Your Summer Reading & Beach Read Guide For Summer 2019

CHECK OUT THE 2022 BEACH READ GUIDE!!

It’s my favorite reading list of the year — the time where I share the books that I think are THE beach reads for 2019. Summer is my favorite season for reading because I LOVE reading outside and I love making my summer reading guide — maybe its a throwback nostalgia to when I was in school to have a summer reading list. I don’t know but I get WAY too excited about it and I’m really excited for my summer reading list for 2019!

If you’ve followed me before you know my favorite kinds of beach reads / summer reads are romcoms, thrillers and lighter reads of any genre. I will read ANYTHING during the summer or on the beach but I definitely gravitate towards these types of books and CRAVE them all summer. So if those kinds of things are your jam, definitely check out this 2019 summer reading list for your beach reading (or anywhere reading) pleasure.

So without further ado here is the list.

(You can check out my older guides if you are looking for backlist titles for your summer reading list: 2018 Beach Reads / Beach Reads For 2017 / summer must reads for 2016 / Beach Reads For Readers Who Don’t Like Typical Beach Reads / Beach Reads For Teen Readers (and other YA lovers)

[Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links which means that if you click on a link and purchase something I’ve talked about or recommended, I’ll receive a very small percentage of the sale. Please see my disclosure policy for more info.

The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren: Well, this was totally supposed to be saved for my beach bag HOWEVER I couldn’t wait and devoured it in 24 hours as this post was being written. I had a grin on my face the WHOLE time while reading this book! It was two of my favorite tropes (hate to love + faux relationships) in one book and it was EVERYTHING watching these two enemies bumble their way through their fake honeymoon and fall for each other.

Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane: If a family drama is your idea of a good beach read, check this one out! It was one of my most anticipated reads of this year! It was a bit darker than I had imagined it being but this family drama about two neighboring families and their children whose bond is shaken by a tragedy that happens and affects their relationships even decades later when the two children (now adults) find their way back to each other. More on the literary fiction side of things but a page-turning drama perfect for the beach.

City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert: I am so excited for this new book from Elizabeth Gilbert — looks like a perfectly fun beach read for historical fiction lovers like me! It’s set in in the 1940’s NYC theater scene and is about a young woman who goes to live with her aunt in Manhattan, after being kicked out of her freshman year of college, and is introduced to the theater world via the run-down theater her aunt owns. She starts to come into her own until a scandal hits that has massive effects on her life going forward. I love that this book is told by the main character when she’s older a la The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo style.

Montauk by Nicola Harrison: I love a good book set by the sea and this is set in Montauk in the late 1930’s during the summer and is about a woman who, not quite happy in her marriage and feeling like she doesn’t fit into the wealthy community she is in, becomes part of the true Montauk community away from the elite and she is drawn to a man so unlike her husband that makes her feel like the woman she wants to be.

I’ll Never Tell by Catherine McKenzie: I’ve enjoyed some of Catherine McKenzie’s contemporary novels and I’m excited to read this thriller from her because it sounds too good! If a thriller is your idea of a beach read (totally mine just as much as a romance or light read!) then add this thriller/mystery about siblings, upon reading their parents’ will, who are forced to solve the mystery of a young girl who was found dead at the family’s camp many years ago until the estate can be settled. Sounds like the perfect thriller for your summer reading list!

The Rest of The Story by Sarah Dessen: Sarah Dessen is a STAPLE in my summer reading / beach read life. Her books never fail to be the perfect summertime read for me and this one was no different! I loved Emma Saylor’s story and diving into her unexpected summer at the lake with her (deceased) mom’s side of the family that she hasn’t seen since she was very young. Loved watching her summer of getting to know her family, figuring out who she is with this new knowledge and finding family.

The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary: I love unique love story plots and this one sounds like a winner! It’s the story of two people in need of money/a place to live who decide to share the flat while the other is working. Having never met nor having any overlap in the flat, their relationship and knowledge of each other unfolds through notes they leave one another. The perfect beach read, right??

