CRP's Blog

We’re right in the thick of the summer, which means the beach-goers should be out at full force. Check out some of CRP’s recommended beach reads below for some great books, most of which have been beach-tested and approved. #CRPreads

One of my fondest actual beach-reading experiences was blasting through Michael Lewis’s The Blind Side on vacation with my best friend in Miami. I know basically nothing about football, and this was well before the movie adaptation came out, but I was completely sucked in by Lewis’s crystal-clear storytelling. —Allison Felus, production manager

My current read, The Regional Office Is Under Attack!, is one I started while hanging out with friends at the beach (if you want to be specific, I was in the shade and in the grassy area just beyond the beach. Semantics.) Oracles, office work, secret pasts, and female assassins with superpowers on both sides of a battle possibly for the fate of the world? Oh, and the battle takes place at the Regional Office (which is located hundreds of stories beneath a travel office for the rich and adventure-seeking). Totally a great read to lose yourself in when you’re stretched out in the sun or the shade. Also, Ready Player One for pure pop culture-referencing, nostalgic, adventure-y fun. And if you have no space left in your beach bag and prefer audio, the audio book is narrated by Gordie Lachance/Wesley Crusher himself, Wil Wheaton.  —Mary Kravenas, marketing manager

Hot Milk by Deborah Levy is not your typical beach read, but it’s an unforgettable one. It takes place in a town on the coast of southern Spain and follows the tumultuous relationship between Sofia and her mother, Rose. It’s an intense psychological novel that raises a vital reminder, as Sofia urges her hypochondriac mother, to do things that are to your advantage—especially relevant when trying to relax on the beach. —Francesca Kritikos, CRP intern

When I’m at the beach I get weirdly contemplative and sentimental about life so I enjoy books with a heart-warming story and characters. Books like Natalie Babbitt’s Tuck Everlasting or Dodie Smith’s I Capture the Castle are easy to get lost in and I wish I had read them on the beach.  —Emily Lewis, editorial and marketing assistant

Always, always Beautiful Ruins. It’s consistently (well, since 2012) been my rec for beach read, plane read, couch read, etc. I’m not a big fiction reader and this grabbed me from the get-go (I tagged it “awesome” in Goodreads). Initially sold on the Italian setting and the absolutely fabulous cover, I stayed for the taut storytelling and fascinating characters.  —Meaghan Miller, senior publicist