Top 10 Guilty Pleasure Beach Reads

Required reading for school can be some heavy-duty stuff. Hungry for another round of academia? Er, maybe not so much. Quench your thirst for a good summer read with our roundup of simple (sometimes mind-numbing) books to toss in your beach bag… that is, if you can actually put ‘em down. We won’t tell your lit prof, promise!

Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding (1996)

Kinda like sneaking a peak at someone’s private journal. Even though she’s a fictional character, it’s still satisfying in a voyeuristic way.

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein (2008)

This is a great story of dedication, narrated from the point of view of a dog. That’s right. Arf.

The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks (2009)

Yes, indeed, Miley Cyrus starred in the movie adaptation of this story. Enjoy another Sparks-formulaic tearjerker!

Falling Out of Fashion by Karen Yampolsky (2008)

This tell-all, thinly disguised as fiction, was written by loyal one-time assistant to Jane Pratt, ousted publisher of Jane magazine.

The Next 100 Years by George Friedman (2009)

He’s no Nostradamus, but this political scientist and intelligence officer attempts to forecast possible events for the coming century.

Graceling by Kristin Cashore (2008)

This fantasy novel about a girl who has a knack for killing won a ton of awards for young adult literature. Hey, you’re an adult, and you’re young.

No Impact Man by Colin Beavan (2009)

The book’s subtitle pretty much sums it up: “The adventures of a guilty liberal who attempts to save the planet, and the discoveries he makes about himself and our way of life in the process.”

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult (2007)

From the author of My Sister’s Keeper, this is a fictional take on the realities of bullying and high school shootings.

Sleeping Naked Is Green by Vanessa Farquharson (2009)

A 366-day adventure of how one woman made daily changes -- some large, some small -- to benefit the planet.

Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer (2008)

It’s a doomsday story about a meteor collision with the moon, and the ensuing calamity.