50 Best Books for the Beach This Summer

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By Nancy Thayer
Ballantine Books (May 2017)

A love triangle in Nantucket over Memorial Day weekend? Thayer's sharp cast of characters makes the imminently readable summer chick-lit setup as fresh as ever.

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By Michelle Gable
St. Martin's Press (May 2017)

Calling all old-home lovers: Gable's novel takes you into the lives of the Codman family through the lens of their once-prized, now-deteriorating Nantucket compound, Cliff House.

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By Ann Kidd Taylor
Viking (June 2017)

In her first novel, Taylor (daughter of The Secret Life of Bees author Sue Monk Kidd) crafts an unexpected tale of romance and shark attacks set against the Gulf Coast's sparkling waters.

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By Jean E. Pendziwol
HarperCollins (July 2017)

An elderly woman and a delinquent teen form an unlikely bond as they uncover the journal entries of a man who oversaw a remote Lake Superior lighthouse nearly a century before.

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By Beatriz Williams
William Morrow (June 2017)

This sun-drenched novel traces Virginia Fortescue from World War I France to a tropical Florida boomtown as she seeks the true identity of her late husband.

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By Hannah McKinnon
Atria (June 2017)

Three adult siblings have unpacked emotional baggage at their parents' Rhode Island beach home, but their mother is determined to tidy things up—before she sells the house.

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By Jane Green
Penguin (June 2017)

Prepare to love and loathe aging movie star Ronni Sunshine as she attempts to make up for lost time with her three grown daughters at her Westport, Connecticut, beach house.

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By Jamie Brenner
Little Brown (April 2017)

Young, play-it-safe attorney Marin Bishop has it all. But when a long-lost half-sister shows up, she journeys to a beachside B&B, where she discovers everything she never knew she lacked.

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By Graeme Simsion
St. Martin's Press (May 2017)

Simsion, of The Rosie Project fame, serves up another unconventional hero, this time in the form of Adam Sharp, a sensible IT technician with a penchant for music trivia and a torch for his long-lost love.

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By Daniel Wallace
St. Martin's Press (May 2017)

With the same refreshing style as his novel Big Fish, Wallace casts the tale of Edsel Bronfman, whose mundane life is turned on its head when he learns he has 79 days to find a travel companion (ahem, date) for a free beach weekend.

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By Hendrik Groen
Grand Central (July 2017)

Groen is the ringleader of his retirement home's prank-prone "Old- But-Not-Dead Club." But as soon as a feisty widow arrives, the gruff octogenarian is on his best behavior, even combing what's left of his hair. It's truly a love story for the ages.

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By Nina Laurin
Grand Central (June 2017)

This riveting work delves into the grim world of kidnapping and captors. Laine Moreno tries to save a young girl from the same cruel crimes that befell her own childhood.

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By Paul Vidich
Atria (April 2017)

Travel to 1950s Havana, Cuba, where CIA agent George Mueller is caught in a complicated plot: tailing his friend, colleague, and possible spy Toby Graham, just as Castro is on the brink of power.

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By Karen Dionne
G.P. Putnam's Sons (June 2017)

Helena Pelletier's picture-perfect life is upended when her violent father—a recluse nicknamed the Marsh King—escapes from prison, and the authorities turn to her for answers.

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By Andrew Wilson
Atria (July 2017)

In a stranger-than-fiction spin, crime novelist Agatha Christie went missing for 11 days in 1926. Author Andrew Wilson uses that real-life mystery as a starting point for a whodunit as gripping as Christie's own beloved writing.

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By Michele Campbell
St. Martin's Press (May 2017)

Jumping across time between three best friends' lives during college and adulthood, Campbell paints complicated relationships full of love and hate. Is one of them to blame for another's death, or is it the usual suspect?

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By Paula Hawkins
Riverhead Books (May 2017)

In the followup to her smash hit The Girl on the Train, Hawkins weaves another wonderfully twisted mystery, after not one but two women are found dead at the bottom of a small-town river.

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By Caite Dolan-Leach
Random House (February 2017)

Upstate New York's wine country is the backdrop for a scavenger hunt of a mystery following Ava Antipova as she tracks clues left by her deceased twin sister, Zelda. But is Zelda really dead, or simply hiding in plain sight?

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By Rachel Khong
Henry Holt and Co. (July 2017)

What would you do for love? In this poignant novel, a college dropout goes to great lengths to help her father, who has Alzheimer's, reconnect to his career as a professor.

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By Julianne Pachico
Spiegel & Grau (March 2017)

Pachico's ambitious debut weaves together seemingly disparate locations (Colombia and New York City) and characters, and reminds us how connected the world really is.

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By Susan Perabo
Simon & Schuster (March 2017)

After an unthinkable crime involving a young girl, grief and guilt are laid bare in this novel that's as achingly beautiful as it is suspenseful.

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By Julia Fierro
St. Martin's Press (June 2017)

Revel in Fierro's crisp prose as an invasion of moths blankets everything on idyllic Avalon Island, save the social tensions bubbling just below the surface.

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By Hannah Tinti
The Dial Press (March 2017)

Prepare to be mesmerized by the dark but devoted Samuel and his equally complex daughter, Loo, in this coming-of-age story.

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By Lynne Olson
Random House (April 2017)

Olson recounts how European royalty, spies, and scientists exiled in Great Britain during World War II helped defeat Hitler.

