Including the spines Katie and John will be cracking this summer.
When you think “summer,” outdoor activities probably come to mind. Warm months, after all, are the perfect time to schedule friendly-yet-competitive pickleball games or leisurely family picnics. But let’s not forget one of the most relaxing activities of the season: Sitting outside with a good book. It’s the pastime of choice on those afternoons when you need to disengage from physical activity to lay out under an umbrella on the beach, your brain firmly ignoring reality in favor of sticking your nose in a book. And if you need more summer reading inspiration before your next vacation or beach day, our staff is brimming with book recommendations.
Below, you’ll find subject matter and genres to suit all needs. From hard-hitting nonfiction to effervescent novels, we’re here to make sure your Bookshop or Amazon carts are overflowing with books for every summer mood. Craving gossip? We’ve got a recommendation that explores all the deets of Jackie O’s photography career. Love a shipwreck story? We’ve got a harrowing survival tale that’ll send your senses overboard. Plus, Katie and John gush about their own latest literary favorites.
Best Beach Reads for 2023, According to Our Editors
On Fire Island, Jane L. Rosen
“My friend Jane L. Rosen has written four books and I actually think this one is her best. The novel follows a book editor who spends a final, magical summer on New York’s Fire Island. For anyone looking for a good summer beach read, this is it!” — Katie Couric
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, Gabrielle Zevin
“Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow could be crowned ‘the book most recommended to me.’ The novel follows two longtime friends who collaborate on a wildly successful video game design. But all of their wealth, youth, and fame won’t shield them from tragedy and betrayal. I’ve heard amazing things and I feel so out of the loop since I haven’t read it yet!” — Katie Couric
The Wager, David Grann
“I loved David Grann’s book about mutiny and murder back in the mid-18th century. Grann’s story — which is based on historical events — meticulously recalls a devastating shipwreck and a struggle for survival in the most desperate conditions imaginable. This is a remarkable adventure story that kept me fully engaged. Here’s some advice for the next time you head out on an ocean voyage: Bring limes! You’ll see.” — John Molner
Cold Storage, David Koepp
“Screenwriter David Koepp is known for hit films like Mission Impossible, Jurassic Park, and Spider-Man (among others). He released his first novel, Cold Storage, a few years ago (pre-Covid). What a ride! Koepp takes us to a world at risk from a deadly virus that scientists thought had been safely contained deep underground in a remote storage facility somewhere in Australia. Suffice it to say, that’s not a safe assumption. This is a great summer read and the book is currently being made into a film starring Liam Neeson to be released later this year. Also, check out Koepp’s second novel, Aurora (a thriller set in suburban Illinois amid a once-in-a-century global power outage brought about by solar storm).” — John Molner
The Auburn Conference, Tom Piazza
What is America and does it deserve to be saved? Imagine Herman Melville, Walt Whitman, Frederick Douglass, Mark Twain, and a few other great literary minds of the late 19th century gather to discuss this great philosophical question of the antebellum era — which is still contemplated today. Piazza addresses this question by transporting us to another time, but the discussion resonates with modern political conversations. Hey, when Elvis Costello recommends a writer whose ideas made him reflect on our society (yes, Costello himself suggested this to me), I say it’s worth a read.” — John Molner
Hella Town: Oakland’s History of Development and Disruption, Mitchell Schwarzer
“Full disclosure: I’m utterly obsessed with my hometown of Oakland, California and I think you should be, too. This history book details my beloved city’s founding before delving into the intricacies of city planning, transportation, systemic racism, and other forces that shaped a funny, weird town that lives in opposition to the more famous city of San Francisco. The book has taught me so much that it’s made me even more regionally proud (i.e. insufferable). For instance, did you know that San Francisco once tried to absorb Oakland as a borough? Or did you know that the canned olive was invented in Oakland? Fun facts aside, if you’re interested in Bay Area history, you need to pick this up.” — Diana Valenzuela, Editorial Assistant
There Are No Rules for This, JJ Elliott
“I’m always on the hunt for the next showstopping novel, and I definitely found it with There Are No Rules for This, a debut work of fiction that begins at an end: Three middle-aged women have just lost their best friend to suicide, and now they’re living in the aftermath. What sounds like a depressing premise quickly becomes a hilarious and cathartic odyssey as the remaining women decide to hold their own funerals while they are still alive. (Yes, you will want to hold a ‘living funeral’ after you read this book.)” — Caro Burke, Associate Editor
Camera Girl: The Coming of Age of Jackie Bouvier Kennedy, Carl Sferrazza Anthony
“As a card-carrying member of the Kennedy cult, I never turn down an opportunity to gobble up new information about this endlessly fascinating family. My favorite, of course, is Jackie, the most beguiling first lady in American history. This book chronicles her life before she became Mrs. Kennedy, and I loved learning about her unexpected job as a newspaper photographer and getting all the juicy tidbits about the beginning of her relationship with JFK. If you’d like a preview, we have an exclusive excerpt about the drama of their early courtship.” — Ryan Buxton, Deputy Editor
Ejaculate Responsibly: A Whole New Way to Think About Abortion, Gabrielle Stanley Blair
“It’s no secret that abortion is (and always has been) a hot-button topic. In this book by Gabrielle Blair, she urges readers to reconsider how we frame abortion as a women’s issue — instead, she says we should think of it as a men’s issue. Without being judgmental or preachy, Blair gives 28 succinct and convincing arguments as to why the responsibility of preventing pregnancy should lie on men, not women. The book is thorough, funny, and all too relatable to those of us who have had to worry about birth control in all of its various forms.” — Katie Pittman, Commerce Editor
