Readers Say

15 beach reads that should be on your list this summer

Whether you’re looking for a page-turning thriller or a dreamy romance, here are 15 beach reads to lose yourself in this summer.

By Annie Jonas

June 17, 2024

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June is here and it’s already feeling like summer. As we plan trips to the Cape, staycations, plane rides, and road trips, we asked our readers and local booksellers to weigh in: What books are they most looking forward to reading beachside this summer?

Their picks range from biographies to horror and fantasy, from literary fiction to classic seaside summer romances, and everything in between. Here’s a look:

Reader recommendations

“Horror Movie: A Novel” by Paul Tremblay

The monster at the heart of a cult 90s cursed horror film tells his shocking and bloody secret history. Slow burn terror meets high-stakes showdowns, from the bestselling author of “A Head Full of Ghosts” and “The Cabin at the End of the World.”

Readers Say: “Comes out June 11th. Can’t wait. All his writing is so good and eerie. A perfect beach read.” – Nate G., Scarborough, Maine

“Lonesome Dove” by Larry McMurtry

“Lonesome Dove” is a 1985 Western novel by American writer Larry McMurtry. It is the first published book of the “Lonesome Dove” series, the third installment in the series chronologically, and was the winner of the 1986 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

Readers say: “I like to do the Big Book Summer Challenge (books over 400 pages) and this year I selected a classic which everyone seems to love. It’s not my usual genre so I’m looking forward to reading it!” – Joline G., Lewiston, Maine

“Sas-Squash” by Ezekiel Winfield

When a group of college students (including the son of a powerful senator) are brutally murdered in the woods, the senator wants answers, and he’s not the only one, especially when the survivors report that a mysterious creature — one that looks uncannily like the mythical Sasquatch — is to blame.

Readers say: “This book just came out. It’s a fun, funny, throw-back read! The dialogue is natural and quick-witted, like watching a movie. Has eccentric characters, comedy that hits the mark and an outrageous twist. Hard to put down. I LOL’d many times. A lot of classic references that scream summer read. Lastly, it’s a paperback so no schlepping heavy books around. Win win.” – Beatrix, Quincy

“This Other Eden” by Paul Harding

From the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of “Tinkers,” a novel inspired by the true story of Malaga Island, an isolated island off the coast of Maine that became one of the first racially integrated towns in the Northeast.

Readers say: “I’ve read all of Harding’s work. He’s from the North Shore area and his books always have a local angle. This one is a bit of a heart wrenching tale of a diverse multi-generational colony living on Apple Island off the coast of New England.

“This summer I’m shifting my focus to inland New England and will read Daniel Mason’s ‘North Woods’. I’m also going to try to read, and in some cases, re-read all of Alice Munro’s short stories. And also Anne Lamott’s ‘Some Thoughts on Love.’” – Frank L., West Roxbury

“Trouble Boys: The True Story of the Replacements” by Bob Mehr

Thirty-five years after the release of their debut album, comes the definitive biography of one of the last great rock ‘n’ roll bands of the twentieth century: The Replacements.

Written with the participation of the group’s key members, including reclusive singer-songwriter Paul Westerberg, bassist Tommy Stinson, and the family of late guitarist Bob Stinson, “Trouble Boys” is a deeply intimate portrait, revealing the primal factors and forces — addiction, abuse, fear — that would shape one of the most brilliant and notoriously self-destructive groups of all-time.

Readers say: “Careens from loutish and recklessly hilarious to absolutely heartbreaking within a paragraph each and every chapter. A fitting summary of a complex and infinitely rewarding band that was both of those things, and more, simultaneously. I re-read it every summer since getting it the year it was published.” – Chris, Winter Hill

Bookseller recommendations

“A Novel Summer” by Jamie Brenner

Lisa Valentino, the owner of Ink Fish Books in Warren, Rhode Island recommends author Jamie Brenner’s soon-to-be-released novel about rival bookshops, second chance romance, and friend drama.

Protagonist Shelby Archer found inspiration for her first novel while living on the picturesque shores of Provincetown on Cape Cod. When she comes to the town to celebrate her new bestseller, she is expecting a warm homecoming. But instead she is confronted with the cold shoulders of friends and neighbors who feel exposed and betrayed.

Heartbroken, Shelby tries to move on and focus on her next novel. But then an unexpected call comes: Her dear friend who owns the beloved Land’s End bookshop needs help for the summer. Shelby reluctantly returns to the Cape to manage the store.

