I am in Cancun, hopefully sunning myself (with an appropriately large hat and SPF 100 on), for today’s blog so wanted to get some beach reading recommendations. I’ve managed to convince my husband to read the excellent Australian mystery by Jane Harper, The Dry, while I indulge in some YA reading and research for my current WIP. I’ve also got James Comey’s A Higher Loyalty to read – but I’m not sure that qualifies as much of a beach read! On spring break I started to read Sarah Perry’s Essex Serpent but found it was too dark and damp to read at the beach…so that’s been set aside for a rainy day. It’s funny how you need just the right combination of intrigue and atmosphere when you’re trying to relax:)
So TKZers, what are you looking forward to reading this summer? Are there some juicy new mysteries or thrillers you would recommend for by the beach, by the lake, or for up in the mountains? I’m planning on spending quite bit of time up in the mountains this summer while my boys are on Boy Scout and Avid4 camps – so I need some good recommendations for books that can keep me up turning the pages at night. I haven’t had one of those reads in ages!
Thanks in advance! I’m hoping to be able to check in on your recommendations while sipping cocktails beneath a beach umbrella:)
I recently read In the Valley of the Sun by Andy Davidson. It was a 2017 Bram Stoker award nominee for superior achievement in a first novel. It’s about vampires, but it’s not another YA vampire story. This book doesn’t even use the word vampire or have TV-type, love scenes. It’s violent, but not gratuitously so. The book is poetic and deep in places while still being an easy, accessible read.
I regret having read In the Valley of the Sun free through the library because I should have bought the book and supported such a good writer as Davidson.
Ooh sounds like a good read – I’ll have to take a look!
An hour before the sun comes up furnishes natures best all round surroundings for reading where ever you are. For me the sweet chocolate of a James Lee Burke novel are the best to inspire me in my imagined garden. But a Mexico Beach where you can see, hear, and smell the ocean sure would play my backyard a close second.
Enjoy the day, dive in, the water is fine. And remember to never walk through a chicken yard barefoot. And may I recommend Florida Sea Base down in the Keys as an excellent adventure for any Boy Scout.
My twin boys are registered to do Florida Sea Base next summer!
If I were in Cancun again, I wouldn’t read much. If you haven’t visited the Mayan ruins at Chichen Itza and the only seaside ruins at Tulum you should. If you want to read, the gift shops at the sites have some great books on Mayan history. Have fun.
We are being sloths and just sticking to the beach but our plan is to come here with our boys next Spring Break and be more adventurous and take in some Mayan ruins then:)
The Gallagher Girls series by Ally Carter. It’s a YA series about a school for spies. I’ve just started it but I’m hooked.
That sounds like my kind of YA book – will definitely take a look at that series!
Busy writing my next beach read! Will be called Falcon’s Prey.