Beach Reads

Today is the first day of summer and I live in a beach area. Tourists flock to my neck of the shore to frolic in the waves, sun themselves and yes, even occasionally read on the beach. It got me thinking, we always hear books advertised as "the perfect beach read." What exactly does that mean?

What does one look for in a perfect beach read? When I hear the term, I think of light, fluffy entertainment that doesn't require much thought. Like the cotton candy of books. Thought of this way, it's not exactly the most flattering phrase to bestow upon a novel.

Now, I don't actually go to the beach. While vacationers come here, I hide from the crowds and traffic by the pool in the backyard. But, the concept of a beach read is ultimately the same no matter where you read it. I can't help but wonder, why being in the sun requires a reader to indulge in happy, light fare? Isn't an engrossing storyline more important? Maybe that's just for "airplane" books, which are, in theory, read in uncomfortable places that a reader would want to mentally escape from. Once you step into the sun, do your tastes involuntarily but inescapably shift towards the same few summer bestsellers that everyone else is reading?

I know "beach read" is really nothing more than a marketing tool used to woo the occasional book buyer and shouldn't really effect me at all. For some reason, the idea just feels dirty. These poor bikini-clad women are being suckered into buying the latest popular fluff when they could be catching up on Moby Dick (Have you ever seen anyone reading Moby Dick anywhere? I think that may be a stay-at-home in the winter type of read).

In a effort to bring new books to beaches everywhere, let me share with you some of the books I hope to read by the pool this year.

Red Hot Fury by Kasey Mackenzie (Ace, 6/29) As a Fury, Marissa Holloway belongs to an Arcane race that has avenged wrongdoing since time immemorial. As Boston's Chief Magical Investigator for the past five years, she's doing what she was born to: solving supernatural crimes.

Kraken by China Mieville (Del Rey, 6/29) The London that comes to life in Kraken is a weird metropolis awash in secret currents of myth and magic, where criminals, police, cultists, and wizards are locked in a war to bring about—or prevent—the End of All Things.

Undead and Unfinished by MaryJanice Davidson (Berkley, 7/6) Betsy and her half-sister Laura have to go to Hell long enough for Laura to embrace her dark heritage (after a rebellious youth of charity work) and finally make nice with her mother, aka Lucifer.

Blood Law by Jeannie Holmes (Dell, 7/6) A provocative and savvy vampire, Alexandra Sabian moves to the sleepy hamlet of Jefferson, Mississippi—population 6,000, half vampires—to escape the demons lurking in her past. As an enforcer for the Federal Bureau of Preternatural Investigations (FBPI), Alex must maintain the uneasy peace between her kind and humans, including Jefferson’s bigoted sheriff, who’d be happy to see all vampires banished from town.

Discord's Apple by Carrie Vaughn (Tor, 7/6) When Evie Walker goes home to spend time with her dying father, she discovers that his creaky old house in Hope’s Fort, Colorado, is not the only legacy she stands to inherit. Hidden behind the old basement door is a secret and magical storeroom, a place where wondrous treasures from myth and legend are kept safe until they are needed again. The magic of the storeroom prevents access to any who are not intended to use the items. But just because it has never been done does not mean it cannot be done.

Siren by Tricia Rayburn (Egmont, 7/13) Seventeen-year-old Vanessa Sands is afraid of everything--the dark, heights, the ocean--but her fearless older sister, Justine, has always been there to coach her through every challenge.  That is until Justine goes cliff diving one night near the family's vacation house in Winter Harbor, Maine, and her lifeless body washes up on shore the next day.

Deeply, Desperately by Heather Webber (St. Martin's, 8/3) The irrepressible star of Truly, Madly, is back in business. This time, Lucy Valentine will go to the ends of the earth to find true love for her clients…and maybe even herself.

Artemis Fowl: The Atlantis Complex by Eoin Colfer (Hyperion, 8/3) Artemis has committed his entire fortune to a project he believes will save the planet and its inhabitants, both human and fairy. Can it be true? Has goodness taken hold of the world’s greatest teenage criminal mastermind?

Millions love James Patterson, Nora Roberts, Danielle Steel and their books literally litter the beaches. I'm always glad when I see people reading, but this summer I hope to see people reading something different.

Don't share my taste for paranormal fun in the sun? What would you like to read and see others reading on the beaches this summer?