Southern Living Beach Reads

Photo by Link Hoang on Unsplash

The official start of summer is next week, but let's face it, it's hot!  Nothing soothes the summer heat like a trip to the beach.  Sun, sand, surf and a cold drink are just what you need to embrace the summer season.  In addition to your sunscreen and other necessities, make sure you grab a great book to take along for the trip.  Southern Living has compiled a list of beach reads perfect for Summer 2022. Be sure to check out these four and other titles that made the list.  The descriptions are from the publishers.   

By the Book – Jasmine Guillory

Isabelle is completely lost. When she first began her career in publishing right out of college, she did not expect to be twenty-five, living at home, still an editorial assistant, and the only Black employee at her publishing house. Overworked and underpaid, constantly torn between speaking up or stifling herself, Izzy thinks there must be more to this publishing life. So when she overhears her boss complaining about a beastly high-profile author who has failed to deliver his long-awaited manuscript, Isabelle sees an opportunity to finally get the promotion she deserves. All she has to do is go to the author's Santa Barbara mansion and give him a quick pep talk or three. How hard could it be?

The Hotel Nantucket – Elin Hilderbrand

After a tragic fire in 1922 that killed 19-year-old chambermaid Grace Hadley, The Hotel Nantucket descended from a gilded age gem to a mediocre budget-friendly lodge to an abandoned eyesore– until it's purchased and renovated top to bottom by London billionaire Xavier Darling. Xavier hires Nantucket sweetheart Lizbet Keaton as his general manager, and Lizbet, in turn, pulls together a charismatic if inexperienced staff who shares the vision of turning the fate of the hotel around. They face challenges in getting along with one another (and with the guests), in overcoming the hotel's bad reputation, and in surviving the (mostly) harmless shenanigans of Grace Hadley herself– who won't stop haunting the hotel until her murder is acknowledged.

This Time Tomorrow – Emma Straub 

On the eve of her 40th birthday, Alice's life isn't terrible. She likes her job, even if it isn't exactly the one she expected. She's happy with her apartment, her romantic status, her independence, and she adores her lifelong best friend. But her father is ailing, and it feels to her as if something is missing. When she wakes up the next morning she finds herself back in 1996, reliving her 16th birthday. But it isn't just her adolescent body that shocks her, or seeing her high school crush, it's her dad: the vital, charming, 40-something version of her father with whom she is reunited. Now armed with a new perspective on her own life and his, some past events take on new meaning. Is there anything that she would change if she could?

The Summer Place – Jennifer Weiner

When her twenty-two-year-old stepdaughter announces her engagement to her pandemic boyfriend, Sarah Danhauser is shocked. But the wheels are in motion. Headstrong Ruby has already set a date (just three months away!) and spoken to her beloved safta, Sarah's mother Veronica, about having the wedding at the family's beach house in Cape Cod. Sarah might be worried, but Veronica is thrilled to be bringing the family together one last time before putting the big house on the market.When the wedding day arrives, lovers are revealed as their true selves, misunderstandings take on a life of their own, and secrets come to light. There are confrontations and revelations that will touch each member of the extended family, ensuring that nothing will ever be the same.