Grab your sunscreen and your shades and lose yourself in the pages of a hot new read this summer.
As the days get longer and the temperatures climb, there's nothing quite like the feeling of sand between your toes and a great book in your hands. Whether you're basking in the sun on a tropical paradise or lounging in your backyard hammock, summer is the perfect time to soak up a world of fiction, memoirs, and gripping narratives. Here's a curated list of the top beach reads for summer 2024 that promise to add excitement and intrigue to your leisurely days.
Thrilling Mysteries
For those who love a good puzzle, these mystery novels are sure to captivate. This summer, enjoy beach reads filled with suspenseful twists, unforgettable characters, and plots that keep you guessing until the final page.
The Berry Pickers
by Amanda Peters
NATIONAL BESTSELLER
2023 Barnes & Noble Discover Prize Winner
Winner of the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction
A four-year-old Mi'kmaq girl goes missing from the blueberry fields of Maine, sparking a mystery that will haunt the survivors, unravel a family, and remain unsolved for nearly fifty years
"A stunning debut about love, race, brutality, and the balm of forgiveness." --People, A Best New Book
July 1962. A Mi'kmaq family from Nova Scotia arrives in Maine to pick blueberries for the summer. Weeks later, four-year-old Ruthie, the family's youngest child, vanishes. She is last seen by her six-year-old brother, Joe, sitting on a favorite rock at the edge of a berry field. Joe will remain distraught by his sister's disappearance for years to come.
In Maine, a young girl named Norma grows up as the only child of an affluent family. Her father is emotionally distant, her mother frustratingly overprotective. Norma is often troubled by recurring dreams and visions that seem more like memories than imagination. As she grows older, Norma slowly comes to realize there is something her parents aren't telling her. Unwilling to abandon her intuition, she will spend decades trying to uncover this family secret.
For readers of The Vanishing Half and Woman of Light, this showstopping debut by a vibrant new voice in fiction is a riveting novel about the search for truth, the shadow of trauma, and the persistence of love across time.
"A harrowing tale of Indigenous family separation . . . [Peters] excels in writing characters for whom we can't help rooting . . . With The Berry Pickers, Peters takes on the monumental task of giving witness to people who suffered through racist attempts of erasure like her Mi'kmaw ancestors." --The New York Times Book Review
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Bodies to Die for
by Lori Brand
Perfect for fans of You Shouldn't Have Come Here and None of This Is True, Bodies to Die For is a brilliant psychological thriller that will have readers wondering whether the perfect body really is worth dying for ...
Popular fitness influencer Gemma has transformed herself from a Before into an After, complete with washboard abs, thriving business, and gorgeous husband. But social media can be deceiving. Offline, the cutthroat world of bikini bodybuilding may just eat her alive. That's if she's not first devoured by the secret nemesis that lurks beneath her polished surface, waiting to destroy her.
Software engineer Ashley is fat and frustrated. Frustrated with failed diets. With a world that wants her to shrink. With biased doctors, online trolls, and even her own mother. Until Ashley falls in with a mysterious and radical sect of Fat Activists who are fighting back ... by any means necessary. She's never felt so alive, so full of purpose. She'll do whatever it takes to ride this high, destroy Diet Culture, and win the approval of her charismatic leader.
Midnight Feast
by Lucy Foley
Secrets. Lies. Murder. Let the festivities begin...
"An irresistible whodunit with an irresistible Blair Witch-meets-Fyre Festival backdrop." -- People
The deliciously twisty new locked room murder mystery from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Guest List and The Paris Apartment
It's the opening night of The Manor, and no expense, small or large, has been spared. The infinity pool sparkles; crystal pouches for guests' healing have been placed in the Seaside Cottages and Woodland Hutches; the "Manor Mule" cocktail (grapefruit, ginger, vodka, and a dash of CBD oil) is being poured with a heavy hand. Everyone is wearing linen.
But under the burning midsummer sun, darkness stirs. Old friends and enemies circulate among the guests. Just outside the Manor's immaculately kept grounds, an ancient forest bristles with secrets. And the Sunday morning of opening weekend, the local police are called. Something's not right with the guests. There's been a fire. A body's been discovered.
