Best Summer Beach Reads for 2024

On the outside, I project a sunny, smiley, agreeable persona, but this is all a ruse, a way of staying safe in a world I find inherently dangerous. Inside, I’m a shadowy, gloomy, witchy swamp of a person. While the term “beach read” usually conjures up cheerful, light-hearted fare, you’ll likely find me splayed out on a towel, clutching a horror novel or a dystopian fantasy. Amusingly, my summer reading descends—as it does all year—into despair. It’s what my interior witch needs, I guess.

Doing reader’s advisory at indie bookstores and public libraries has shown me that everyone has their own version of an ideal beach read. I love the infinite variety of our reading tastes. No two people have the exact same pile of books next to their lounge chairs, and that’s pretty dang cool. The more stories told and devoured, the better.

With this in mind, here’s a summer reading list for a whole host of disparate readers, from those who love happy endings to those who prefer doom and gloom, and everything (almost everything) in between. Most of the titles have been published recently, and I threw in a few local writers for you to enjoy, too. Here’s to engrossing beach reading! 

Ideal beach reads for witches

“VenCo: A Novel” by Cherie Dimaline

Cherie Dimaline is an award-winning author from the Georgian Bay Métis Community, part of the Métis Nation in Ontario, and this novel is a funny and witchy read about a young Métis woman named Lucky and her introduction to North America’s most powerful coven. 

“The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches” by Sangu Mandanna

If you’re a witch who prefers an uplifting romance set in Britain, then this is the book for you. Mika Moon (a witch of course!) is charged with tutoring three young witches in a remote and magical setting called The Nowhere House. There she meets a cantankerous and handsome librarian (cue the romantic tension). A witch and a librarian? Swoon! A hot beach read, indeed.

For orcs (and cozy fantasy lovers)

Travis Baldree’s “Legends & Lattes and Bookshops & Bonedust”

If you haven’t heard of local writer Travis Baldree yet, mark the name down in your reading log. He has swiftly become one of Spokane’s most successful writers for his sweet, inclusive and uplifting Legends & Lattes series, which is now a national bestseller. The first in the series tells the story of an Orc Barbarian named Viv who decides to put down her warrior’s blade and opened up a coffee shop instead.

For sexy archaeologists (and romcom lovers)

Jo Segura’s “Raiders of the Lost Heart”

Northwest author Jo Segura’s steamy romance novel, set in an archaeological site in Mexico, has been called a “thrilling adventure” by Entertainment Weekly. It is “Romancing the Stone” meets “Indiana Jones,” the digital magazine said, perfect for beachgoers who love an enemies-to-lovers tale.

For history buffs (and anyone who adores historical fiction)

“After Sappho” by Selby Wynn Schawrtz

I loved this novel, both for its unique form and its fascinating storytelling. It centers the history of iconic queer women (including Virginia Woolf, Isadora Duncan, Gertrude Stein, and many, many more), and how their lives intersect and converse. What a literary gem.

“The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store” by James McBride

This larger-than-life novel is set in Pennsylvania in the 1930s and details the struggles and compassion of the people in a neighborhood called “Chicken Hill,” home to Black, Jewish, and immigrant communities. The story begins with the digging up of a skeleton in 1972, and then plunges into the past and the lives of its richly drawn characters.

For readers who love unreliable narrators

“Yellowface” by R.F. Kuang

Maybe I loved this book because I’m a novelist, but this was definitely one of my favorite reads of 2023—a vicious takedown of the racist microaggressions (and macroaggressions) within the publishing industry. The narrator is an entitled, mistaken beast. It’s a blast to read her unreliable take on the literary heist she attempts, stealing the novel of a “friend,” a renowned Chinese American writer who chokes to death in front of her.

For cozy mystery lovers (and fans of local writers!)

“Buried in a Good Book” by Tamara Berry

“Murder at Manito” and “The Rex Begonia Mysteries” by Chris Bieker

Both Tamara Berry and Chris Bieker are Spokane writers. Berry’s novel recently won a prestigious Edgar Award, and Bieker’s books have for years enchanted local mystery readers. The other two in Bieker’s series are called “Blood on Bloomsday” and “High Stakes at Hoopfest.”

For readers who love the classics

“James” by Percival Everett

I’m currently reading this novel and am just wowed by it. It’s a funny, painful, moving and knowing retelling of Mark Twain’s “Huckleberry Finn,” centering Jim and allowing him, finally, his full complexity, eloquence and humanity. As this book attests, Everett is one of our country’s finest living writers.

“Iliad” by Homer, translated by Emily Wilson

Renowned translator Emily Wilson brings fresh vibrancy to one of the world’s oldest texts, with reviewers raving about the translation’s approachability and astonishing connection to Homer’s simple and direct writing style. This proves to be the most formidable beach tome on the list, nearly as heavy as your cooler filled with beer.

“Wild and Distant Seas” by Tara Karr Roberts

This gorgeous deep dive into the long-neglected women of “Moby Dick” is penned by a Moscow, Idaho writer. It’s a sonorous and magical read with plenty of ocean waves (and even some scenes in the oceanic Palouse grasses of Northern Idaho!) to placate your inner beachgoers.