of a Thousand Days" are both excellent page-turners. Oh, and the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. Good, fun stuff!
Ink says
Laura,
I totally agree about Wonder Boys. That was one of the best movie adaptations I've ever seen. Great film. Is it sacrilege to say it's better than Chabon's words on the page? As penance I will now have to read The Yiddish Policeman's Union. Life is tough.
Bryan
Joi says
Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next books–any of them! They are the perfect blend (at least for me) of literature and ridiculous humor.
Other Lisa says
Reporting in from Venice Beach, CA…it's mid-seventies, sunny and lovely here (sorry!).
And I can't ever remember lists of anything. Top 10? Favorites? Forget it. At best I remember what I'm reading now (which is a novel called "Montengro" that so far is pretty cool).
I tend to read mysteries for fun. Especially British mysteries, but any good mysteries. Funny ones are okay, but not too fluffy and not the ones that feature too many recipes for baked goods.
Oh – word verification: BATHER – HAH!!!!!
Marilyn Peake says
Laura,
I also felt that the sixth HARRY POTTER book was much better than the movie. I recently spoke with a filmmaker who told me that the problem with the movie might have been that they went for a PG rating, rather than PG-13. The sixth book revolves so much around the nature of good vs. evil, but the movie downplayed the intensity of that and spent a great deal of time on the dating drama of teenagers. David Yates directed both the fifth and sixth HARRY POTTER movies, but he had a PG-13 rating for HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX. He’s also directing two movies for the final HARRY POTTER book: Part I and Part II .
Matilda McCloud says
For the beach, I like a book I can't put down, but isn't too literary, and yet is thought-provoking too. I think I'm going to buy THE HELP by Kathryn Stockett to take on vacation. But I'm going whale watching so I may not be able to do much reading!
Marilyn Peake says
What's up with summer? I keep finding typos in my posts. 🙁
Anonymous says
That's funny Marilyn. We were on vacation when it came out too, on our way home actually in a motorhome. I had to buy 3 copies, and we all read straight through until we finished, much to the dismay of my disgruntled husband who was driving.
Laurel says
Anything by Dean Koontz (my first Koontz book was Watchers and I read it at the beach…it was an act of desperation and I loved it.)
Chick Lit: Mary Kay Andrews and Fannie Flagg (Particularly partial to Daisy Fay and The Miracle Man)
Anne Rice
That being said I don't really distinguish my reading material by surroundings. I'll read anything, anytime.
Anonymous says
It's odd that the (link) list of books to vote from includes books like:
Snow Falling on Cedars
All the Pretty Horses
and, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay.
I've read those books and hell, I had to PAY ATTENTION when reading them or I'd have been way, way lost.
I thought "beach read" meant, fun and easy?
Mira says
Laura and Ink – I've not read the Wonder Boys. Loved the movie, though. The book is now on my beach reading list!
reader says
Bill Greer —
"The Ruins" by Scott Smith (which I actually read on a beach in Mexico)…"
Ah! Jealous here.
Marilyn Peake says
Nathan and Dana,
I’m getting ready to go on vacation in Alaska. It’s also very weird to find myself discussing "beach reads" right now. LOL. How about some great "glacier reads"?
Marilyn Peake says
Anon @12:21 PM –
Great story! LOL.
Marsha Sigman says
I want to add to that I did love HP and the Half Blood Prince movie but just not as much as the book.
Beach Reads should be paperbacks for practical purposes and about hot guys because…..well I forget but just because they should be!