The Best Beach Reads For This Summer According to My Favorite Bloggers: Part I

I love hearing what my favorite bloggers are looking forward to reading this summer. (If you remember, I did this last summer, too. Check out the posts here and here.)  


Anyway, this year I asked them if they have read any good beach reads lately and the books that they are most looking forward to reading this summer -- I loved their replies! I hope you, like me, found some great summertime books to add to your TBR list.


Christina from Reading Extensively says.....

It's an older book but I really enjoyed Hissy Fit by Mary Kay Andrews. The book  is about a young woman who finds her fiancee cheating on her at the rehearsal dinner with her BFF and how she copes with that and keeping her interior decorating business afloat when her former in-laws to be are trying to put her out of business. It is funny and it really pulled me into the warm atmosphere of the South. I read the book for the Dewey Read-a-Thon and it was the perfect book to just read in an afternoon.

Books in her beach bag this summer:

The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead-I love the Vampire Academy series and this spin-off series is good so far. I am excited to read The Golden Lily because it brings back Dimitri, one of my favorite characters from the original books. 

For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund - I am eager to read this because it is a YA science fiction retelling of Persuasion, one of my favorite Jane Austen novels. 

Wallflower in Bloom by Claire Cook - I am excited about this one because I love Dancing With the Stars and the main character gets to compete on the show! I just hope she doesn't have to dance with Maks :) 

Spring Fever by Mary Kay Andrews-In this story, a woman has a second chance at love-but is it with her fiance or the man she once loved? I've enjoyed the two Mary Kay Andrews books I've read already (Summer Rental and Hissy Fit) so I have high hopes for this one. 

Throne of Glass by Sara Maas - This has been described as "A Game of Thrones for teens" (but as it is a YA novel, I doubt it will be as bloody or have that high body count!) and sometimes a good fantasy novel is the perfect book to lose yourself in while at the beach. The main character is a teenage assassin and she is investigating some suspicious murders. Should be fun :)  

The Boy Recession by Flynn Meaney-This story just looks like so much fun. I like the idea that the chess club members would be recruited for the football team and previously unnoticed boys would become heartthrobs due to the change in the school demographics with so many jocks and popular boys moving away. I think this sounds like a great beach read!

Thanks for participating, Christina. I am soooo very much looking forward to Wallflower in Bloom, too. I love your comment about Maks. haha.

Nina from J'adore Happy Endings says.......

I actually did read a good beach read lately and it’s called Sea Change by Aimee Friedman. The book is really light hearted and quick to read. The cover is georgous and just looking at it, you kind of already know that it’s about a forbidden love between a creature from the sea and a girl (or you might be as my friend and look at the cover & think it’s about vampires. Damn you Twilight!)  Ok, so maybe you don’t get that at all from the cover, but trust me you do when you read the description of it. The mystery around Leo made me read for hours on the beach. I just had to find out who and what he was. A fantastic, perfect beach read. 

In her beach bag this summer:

Nina's picture from the beach

Because of my internship abroad I didn’t read a lot of books from February till well now and the beginning of June.  When I’m back in the Netherlands, I really want to read these books and they will fit perfect in my beach bag: Beauty Queens by Libba Bray, The Catastrophic History of You & Me by Jess Rothenberg, The Darlings Are Forever, by Melissa Kantor, and The Disenchantments by Nina LaCour.  They are kind of all drama books and basically that’s a good thing, because me + drama = me super entertained. Let summer begin, please.  

Thanks for participating, Nina. And can I just say how jealous I am of her internship on the beautiful island of Curacao.  Sign me up, please! Also, the gorgeous picture was taken by Nina from the beach. I love it and am so jealous.


Lea from YA Book Queen says....

When it comes to good beach reads, I tend to pick stories that are either very summery or are extremely creative and compelling – the kind of books that pull you into a whole other world. Some great beach-worthy reads I’ve read lately are:

• Wanderlove by Kirsten Hubbard – Traveling to exotic locations, humor, Rowan….Sign me up!
• The Disenchantments by Nina LaCour – A summer road trip story that’s both sweet and serious.
• Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta – One of those books you could spend all day reading in the sun. There’s wonderful creative world-building and plenty of fabulous characters in this story - I highly recommend it.
• Sarah Dessen novels – I've been rereading her work lately, and realized that Dessen novels are completely beach-worthy. Especially The Truth About Forever, Along for the Ride, and What Happened to Goodbye.

And, the books she is putting in her beach bag this summer are:

• Jenny Han’s Summer trilogy – I always try to reread these books each summer!
• Tricia Rayburn’s Siren trilogy
• In Honor by Jessi Kirby
• Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson (and possibly her debut)
• Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore
• Froi of the Exiles by Melina Marchetta  
• Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

Thanks for participating, Lea! I completely agree with you regarding Han's Summer series. I am obsessed and would love to re-read the series this summer. I also am looking forward to Second Chance Summer and you are so right......you can NEVER go wrong with Dessen!

I hope you enjoyed hearing what some of my favorite bloggers are planning on reading this summer.  Let me know what you think of their picks for beach reads and be sure to share with me what you are looking forward to reading this summer!

Check back Monday for more of my favorite blogger's beach reads.  Leanna from Daisy Chain Book Reviews, Meg from Write Meg!, Carrie from In the Hammock Book Reviews, and Becky from Stories and Sweeties will all be participating.  I can't wait to share with you their picks!