Middle of the Night
by Riley Sager
In the latest jaw-dropping thriller from New York Times bestselling author Riley Sager, a man must contend with the long-ago disappearance of his childhood best friend--and the dark secrets lurking just beyond the safe confines of his picture-perfect neighborhood.
The worst thing to ever happen on Hemlock Circle occurred in Ethan Marsh's backyard. One July night, ten-year-old Ethan and his best friend and neighbor, Billy, fell asleep in a tent set up on a manicured lawn in a quiet, quaint New Jersey cul-de-sac. In the morning, Ethan woke up alone. During the night, someone had sliced the tent open with a knife and taken Billy. He was never seen again.
Thirty years later, Ethan has reluctantly returned to his childhood home. Plagued by bad dreams and insomnia, he begins to notice strange things happening in the middle of the night. Someone seems to be roaming the cul-de-sac at odd hours, and signs of Billy's presence keep appearing in Ethan's backyard. Is someone playing a cruel prank? Or has Billy, long thought to be dead, somehow returned to Hemlock Circle?
Woman by the Lake
by Kristen Ashley
Nadia Williams needs somewhere peaceful to sort through her grief after her mother is brutally murdered. She finds a cozy cabin at the side of a tranquil lake in the quaint town of Misted Pines in the Pacific Northwest.
The minute she arrives, she knows it's perfect.
The very night of her arrival, however, someone-or something-is scratching at her window.
The next morning, she meets her one and only neighbor, Doc Riggs. He's a rough, good-time guy who rubs Nadia wrong immediately. They clash, and neither of them are happy to be sharing their lake.
Inspirational Memoirs
Summer is a time for reflection and inspiration, making it the perfect season to read about the lives of extraordinary individuals.
They Were Good Germans Once: A Memoir: My Jewish Émigré Family
by Evelyn Toynton
In these essays, Toynton remembers her émigré relatives, some of whom left Germany as soon as Hitler came to power, others only escaped later.
While Evelyn Toynton's father became a hard-working, civic-minded American, with a great sense of obligation to his suburban community, her uncle never stopped feeling like an exile in the US; as soon after World War II as he could, he began making trips back to Germany. The women in her family also had widely varying relationships to the societies in which they found refuge. One of them, after browbeating a Nazi police chief into having her husband released from Dachau, wound up in England and became a passionate Anglophile; another, a widow deprived of all material comfort and security, retreated into seclusion in her tiny New York apartment, distancing herself from American life and finding solace in her beloved German poets. A fierce Zionist who smuggled guns and money from Europe into Palestine under the noses of the British went on to found a kibbutz and fight for the rights of Arabs as well as Jews. Then there was the author's German-born mother, who emigrated to the U.S. only to be struck down by tragedy and forced to live separately from her children, but still found ways to nurture them and provide them with a haven from their sorrows. All of them had lost not only their native homeland and their sense of identity but many of the people they loved. Yet each found ways to give meaning to their lives, whether in their own small circles or in the larger world.
Toynton speaks to a universal immigrant family experience, some embrace a new life, others forge a compromise between their new home and old traditions, while a few never fully find their way.
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Romance and Relationships
Summer love isn't just a fleeting romance; it's also a popular theme in beach reads. This year's crop of romance novels is expected to explore the complexities of relationships through heartwarming narratives and steamy encounters. Prepare to fall in love with love all over again.
Just Some Stupid Love Story
by Katelyn Doyle
Featuring bright purple sprayed edges!
For fans of Emily Henry, a debut about a rom-com screenwriter who doesn't believe in love and a divorce attorney who does, forced together at their high school reunion fifteen years after their breakup
Molly Marks writes Hollywood rom-coms for a living--which is how she knows "romance" is a racket. The one and only time she was naive enough to fall in love was with her high school boyfriend, Seth--who she ghosted on the eve of graduation and hasn't seen in fifteen years.
Seth Rubinstein believes in love, the grand, fated kind, despite his job as, well...one of Chicago's most successful divorce attorneys. Over the last decade, he's sought "the one" in countless bad dates and rushed relationships. He knows his soulmate is out there. But so far, no one can compare to Molly Marks, the first girl who broke his heart.
