As you make plans to catch those sweet rays lying out on the beach--or just your porch--this sunny season, you’re also really on the lookout for that perfect summer companion: a juicy yet short beach read to turn up the drama a few notches. A window to adventure, scandal and intrigue. Something to take the place of your smartphone for a few hours--why not? Check out these summer reads that’ll have you transported to lands faraway and tropical, lush and bright. So what do all these books have in common, you ask? They’re all terribly good and involve interesting women in interesting situations.
We promise you’ll want to recommend at least a few of these to your girlfriends:
- Tangerine by Christine Mangan
Got a bit of wanderlust? Looking for something with equal parts suspense and atmosphere. Tangerine is your fruit of choice. Alice Shipley is settling into married life in the heat of Tangiers, Morocco, when she unexpectedly runs into Lucy Mason, an old roommate from college who shook up her life. We don’t know exactly what drew them apart all that time before--only that there was a mysterious accident involved. The rest is for you to find out. A husband vanishes, identities blur, and breathless uncertainty edges in as Lucy attempts to re-enter Alice’s life.
- The Pisces by Melissa Broder
If the thought of a love story involving a sea creature interests you, consider this story about new beginnings. As the title suggests, this story has its key in the water. Following a hard breakup in Phoenix, Lucy rises to find love again in sumptuous Venice Beach, California. We soon find out it’s not as simple as that, however. How is it possible for her to be both as enthralled by a romantic interest as she is afraid for her life?
- Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote
Bask in Holly Golightly’s lush 1940s New York world: ongoing martinis from late nights to early mornings, Mafia gangsters and playboy millionaires. If you’ve seen the famous movie adaptation made famous by Audrey Hepburn, you’ve really only seen one side of Holly. Read this short novella to get a more vivid, vibrant picture of her complexities and contradictions, and the wild heart that refuses to be caged.
- Swing Time by Zadie Smith
Swing into step in 1980s London, where our narrator and her best girl friend, Tracy, grow up together in the mesmerizing world of dance and celebrity craze. As young women who come from different backgrounds, our narrator only contemplates the meaning behind movement while she watches Tracy embrace her natural talents as a real dancer. We love this now-wildly popular book for its humorous look into female friendships and coming-of-age.
- A Separation by Katie Kitamura
Don’t we all love a good little “whodunit” beach read? If your brain yearns to follow the lure of a mystery, enter the waters of this strange story. We follow an anxious woman who treks into Greece looking for her estranged husband. Always on the tail of her husband’s last moves, it’s through forming relationships with the people involved in his everyday life that she begins to paint a picture of him she’d never known. Read this book to discover the staying power of the bonds that bind, even when you think it might be over.
What will you be reading this summer? In the age of heavy scrolling and “liking”, the most rebellious thing you can do is get lost in a good book for hours at a time (and when was the last time that happened?). There is one waiting just beyond the horizon for you to explore.
If you like words as much as we do, you also like personalized gifts. Imagine wooden timepieces as nature-inspired as the paperbacks you’re holding, engraved with a sweet string of words from you to your one true love--or anyone in your life who could use some love. That’s what we do! Come check out our classic collection.
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