Great summer beach reads

For your summer holidays all you need is sunscreen, a hat and a great read – we’re here to help you with the latter with our pick of some excellent summer beach reads worth bringing with you.

Whether it’s a light-hearted love story or a thrilling whodunit, we’ve got the titles that will help you relax and unwind on holiday.

Counting Chimneys by Sandy Taylor

The second book in a trilogy, a beautiful, touching and heartbreaking story of love, loss and friendship, set in Brighton in 1969: Dottie Perks steps off the train and breathes in the sea air, the smell of fish and chips, and the precious childhood memories of a friend and place she’ll never forget. Dottie Perks has forged a new life for herself in London, a new job and sweet boyfriend Joe to keep her warm at night. She’s safe, happy and loved. What more could she ask for? But when Dottie returns home to Brighton for a family celebration, the last person she expects to see is her first love; the boy who stole her heart… and broke it. As old familiar feelings come rushing to the surface, Dottie struggles to deny the strong chemistry that still exists between them. She can’t throw away everything to be with Ralph…can she? And if she does, how can they ever overcome the pain and tragedy of their shared past?

Find it online on Amazon

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows 

If you’re looking for a charming, uplifting and feel good read you can get through within the week look no further than the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Set in post-war Britain in 1946, the book tells the story of writer Juliet Ashton, who while searching for the subject of her next book starts receiving correspondence by Dawsey Adams, a member of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. As letters begin flying back and forth between Juliet and the members of the society, she comes to learn more about life in Guernsey under the German Occupation and discovers the members of the society are just as extraordinary as its name.

Find it online at Waterstones

 The Lake House by Kate Morton

This gripping and mysterious novel centers around a country house in Cornwall abandoned by its owners, the Edevane family, after tragedy strikes in the summer of 1933. Seventy years later, a woman stumbles across the overgrown gardens and learns the unsolved mystery of a baby boy who disappeared without a trace. As the truth slowly begins to unravel, Alice Edevane, just 16 when it happened and now an old woman, is forced to face secrets she has spent her life trying to escape. 

Find it online on Amazon

The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry

Set in 1883, The Essex Serpent tells the story of Cora Seaborne, who is freed from an unhappy marriage after the death of her husband. When she arrives in the countryside with her son, she hears the rumours about the so-called ‘Essex Serpent’, a creature being blamed for a number of disturbances in the local community. Her investigations bring her into the path of local clergyman William Ransome, and the two find themselves bound to each other in ways neither could anticipate as they each seek to explain the hysteria that has gripped their town.

Find it online at Waterstones

According to Yes by Dawn French 

According to Yes tells the story Rosie Kitto, an eccentric 38-year-old primary school teacher who winds up in Manhattan caring for the children of the Wilder-Bingham family after running away from her previous life. As the family’s lives begin to unravel, Rosie finds herself intertwined with various members of the family to hilarious – and disastrous – consequences.

Find it online at Waterstones

Love reading? Each season we share a selection of popular book titles and new releases in our Silversurfers Book Club – our picks for Summer 2016 are already up, and people are already sharing their feedback and other great titles in the comments section below. Why not join us?