When Molly's friends drag her to Florida for their fifteenth high school reunion, it is poetic justice that she's forced to sit with Seth. Too many martinis and a drunken hookup later, they decide to make a bet: whoever can predict the fate of five couples before the next reunion must declare that the other is right about true love. The catch? The fifth couple is the two of them.
Molly assures Seth they are a tale of timeless heartbreak. Seth promises she'll end up hopelessly in love with him. She thinks he's delusional. He has five years to prove her wrong.
Wickedly funny, sexy, and brimming with laughs and heart like the best romantic comedies, Just Some Stupid Love Story is for everyone who believes in soulmates--even if they would never admit it.
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A Good Life
by Virginie Grimaldi - Hildegarde Serle
A JUNE 2024 INDIE NEXT PICK
Full of humor and compassion, a profound exploration of sisterhood, healing, and the ineffable beauty of life from France's most beloved contemporary novelist
Laughter, tears, the transformative power of love, unexpected revelations, and striking natural beauty: these are the ingredients that combine to make best-selling author Virginie Grimaldi's American debut the feel-good read of 2024. Grimaldi is among France's top ten contemporary authors and her uplifting, unputdownable literary novels have quickly garnered her millions of adoring fans. This, her American debut, is among her most delicately wrought and emotionally compelling novels to date.
Emma and Agathe are sisters. They were thick as thieves when they were young but have always been as different as can be. Agathe, the younger sister, is disorderly, chaotic, and fiery. Five years older, Emma has always been the more mature sister, the defender, the protector, the worrier. Their relationship as adults is scarred by a tragedy that transformed their happy, ordinary childhoods into something much more complex and challenging. For a long time, Emma hasn't wanted to be involved in Agathe's life. But then they must return together to the Basque Country, to the house of their adored grandmother, to empty out her home and in the process to reconcile, to remember, and to pour out what is in their hearts.
Sandwich
by Catherine Newman
"Sandwich is joy in book form. I laughed continuously, except for the parts that made me cry. Catherine Newman does a miraculous job reminding us of all the wonder there is to be found in life."--Ann Patchett, New York Times bestselling author of Tom Lake
From the beloved author of We All Want Impossible Things, a moving, hilarious story of a family summer vacation full of secrets, lunch, and learning to let go.
For the past two decades, Rocky has looked forward to her family's yearly escape to Cape Cod. Their humble beach-town rental has been the site of sweet memories, sunny days, great meals, and messes of all kinds: emotional, marital, and--thanks to the cottage's ancient plumbing--septic too.
This year's vacation, with Rocky sandwiched between her half-grown kids and fully aging parents, promises to be just as delightful as summers past--except, perhaps, for Rocky's hormonal bouts of rage and melancholy. (Hello, menopause!) Her body is changing--her life is, too. And then a chain of events sends Rocky into the past, reliving both the tenderness and sorrow of a handful of long-ago summers.
Jackpot Summer
by Elyssa Friedland
After the Jacobson siblings win a life-changing fortune in the lottery, they assume their messy lives will transform into sleek, storybook perfection-but they couldn't be more wrong.
The four Jacobson children were raised to respect the value of a dollar. Their mother reused tea bags and refused to pay retail; their father taught them to budget before he taught them to ride a bike. And yet, now that they're adults, their financial lives are in disarray.
The siblings reunite when their newly widowed father puts their Jersey Shore beach house on the market. Packing up childhood memories isn't easy, especially when there's other drama brewing. Matthew is miserable at his corporate law job and wishes he had more time with his son; Laura's marriage is imploding in spectacular fashion; Sophie's art career is stalled while her boyfriend's is on the rise; and Noah's total failure to launch has him doing tech repair for pennies.
Worth The Risk
by Bea Borges
A swoony, kick-your-feet-in-the-air, second chance romance infused with humor and heartfelt connections.
Winslow "Winnie" Parker is a relationship girl through and through--she just likes for them to come with an expiration date.
Between managing her anxiety and opening her bakery, Winnie's come to the conclusion she's not meant to have the kind of love she reads about in romance novels. She's meant to appreciate it--not participate in it. A hopeless romantic, emphasis on hopeless. She's been fine with playing it safe for years.
