Beach read recommendations

On the count of three, everyone take off your clothes and read quietly

Images in this post are from Lesley Herbert’s Pressure Piping. We all know what a book cover looks like, so let’s enjoy some diagrams of advanced icing techniques for a change.

Below are my beach read recommendations for summer 2026, which starts today. Now, this phrase “beach read” isn’t a slur— not in my hands. To qualify, a book must satisfy two requirements:

One is the weight of the book. I’m talking physical weight. A beach read must be short enough not to cause a dent when the spine rests on your nude sun-damaged belly.

The second quality is that it must have a high conversion rate. Meaning, everyone (or nearly everyone) I’ve pushed the book on in years past must have reported back enthusiastically, regardless of the reader’s race, color, creed, gender, age, national origin, cup size, caffeine tolerance, compliance with traffic laws, opinion about Dylan going electric, ability to tie cherry stem in a knot with tongue, etc.

That’s why there are no brand-new books on the list. Not enough data.

A few of them are out of print, so you’ll have to activate your sourcing skills. Hurry up! We only have three months.