Whether you’re spending your next Saturday lounging on your patio or hopping on a plane to spend a week on a white-sand beach in Anguilla, warm weather and sunny, summer days call for an arsenal of beach reads.
There’s nothing as relaxing as sitting outside, breathing in the fresh air, and cracking open a book that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end. Whenever we finish a book we love, we turn to Goodreads to help us find our next page-turner—they can help you find your next favorite book based on past ones you’ve loved.
We’re all about having a stack of books ready to read in the summer months. The list below includes an assortment of highly rated beach reads from Goodreads as well as a ton of editor favorites—so you know you’ll find the perfect read for your next beach day here.
Thriller, Mystery, and Horror
The Paris Apartment
Jess thinks her move to Paris will be just the fresh start she needs—crashing on her brother's couch, that is. Just when she starts to get comfortable, questions arise. Where is Ben? And who took him?
Portrait of a Thief
Will Chen and his team of skilled students-turned-heist members are stealing back some of the most priceless Chinese art in the world. If they succeed? It's $50 million and a legacy. If they fail? They'll lose everything.
The Guest List
It was supposed to be a picture-perfect wedding, but it doesn't take long for everything to fall apart. Then, someone turns up dead.
Home Before Dark
When Maggie Holt returns to her childhood home, Baneberry Hall, she becomes more and more convinced that the horror stories it became famous for are more fact than fiction.
The Institute
In The Institute, a group of children with special talents (think: telekinesis and telepathy) desperately search for a way to escape from Mrs. Sigsby, the institute's director who will stop at nothing to extract the force of the children's gifts.
The Last Thing He Told Me
Hannah Hall's life is turned upside down when her new husband, Owen, disappears. As she unravels the mystery of what happened, she learns that Owen might not be who he said he was.
Firekeeper's Daughter
After witnessing a shocking murder, Daunis Fontaine is thrust into the middle of the investigation.
They Wish They Were Us
Jill Newman is certain senior year is going to be her year, but when she starts getting texts about the murder of her friend, everything begins to unravel.
Arsenic and Adobo
When Lila Macapagal's ex-boyfriend suddenly drops dead, her life goes from rom-com to murder mystery in the blink of an eye.
The Wife Upstairs
When Jane meets Eddie Rochester, she sees an opportunity to live the life she's always wanted. But Eddie is recently widowed, and the ghost of his wife haunts Jane.
Then She Was Gone
Ten years after her daughter, Ellie, disappeared, Laurel Mack is stunned to meet Poppy, a girl who reminds her so much of Ellie.
Romance
I Kissed Shara Wheeler
Thrown into an unlikely trio, Chloe needs to figure out what happened to Shara Wheeler. With a never-ending cycle of puzzles, secret notes, and break-ins, there just might be more to this town than she thought.
Reminders of Him
After five years of jail time for a terrible accident, it's time for Kenna to be reunited with her daughter. When everyone shuts her out, she seeks refuge in an unlikely source. With their forming relationship possibly putting them both on the line, they try to amend mistakes from the past.
The Summer of Broken Rules
Meredith has shut the world out ever since she lost her sister. But this summer, she's set on stepping back into it. In this battle of balancing legacies and love, you'll root for Meredith along the way.
Maybe in Another Life
In this marveling story of fate and true love, 29-year-old Hannah Martin is aimlessly coasting through life. After deciding to go back to her hometown of Los Angeles to live with her best friend, Hannah is presented with two mundane but life-changing options. Who would've thought she could live out both?
Vampires, Hearts & Other Dead Things
Victoria and her father have always dreamed of finding a vampire. But when he is diagnosed with terminal cancer, Victoria vows to become one to save him. She is led to New Orleans, where she is forced to feel joy and grief in her trek for immortality.
Beach Read
When they find themselves suffering with writer's block in neighboring beach houses, Augustus and January strike a business deal that should drag them out of their respective ruts.
In Five Years
Dannie has always lived life in the most calculated way possible. She's nothing like Bella, her whimsical best friend. When Dannie lives one hour of her future, though, she begins to question every decision she's made in the present.