Barrett "Rhett" Holloway is best known for playing professional hockey--and leaving a trail of broken hearts behind him.
Playing professional hockey is all Rhett's known for the last decade. After an injury shortens his career sooner than expected he's trading his mouth guard in for a whistle as Silverthorne High's new hockey coach. At 33 he's ready to settle down and start a family of his own. The only problem with is the only time he's ever been in love was 8 years ago and he's still in love with her.
Summer Science Fiction & Fantasy
Science fiction continues to captivate readers of all ages, and summer 2024's selections are no exception. From fantasy epics make for perfect beach companions.
Floating Hotel
by Grace Curtis
This cozy science fiction novel tells a story of misfits, rebels, found family--and a mystery that spans the stars
Welcome to the Grand Abeona Hotel: home of the finest food, the sweetest service, and the very best views the galaxy has to offer. All year round it moves from planet to planet, system to system, pampering guests across the furthest reaches of the milky way. The last word in sub-orbital luxury--and an absolute magnet for intrigue. Intrigues such as: Why are there love poems in the lobby inbox? How many Imperial spies are currently on board? What is the true purpose of the Problem Solver's conference? And perhaps most pertinently--who is driving the ship?
Each guest has a secret, every member of staff a universe unto themselves. At the center of these interweaving lives and interlocking mysteries stands Carl, one time stowaway, longtime manager, devoted caretaker to the hotel. It's the love of his life and the only place he's ever called home. But as forces beyond Carl's comprehension converge on the Abeona, he has to face one final question: when is it time to let go?
Poseidon's Bride
by Katlynn Phelps
Poseidon's Bride is a modern-day Greek mythology retelling of Amphitrite and Poseidon.
Amphitrite and her sister, Thetis, are on the run not only from destiny, but from their Father, Nereus. After being locked away most of their life to keep the Fates' story of Amphitrite's reign from coming true, they must now also hide from one of the most powerful of gods. Whilst on their voyage, these two sisters will cross paths with mythical creatures and various gods. Will they escape Fate? Or will the truth come to light of what is really to be?
Travel Through Time with Historical Fiction
If you're unable to travel this summer, let the books do the journeying for you. These tales will transport you to far-off lands and immerse you in the times of old. These stories are guaranteed to satisfy your wanderlust without ever having to leave your beach chair.
The Beautiful People
by Michelle Gable
Set against the glamorous 1960s Jet Set--a failed debutante's new job as assistant to society photographer Slim Aarons takes her into Palm Beach's inner circle, and into a beguiling friendship with the star at its center, fashion designer Lilly Pulitzer
"This glittering novel shines as brightly as its heroine. A true delight." --Nicola Harrison, author of Hotel Laguna
Washington Post Best Book of April * PureWow Best Book of Summer * Woman's World Best Book of the Week
It's 1961, and for Margo Hightower, everything is about to change. True, her engagement is off, her family has fallen in scandal, and she's completely broke. But she's just been hired as assistant to photographer Slim Aarons--famous for his vibrant pictures of high society, royalty, and Hollywood stars--and she knows this opportunity is her ticket to something better.
From the bright beaches of Acapulco to glitzy parties in New York, Margo is thrown headfirst into the glamorous jet-set world she so covets, observing its ways from behind the camera as Slim's sidekick. There's Jackie Kennedy, Truman Capote's Swans, a host of Vanderbilts. Beautiful people in beautiful places.
But when they land in Palm Beach, a scene with few rules and many riches, the lines between work and play begin to blur. As Margo becomes swept up in the city's social circle--and into a friendship with heiress and rising fashion designer Lilly Pulitzer--the golden life seems increasingly in reach. Until she finds herself entangled in a complicated web of loyalties and secrets that could bring it all crashing down…
Wrap Up
Our summer beach read recommendations offer something for almost every reader. Whether you're in the mood for a light-hearted romp, a deep dive into a memoir, or a visit to another planet, our picks are sure to enhance your summer relaxation. So, slather on the sunscreen, grab your shades, and prepare to lose yourself in the pages of these must-read books.
Don't forget to share your favorite summer beach reads in the comments below or tag us on social media with your #SummerBeachReads2024!