Beach Reads

As I was on the beach this weekend (my one beach weekend of the year!), I realized that I am obsessed with seeing what everyone else is reading as they lounge in their beach chairs. Jodi Picoult (My Sister's Keeper) definitely won out, and I didn't see a single Harry Potter this year. There have been reports for years that people are reading less and less (unless maybe you factor in newspaper and Internet reading, which you certainly could), so it intrigues me to find so many people reading on the beach year-in and year-out. The same people who say that they "don't read" are very often the ones saving that perfect book for when they are on the beach. When they finally have some extended time to relax and do anything they want . . . they choose to read. I guess reading can't be that boring. ;)

I brought three books (Seventeenth Summer, The Au Pairs : Skinny-Dipping, and Uncle Tom's Cabin) to Sea Isle City this year (to read in less than 48 hours), but I only finished two (Seventeenth Summer and Skinny-Dipping). The Au Pairs series, about three girls who all score a high-paying job as an au pair for a high-class family for a summer in the Hamptons, is definitely one of my favorite beach reads of all time. The adventures of Jacqui, Mara, and Eliza -- and their many boyfriends, or boys who are friends -- are at times thrilling, at times embarrassing, and always hilarious. There's four in the series and I'm halfway through; can't wait to read Sun-Kissed next summer! Anyway, here's a list of some more great beach reads for the summer . . . or any time!

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen & Seth Grahame-Smith.
Audrey, Wait! by Robin Benway.
Forever by Judy Blume.
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (series) by Ann Brashares.
How to Deal (this is a paperback publication of two books: Someone Like You and That Summer) by Sarah Dessen. I love anything by Sarah Dessen for a lazy day.
Stormbreaker (series) by Anthony Horowitz.
Guyaholic by Carolyn Mackler.
Maximum Ride (series) by James Patterson.
How to Build a House by Dana Reinhardt.
The Uglies (series) by Scott Westerfeld.

Maybe I'll get around to my old stand-bys, Uncle Tom's Cabin and Gone with the Wind, next year, too!