Funny You Should Ask, Elissa Sussman
“I’m not ashamed to admit that there has to be at least a twinge of romance unfolding throughout the pages of any book I pick up. Call me a hopeless romantic but I’m a sucker for some flirtatious banter mixed into delightful, smart, and timeless writing. That’s exactly what author Elissa Sussman delivers with her novel about a 26-year-old journalist who’s commissioned to write a profile of the actor cast to play the next James Bond. They experience a whirlwind weekend and then don’t see each other again for 10 years. Sussman says the idea for the book was inspired by Edith Zimmerman’s 2011 GQ interview with Chris Evans (juicy). The format utilizes a “then and now” timeline and alternates between characters’ thoughts, with fictional interviews and quotes from nonfictional publications woven in throughout. Now I’m just patiently waiting for its film adaptation — and for Chris Evans to be cast in it, of course.” — Meredith Struewing, Social Media Producer
Lessons in Chemistry, Bonnie Garmus
“I rarely give a book five stars, but this book’s got spunk in spades. The novel takes a look at a scientist-turned-TV chef Elizabeth Zott, and the challenges she faces as a woman (and mother) in her field. Reading this sharp, funny, witty story feels like getting an in-depth view of early feminism. As you read the book, facts and details about characters and events are revealed in a seamless way — almost as if it isn’t the first time the reader is hearing the narrative. Oh, and here’s one more thing I love about this book: It was written by a woman in her mid-60s and it’s her debut novel. How cool is that?” — Sara Sajadi, Head of Marketing
Rules of Civility, Amor Towles
“I know I’m very late to this decade-old New York Times bestseller, but it completely occupied my brain-space for the three days it took for me to read it. I’m not a fast reader, I just couldn’t put it down and acted like a kid staying up too late to read under the covers. As someone who was captivated by The Great Gatsby when I first read it years ago, this book scratched the same itch and was in some ways more compelling. I don’t want to give anything away because I loved reading it with almost no context, but the setting in New York City in 1938 is genius. The scenes are filled with familiar neighborhoods, intersections, and landmarks — the main character would have lived only blocks from me — and the year is kind of a lost time in our collective memory, sandwiched between the peak of the Great Depression and World War II. I loved watching the story unfold through the eyes of Katey, a far more interesting and complex version of Fitzgerald’s Nick Caraway. On top of it all, Amor Towles’ writing is a pure pleasure to read and makes you feel like you’re standing beside the characters. If you, like me, are late to this train, hop on now.” — Ciara Hopkinson, Marketplace Associate
The Guest, Emma Cline
“I’m currently reading Emma Cline’s latest novel about an unlikable 20-something who’s managed to scheme her way into the exclusive, gated world of the Hamptons elite. She’s operating almost as a ghost in the homes of the ultra-wealthy and has learned how to adapt her behaviors to better fit in with the crowd. That is, until one day, when she’s suddenly not welcome anymore and finds herself shunned and alone on the beach in the Hamptons — with no phone, no car, and just a weekender bag. She has to figure out a way to get back into that world, while also trying to reckon with the person she’s become. It’s definitely not what you’d call a fun and easy beach read, but that’s exactly why I picked it up. Cline’s writing is hypnotizing and addictive, and her satirical take on wealth and elitism is raw and refreshing. If you’re a fan of White Lotus or Ottessa Moshfegh’s My Year of Rest and Relaxation, this book is for you.” — Julia Lewis, Producer
The Sympathizer, Viet Thanh Nguyen
“Early this year, I was watching so much TV that my brain was slowly turning into mashed potatoes, so I canceled all of my streaming services except for one: PBS. Thus began my immediate descent into the wild world of Ken Burns documentaries. Yes, I was still spending way too much time watching TV, but I was learning, OK? After watching all 100,000 hours of his series on the Vietnam War, I realized how much I hadn’t known about this period of American history. As I mansplained the war to everyone who would listen (including an actual Vietnam vet, who, to his credit, did not call me a jerk) a friend recommended The Sympathizer. It’s a fictional account of a North Vietnamese spy who manages to flee Saigon and lands in Los Angeles, where he works undercover as an aid to a South Vietnamese general. The book is pretty dense and took me a while to get into, but my goodness was it worth it. This book has more twists than a Hitchcock movie and is chock-full of amazing commentary on war, America, and the immigrant experience. I underlined so many paragraphs in this book — I’d share some with you, but once I loaned it to a friend, she loaned it to another friend, and I imagine I’ll never get it back. But that’s OK since I want everyone to read it.” — Emily Pinto, Senior Producer
The Daydreams, Laura Hankin
“I loved this fun, breezy read about a group of former child actors who get the chance to reboot their iconic preteen show decades after the first one ended in controversy. This novel is wildly entertaining but still manages to tackle some important themes, like the media’s treatment of girls and young women in the 90s and early 2000s, and the trauma that childhood stars are forced to grow up carrying.” — Sara Levine, Newsletter Editor
A Twisted Love Story, Samantha Downing
“I’m obsessed with everything Samantha Downing writes — she’s truly the master of twisty thrillers. Her newest one is — as the title suggests — a story about couple Wes and Ivy, whose on-and-off relationship vacillates between blissful and toxic. When a detective starts poking around into their past and asking about a night that they swore to never tell anyone about, it binds them together against a common enemy.” — Sara Levine, Newsletter Editor