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By Jack E. Davis
Liveright (March 2017)

From prehistoric wildlife to modern-day tourism, this masterfully researched tome details the Gulf Coast's journey to becoming a jewel of the American landscape.

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By Robert P. Watson
Da Capo Press (August 2017)

Discover the story of the oft-forgotten HMS Jersey, a British warship that housed thousands of prisoners during the American Revolution.

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By Joe Quirk
Free Press (March 2017)

Enter a world where floating cities offer an economical and environmentally sound alternative to the landlocked municipalities of today.

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By Dr. Rock Positano
Simon & Schuster (May 2017)

A friend recalls his time with "Joltin' Joe" and captures the highs and lows of the ultimate boy of summer.

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By Kathy McKeon
Gallery Books (May 2017)

Step inside the former First Lady's gilded but lonely world, as McKeon recounts the 13 years she spent as Kennedy's personal assistant.

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By Ryan White
Touchstone (May 2017)

Parrotheads, rejoice! The first definitive Buffett biography takes an in-depth look at the man behind the flip-flop-wearing, frozen drink–sipping fantasy that is Margaritaville.

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By David Adams
Smith Street Books (April 2017)

Pick a cocktail! Any cocktail! From the Navy Grog to the Beachcomber, every recipe is summer vacation in a glass.

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By Ellen Brown
Running Press (May 2017)

Brunch's best friend gets genius updates with savory twists, like the Gazpacho Mary, plus creative garnishes.

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By Coastal Living
Oxmoor House (May 2017)

Pardon our pride, but our cup runneth over with this cheery little book. With refreshing recipes and clever bar-tending tricks, it's sure to leave you in high spirits.

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By Victoria James
Harper Design (May 2017)

Especially with Lyle Railsback's pretty illustrations, sommelier Victoria James's charming book is as enticing as the drink that inspired it.

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By Mary Kay Andrews
St. Martin's Press (May 2017)

From her Southeastern coastal kitchen, Andrews shares simple summer recipes for laid-back gatherings.

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By John Nelson
Gibbs Smith (March 2017)

Nelson grants the Pacific Northwest its rightful place at the table with recipes that pay tasty tribute to coastal Oregon and Washington.

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By Sam Talbot
Oxmoor House (April 2017)

Celebrated chef and native Mainer Sam Talbot presents 100 delicious whole-food recipes to try out this summer. Time to head to the farmers' market!

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By Lisa Scottoline and Francesca Serritella
St. Martin's Press (July 2017)

The mother/daughter writing duo channels the likes of Nora Ephron and Erma Bombeck with witty essays that are equal parts gut-busting and heartwarming.

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By Mo Gawdat
North Star Way (March 2017)

What do you get when a Google exec applies his analytical skills to the pursuit of happiness? A thoughtful formula for looking on the bright side that's a pleasure to read.

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By Annabelle Gurwitch
Blue Rider Press (April 2017)

Gurwitch tackles the most exasperating of topics—family!—with her signature acerbic wit.

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By Ali Almossawi
Viking (April 2017)

Good decisions equal happy days, says Almossawi, in this smart, funny approach to everyday problem solving.

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By Srini Pillay, M.D.
Ballantine Books (May 2017)

A Harvard physician makes the case for increased productivity through daydreaming, relaxing, and letting your mind wander. We'll happily think on that.

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By Lauren Fern Watt
Simon & Schuster (March 2017)

When Watt's pup gets a dreaded diagnosis, the duo set out on an epic road trip to savor the remaining days.

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By Gillian Anderson and Jennifer Nadel
Atria (March 2017)

Anderson and Nadel present nine principles for a life focused more on you, and less on keeping up with those (metaphorical) Joneses.

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By Alice Anderson
St. Martin's Press (August 2017)

Anderson bares her soul in a gritty memoir that recalls picking up the pieces of her home and life in post-Katrina Mississippi.

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By Colson Whitehead
Anchor

"A beautifully written coming-of-age story, Sag Harbor is told from the perspective of Benji Cooper, an introspective 15-year-old African American boy summering at his family's Hamptons vacation home."
—Emily Giffin is the author of The New York Times best-seller Something Borrowed, Something Blue.

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By Peter Benchley
Bantam Books

"Jaws is as evocative of summer as it gets. The story of a seaside tourist town thrown into panic by a predatory great white shark is a classic tale of conflict and suspense."
—Shari LaPena is a novelist and author of the smash hit The Couple Next Door.

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By Geoffrey Wolff
Vintage

"Wolff knows the ocean, and there's plenty in A Day at the Beach that speaks to life near the water, but the book is so much more than that. It really is the finest book of essays I know—funny, insightful, and crackling smart."
—Ann Patchett is the author of The New York Times best-seller Commonwealth.

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By Rosamunde Pilcher
St. Martin's Griffin

"It's a beautiful, mesmerizing novel about family, love, and connections, with secrets as haunting as the seashells we lift to our ears. You will return to this classic over and over."
—Wade Rouse is the author of The Hope Chest, which he wrote under the pen name Viola Shipman, a tribute to his grandmother.

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By Ellen Gilchrist
University Press of Mississippi

"Ellen Gilchrist is one of my all-time favorite writers. I reach back to her hilarious short stories, like these about her life in Arkansas and the Gulf Coast, time and again."
—Lucy Buffett is the author of numerous cookbooks, including her latest, Gumbo Love.