emmareadstoomuch

emmareadstoomuch

actually good beach reads

10 vacation-worthy recommendations

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emma
Aug 16, 2025
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Folks, I’m on the shore. And I have a confession.

I share a paid post every single week, and I count that week as Sunday to Saturday.

This is the first time since I’ve started that I have woken up on a Saturday and a post has not been posted. Or scheduled. Or written.

I wrote half of a Very Serious essay. And then I wrote half of a related but distinct Also Serious essay. And then I started compiling some of the reviews people got maddest at me for. And I started reading posts for a challenge. And I got some notes together for an audit of my TBR.

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In other words, I have begun five posts and brought them into varying stages of completion. But I wasn’t fully vibing with the subject matter.

But now I am here, about to take a walk on a sunny day to get an iced latte before going to the beach, and I realized the missing piece.

I have to tell you about the books that fit perfectly into this kind of day.

I am extremely picky about all of the genres — mysteries, thrillers, rom coms, women’s fiction — that typically constitutes a beach read. So that’s why you can trust that these are really good ones.


Most Stuff by Emily Henry

Let’s get the obvious out of the way.

When Emily Henry broke my heart and ruined my life by abandoning bantery and life-changing YA magical realism in favor of pretty good romance, she made a declaration: THIS IS A BEACH READ. And then she released a book every year in late spring forever after to hold up her spot.

Of those books, I recommend Beach Read and Book Lovers full-heartedly. Everything else…well, let’s just move on

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