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Beach reads is perhaps the most maligned and gendered literary category.
Its time for that to change.
No longer will we allow the best beach reads to be defined as guilty pleasures.
Your summer reading list possesses an ancient magic, unlike a machine thats designed to be addictive.
If youre reading at all, youre defying thevery understandableeasy slide into eternal screen staring.
A great beach read is delightfully unseriousits funny, soothing, and illuminating.
So here are 11 any-time-of-year summer reads to proudly enjoy, regardless of your proximity to a boardwalk.
The heroine cries about once every other page, but you will laugh.
Studying so much had its consequences.
It caused me to wonder if I might be a genius, the narrator reflects.
The Pisces by Melissa Broder
This love story is about a damn male mermaid.
Itisliteraryit was nominated for the Womens Prize for Fictionbut with a healthy dose of interspecies romance.
This is the consummate 2020s answer to the summer romance genre.
(Dont let the reference to death in the title throw you!)
This book is part romance, part yearning exploration of immigrant families.
Can a book that takes on colonialism be called a summer beach read?
It was a massive bestseller.
How do you top that?
This is in turn funny, poignant, and mournful.
A mothers heroic journey is not about how she leaves, but about how she stays.
This story treads into the future, but feels chillingly current.
You will heartily enjoy judging them.
Does it surprise you to learn that the sensitive, devastatingly handsome Michael immediately falls for her?
This book is a delightful mix of spicy scenes, intrigue, and family drama.
