Let’s face it, the best place to be in the summer is at the beach, and as amazing as it is to escape everything and everyone in the city, it’s also great to have a literary escape as well. After all, books make everything better.
Now, since you’re on holiday with a lovely view, you’re clearly not in the mood to tackle a classic like War and Peace or attempt to immerse yourself in a high fantasy novel like A Game of Thrones. No, you want a simple contemporary book, enjoyable, quick to read and doesn’t take too much of your quality beach time.
Here’s a list of some YA fiction novels I’d personally pack up and take with me to the beach for enjoyment:
1. Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins
Stephanie Perkins has such an amazing style of writing and great ability to create lovable and quirky characters. In this case, Lola is all sorts of eccentric with loving, adoptive parents. Lola is a force to reckon with, so much trouble, but hilarious for all intents and purposes and she’ll drive you along her insane life – I personally enjoyed the ride.
2. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
I’d also recommend this book because it’s equally as entertaining and set in France, making you want to travel all the way there just to get a hint at Anna’s new life. The book is all about growing up, being responsible and spreading your wings in a new environment with new people around you, making new friends, struggling with new customs and habits.
3. Shut Out by Kody Keplinger
The football and soccer teams at Hamilton High have an ongoing rivalry and the girlfriends of the players on both teams have had enough. Especially Lissa, who can’t seem to spend time with her boyfriend without being ambushed one way or the other. So she gathers up the girls and decides on a plan to get all the boys down on their knees: They go on a “hookup strike”.
What starts as a simple plan quickly gets out of hand when the boys decide to fight back. I can’t possibly tell you how much I laughed whilst reading this book. It’s all about war strategies and knowing when you’ve taken things too far.
4. Meant to Be by Lauren Morrill
This book is all about how unpredictable life is. Julia has a plan for her perfect romance and her perfect Spring Break. Going on a school trip to London without her best friend and stuck with Jason the class clown is not what she had hoped for.
She’s forced to get out of her bubble, do things she’d never done or wanted to do and explore a new side of herself she hated to admit that she enjoyed. I really liked the personal growth she undertook in this book. The story is well crafted with such fun characters.
5. Going Vintage by Lindsey Leavitt
Mallory discovers her boyfriend has been cheating on her via social media, which in turn makes her hate technology to a ridiculous extent. She decides to de-modernize her life back to what things were like for her grandmother in the 60s because she thinks life was much simpler back then.
She changes her wardrobe, forgoes her cellphone and laptop and works on finishing up a to-do list her grandmother had come up with back when she was a teenager. Now I know a lot of us think of technology as our lifeline (I’d die without my laptop), but don’t you sometimes feel life was much simpler with less of it out there? More time to enjoy things, get out in the fresh air, and just do things.
I personally enjoyed this book because it translated some of my feelings of dislike towards how technology has invaded our lives and changed them so much. But it’s definitely a challenge to attempt to live without it – I just hope I don’t have to find out how much personally.
6. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
With all the books, movies and shows out there, more of us have become fangirls than we realize. Obsessing over fictional characters has become a norm and finding it translated in Cather’s character was like reading about myself.
Cather is starting college and as a twin she’s sort of codependent, but when her sister asks for her own dorm room and to lead her own life, Cather is left in a bit of a loop. What I liked about this book is how Cather struggled with her college life and tried to become this new person, whilst growing up and growing into herself. I definitely saw myself so much in this book.
7. On The Fence by Kasie West
This book is about Charlie, a total tomboy due to her three older brothers and lack of any feminine influence in her life. Her life hasn’t exactly been great since her mother died, but once she tries to get more into her feminine side, she learns a lot of things that surprise her. I really liked Charlie’s character and her development in the story and the book has so many humorous elements.
8. Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour by Morgan Matson
Now I was wary about this book as a recommendation because so far, I’ve been avoiding books with dark elements that would make you cry your eyes out. I’m not sure if this particular book will, but it certainly has its black moments. What finally won me over is the fact that the book is basically a road trip. What says summer more than a road trip where you take a little detour to have some fun and get into trouble with the parents?
This book comes well equipped with all the necessities of a perfect road trip, and that includes awesome playlists and required snacks. And hey, it’s not like I’m recommending Saving June by Hannah Harrington, because that road trip will pretty much break your heart. I’m not that cruel.
9. One for the Money by Janet Evanovich
I’m a big fan of the Stephanie Plum series (though I did stop somewhere after the tenth book because the story became a little repetitive by then). The first few books in the series are absolutely hilarious as Stephanie rushes head first into the world of crime and danger, needing to get herself saved more than she’d like, blowing up cars, causing up trouble and interrupting investigations.
Basically she’s a riot, and the book has so many laugh-out-loud moments, I can’t even tell you how manic I looked reading it.
10. Meg Cabot… Just, Meg Cabot
I can’t for the life of me just recommend one book by her that would be perfect for the summer. Meg has great books for people into all types of genres: supernatural, historical, paranormal, middle grade, adult and young adult contemporary.
I’d recommend all the books to be honest, but if we’re going for fun summer reads I’d go for Every Boy’s Got One (or all the books in the boy series). The book is actually written in the form of e-mails, letters, diary entries and no direct conversation whatsoever, but it’s all absolutely hilarious and very enjoyable! I definitely love this series.
WE SAID THIS: Check out Eargasm: Music to Power Your Summer Road Trips!