Top Ten Tuesday: Favourite Summer Reads!

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish.

Each week they will post a new Top Ten list that one of their bloggers over at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join.

The topic for this week is: Top Ten BEST Beach Reads! 

Oh my… if only it was summer here instead of being one of the wettest winters ever! That said, sometimes reading a good book makes you feel like you could be there – so maybe creating this list will get me out of the cold and thinking about the sun-warmed sand on some of my favourite beaches.

For me when I’m at the beach I want one of two things
i) a book that’s light and fluffy and don’t require much thinking. I can just lie back and enjoy the story without things getting too heavy
OR
ii) something huge and is going to take me the entire holiday to read it. Books where when I see them on my shelves I remember the time and place I was in my life when I read them because they were a constant feature.

  • anything by Nicholas Sparks
    – There’s something about Nicholas Sparks books that makes them perfect for a beach read. They’re usually pretty short and the main focus is on the romantic relationship between the two leads. But be warned – you may need tissues as they have a tendency to tug on the heart-strings and be blissfully bitter-sweet.
  • anything by Meg Cabot
    – One of my favourite authors and one who manages to write funny contemporary stories that I can’t help but read over and over again. I love her adult stuff (like Boy Meets Girl) but also her YA series (like The Mediator, 1800-where-R-U).
  • How to Keep a boy from Kissing You by Tara Eglington
    – This book is cute and fun and one for when you’re not looking for anything too heavy or complicated.
  • Smitten series by Kate Forster
    – I’ve only read half of one of these book (currently reading Unlucky Break) but they seem like the ultimate summer read. They’re love and summer and just have that “sitting in the sun” kind of vibe to them.
  • Morganville Vampires by Rachel Caine
    – There are some books that are fairly dark so the ultimate time to read them? When you’re on the beach and there’s no way a creature of the dark could come up from behind and attack!
  • The Princess Bride by William Goldman
    – This is my all time ultimate favourite book. I know I talk about it all the time and more often than not it appears on my top ten Tuesday lists BUT there’s a reason for that. Adventure, romance, mystery and fantastic banter between all of the characters. If you’ve seen the movie I think you’d love the book… and if you haven’t seen the movie – GO READ THE BOOK!
  • the Classics – eg. Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, the Brontes, Dracula etc.
    – I love the classics but I’m not someone who always has. I had a lot of trouble reading them for a lot of reasons – probably the main being boring. But sometimes when you’re on holidays and are looking for a change – try one of these. I read my first Austen novel when I was on holiday with my family and had nothing to read so my mum leant me her book. It took a few week but I finished it and I’m glad that I have. I don’t love all of the books I listed here but I learned different things from each of them and I’m glad that I read them.
  • This is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith
    – This is the sort of book I think of when I think summer. A cute story about a summer romance. It’s fun, it’s flirty and it’s not going to bog you down with all the dark drama that occurs.
  • Anna and the French Kiss/Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins
    – Both are set in places I want to visit and they’re written in a way that makes me feel upbeat just reading them
  • Any book SET IN SUMMER
    – For some reason I love reading books set in summer – and they are the perfect beach reads for me.

So that’s my TTT for this week. I hope that everyone in the northern hemisphere has a great summer! And all those down here manage to survive the winter… Feel free to comment – I love hearing from everyone.

Follow on Bloglovin

14 Comments

    • It might be a little intimidating – with 14 books in the series so far – but the first few books are great. I think they’re something different in the YA vampire genre.

  1. I curse myself for not being able to read classics. One day, I will make it through one. Probably Pride and Prejudice, since I loved the movie. Nice list!

    • Once you get past the start – and it took me a LONG time to get into it and not give up because of the language and era – I really enjoyed Pride and Prejudice. But sometimes I think I like the modern adaptations more than the originals. I’m such a bad fan 😛 Thanks for visiting!

  2. Good idea to include the Morganville Vampires. Such an addictive series. Also Stephanie Perkins and Jennifer E. Smith make me think of summer too.

  3. Yep! Love these suggestions. I’d also add Rachel Hawthorne’s modern YA romances to the fluffy reads section. I’m reading Bitterblue at the moment by Kristin Cashore which is enormous and REALLY good so would also do! Lol.

  4. I’ve so wanted to read the Moganville Vampires since forever! But there’s so many of them… not that that has ever stopped me. And I love Stephanie Perkins’ books! I’m really looking forward Isla and the Happily Ever After!

  5. I really want to start the Morganville Vampires series! So many people have told me it’s amazing. I agree with what you said about Nicholas Sparks’ books, they are perfect beachy reads because they are so full of romance, even if they do have a tendency to make you cry. Great list!

    Thanks for stopping by my blog! 🙂

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *