Favorite Mindless, Unimportant Books for the Beach

[Anonymous]

Every Summer After by Carley Fortune
The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine
In Five Years by Rebecca Serle
Anxious People by Frederik Backman
Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson (although I'd recommend listening to that one because the narrator is the reason I chose it)
The It Girl by Ruth Ware
The Housemaid by Freida McFadden
The Family Holiday by Shalini Boland
The Secret Bridesmaid by Katy Birchall
Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell
The Summer Place by Jennifer Weiner (really most books by her)
We Are All the Same in the Dark by Julia Heaberlin
The Restoration of Celia Fairchild by Marie Bostwick
When We Believed in Mermaids by Barbara O'Neal
The Identicals by Elin Hilderbrand (also most books by her)
The Secrets She Keeps by Michael Robotham
When Life Gives you Lululemons by Lauren Weisberger (also most books by her)
Many books by Emily Giffin but I've read so many I can't remember which ones I liked and which ones I didn't. Same with Sophie Kinsella. I also like many of Liane Moriarty's books. Same with Chris Bohjalian, although his four best, The Sandcastle Girls, The Light In the Ruins, Midwives, and Skeletons at the Feast, are not mindless or unimportant. The Red Lotus, The Flight Attendant, those are his mindless ones. Close Your Eyes Hold Hands, Transister Radio, Secrets of Eden, Before You Know Kindness, The Law of Similars, and The Double Bind are also great and not mindless, they're just not as good as his top four, in my opinion.

[Anonymous]

Posted this in the other thread, but wanted to add it here too-
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I'm currently on a Freida McFadden kick.

They are easy to read domestic thrillers. They are perfect for something that you want to read quickly without a lot of thought.

In the past week I've read -
The Housemaid
The Housemaid's Secret
The Wife Upstairs

Just started - The Inmate

[Anonymous]

B.A. Paris! British author who's done- Behind Closed Doors, The therapist, The Prisoner....all really entertaining and hard to put down!

[Anonymous]

Just finished The Summer Place by Jennifer Weiner. It’s not completely mindless but I think I will read it again at the beach this week. It takes place mostly in Cape Cod.

[Anonymous]

I like Emma Straub books for summer reading. I also enjoyed The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo on a recent vacation.

[Anonymous]

Ask Again, Yes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I like Emma Straub books for summer reading. I also enjoyed The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo on a recent vacation.

Love these. Not OP but do you have any other recs? I feel like I gravitate towards the “slightly more literary beach reads.” I tried Sarah J Maas one time and it honestly made for a horrible beach read since it’s too trite for me.

[Anonymous]

I just finished Nora Goes Off Script recommended by another person as I great palate cleanser after the toughness of Demon Copperhead (thanks to that person). I absolutely LOVED it and think it would be a great beach read.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I like Emma Straub books for summer reading. I also enjoyed The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo on a recent vacation.

Love these. Not OP but do you have any other recs? I feel like I gravitate towards the “slightly more literary beach reads.” I tried Sarah J Maas one time and it honestly made for a horrible beach read since it’s too trite for me.

Have you read Meg Woktizer? The Interestings was great

[Anonymous]

Eeks typo: Meg Woltizer

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I like Emma Straub books for summer reading. I also enjoyed The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo on a recent vacation.

Love these. Not OP but do you have any other recs? I feel like I gravitate towards the “slightly more literary beach reads.” I tried Sarah J Maas one time and it honestly made for a horrible beach read since it’s too trite for me.

PP here. I would put Astonish Me and Seating Arrangements by Maggie Shipstead in this category maybe. Also Early Morning Riser by Katherine Heany. Maybe also Less by Andrew Sean Greer.

[Anonymous]

I just read the first book in the Janet Evanovich Stephanie Plum series, One for the Money. I saw the series suggested in another thread on this forum.

It was mindless, unimportant and entertaining, and there are bunch more in the series.

Sometimes books in this category are not well written and/or not well edited and those two factors affect my enjoyment of them, but this one didn't suffer from that.

[Anonymous]

I listened to Guest List by Lisa Foley on a recent beach trip and it was a fantastic beach listen. Her books are told from the perspective of multiple characters, which I don’t usually love, but each character is read by a different person in the audiobook so it ends up really drawing you in. I also just finished listening to Paris Apartment by her and it’s the same format (enjoyed it too). They aren’t the greatest books of all time but I found both audiobooks very immersive.

[Anonymous]

If you want some spicy scenes— Tessa Bailey

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I like Emma Straub books for summer reading. I also enjoyed The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo on a recent vacation.

Love these. Not OP but do you have any other recs? I feel like I gravitate towards the “slightly more literary beach reads.” I tried Sarah J Maas one time and it honestly made for a horrible beach read since it’s too trite for me.

PP here. I would put Astonish Me and Seating Arrangements by Maggie Shipstead in this category maybe. Also Early Morning Riser by Katherine Heany. Maybe also Less by Andrew Sean Greer.

Thank you! Seems we are good literary pals. I really enjoy Maggie Shipstead too! I did read the Interestings nearly a decade ago, I don’t remember it very well so I would be up for a reread. Adding Heany and Greer to my list.

For you, I liked Writers and Lovers by Lily King, The Dearly Beloved by Cara Wall, and Shuggie Bain (not a beach read). A little bit different vibe but you may also like The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot by Marianne Cronin.