“All the Summers in Between” by Brooke Lea Foster

Next up on Valentino’s list is a historical fiction novel. When wealthy, impulsive summer girl Margot meets hardworking and steady local girl Thea in the summer of 1967, the unlikely pair become fast friends, inseparable unti an unspeakable incident drives them apart. Ten years later, Margot suddenly reappears in Thea’s life, begging for help and harboring more than one dangerous secret.

Thea can’t bring herself to refuse her beloved friend — but she also knows she can’t fully trust her either. Unfulfilled as a housewife, Thea enjoys the dazzling sense of adventure Margot brings to her life, but will the truth of what happened to them that fateful summer ruin everything?

“Good Material” by Dolly Adlerton

Jessica Young, a bookseller at Brookline Booksmith recommends Dolly Alderton’s romantic comedy novel.

“Alderton’s wit strikes again; this time by throwing the curve ball of deeply rooting us in the male perspective to a ‘sudden’ breakup to highlight her astute observations we have come to love. I enjoyed this humor-filled take on modern relationships as a lighthearted way of comparing the old and new ways of coping with who gets to spend time in our lives,” Young said.

“Pink Whales” by Sara Shukla

Valentino’s bookstore celebrates all things Rhode Island, including Rhode Islander and author Sara Shukla. In Shukla’s novel, protagonist Charlie is already feeling adrift when she relocates to an exclusive town in coastal New England with her mysteriously distant husband, Dev, and their young twins in tow. She hopes the move will recharge her stalled marriage, and she wants her kids to feel like they belong, even if she’s clearly a fish out of water herself.

“The Daughters of Block Island” by Christa Carmen

Another recommendation by Valentino is this Bram Stoker award-winning book by another local Rhode Island author. It tells the story of two sisters caught up in a century-old mystery on Block Island. One sister arrives on the island to find her birth mother and is instead murdered in a claw-foot tub. Her long-lost sister arrives shortly after and must uncover the truth behind the murder before the island’s dark underbelly gets to her too.

“The Ferryman” by Justin Cronin

Alex Schaffner, the community engagement coordinator at Brookline Booksmith recommends a 2023 dystopian fiction novel by Justin Cronin.

“The protagonist, Proctor Bennett ‘retires’ people – sends them off to be reborn as new versions of themselves, who will enjoy fresh youth in the land of Prospera. But when his father is retired, he doesn’t go quietly – and now it’s up to Proctor to figure out the dark secrets of his idyllic world. Justin Cronin truly made me speed through 538 pages like they were nothing. He adroitly wields one genre on top of another to create a seamless, fast-paced, science-fictional mystery/thriller,” Schaffner said.

“The Ministry of Time” by Kaliane Bradley

Schaffner also recommends Kaliane Bradley’s debut novel, “The Ministry of Time.”

“What do you get when you blend time travel, government conspiracies, questions of identity, rising waters, and a little-known escapee of the ill-fated Franklin Expedition (of Northwest Passage fame)? Surprisingly enough, you get a fun, genre-bending literary romance complete with banter, peril, and a soupçon of changing the course of the future,” Schaffner said.

“The Stolen Child” by Ann Hood

This recommendation by Valentino tells the story of an unlikely duo and their adventures through France and Italy to solve a decades old mystery. For years, Nick Burns has been haunted by a decision he made as a young soldier in World War I, when a French artist he’d befriended thrust both her paintings and her baby into his hands – and disappeared.

In 1974, with only months left to live, Nick enlists Jenny, a college dropout desperate for adventure, to help him unravel the mystery. The journey leads them from Paris a surprising place: the Museum of Tears, the life’s work of a lonely Italian craftsman with the keys to solving the myster of what happened to that baby.

“Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers” by Jesse Q. Sutanto

Brookline Booksmith bookseller Maria Frey chose this mystery novel as their beach read pick. “Come for the murder investigation, stay for the found family! Simultaneously heartwarming and hilarious, you’ll fall in love with Vera, her sharp wit, and her ability to bring people together. Sometimes it just takes one nosy old lady to bring out the best in everyone… and solve a murder,” Frey said.

“You May Now Kill the Bride” by Kate Weston

“If you ever wanted Desperate Housewives to be about a London hen (bachelorette) party or for Sex and the City to be about serial killing, look no further,” Brookline Booksmith’s Schaffner said. “I picked this book up on a whim and was rewarded with a wonderful time. This is exactly what you need for the beach, the bathtub, or your next train trip – something loud, fun, pacy and over-the-top, with a series of murders that gives you plenty of suspects.”