People We Meet on Vacation
Two years ago, Alex and Poppy's friendship completely fell apart. Now, they have one week to fix everything.
Red, White & Royal Blue
Alex is America's First Son. Henry is the Prince of Wales. Falling in love was not part of their arrangement.
Twice Shy
When Maybell inherits a home from her great-aunt, it becomes the perfect opportunity for her to make a fresh start. However, she soon learns she isn't the sole inheritor.
Fantasy
Book of Night
There is nothing Charlie Hall can't steal. But when she becomes the center of the largest secret in the world, everyone's after her.
Daughter of the Moon Goddess
All Xingyin's ever known is solitude; living alone with just her mother on the Moon made that inevitable. Everything changes when her magic flares and her existence becomes known to the very beings that banished her and her mother. She enters the Celestial Kingdom with nothing but the desire of her mother's safety leading her.
Sea of Tranquility
Edwin, Olive, and Gaspery-Jacques are all from different times and universes. But they all hear the violin strings that strum softly in the abandoned forest. Located far from civilization, they're set to uncover the universal mystery.
The House in the Cerulean Sea
Linus Baker is comfortable in his quiet, solitary life. Trying to determine whether six dangerous, magical children would bring about the end of the world was not part of his plan.
The Midnight Library
How different would your life look today if you made a slightly different decision years ago? In The Midnight Library, Nora is given the opportunity to explore all the different lives she could have lived.
An Ember in the Ashes
In a world inspired by ancient Rome, Laia is forced to risk her life in order to save her brother.
Klara and the Sun
Klara is an Artificial Friend who waits patiently for the day a customer will finally choose her.
Historical Fiction
The Vanishing Half
In The Vanishing Half, the Vignes twins live very different lives, but they will always be invariably linked, no matter how many miles, years, or lies separate them.
Mexican Gothic
Noemí Taboada is a glamorous debutante who's at home in beautiful gowns and red lipstick. But when she receives a frantic letter from her newlywed cousin, she's plunged into a mystery she feels strangely compelled to solve.
Daisy Jones & The Six
When the musical talents of Daisy Jones and Billy Dunne are combined, they become the stuff of rock 'n' roll legend.
The Lost Apothecary
Nella is an apothecary who helps women poison the men who do them wrong. Two hundred years in the future, Caroline stumbles upon a clue to the unsolved apothecary murders.
Malibu Rising
Surfer and supermodel Nina Riva's annual end-of-summer party is the most anticipated event of the season. This year, the party gets completely out of control.
General Fiction
One Italian Summer
After losing her mom and best friend, Katy embarks to Italy, the city where her parents' love story began. She can feel her mother in spirit. But then she actually appears.
Of Women and Salt
While Jeanette is battling addiction, her mother, Carmen, stuggles with her lifelong feelings of displacement. In order to break generational trauma, Jeanette travels to Cuba to wrestle with secrets of the past.
The People We Keep
April's never felt a sense of belonging in her hometown. She's failing her classes, barely scraping by financially, and has a rocky relationship with her dad. One open mic night leads to a new life she didn't know was always waiting for her and a group of friends to support her along the way.
Transcendent Kingdom
In Transcendent Kingdom, Gifty is determined to understand the science behind the immense suffering her family has experienced. As she dives deeper into the science, she begins to yearn for the faith-based salvation promised by her evangelical upbringing.
Scenes of a Graphic Nature
Charlie's life isn't going forward, so she looks to the past for answers. Her self-discovery leads her to her ancestral home, alongside a family conspiracy that's been brewing for the past 60 years.
Such a Fun Age
When Emira Tucker is accused of kidnapping the child she babysits, her employer becomes determined to set things right.
Anxious People
When a would-be bank robber takes a group of people hostage in an apartment, they (bank robber included) set off a chain of events even they have a hard time explaining.
The Girl with the Louding Voice
Adunni dreams of escaping the life of poverty she was born into, getting an education, and building the future she's always wanted.