The 18 Best Beach Reads of Summer 2024

Ruth Ware (The Woman in Cabin 10) is a master of suspense. Her latest novel is just the type of ultra-tense thriller we’ve come to know and love her for. It begins with Lyla, who is in a rut, between her post-doctoral research fizzling out and things with her boyfriend, aspiring actor Nico, not going great. When Nico gets the opportunity to join the cast of a new reality TV show, One Perfect Couple, she decides to try out with him, and before long they’re whisked off to a tropical paradise, where they’ll compete against four other couples to win a cash prize. On the deserted island, it’s not long before things start to go wrong, and the group must band together for survival. As tensions run high and resources run low, Lyla finds that this game show is all too real—and the stakes are life or death.

After Olive and her Italian, pseudo-celebrity chef father became estranged 14 years ago, another chef, Leo, stepped in as his surrogate son and sous-chef. Olive is shocked, then, to find out that not only has her father left her his beloved, and now failing, restaurant—he’s also made it clear that his dying wish was for Olive and Leo to complete his cookbook together. Olive is determined to sell the restaurant, and Leo wants the opposite. During a month-long trip to Italy to work on the book, the two bicker, test recipes and begin to find their attraction to one another undeniable. Olive finds herself wondering whether selling the restaurant is the right thing to do, and if she’s ready to explore the person she’s becoming.

An unusual self-help group takes center stage in this thrilling debut novel about a woman who, after killing her husband with a cast-iron skillet, becomes terrified of losing her kids. But luckily, she isn’t the only one in town reaching the brink. Soon, she finds herself at the helm of a group of women who, among them, have four bodies to hide. Can they all figure out the perfect way to bury their husbands…and get away with it? Fueled by anger but tempered by a moral core, the group must help each other figure out how to get away with murder for good.

Billed as Emily Henry meets Fleabag and The Bachelor, Laure Devore’s first novel for adults centers on Jac Matthis, a romance novelist who has moved back to her South Carolina hometown after her career goes bust. Desperate for a comeback, Jac decides she’s going to be a contestant on the 1, the world’s most popular reality dating show. On set, Jac quickly establishes herself as a front-runner, but she’s shocked to discover who’s actually pulling the strings: Henry Foster, her last one-night stand who’s also a longtime producer on the 1. Henry is similarly surprised…but they can’t keep their hands off each other. As the show progresses, Jac slowly discovers that she’s getting the villain edit, and as her secret plan begins crumbling around her, she wonders if, in trying to save her career, Jac has ruined her life.

The glamorous ‘60s serve as the backdrop for Michelle Gable’s (A Paris Apartment) novel about a failed debutante. It’s 1961, and Margo is newly single, her family has fallen into scandal and she's completely broke. But on the bright side, she’s just been hired as assistant to photographer Slim Aarons. Margot is quickly thrown into the glamorous jet-set world, watching Jackie Kennedy, Truman Capote's Swans and a host of Vanderbilts from behind Aarons’s camera. But when they land in Palm Beach, the lines between work and play begin to blur as Margo gets swept up in the city’s social circle. Soon enough, she finds herself entangled in a complicated web of loyalties and secrets that could bring it all crashing down.

Judy Blume’s books have sold tens of millions of copies and earned her legions of fans across decades. But what is it about her writing that’s so magnetic? In The Genius of Judy, Rachelle Bergstein (Women from the Ankle Down) shares Blume’s story, from searching for purpose outside of her home in 1960s New Jersey to becoming the country’s most-banned author in the mid-1980s. Thankfully, Bergstein writes, her works have withstood those culture wars and are as relevant as ever today, as sex education is dismissed as pornography and entire shelves of libraries get banned. This behind-the-scenes look at one of the generation’s most notable writers is a tribute to a groundbreaking artist who has empowered fans everywhere.

Abbi Waxman (The Bookish Life of Nina Hill) has a knack for writing awkward yet lovable protagonists. Her latest is Christa, who has hidden away, figuratively and literally, after a tumultuous childhood. She’s happy studying sea snails in the middle of the Indian Ocean when her once-famous father, whom everyone thought was dead, turns out to be alive…and ready to make amends. Simultaneously, her reunion with an old childhood friend reveals an intense attraction neither was expecting. When her father’s story starts to develop cracks, Christa fears she’ll lose herself and her potentially promising relationship.

Thriller incoming. First-generation Vietnamese American artist Annie grew up poor, but seems to have it all now: a dream career, a stunning home and a devoted husband and daughter. But when Annie’s mother, a Vietnam War refugee, dies suddenly one night, Annie’s carefully curated life begins to unravel. Things spiral further when a prominent art patron disappears, and the investigation zeroes in on Annie. She doesn’t have answers, but she’ll do anything to protect her own daughter. You Know What You Did is a gripping mystery for fans of Lisa Jewell and Celeste Ng that’ll have you on the edge of your seat.  

