Summer Getaway? Don't Forget a Beach Book


21 Classics That Make for Great Beach Reads includes some new classics and perennial favorites. So before you take your summer trip, pack your towel, slap on some sunscreen, and grab a book.

Some favorites:

1. Their Eyes were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
hits most of the usual beats of a contemporary beach read — love, danger, tragedy, and finding personal strength in rough times — but stands apart for its historical significance and hauntingly gorgeous prose. Written at the height of the Harlem Renaissance, for modern readers the story of Janie Crawford’s eventful, not always satisfying life offers up some excellent lessons in America’s racial and gender history.

If you didn't read this in high school you should have. A real page turner.

2. The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin
Beachy bibliophiles who want a little splash of sci-fi with their sun might want to give this classic thriller about a mysterious Connecticut suburb where all the wives lose their ambition entirely and transmogrify into creatures of pure servility. The Stepford Wives is a real page-turner for lazy days by the ocean or pool — even if you already knows the famous ending before cracking open the covers.

I wouldn't have thought of picking this one, but I like it!

4.The Rum Diary by Hunter S. Thompson
 Based partly on the gonzo journalist’s real experiences working in Puerto Rico, Hunter S. Thompson’s only published novel overflows with sordid stories of sex and scandal in a tropical setting — perfect beach reading, in other words. Mainly it revolves around the author’s fear of moving forward, both chronologically and professionally, as he launches into a new career in a new country with new people.

Read any Hunter S. Thompson--they are quite a trip on any vacation.

13. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
A much, much newer classic already showered with accolades and a few awards is one that science fiction fans might want to tote to the beach despite its heft simply because it’s just that delightful. Maneuver through nostalgic pop culture references as hero Wade Owen Watts launches his legendary quest to retrieve an Easter egg. The digital kind of Easter egg, of course.

Another great piece of science fiction ala Blade Runner meets Back to the Future.

15.Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
 Readers with an adoration of the adventure genre already have a perfect read for their sunny, sandy literary pleasure, one packed with pirates, booty, and exotic locales. Don’t be surprised if fantasies about uncovering rare gems and coins start seeping into a beach vacation, however!

Pirates of the Caribbean - meet the original. Oh, and this one you should have read long before high school.

Did you read any of these classics this summer?

Comments

  1. kcaproniOctober 30, 2012 at 8:30 AM

    During my junior year of high school, I began to get into Thompson's works. Starting out with "Gonzo Papers, Vol 3. Songs of the Doomed" which I found in my fathers bookcase on day. Imediatley after reading the first paragraph I was hooked. Hunter's style of writing and culture intrigued me to read more of his work. Soon I was ordering or borrowing books from friends and various English teachers at school. Still to this day I have my beat up copy of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas:A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream.

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