Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Top Ten Books That Should Be In A Beach Bag


Top Ten Tuesday is an awesome meme hosted by the Broke and Bookish where we create and share lists of our top ten... anything!  The categories are so random and always fun that I can hardly wait to see what's going on next week.  This Tuesday we're featuring something that is very near and dear to me-- summer reading, and in particular those books that were just bound to be read on the beach!

1.

The genius of Libba Bray should be read and generally appreciated in all locations, of course, but the first book in the Gemma Doyle trilogy makes for the perfect beach read: it has scandal and gossip and best friends who fight, while it also contains snippets of decidedly less-chic lit subject matter, such as cults and magical paradises gone wrong.

2.
Yep, the Gossip Girl series.  The characters got old after a half dozen books for me, but the first book is a YA contemporary masterpiece-- seriously, forget the show!  This book is impossible to put down, sexy, and so funny you'll probably attract a lot of attention while you sprawl out on the sand, trying desperately to muffle your giggles.

 3. 
This is manga, people, and good manga it is.  Our heroine lives near a Japanese marina... and becomes involved in the bizarre discovery of two mysterious preteen boys who washed up on the shore and have a strange aversion to being out of the water for too long.  The art is spectacular.

4. 
The epitome of good chic lit.  Maureen Johnson is always funny, and the situations which arise for a family who owns a three-star hotel in Manhattan are too good to be missed.

 5.
 I have yet to actually read this one... but it's going to be in my beach bag this year, for sure.  The very cover makes me long for summer, which is practically tangible now.

6.
 I read this book on the beach last year.  Every time I pick it up, I can smell the surf and sea breeze and sand and seashells... YES, seashells do have a smell!  This is an atmospheric paranormal romance which is light enough for a beachy read.

7.
A fun graphic novel by fantastic American artist Ted Naifeh.  Polly is a governor's daughter who runs away to become a pirate after her ship is attacked.  Not unlike Elizabeth Swan, though the story and art manage to be unique in their own right.
8.
This is one of those rare books you can read and just let the story and the characters flow in your mind.  It's perfect for a do-nothing day of tanning intermingled with short swims in the ocean.
9.
This entrancing contemp romance will have you dreaming of summer afternoons spent munching on bagettes and spooning up sipping tea on the lawn of that Parisian park alongside the lazy Seine.  I love this book; can't recommend it enough.
 10.
 This one is best for a long beach holiday.  You can read a few dozen pages each day and let the mystery surrounding the small Southern town of Gatlin and its mysterious new resident, Lena Duchannes, build slowly to a shattering and shocking climax.  This is another of last year's beach books.  I love a good paranormal tome.

20 comments:

Anne said...

I have never heard of Suite Scarlett before, it does look like a great beach read.

Cait said...

You picked great books!! I wish I lived near a beach, might have to persuade my boyfriend that we should visit one =]

Asheley T. said...

I just finished Libba Bray's A Great and Terrible Beauty two days ago...while on the way to the beach! It is, in fact, the only book I've ever read while riding. I get awfully carsick, and I only had about ten pages left on the almost-two hour drive, so I stuck it out for the end of this book! I was super sick while I was reading it and after it for a little while...but it was worth it not to have to wait!

Birdie said...

Fun list--Gossip Girl made my list too, and Anna and the French Kiss on my TBR list.

Kati R said...

Gossip Girl was my first YA series too!

Sash and Em said...

love this list! i LOVED shiver and beautiful creatures!

Jan von Harz said...

Hey Kat I love your list. I have been meaning to read Eyes Like Stars and Beautiful Creatures for so long and I will definitely take your advice and do it this summer. I also agree that if someone hasn't read Anna and the French Kiss it would be a great summer read.

Jenny said...

Ahhh I love Anna and the French Kiss!!!! Such a great summer read for sure:) I haven't read the Summer series by Jenny Han either, but I'm anxious to start them as I've heard they're fabulous:)

Anonymous said...

Suite Scarlett looks great! Shiver is high on my TBR and I think I'll finally get around to it this summer, the same with Anna and the French Kiss.

Anonymous said...

Lol! Polly and the Pirates looks like Polly Pocket. I loved Suite Scarlett, have you read the sequel?

Aylee said...

Ooh, yes, great choices. I still need to read some of these... unfortunately, I won't be making my way to a beach anytime soon. But I guess lazing around, sunning in my backyard will have to suffice.

Deb Nance at Readerbuzz said...

Definitely Anna for summer! Nice list.

Here's my list of books I plan to put in my beach bag this summer.

Kat said...

@Aylee-- I spend half the summer lying around in my backyard-- it's nearly as good as a beach, and not half as crowded. :) Hope you get to do a lot of that this summer!

@Bookrain-- I haven't read a sequel to Suite Scarlett... actually didn't know there was one. But now I'll definitely be checking it out-- thanks for the tip-off!

@SweetestLittleBookworm-- You definitely have dedication to reading-- go you! I also found it impossible to stop reading A Great and Terrible Beauty once I started. :)

Anonymous said...

AWESOME. Loving your choices - and yeah, Gossip Girl's definitely a guilty pleasure for me. I can't wait for the mashup to come out later this year. :D

thanks for visiting me this week~

Usagi

Hannah said...

Hmm, I've heard of a lot of those books but I haven't read them. I might have to soon :) They sound interesting.

Melissa (i swim for oceans) said...

SO glad to see Gossip Girl floating around! I enjoy those books - hate the show, but the books are SO much fun! :) Great list!

Annette Mills said...

You know I've always thought Suite Scarlett looked like a good book, but I really hadn't read any opinions of it. I'm glad you recommend it -- I really like Johnson's other stuff. And, I've had Eyes Like Stars in my pile for a while -- I need to get to that one. Great stuff!

LBC said...

Good list. I have a few of these on my shelves - Great and Terrible Beauty, Shiver and Besutiful Creatures. Maybe I should take them to the beach.

Check out my Top Ten Tuesday

Alexis @ Reflections of a Bookaholic said...

Wait. A Great and Terrible Beauty is a trilogy? I didn't know that. I'm reading it now.

Unknown said...

Great choices :D
I LOVE Beautiful Creatures, Anna and the french kiss, Eyes like stars and shiver !
I would add Divergent by Veronica Roth if you haven't read it yet :)

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