Things You Save In A Fire by Katherine Center: I LOVED Happiness For Beginners and How To Walk Away by Katherine Center so this book is for sure on my summer reading list. This one is about a tough female firefighter who moves from Texas to Boston to be with her estranged and ailing mother while juggling her new job at a firehouse who doesn’t seem to thrilled about have a lady firefighter and a growing relationship with one of her fellow firefighters.

The Floating Feldmans by Elyssa Friedman: I love me some dysfunctional family books and the fact that this book is set aboard a cruise ship that said dysfunctional family is on for a family vacation as a last ditch to bring the family closer together? I AM HERE FOR IT. This sounds like an absolute page-turner of a book to read on the beach!

The Right Swipe by Alisha Rai: I just really love reading romances on the beach — just my fave type of beach read — and this one looks SO CUTE. I love me a good second chance romance and this one has all the makings of one as the main character is giving a guy who ghosted her a second chance….and he happens to be the new spokesperson for the rival dating app business that she’s trying to buy. I can just imagine getting lost in this one on the beach or poolside which is why it was a must for my 2019 summer reading list!

Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes: This unexpected friendship turned something more  between a widow and a former MLB player sounds amazing. Evvie is a widow who rarely leaves her house and Dean is a former MLB player whose mojo is off and he’s come to stay for a few months in a rented apartment off Evvie’s house. The rule is they don’t ask each other about either of those things….but then they get closer and have to grapple with the things they haven’t said. I’m so happy to have a copy of this because I don’t think I’m going to be able to wait until summer to read it!

A Stranger On The Beach by Michelle Campbell: I just love picking a good thriller for my beach read! There’s always plenty of them on my summer reading list. This thriller is about a marriage destroyed by secrets and the stranger who just happens to be there to pick up the pieces and be there for comfort and revenge….until the obsession turns into a nightmare. It sounds like SUCH a page-turner which is what I need when I’m on the beach trying not to people watch the whole time.

The Last Book Party by Karen Dukess: Ah this one looks so good — the publishing scene in the 80’s and set in New York City and Cape Cod! It’s about a 20-something writer trying to break into the literary scene — something that seems like it’s happening when she’s invited to a famed literary figure’s Book Parties and gets offered a new job. She soon learns this world isn’t everything she thought it was!

That’s What Frenemies Are For by Sophie Littlefield and Lauren Gershall: This one looks fun and the perfect book to read this summer! The main character is a Manhattan socialite always trying to impress her friends with the latest and greatest . She starts a new fitness craze and decides to take her instructor under her wing and turn her into a fitness superstar to dazzle everyone….but none of it goes to plan and her life begins to spin out of control.

Meet Me In Monaco by Hazel Gaynor: I LOVED The Lighthouse Keeper’s Daughter so I’m so excited to read a new one from from her. The dazzling setting + the romantic backdrop of Grace Kelly’s whirlwind romance and marriage to Prince Rainier III of Monaco just is going to make this the perfect beach read for 2019. But this story is about a perfumer named Sophie and a photographer named James who meet after Sophie fends him off as she shelters Grace Kelly, trying to flee from the press, in her boutique.

One Night At The Lake by Bethany Chase: This really was such a solid beach read! Two best friends + the man they both love + a tragedy on a hot summer night that alters their lives forever. It’s a subtle mystery but mostly a story about friendship and tragedy.While not my personal favorite of this author (her other books are SO perfect for me), I read this on one lazy summer day just totally absorbed in the setting (Finger Lakes region!!) and story.

There’s A Word For That by Sloane Tanen: Like I’ve said before, if there’s one thing I love it’s dysfunctional family books and this one looks like a GREAT one which is why it’s on my 2019 summer reading list. It’s about a wildly dysfunctional family who comes together in…rehab.

The Escape Room by Megan Goldin: I have been WAITING for a thriller to be made about escape rooms and here we are so this is definitely making my summer reading list for 2019! A group of ambitious and cut-throat Wall Street employees are required to do a team building Escape Room exercise and dark secrets emerge….as well as the mystery of what happened to a former employee of the same company.

Which ones of these sound like your perfect beach read for 2019? Are any of these on your summer reading list for 2019? Are there any new books that SHOULD be on my beach read list for this year?

P.S. Check out these books for Bridgerton fans!

PIN YOUR SUMMER READING LIST FOR 2019