2022 Best Summer Beach Books

A little late on this blog, my guess is many of our listeners were indulging in some beach reading over the 4th of July weekend. But we have a lot of summer left, plenty of time to crush some summer reading.

What is a ‘Beach Book’ you ask? Really it just needs to be easily digestible, fast-paced, lighthearted, and entertaining. What isn’t a ‘Beach Book’ you ask? Room, Room isn’t a beach book. I wish the book store employee that recommended it before a beach trip had known this. Never has reading on a sunny beach been so depressing.

You want a book that you can put down mid-page jump in the water/crack open a beer and pick right back up 30 minutes later without missing a beat. A book you don’t need to re-read a lot (or re-listen), it just plays like a movie in your head that you can pause at any time. Ideally it’s not too long as well, it’s satisfying to be able to knock out a book or two over a beach weekend.

Without further ado here are some of the BBC favorite beach reads:

City of Thieves by David Benioff- As we described in our Make it a Movie blog – City of Thieves is a mix of action/thriller, buddy comedy and coming of age story, with a war backdrop.

For Who: It’s probably more of a guys read as it’s coming of age story around two newly formed buddies.

Good Reads/Amazon Rating: 4.3 & 4.6/5

Length: 8.5 hours

Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid – One of the BBC’s favorite, fast-paced story about a fictional 70’s band that feels way too real. Fun, original, leaves you wanting more.

For Who: Really for anyone, but especially if you have a fondness for the sex, drugs, and rock-roll of the 70s. Highly recommend the audiobook.

Good Reads/Amazon Rating: 4.2 & 4.4/5

Length: 9 hours

Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey – a biography/self-help book/poetry collection, a fun easy read.

For Who: If you like Matthew McConaughey and his story-telling, this is a a whole lot of that.

Good Reads/Amazon Rating: 4.2 & 4.7/5

Length: 6.5 hours

Transfer of Power by Vince Flynn – Looking for an action book in the vain of Tom Clancy (but significantly shorter/to the point), look no further, the first book in the Mitch Rapp Series will rope you in. As we described in our Make it a Movie blog – it’s Die Hard in the Whitehouse.

For Who: This is another guy book – you probably won’t find it on any other beach list. We’ve also read Grey Man and Terminal List and while those are good, the Mitch Rapp series, in our opinion, is superior. 

Good Reads/Amazon Rating: 4.3 & 4.7/5

Length: 16.5 hours (but feels way shorter)

Other Beach Book recommendations we haven’t read on the podcast:

Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling

The Guest List by Lucy Foley

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

Skyward by Brandon Sanderson

Rabbit Cake by Annie Harnett

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

Shoe Dog by Phil Knight

The Davinci Code by Dan Brown