2018 Beach Reads for Your End of Summer Vacation
The sun, the sand, the sound of the waves—is there anything better than relaxing on the beach with a great book? Here are 6 beach reads we recommend for your end of summer vacation.
Marin Bishop seemed to have it all: the handsome fiancé, a fabulous career, and the admiration of her father. But after one moment of weakness, she lost it all. At twenty-eight, Marin is alone and unemployed, watching as her life unravels around her.
Then, she gets shocking news: a DNA test Marin took for a work-related project reveals that she has a half-sister. Looking to escape her troubles, Marin agrees to spend the summer with this woman on Cape Cod. What she finds there will change her life and her heart forever.
Before her National Book Award finalist, Pachinko, Min Jin Lee's debut novel, Free Food for Millionaires, introduced the indelible Casey Han, the headstrong daughter of Korean immigrants who longs to live a lavish Manhattan lifestyle. Now that she's graduated from Princeton, she is determined to scratch and claw her way to the top. Is there anything she won't do to get there? This is a fantastic story about family, prestige, and the divide between the classes.
Blanche Carter has always had a knack for romance. Er, other people's romances. As for her—she's way too jaded and smart to fall in love—right? Once a successful matchmaker in her sorority, Blanche now runs her own consulting business, handling dating profiles for women in Washington, D.C. But when an old flame appears as a match for a client, she decides to meet him herself, just to prove that she's above all the yucky love stuff—and that she's totally over him. Ah, the best-laid plans...
Related: The best mystery & thriller beach reads from our friends at Novel Suspects.
Set in Mark Twain's hometown of Hannibal, Missouri, Flood is centered on Laura Brooks. A decade after running away from Hannibal after a historic flood (and the scene of her heartbreak), Laura returns under the guise of attending her class reunion. She soon becomes enmeshed in the lives of her old friends, catching up on gossip and visiting memory lane, which includes a renewed relationship with the man who once broke her heart. As the waters begin to rise and swirl once again, so do her feelings, and Laura must decide if she should stay in Hannibal and start a new life or run away once more.
Fans of A Man Called Ove will adore this delightful international bestseller about Hendrik Groen, an elderly man who has no plans to slow down just because he's 83. Tired of being coddled and patronized because of his age, Hendrik decides to start a secret journal about the people in his retirement home community, stir up trouble for the director of the home with his friends in the Old-But-Not-Dead Club, and woo the sassy new widow next door. The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen is a heartwarming tale about how you're never too old to be young at heart.
In Betsy Carter's beautiful new novel, We Were Strangers Once, a young Jewish doctor escapes WWII-era Germany and starts a new life with a group of immigrants in New York City. As Egon and his friends experience the frustrations and setbacks that come with starting over in a new country, they lift each other's spirits and form unbreakable bonds that will see them through the dark times. This is the perfect beach read for fans of Kristin Hannah'sThe Nightingale.
Liberty Hardy is a Book Riot contributor, co-host of All the Books, a Book of the Month judge, and above all else, a ravenous reader. She resides in Maine with her cats, Steinbeck and Millay. You can see pictures of her cats and book hauls on Twitter @MissLiberty and Instagram @franzencomesalive.
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