When Jon Stewart praises a book as “f*cking great!!! Raw, intimate, hilarious, actually inspiring,” we’re ordering a copy immediately. In this memoir-in-essays, comedian, screenwriter and podcaster Chelsea Devantez writes about her tumultuous upbringing and career path into Hollywood, from the time she tried to break her three-year spell of celibacy using a guide of seduction tips to getting sentenced to the “hell hill” at Mormon church camp. Centering each story around a different woman who shaped her life, Devantez’s debut feels like when your funniest friend covertly whispers, “I really shouldn’t say this, but…”

It’s a classic tale: woman whose professional life is in perfect order has a mess of a romantic life. In this sweet novel from the bestselling author of Nora Goes Off Script,Ali is a professional organizer whose own life is anything but together. Her mom died two years ago, her husband left and she hasn’t worn pants with a zipper in longer than she cares to remember. Ali surprises herself, then, when the first time she takes off her wedding ring and puts on “hard” pants, she meets someone. Someone who looks at her like she’s the best version of herself. The last thing this newly single mom needs is to make her life messier, but a little summer romance can’t hurt, right?

After years of racing up the corporate ladder, writer and podcaster Jennifer Romolini reached the kind of success one strives for on a vision board: a C-suite dream job, a well-received book and a gig traveling around the country giving speeches on ‘making it.’ At home, she had a husband and a precocious child. But beneath the surface, she was struggling with unresolved trauma and chronic overwork. In her new memoir, Romolini explores workaholism and the addictive nature of achievement, the lingering effect of childhood trauma and more. As it deconstructs the American Dream, Ambition Monster is perfect for people pleasers, overachievers and anyone whose trauma has driven them to push for success no matter the cost.

It’s an early morning in August 1975, and a camp counselor discovers an empty bunk. Its occupant, Barbara Van Laar, the daughter of the family that owns the camp, has gone missing. And this isn’t the first time a Van Laar child has disappeared—Barbara’s older brother similarly vanished more than a decade ago, never to be found. In Moore’s (Long Bright River) latest, the search for the missing girl uncovers the layered secrets and sends shockwaves through an opulent summer estate, the camp that operates in its shadow and the blue-collar community that serves them both.

Another summer camp, another set of secrets. In this one, 18-year-old counselor Cory is unsure about where her life is headed when Rolo, the CEO of a Fortune 500 pharmaceutical company and the father of one of her campers, offers her a childcare job on his private island. Plied with luxury and opiates manufactured by Rolo’s company, Cory continues to tell herself she’s in charge. But Corey’s mother, Emer, isn’t convinced, and embarks on a journey to heed a cry for help she’s convinced she hears. Alternating between Cory and Emer’s perspectives, Fruit of the Dead explores love, control and late-stage capitalism.

It’s a trope we’ve seen again and again, but eat up every time: enemies to lovers. Flo has been on a break from life after an embarrassing meltdown, and she’s thankful to get out of town for a bit as her family sets off to Greece for their summer vacation. The only snag? Jamie’s there: Flo’s brother’s best friend—tanned, fit and the last person Flo wants to see. Flo and Jamie hate each other…except, Flo actually has a mortifying crush on him that only got stronger after the aforementioned embarrassing meltdown. With two weeks of Grecian fun on the horizon, what could possibly go wrong?

A dream job turns sour (and murderous) in the latest thriller from May Cobb (The Hunting Wives).Cassidy is heartbroken and feeling stuck when she gets the opportunity to move to L.A. and work with famous Hollywood couple, Marisol and Nate Sterling. The director-actress couple is welcoming and by outward appearances picture perfect. At first, Cassidy just has to be available a few hours a week for errands, but soon, Nate takes interest in her, asking her to read scripts he’s written. As their business relationship grows, so does their attraction. Soon enough, though, Cassidy learns she was hired for a different purpose. The Sterlings aren’t the perfect couple, and when one of them is found dead, Cassidy becomes the perfect suspect.

You might recognize Casey McQuiston as the author of Red, White & Royal Blue, the best-selling queer rom-com that was turned into an similarly popular Prime Video movie. In their latest novel, two bisexual exes accidentally book the same European food and wine tour. After a brutal breakup, Theo and Kit have taken some much needed time away from each other, until they’re unexpectedly reunited for three weeks of stunning views and flavors in France, Spain and Italy. But it's fine, they’re over each other. So much so that they make a friendly wager to see who can sleep with their hot Italian tour guide first. But as the hookup competition heats up, it becomes clear the feelings between the two haven’t totally dissipated.

Paulie has never been much of a family person, aside from her long-term boyfriend Declan and best friend Jemma. But one night, she lets Jemma convince her to audition for Sverige och Mig, a reality show on Swedish television about Swedish-Americans competing to win a reunion with their Swedish relatives. When her drunken submission video wins her a spot on the show, Paulie decides to go for it and hops on a plane to Sweden. There, she and her competitors attempt increasingly absurd challenges—rowing from Denmark to Sweden in the freezing rain, competing in a pickled herring eating contest—and Paulie finds herself growing attached to her Swedish roots and rethinking long-held notions of family, friendship and love.

Billed as Parasite meets Such a Fun Age, this highly anticipated debut novel examines the intersection of race, class and female friendship. After her best friend's mysterious death, Elizabeth’s picture-perfect life is spiraling out of control, to the point where she decides to hire a personal assistant, Brianna. Soon enough, the two begin working together to uncover the truth behind Elizabeth’s friend’s death…because Brianna has questions too. She wants to know why the police killed her young Black son after someone in Elizabeth’s neighborhood called the cops on him. As the two women try to uncover the truth, it becomes clear that neither is what they first appear.