Beach reads
It’s the Fourth of July in the United States this week, Canada Day in Canada, and, just, generally, summer. In honor of a crazy slow period, I thought I’d talk about my favorite recent beach reads.
What makes a beach read? If you Google around, you’ll see that the literary community both can’t come to any consensus, AND loves digging into what makes beach reads. It could be anything from a middlebrow treat:
But the book industry seized the chance to rebrand summer novels as “an acceptable middle-class pleasure,” Harrington-Lueker writes. Such P.R. craft failed to convince everyone. (“I really believe,” the Reverend T. De Witt Talmage wrote, in 1876, “that there is more pestiferous trash read among the intelligent classes in July and August than in all the other ten months of the year.”) But it was convincing enough. Trade publications compiled lists of the best books for summer; publishing houses developed vacation reading series and flogged “summer” editions of popular backlist titles.
To only books with beaches on the covers, to books that effect transformations:
I see the prevailing wisdom around what constitutes a beach read is reading that encourages you to indulge in escapist impulses and fantasies, things like murder mysteries where you play detective or juicy memoirs from above-average-looking sluts where you play the above-average-looking slut. This makes sense considering that going to the beach is generally an escape from the doldrums of your work and home routines, unless you’re a lifeguard or some sort of cavalier sting ray. But I think a more generous view of the beach read would encompass books that don’t just let you escape but that guide you to some sort of actual transformation that you don’t snap out of.
My criteria for beach reads are:
They can be any genre
They are books I get lost in and I feel sad when they’re over
They are less about actively learning and more about relaxing, but it’s awesome if you learn some stuff along the way
They’re often, but not always, readable in 1-2 sittings
With that in mind, here are my favorite recent books that qualify as beach reads:
My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite - This book is so short and so, so good. At first, it’s not obvious that the narrator, Korede, is not exaggerating or kidding when she says her sister is a serial killer, but as it becomes obvious over the course of the book, Ayoola is. And there’s tension: will she get found out, or not? A delicious murder mystery that’s also about family and, in a low-key way, about Nigerian culture and the power of social media. If you have read everything Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie put out (if you haven’t, read Americanah!) and are wondering about the larger world of Nigerian literature, here is a different voice.
A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. LeGuin - I am embarrassed that I have been sleeping on Ursula, a master of fantasy and science fiction who is just as good as any of the male giants in the field and who addresses a completely different set of issues, for my entire life until last year, and this was the first work I read by her. It takes a couple pages to get into, but it’s absolutely riveting. A different kind of fantasy from a different, pre-Harry Potter era, and it’s magical. There are several books in the series, but I haven’t read yet - I’m savoring and waiting.
The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury - Many people find Bradbury to be both a genius and morose at the same time, and this work does have kind of a morose air to it. The premise is: what happens when Americans reach Mars and find a civilization there, and what happens to that civilization over the next 100 years? This book is science fiction, and yet it’s also about all the social issues that face us as a society today.
Giant by Edna Ferber - Edna is seriously underrated! She wrote a ton of novels, some of which were turned into movies, but her star faded by the 1960s, which I think is a huge shame. Giant is a …big… sprawling novel about Texas, what it means to be Texan, and what it means to marry into a big Texan ranching family. I loved reading about the adventures and misadventures of the main characters just as much as I learned reading about the history of Texas. If there is any book you want to sit under a beach umbrella with, it’s this one. If you’re looking for a different perspective on the American Southwest, I recommend pairing this one with Bless Me, Ultima.
In the Beginning…Was the Command Line by Neal Stephenson This was my first Stephenson, having been daunted by the size of his previous works, and I was not disappointed. This is is an opinionated take on command lines and interfaces, written in 1999. I think it’s an important (and entertaining) read for anyone interested in computer science history and theory. A recommended pairing for this one is either Broad Band, which I mentioned in an earlier newsletter, or Close to the Machine by Ellen Ullman.
The People in the Trees by Hana Yangihara I was just blown away by this book. Completely blown away. It’s hard to describe without giving a lot away, but the premise is that an anthropologist/scientist goes to an island in the South Pacific and finds a species of turtle that, if eaten, will give the eater longevity. What will he do with this information? The book is about the consequences of scientific research, morals, a completely made up but entirely believable South Pacific culture, and, just, life. Please read it. A recommended pairing for this one is the incredible Kon-Tiki book.
Educated by Tara Westover There’s a reason this one has been making the bestseller rounds, and I agree with all the praise. It’s a unique story. Maybe not a beach read in the sense that it can be emotionally hard to get through at times, but you’re rooting for the author the entire way.
Bad Blood by John Carreyrou and Shoe Dog by Phil Knight - I’ve talked a lot about these two books in past newsletters, and they continue to influence my thinking about current American business culture. They are both very well-written and fast paced, and teach the reader more about management than any actual management book
Anything by Elin Hilderbrand - I usually don’t read airport chick lit books because I’m a snob, but I promise I’m trying to break myself of the habit, because chick lit is literature, too. After reading this interview with Hilderbrand, I have to respect her enormous hustle and drive. I’m currently reading The Identicals, and, true to form, I’m hooked.
Art: Nude on Beach, Roy Liechtenstein 1977
About the Author
I’m a data scientist in Philadelphia. Most of my free time is spent kid-wrangling, reading, and writing bad tweets. I also have longer opinions on things. Find out more here or follow me on Twitter. This newsletter, including warm takes about data, tech, and everything around those two. It goes out twice-ish a week for free. Paid subscribers get even more warm takes.
If you like this newsletter, support it and get friends to subscribe!