Beach Reads for Adults

There's something special about reading on the beach. Here are some great recommended reads for your next water-adjacent reading session!

Updated June 18, 2025
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32 Days in May
Corrello, Betty
Paper Book
Return to the Jersey Shore with a new romance by Summertime Punchline author Betty Corrello in which a young woman recently diagnosed with lupus attempts a no-strings fling with a former television star, perfect for readers of Elissa Sussman or Tia Williams.  ...
Hollywood high : a totally epic, way opinionated history of teen movies
Handy, Bruce
From a longtime Vanity Fair writer and editor, a delightfully entertaining, intelligent, and illuminating history and tribute to teen movies--from Rebel Without a Cause to Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and on to John Hughes, Mean Girls, The Hunger Games, and...
The red house : a novel
Morris, Mary
Paper Book
Award-winning novelist Mary Morris weaves together an unsolved family mystery, a poignant coming-of-age story, and a little-known corner of World War II history in this lyrical novel of family, loss and, ultimately, love. Thirty years ago, Laura's mother, Viola, went missing. She...
The Catch
Daley-Ward, Yrsa
Paper Book
Twin sisters Clara and Dempsey have always struggled to relate, their familial bond severed after their mother vanished into the Thames. As infants they were adopted into different families, Clara sent to live with a successful, upper-class couple, and Dempsey with a sullen, unaffectionate city...
The accidental favorite : a novel
Littlewood, Fran
Paper Book
From the New York Times bestselling author of Amazing Grace Adams comes a wryly resonant and deeply moving family dramedy investigating the question so many of us have asked ourselves: do my parents have a favorite? Vivienne and Patrick Fisher have done an...
Beach house rules : a novel
Harvey, Kristy Woodson
Paper Book
"Southern bestselling sensation" (Katie Couric Media) Kristy Woodson Harvey returns with a delightfully moving new novel about a mother-daughter duo learning to lean on their community of women--and each other--after their world is turned upside down. When Charlotte Sitterly's...
The doorman : a novel
Pavone, Chris
Paper Book
A pulse-pounding novel of class, privilege, sex, and murder, from the New York Times bestselling author of Two Nights in Lisbon and The Expats. Chicky Diaz is everyone's favorite doorman at the Bohemia, the most famous apartment house in the world, home of...
Sounds Like Love
Poston, Ashley
Paper Book
A hitmaking songwriter and a bitter musician share a startling and inexplicable connection that they'll do anything to shake, in the next sparkling, magical book from the New York Times bestselling author of The Seven Year Slip and A Novel Love Story. Named...
Isabella Nagg and the Pot of Basil
Darkshire, Oliver
Paper Book
In a tiny farm on the edge of the miserable village of East Grasby, Isabella Nagg is trying to get on with her tiny, miserable existence. Dividing her time between tolerating her feckless husband, caring for the farm's strange animals, cooking up "scrunge," and crooning over her treasured pot of...
Yin yang love song
Jessen, Lauren Kung
Paper Book
In this charming rom-com filled with Chinese traditions and a family curse, an herbalist fake dates a star musician-perfect for fans of Helen Hoang and Jasmine Guillory. Chinese herbalist Chryssy Hua Williams never actually believed in the Hua family curse. But...
Consider Yourself Kissed
Stanley, Jessica
"BEST SUMMER READ"-THE TODAY SHOW A Natalie Portman's Book Club Pick One of Vogue's "Best Beach Reads" "Funny, smart and memorable...Delightful."-New York Times "Consider Yourself Kissed is your new best friend in novel form." -The Cut
Lore Olympus. Volume one
Smythe, Rachel (Comics artist)
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * Scandalous gossip, wild parties, and forbidden love--witness what the gods do after dark in this stylish and contemporary reimagining of one of the best-known stories in Greek mythology, featuring a brand-new, exclusive short story from creator Rachel...

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