The Best Summer Beach Reads of 2016

Following the success of her 2014 summer hit, The Vacationers, Straub delivers an entertaining story about love and adulthood amongst a group of former college bandmates that is already a New York Times Bestseller.

What People Are Saying: "It's 'Friends' meets 'Almost Famous' meets the beach read you'll be recommending all summer." –The Skimm

Available on Amazon.

From the Golden Globe Award-winning creator of the hit TV-show Fargo comes Before the Fall, a thriller that opens with a plane crash of a private jet leaving Martha's Vineyard with only two survivors. The book changes narratives from the aftermath to the backstories of the other passengers and crew members as conspiracy theories rise.

What People Are Saying: "This is one of the year's best suspense novels, a mesmerizing, surprise-jammed mystery that works purely on its own, character-driven terms...Mr. Hawley has made it very, very easy to race through his book in a state of breathless suspense."―Janet Maslin, New York Times  

Available on Amazon.

If you loved The Girl on the Train, then this is for you. Miranda's suspense novel tells the story of two young women who go missing in a rural town, but their connected disappearances are 10 years apart.

What People Are Saying: "Fiendishly plotted...Miranda convincingly conjures a haunted setting that serves as a character in its own right, but what really makes this roller-coaster so memorable is her inspired use of reverse chronology, so that each chapter steps further back in time, dramatically shifting the reader's perspective."—Publishers Weekly 

Available on Amazon.

If you're headed on a road trip this summer, then you must read this novel about self-discovery and independence as you follow the protagonist, Cory, in a quest to find out if Elvis Presley is her father as she travels to Memphis from South Carolina.

What People Are Saying: "Vividly imagined, Last Ride to Graceland is a gorgeous southern novel that captures those twists in a life where comic blends to tragic, and fate and luck collide. Wright is an exceptional writer, and her newest book is more than a simple road trip. It's a canny exploration of the dark, seductive legacy our mothers leave us, woven through a transcendent story that evokes the beautiful, gritty spirit of the vanishing American south."—Dawn Tripp, author of Georgia

Available on Amazon.

Following the success of her 2014 mystery The Weight of Blood, McHugh's sophomore effort is a gothic thriller set in Southern Iowa, where the protagonist's twin sisters vanished 20 years ago.

What People Are Saying: “This robust, old-fashioned gothic mystery has everything you’re looking for: a creepy old house, a tenant with a secret history, and even a few ghosts. Laura McHugh’s novel sits at the intersection of memory and history, astutely asking whether we carry the past or it carries us.”—Jodi Picoult

Set to release on August 9. Available to pre-order on Amazon.

Banks, an award-winning novelist, gives readers a glimpse of his world travels, from the Caribbean to the Himalayas, with his collection of travel essays. Highlights include memories of an interview with Fidel Castro in Cuba, his elopement with his fourth wife in Edinburgh, and a college reunion in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

What People Are Saying: “Banks puts the literature back in travel writing in this extremely well-crafted book.”—Library Journal

Available on Amazon.

Adams tells the story of four friends from college after they graduated twenty years ago and lost touch. However, one summer they are reunited in unexpected ways and the disappointment of adulthood and reality set in.

What People Are Saying: "Moving...Bittersweet and compassionate...Adams casts a keen eye on that slow shock of the 20s, when even the most exceptional young people discover they are just...people, with jobs and partners decided as much by happenstance as by desire."―Sophie McManus, Washington Post

Available on Amazon.

Best-selling author, O'Farrell, tells the story of protagonist Daniel Sullivan and his complicated life, as a woman from his past threatens his marriage and family. Set in Ireland, this book will not only make you laugh-out-loud but also invest in the fate of Daniel and his wife.

What People Are Saying: "O’Farrell’s prose manages to be both intimate and expansive and keenly perceptive in its insights about the complexities of marriage. Beautiful and bittersweet, This Must Be the Place will make O’Farrell’s longtime fans swoon while prompting new readers to wonder why they’ve only just discovered her.”—BookPage

Available on Amazon.

The highly anticipated conclusion of Cronin's The Passage trilogy is already a number one on New York Time's Bestseller list and gaining critical acclaim. If you haven't followed the trilogy, now is your time to start reading so you can get to the final volume before the summer's over.

What People Are Saying: "A thrilling finale to a trilogy that will stand as one of the great achievements in American fantasy fiction."—Stephen King

Available on Amazon.

Harry Potter fans, rejoice! Set 19 years later, the eighth story in the Harry Potter series presents Harry as an overworked employee, married with three kids. The original story is also the script for a two-part play, written by Jack Thorne and directed by John Tiffany, premiering at the Palace Theatre in London on July 30.

What People Are Saying: "If Thorne has added yet another ingredient to an already complicated brew it is that of post-Freudian guilt: much of the story revolves around the adult Harry’s angst at his past actions and Albus’s need to prevail over his father. But, just as things start to get a bit heavy, Thorne adds a touch of leavening humour and reminds us that a smile is as good as a myth."–Michael Billington, The Guardian (play review)

Set to release July 31. Available to pre-order on Amazon.