Beach Reads Year Round

The closer to summer it gets, more and more I'm asked, "What's the latest beach read? You know, something I can read without thinking too much." I respond with a smile and say, "You've got to think with all books". This gets me a perplexed look with a "Huh?"

Summer brings the literary fiction reader to their knees.  Suddenly shackle free, they have 8 weeks to enjoy what they consider light and fluffy.  It's my job as a bookseller to open a new door, to introduce them to the sub-genres, such as chic lit, romance, sci-fi, fantasy, mystery, and YA.  I also attempt to show them all that they are missing.  The sub-genre reader understands this and appreciates the differing plots and archetypal characters, time shifts and paranormal beings, riotous laughter and cleansing tears, murder and mayhem, and aliens and spacemen.  Sub-genre literature is a reader's delight where an escape from everyday stress is only a page turn away.

I read all genre, fiction and non-fiction, but most of all I enjoy a good laugh.  That's why when grabbing a mystery, I stick with cozies, like Victoria Laurie whose main character Abby is an intuitive who works with FBI boyfriend Dutch, Donna Andrews with her crazy feathered friends titles, Elaine Viets and her dead end jobs, and Janet Evanovich whose main character Stephanie Plum is laugh-out-loud funny.  If grabbing a romance, I look for Sandra Hill and her Viking bad boys, Johanna Lindsey with her Malory men to-die-for, or Jill Shalvis' Lucky Harbor series whose characters have great chemistry, smart dialogue, and real life issues to overcome.These are but a few of what's available.

Summer's around the corner. Take a moment and smell the sub-genre section of your bookstore and find that rose of a read that will remain strong all year long.