What is a Beach Read?

Great question.

Here’s a quick and easy definition/description which I paraphrased from Macmilliandictionary.com: A beach read is a book that you can take on vacation that’s interesting enough to keep your attention without getting you so sucked into it you spoil your vacation.

This can mean different things for different people. For me, time at the beach used to be spent reading all of the books I’d put aside during the school year, usually novels about Britain and Ireland. As an historical fiction fan, all I ever really read are pithy, serious novels. I once took Edith Wharton’s novel *The Buccaneers* on a beach trip with my then-in-laws. The entire trip I remained happily ensconced in 1870’s London and embraced Wharton's obtuse syntax and style. Needless to say, everyone thought I was much too serious because I wasn't reading *Along Came a Spider* or *The Client*. My mom’s favorite flavors of beach reads are romance and mysteries; my dad liked Michener’s books; my brother enjoys mostly non-fiction.

I tend to define a beach read as whatever type of book you enjoy reading on vacation, and if it helps you escape the world in which you currently work and/or reside, so much the better. That’s the magic of a great beach read; it takes you outside of yourself and your circumstances only to drop you into a different land or galaxy.

Vacations are where we leave the day-to-day grind behind. The books we read while on holiday can certainly give us a boost.

What are your favorite Beach Read genres?