29 Beach-Perfect Books

Soak in the sun, sand, surf, and stories!

By Ashly Moore Sheldon • June 30, 2024

What is it that makes reading at the beach so satisfying? There's nothing like getting lost in a mesmerizing read with your toes buried in the sand, sunlight glinting off the waves, a briney sea salt breeze on your face, and the roar of the surf drowning out all your worries. It's a double dose of escape.

But what makes a perfect beach read? Well that varies from reader to reader. Some crave light, fluffy fare requiring minimal focus, while others are looking to immerse themselves in an epic adventure. From frothy rom-coms to twisty thrillers, generational sagas to moving memoirs, our favorite beach reads run the gamut. Here are 29 beach-perfect books.

All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

This Pulitzer Prize winning historical novel weaves together multiple storylines. Marie-Laure is a blind French girl, Werner, an orphaned German boy. Their paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II.

Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver

Over the course of one humid summer, three intriguing protagonists face disparate predicaments but find connections to one another and to the flora and fauna living alongside them. This is a hymn to wildness.

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry

This epic frontier story is authentic, dramatic, and moving. Woodrow F. Call and Augustus "Gus" McCrae are two retired Texas Rangers who embark on one last wild adventure driving a herd from Texas to Montana.

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

When Isabella Swan moves to the perpetually rainy town of Forks, Washington, the last thing she expects is to fall in love with the mysterious and alluring Edward Cullen. But Edward has a dangerous secret. This is a YA love story with bite!

Outlander by Diana Gabaldan

Scottish highlands, 1945. Claire is a former combat nurse visiting Scotland with her husband when she's catapulted back through time to 1743, a Scotland torn by war and raiding clans, falling directly into the arms of Jamie, a young Scots warrior.

Presumed Innocent by Scott Turow

Rusty Sabich, family man and the number-two prosecutor of Kindle County, is handed an explosive case—the brutal murder of his former lover. Then a shocking turn of events suddenly transforms him from the accuser into the accused.

Waiting to Exhale by Terry McMillan

When the men in their lives prove less than reliable, Savannah, Bernadine, Gloria, and Robin find strength, humor, and understanding from each other as they struggle to regain stability and an identity they don't have to share with anyone.

The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher

At the end of a long and useful life, Penelope Keeling contemplates a complicated legacy in this huge, warm saga about one family and the passions and heartbreak that have held them together for three generations.

Florida by Lauren Groff

The stories in this collection span characters, towns, decades, even centuries, but Florida—its landscape, climate, history, and state of mind—becomes its gravitational center: an energy, a mood, as much as a place of residence.

The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother by James McBride

One of twelve children, the National Book Award-winning author of Deacon King Kong and The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store explores his mother's past, as well as his own upbringing and heritage in this poignant and powerful memoir.

Summer Sisters by Judy Blume

Once they were best friends—"summer sisters." In this coming-of-age novel, when Caitlin begs Vix to come to her wedding, Vix knows that she will go—if only to try and understand what happened during that last shattering summer.

The Love Songs of W. E. B. Du Bois by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers

This intimate, yet sweeping, portrait of one American family extends from the time of the colonial slave trade through to our own tumultuous era. At its center is Ailey, a young woman carrying the weight of all this history on her shoulders.

The Life of Pi by Yann Martel

After the sinking of a cargo ship, sixteen-year-old Pi finds himself in a solitary lifeboat with a 450-pound Royal Bengal tiger named Richard Parker, for 227 days while lost at sea. A realistic, rousing adventure and a meta-tale of survival.

Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll

Masterfully blending elements of psychological suspense and true crime, this breakneck thriller follows two women who come together in the pursuit of justice after both survive brushes with a soon-to-be famous serial killer.

Sag Harbor by Colson Whitehead

Drenched in nostalgia and humor, this is the story of Benji. One of just a few Black students at an elite Manhattan prep school in 1985, he spends his summers in Sag Harbor amidst a small community of upper-middle-class Black families.

In the Woods by Tana French

Twenty years after a childhood brush with a murderer, Dublin detective Rob Ryan keeps his past a secret. When a local girl is found murdered in similar circumstances, Ryan has to unearth long-buried memories to uncover the truth.

The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith

Tom Ripley is a young grifter determined to leave his past behind, when he's hired by a wealthy industrialist to curb his son Dickie's indulgent ways. Ripley's obsession with Dickie's debonair lifestyle turns into a deadly rage.

Shogun by James Clavell

After getting lost at sea, seventeenth-century Englishman John Blackthorne washes up on the shores of feudal Japan. As he confronts unfamiliar cultures and internal political strife, he finds himself torn between two worlds.

Beach Read by Emily Henry

The only thing literary fiction author Augustus Everett and romance writer January Andrews have in common is writer's block, and the fact that, for the next three months, they will be next-door neighbors living on the shore of Lake Michigan.

The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

Set against the sprawling medieval canvas of twelfth-century England, this spellbinding saga tells the story of Philip, prior of Kingsbridge, a devout and resourceful monk driven to build the greatest Gothic cathedral in the world.

Call Me By Your Name by André Aciman

It's the summer of 1983 in Italy, and Elio is a precocious American-Italian teen. When Oliver arrives as an intern working with Elio's father, it sets off a summer of awakening desire that will change their lives.

The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough

This sweeping saga follows three generations of Clearys, Australian ranchers carving lives from a beautiful, hard land. It is, at once, a poignant love story, a powerful epic, and a celebration of individuality and spirit.

The Red Tent by Anita Diamant

In the Bible, Dinah's life is only hinted at in a brief and violent detour. This modern classic imagines the traditions and turmoils of ancient womanhood, beginning with the story of the mothers, Leah, Rachel, Zilpah, and Bilhah.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

It's an ordinary Thursday morning for Arthur Dent . . . until his house gets demolished, followed by Earth itself. And then Arthur's best friend announces that he's an alien. After that, things get much, much worse.

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Under the influence of a charismatic classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at a New England college discover a thrilling new way of life and thought. But their search for the transcendent leads them down a dangerous path.

The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy

After his twin sister's suicide attempt, Tom flies from South Carolina to New York. Working with Savannah's psychiatrist to unravel their tangled family history, he realizes that trying to save his sister may also be his last chance to save himself.

The Witching Hour by Anne Rice

This is the spellbinding first installment in the dynasty of the Mayfair Witches—a family given to poetry and to incest, to murder and to philosophy; a family that, over many ages, is haunted by a powerful, dangerous, and seductive being.

Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah

Spanning more than sixty years from the terrors of war-torn Leningrad to modern-day Alaska, this is another powerful story of family love and strong women from the bestselling author of The Nightingale and Firefly Lane.

Slow Horses by Mick Herron

London, England: Slough House is where washed-up MI5 spies, aka Slow Horses, go to spend what's left of their failed careers. How they got there varies, but what they have in common is that they would do anything to be back in the action.

There you have it, from lasting classics to thrilling new titles, this is your ultimate list of beach-perfect books. And if you can't make it to the beach, these books will be equally as enjoyable in your backyard or a local park.